page_title: Jacksonville University
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Jacksonville University / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Cars parked near Swisher Auditorium, Jacksonville University - Jacksonville, Florida
context_page_description: Jacksonville University is a private university in Jacksonville, Florida. The school was founded in 1934 as a two-year college and was known as Jacksonville Junior College until September 5, 1956, when it shifted focus to building four-year university degree programs and later graduated its first four-year degree candidates as Jacksonville University in June 1959. It is a member of the Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. JU's student body currently represents more than 40 U.S. states and approximately 45 countries around the world. As a Division I university, it is home to 18 sports teams, known as the JU Dolphins, as well as intramural sports and clubs. Among the top majors declared by JU students are aviation management, biology, nursing, business and marine science.
context_section_description: The school was founded in 1934 by William J. Porter. Originally known as William J. Porter University, it began as a private two-year college. Since a permanent site had not yet been acquired, classes were held on the third floor auditorium of the First Baptist Church Educational Building in downtown Jacksonville. Sixty students were enrolled in Porter University's first year of operation.
  The school changed its name to Jacksonville Junior College in 1935. It relocated three times over the next fifteen years, including a period in the Florida Theatre building, but the influx of GI bill students following the end of World War II made it necessary for the school to find a permanent location. In 1947 the administration purchased land in Jacksonville's Arlington neighborhood on which to establish the current campus. The first building was completed in 1950 and classes officially began. The same year the school received full accreditation as a two-year college from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).
  In 1958 Jacksonville Junior College merged with the Jacksonville College of Music, and the name was changed to Jacksonville University. In 1959 the first four-year class of 100 students graduated, and in 1961 JU received full accreditation as a four-year school from SACS. The 1960s saw the university grow substantially as enrollment increased, dormitories were built, two new colleges were established and the Swisher Gymnasium was constructed. The first student dormitories (Williams, McGehee, Brest, Merrill and Grether Halls) opened for the fall semester of 1965 on the south part of campus for a combined total of $2.4 million. The sixth dormitory, Botts Hall, opened in 1968. In 1970 the Jacksonville University Dolphins men's basketball team, under star center Artis Gilmore, went to the NCAA Division I Championship. However, the opening of the public University of North Florida in 1972 eroded JU's enrollment, while the removal of public funding hurt the school financially. In the 1990s Jacksonville University reconfigured itself as primarily a liberal arts college and embarked on a substantial fundraising campaign, which provided for the construction of new buildings and a revision of the campus master plan. In 1997 a new cafeteria was constructed, a Visual Arts Annex opened, and the on-campus Villages Apartments finished construction and opened for students on the north part of campus. Merrill and Grether Hall were demolished in 2007 to make way for Oak Hall, a modern 500-bed dormitory, and a new parking garage.
  George Hallam, in conjunction with Jacksonville University and its library staff, published an extensive history of the university titled Our Place in the Sun, which details the development and progress of the institution between its inception in 1934 through the spring of 1988. Other university publications which have chronicled JU history throughout the decades include the JU Navigator, the Riparian, and The Wave magazine.
caption: Swisher Gymnasium in 1964
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