Detroit Institute of Technology

History

First called the Association Institute,{{cite book |author-link=Works Progress Administration |url-access=registration

By 1920 it had six schools in operation. Out of these, four offered undergraduate degrees: The College of Law offered a four-year program.

The College of Pharmacy was added in 1907 after separating from the School of Medicine. The College of Commerce offered four-year programs in accounting, marketing, management, finance, and production. The School of Engineering had electrical, mechanical, chemical, automotive, and machine trade programs leading to a B.S. degree.

It also included The Hudson School, a high school offering a college prep program as well as training in business and technology for students who did not plan to attend college and the Detroit School of Religion. In 1922 the College of Liberal Arts was also added. In 1957, the pharmacy program merged with the School of Pharmacy at Wayne State University.

The college was accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA).

By 1979, a third of its students were Iranian citizens. As the Iran Hostage Crisis led to the cancellation of their visas, the college abruptly lost a large percentage of its students. This loss of income, paired with the early 1980s recession, proved too much for the Institute, which formally closed down in 1982. Registrar's Office Detroit Institute of Technology (D.I.T.) The Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, Michigan, was issued custody of the academic records of the Detroit Institute of Technology by the Michigan Department of Education. It also offers alumni programs.

Buildings

The first quarters of the college were a YMCA Building on the corner of Griswold and Grand River. Having outgrown the building, it moved to a large nine-story YMCA building on the corner of Witherell and East Adams that included reading rooms, a library, two gymnasiums, swimming pools, handball courts and five floors of residence rooms. That building was later razed to make way for Comerica Park, the new home of the Detroit Tigers baseball team.

In 1971, the S. S. Kresge Corporation, which was moving to Troy, Michigan, donated its downtown Detroit headquarters to the school.{{cite book

Athletics

The Detroit Institute of Technology competed in basketball since at least 1921, when the first mention of their team, the Dynamics, is made. Between 1928 and 1950, with a break during World War II, the college also fielded a football team. The team disbanded again at the outbreak of the Korean War, this time permanently. The college played in the NAIA College Division and its traditional colors were purple and white.

In 1957, the college added a competitive swimming team that trained in the YMCA pool but never held competitions there as it could not accommodate spectators. During the first few years, the team competed in National N.A.I.A Championships never finishing lower than fourth, place but never winning a national team championship. It gave scholarships to local high school outstanding swimmers for a period of five years before reducing the team size and in 1966, dropped the sport entirely.

Notable alumni

Henry Ford – inventor and business magnate, founder of Ford Motor Company

Richard H. Austin - Michigan Secretary of State from 1971 to 1995

Julius Goldman – Canadian basketball player, important modernizer of the game

Mike Kostiuk – Canadian-born NFL player

Ron Milner – playwright

James M. Nederlander – longtime chairman of the Nederlander Organization

Sugar Chile Robinson – jazz pianist and child prodigy Roy Brooks – jazz drummer

Astronaut Wally Schirra was on the faculty from 1968 till 1972

Detroit Free Press chief photographer Tony Spina.

References

Notes

Citations

References

1. "America's Lost Colleges: Detroit Institute of Technology".
2. "Detroit Institute of Technology, Detroit, Michigan 1891-1982". lostcolleges.com.
3. (1923). "Educational Work of the Young Men's Christian Association". Bureau of Education, Department of the Interior.
4. Magazine of the Detroit News, "R.I.P - D.I.T. Obit for an urban college - Eulogies and explanations" pg 22, 3/14/1982 cover story by John McAleenan and pg 2 editorial ''[[The Detroit News]]''
5. [https://www.ltu.edu/registrars_office/detroit-institute-of-technology.asp Registrar's Office, Detroit Institute of Technology (D.I.T.)]
6. "MSU Libraries: Richard H. Austin".
7. "Jewish Sports: Julius Goldman".
8. Monnarez, Carlos. (30 July 2015). "Oldest living Lion, Mike Kostiuk, dies at 95". Detroit Free Press.
9. "Oxford Reference: Ron Milner".
10. Kennedy, Mark. (26 July 2016). "James M. Nederlander, theater impresario, dies at 94". [[Washington Post]].
11. . (June 1971). ["Whatever Happened to..."Sugar Chile Robinson""](https://books.google.com/books?id=qdsDAAAAMBAJ).
12. . (12 December 2001). ["Music, madness & Marquette Prison"](https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/music-madness-and-marquette-prison/Content?oid=2172780). *Detroit Metro Times*.