For the 570 students who enrolled in Fall 1959, tuition and fees were only $255 annually (compared to about $1,500 a year at UM and MSU).1
This, however, did not include living costs since there were no facilities yet on campus.
The first convocation took place on September 14, 1959 in the Oakland Center, with the sound of the hammer still in the background.2
At first, business, education and engineering were "concentrations" within a common liberal arts curriculum. There were no departments until 1963, only 3 "divisions" (humanities, social sciences, and maths and sciences) .
The curriculum placed heavy emphasis on general education. This array of general education courses – initially over 40% of the curriculum – was known as the University Course Program.
Oakland University was one of the first institutions to make a required study of non Western cultures: the Far East, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. According to history professor George Matthews, "at one point we were graduating more students who had a required course in China than any other university in the country.3
From the start students enjoyed a close relationship with faculty. Faculty and students mingled at picnics, square dances and other events encouraged by the Administration.4
Some faculty members even wanted to remain small to preserve that personal atmosphere.5
There was no student housing, but students were accommodated in local farms.
A faculty subdivision was also built on the east side of campus to allow faculty to live close to their workplace.
In 1962-1963, the first dorms were built -- Anibal and Fitzgerald House, then Pryale and Hill House.
There were lots of extra-curricular activities the students could choose from. Although there were no intercollegiate sports in Fall 1959, the university offered archery, bowling, casting, golf and marksmanship. The next semester basketball practice and table tennis started.
Dances were organized for the students and the OC was decorated at Christmas, thanks to a gift by Mrs Wilson.
The Oakland Observer, the first student newspaper, published five issues the first semester.6
Matilda Wilson maintained close ties with the OU community. She was seen on campus often and invited students to Meadow Brook Hall for various events - teas, balls, and of course graduation ceremonies.
1. Introducing Michigan State University-Oakland, brochure, 1958.
2. Cindy Hampel, "The way we were," Oakland University Magazine, Fall 1999, p. 8.
3. "Reliving the Past," OU News, May 1, 1992, p. 3.
4. Interview with Robert Swanson, The Oakland University Chronicles, 1997, p.22.
5. Cindy Goodaker, "OU: 25 years later," Oakland Sunday Magazine, August 21, 1983, p.13.
6. Fall Quarterly Report, 1959, Oakland University Archives, Historic Documents Collection, Box 6.