Last 20 years have marked big changes at Southeast

It has been over a decade since Rowdy the Redhawk, Southeast Missouri State University's mascot, made his 2005 debut in a darkened Show Me Center, where he was introduced for the first time, enveloped in a dry-ice mist and spotlight.

A roar of approval came from the announced crowd of 6,607 people that January day. After all, it had been 20 years since Southeast had a costumed mascot.

The board of regents approved changing the former Indian and Otahkian nicknames to Redhawks in June 2004, and the Indian nicknames officially were retired that October.

"It was one of the easiest transitions from Indians to something else that any university in America had done," said Frank Nickell, who served on a committee during the nickname and mascot transition.

There were those who opposed the change. But Nickell said the situation was handled well by university administrators and the committee.

Gary and Glenda Asher of Wildwood, Missouri, who are 1963 and 1961 alumni of Southeast Missouri State University, tour the Academic Hall dome Saturday in Cape Girardeau. It was the Ashers' first trip back to campus for homecoming, during which they visited their granddaughter, a Southeast student. (Fred Lynch)

"Tradition is a powerful force on a college campus," he said. "But this is one of those periods where change was necessary, and change was going to happen. I thought we did it as well as any university could."

A look back

Nickell retired in 2013 after four decades at Southeast. He worked as an associate professor of history and was director of the Center for Regional History at Southeast. He now is assistant director of the State Historical Society of Missouri and director of the Cape Girardeau Research Center for Southeast Missouri.

Rowdy the Redhawk is one example of the many changes Nickell has seen at the university, especially within the past 20 years.

"I have seen the college grow; I've seen it expand," Nickell said, mentioning the physical expansion the university saw when Kenneth Dobbins was president.

During Dobbins' 16-year presidency, more than $400 million in capital construction and building improvement projects were completed. He retired this year and was replaced by Carlos Vargas-Aburto.

Nickell said the university also has improved the appearance of its campus.

"Most students who are here now are unaware of that," he said, adding the campus's buildings have architectural distinction that few others possess.

"If you walk around on campus from one building to the other, you're influenced by the architecture," he said. "We have graced our campus with attractive buildings, generally. I think some of the recent buildings look a little too institutional to my taste. They're just buildings. So we may be losing something in our haste to build buildings."

Nickell said he hopes that won't continue but thinks Vargas "has an artistic eye" and will have a different perspective.

Looking forward

"One of the good things in life is that things change, and one of the bad things in life is things change," Nickell said.

And with changes in leadership come changes in administration, goals and visions.

Vargas is the first bilingual president, the first born outside of the United States and the first with a Ph.D. in a hard science -- physics and aerospace science from the University of Michigan.

"His view is going to be different, and I think that's good for everybody," Nickell said. "I'm excited about the prospects of this university as it moves into the new year."

klamb@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3639

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One University Plaza, Cape Girardeau, Mo.

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Other Southeast highlights in past 20 years

Other Southeast highlights in past 20 years

Below is a brief look at other Southeast highlights from 1995, 2005 and 2015.

1995

• Kala Stroup steps down as the university's president to take a job as Missouri commissioner of higher education. She and her husband, Joe, also give $30,000 to the university for a fountain and pedestrian plaza in front of Kent Library.
• Stories continue about Michael Davis, who was hazed to death in 1994 by members of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity.
• Enrollment reaches 8,118 -- an increase of 193 from 1994. Enrollment numbers continue to climb steadily for 20 years.
• Southeast experiences a 23 percent increase in admissions applications for the fall semester. Freshman enrollment goes up by at least 200 that fall, and school officials at the time said it was the largest single-year increase in the freshman class since 1981.

2005

• Enrollment breaks 10,000 for the first time at 10,292, surpassing the previous year's enrollment by 674.
• City Council members and Mayor Jay Knudtson, now president of Southeast's board of regents, tour construction at the River Campus. Knudtson said at the time: "It is just going to be phenomenal."

2015

• Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon signs legislation that provides $10 million in funding at Southeast Missouri State University to renovate the Grauel Building, Brandt Hall of Music and Rosemary Berkel Crisp Hall of Nursing.
• After 20 consecutive years of enrollment growth, the university sees a slight decline in the number of students enrolled for the fall semester, from 12,087 last year to the current enrollment at 11,987.
• University officials move forward with plans for a long-discussed Greek Village project as they look to bolster Greek life participation on campus. But the project has brought criticism from preservationists, as one historic home, known as Greystone, was razed and another historic house, Ochs-Shivelbine, is slated to be demolished next summer.

-- Source: Southeast Missourian archives and university literature