By Justin Muszynski
The Burrit Library is in the basement of Willard, the parking garage behind the student center is nowhere to be found, and Vance Academic Building hasn’t even been thought of; this is the way the CCSU was described by Dr. John Heitner, Associate professor of English, when he started teaching here.
“As I remember the campus was very beautiful back then,” said Heitner. “It’s still beautiful today but it was different back then. There were many more trees and nature was more prevalent.”
He also says that most students wouldn’t even recognize the area behind the student center back then because the garage wasn’t there. Instead it looked just like a scene out of a magazine.
“There was a lovely stream running behind the student center that was a beautiful place where students or faculty could go and enjoy,” said Heitner. “There was a bridge that went over the stream, and a great big field.”
While Heitner isn’t the biggest fan of getting rid of nice scenery, he also knows it’s a necessary part in the growth and development of the University.
“We were just getting so big that the school needed more room parking,” said Heitner. “I guess it’s a good thing when you think about it, it means the school is experiencing success.”
CCSU was founded in 1849 as a teacher-training-facility and became a state college in 1959, only six years before Heitner started teaching here. It wasn’t until 1983 when the school officially became a University.
“I remember it was a very big deal around campus,” said Heitner when asked about the school becoming recognized as a University by the state. “Everybody was excited because the Governor was coming to campus and was going to speak about how much we’ve grown. It’s funny how most schools just call themselves a University but we had to earn it,” he jokes.
CCSU is the largest of all the schools included in the CSU system. According to its website Central serves almost 12,500 students in any given semester, 10,000 of which are undergraduates. In the last 15 years or so there has been a new effort in International studies. Many courses abroad are offered and encouraged as well as trying to be the recipient of foreign exchange students.
“I’d say that’s the biggest difference in the school now,” said Heitner. “There’s been a huge emphasize on international studies. Most big schools are encouraging that now, CCSU is no different.”
He also says however, that becoming as big of a school that CCSU has become has some downsides. The primary one that he has noticed has been what he calls a depersonalization in the overall feel of the school.
“A lot of people don’t know that the class sizes used to be bigger, I know it’s hard to believe,” said Heitner. “But even so, there has still been a much more impersonal feel around campus since our growth. The doctor on campus was like a family doctor in the sense that everybody knew him. Most students today probably don’t even know we have one.”
CCSU has received a number of recognitions that support just how much CCSU has grown over the years. In a Princeton review, CCSU has been called one of the “best Northeastern colleges.” Octameron Associates say it’s one of the “great colleges for the real world.”
With about 100 majors offered, 400 full-time faculty, and more than 65,000 living alumni, CCSU certainly has come a long way since only being a teacher’s institution.