History and Legacy

Timeline of Livingston College and Livingston Campus

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Last updated on March 25, 2024

Livingston College history (overview)

  • 1964    Rutgers acquires 540 acres of the former Camp Kilmer base from the federal government. The base was named for Joyce Kilmer, a New Brunswick poet who was killed in action while serving in the New York National Guard during World War I.
  • 1965    The Rutgers Board of Governors (BOG) names the first of three colleges planned on the Kilmer property, for William Livingston, who served as New Jersey’s first governor from 1766 to 1790.
  • 1965-1973       Ernest A. Lynton is the first Dean of Livingston College. Lynton led a number of curriculum innovations, including the establishment of majors in computer science, African-American studies, urban studies and comparative literature. He also started programs in city and regional planning, and anthropology at Livingston.
  • 1969    Livingston College opens in September, with about 700 students. Nearly one in three students was a minority, and students were included as voting members of the college assembly. Students in the new Organization for Black Unity (OBU), with the college’s permission, designated House 25 in the Quad II dormitory as the “Malcolm X house.” Quads I and III were built but not yet open.
  • 1970-1971       The college establishes intercollegiate men’s baseball and football teams, as well as a cheerleading squad and a co-ed intramural baseball program.
  • 1970    Tillett Hall opens in the spring as the college’s main academic building, including a campus center and a dining hall. A student newspaper, The Medium, debuts in October. Previous campus newspapers were titled Mudslide, Fango, and General Motors.
  • 1971    Livingston College students begin AM radio station. Kilmer Area Library opens.
  • 1972    North and South Towers dorms open. New Academic Building (later named Lucy Stone Hall) opens.
  • 1973    Livingston College graduates its first full four-year class of 500 students. The graduates are approximately 80% white, 15% black, 3% Puerto Rican, and 2% Asian.
  • 1973-1974       George Warren Carey serves as Acting Dean of Livingston College. On Nov. 5, 1973, a group of black students takes over Carey’s office. The students demanded the resignation of the dean of student affairs and a reconstitution of student services on campus. Four days later, 350 black, white and Puerto Rican Rutgers University students pack the BOG meeting to support the demands of Livingston’s black students.
  • 1974-1977       Emmanuel George Mesthene serves as Dean of Livingston College.
  • 1975-1976       Livingston College Association of Graduates (LCAG) is formed. Renamed as Livingston Alumni Association (LAA) in 1988.
  • 1977    Rutgers Athletic Center (RAC) opens with a men’s basketball victory over rival Seton Hall. Today it is home to the Rutgers men’s and women’s basketball, wrestling, and gymnastics programs, as well as hosting other events. Renamed as Louis Brown Athletic Center in 1986, renamed back to RAC in 2019, and renamed Jersey Mike’s Arena in 2021.
  • 1977-1990       W. Robert Jenkins serves as Dean of Livingston College.
  • 1980    The BOG merges the faculties of the liberal arts schools in New Brunswick into two main groups — the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and the Faculty of Professional Studies. The reorganization largely mutes Livingston’s academic autonomy.
  • 1986    Livingston Student Center (LSC) opens.
  • 1990-1993       Walton R. Johnson serves as Dean of Livingston College.
  • 1990    BOG renames Towers dorms for Lynton. The LAA honors its first Livingston Pride Award winner. The award continues to honor graduating seniors from Rutgers-New Brunswick colleges each year.
  • 1991    BOG votes to rename campus from “Kilmer” to “Livingston,” ending a yearlong struggle by Livingston College students to strengthen their school’s identity.
  • 1993-2007       Arnold G. Hyndman serves as the final Dean of Livingston College.
  • 1999    Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, the first production of the Livingston Theatre Company, opens.
  • 2000    Livingston’s radio station, RLC-WVPH (The Core), in partnership with Piscataway High School, begins broadcasting at 90.3 FM. The LAA honors its first four Livingston College Distinguished Alumni.
  • 2007    Rutgers merges Livingston, Rutgers, Douglass, and University colleges in New Brunswick into the School of Arts and Sciences, and Livingston College officially ends. Currently enrolled students are permitted to complete their degrees as Livingston graduates until 2010.
  • 2009    The LAA gives its first Livingston Legacy Awards to three faculty members.
  • 2010    A renovated and expanded LSC has a grand reopening. Livingston College holds its final commencement.
  • 2011    Livingston Dining Commons opens.
  • 2012    The Livingston Apartments open.
  • 2013    The Plaza, a retail center that includes a movie theater and several eateries, opens. The Rutgers Business School-New Brunswick building opens.
  • 2017    Kilmer Area Library renamed for James Dickson Carr, the first African-American graduate of Rutgers College. 
  • 2019    RWJBarnabas Health Athletic Performance Center opens.

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