MTV had just launched. Big hair and bold colors defined the fashion scene. Now-classic films like “Back to the Future” and “Star Wars” were hitting box offices for the first time. The 1980s was an era marked by smash hits and big ideas.
At Michigan State University, it was a time of change, growth and glory — from groundbreaking scientific innovations to national athletics recognition. Take a look back at what was happening at MSU during this memorable decade.
Women’s sports made big moves
In 1981, MSU became the second school in the Big Ten to have its women’s athletic department join the NCAA. This move provided women’s sports with more funding, more resources and official national championship tournaments.
Several women’s teams also had dominant seasons in the '80s, with cross country and gymnastics earning Big Ten titles in 1981 and golf winning the conference championship in 1982.
The Wharton Center opened its doors
During his time as MSU’s president, Clifton R. Wharton Jr. was instrumental in driving the fundraising for what would become a world-class entertainment venue. Ground broke on the project in 1980, and on Sept. 23, 1982, the Wharton Center for Performing Arts welcomed the Chicago Symphony to perform in Cobb Great Hall for its opening night.
Since its construction, the Wharton Center has hosted major Broadway shows, touring megahits and up-and-coming artists, connecting students and mid-Michigan residents to art from across the globe.
World’s first superconducting cyclotron was tested successfully at MSU
MSU emerged as a leader in nuclear physics in the 1960s when Henry Blosser and his team developed MSU’s first cyclotron, the K50.
The 1980s brought a new era of success in the field. In the late 1970s, the nuclear physics team at MSU began work on creating a superconducting magnet for the K500, the next generation cyclotron.
Funded by the National Science Foundation, this superconducting cyclotron was successfully tested at MSU on Nov. 21, 1981. It was officially completed in 1982.
The completion of the K500 initiated the superconducting cyclotron era, and the MSU Cyclotron Laboratory became a national user facility for research with heavy ions.
Now home to the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, MSU remains a premier location for nuclear physics research. The original K500 superconducting cyclotron was recently repurposed as part of a new facility dedicated to semiconductor chip testing, supporting U.S. innovation across industries such as defense and autonomous systems.
Men’s sports won big
The late '80s brought about two huge wins for men’s sports.
First, on March 29, 1986, the Spartans won the NCAA men’s hockey championship. Coach Ron Mason led the team to defeat Harvard 6-5. This was the second championship ever won by the Spartans.
Then on Jan. 1, 1988, Coach George Perles led the Spartan football team to a Rose Bowl victory in Pasadena, beating the University of Southern California 20-17. This was the third time the Spartans had secured a Rose Bowl win.
An MSU astronomer made a galactic discovery
In 1987, MSU Professor Susan Simkin, a trailblazer for women in astronomy, was part of the team that discovered Markarian 348 was the largest known galaxy at the time.
Though it had been observed for decades, Markarian 348 was originally thought to be the same size as the Milky Way, roughly 100,000 light-years. Simkin and team found that it spanned 1.3 million light-years, 13 times what was originally thought.
The Rock found a new home
A gift from the class of 1873, the Rock is MSU’s oldest landmark — but it didn’t always live along Farm Lane. When it was originally gifted, the boulder was placed in a grove of pine trees close to where Beaumont Tower stands today.
For 112 years, that’s where the landmark stood. But as it became a billboard for students in the ‘60s and ‘70s, paint began to damage nearby trees, bushes and sidewalks. In September 1985, the campus monument was moved to its current location in the clearing beside the Auditorium, where its frequent painting would not cause damage to the surrounding landscape.
Impact 89FM hit the airwaves
MSU’s student-run radio station began broadcasting under the call letters WDBM on Feb. 24, 1989.
The station had actually been on the air since November 1987, but due to a clerical error it was originally licensed by the Federal Communications Commission with the call letters WBDM. After the mistake was discovered, the station applied to the FCC to switch to WDBM, leading to the early 1989 change.
New Sparty mascot debuted
In 1985 after an alumni directors’ conference, MSU Alumni Association Executive Director Chuck Webb asked graphic designer Dave Giordan to create a full-body design of the Sparty mascot, similar to one he had seen of the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Bucky the Badger.
In 1989, this design was revamped and brought to life in a full mascot costume that sought to be approachable, fierce and kind. The new mascot debuted at Spartan Stadium Sept. 16, 1989.
Seven buildings designated as historical sites
Even as the university entered a time of growth and expansion, it also made sure to preserve elements of its past. In 1980, the Michigan Historical Commission designated seven campus buildings along West Circle Drive as historical sites: Eustace Hall (now Eustace-Cole Hall), Marshall Hall (now Marshall-Adams Hall), Journalism (now Old Botany), Chittenden Hall (Forestry building), Cook Hall (now Cook-Seevers Hall), Agriculture Hall and Linton Hall.
