The 1990s was not just a decade marked by economic prosperity, grunge music and Tamagachi pets; for Boston University, it was a time of major expansion and development that led to its current position in the 21st century.
At the start of the decade, the former School of Nursing was gutted and expanded to create the Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, unifying the health and rehabilitation programs scattered across campus.
BU continued its legal battles with Coretta Scott King, the widow of School of Theology doctoral student and civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., over personal papers left by King to the university. Scott King lost her appeal against the university when a jury ruled in 1993 that BU was the rightful owner of the papers.
The University Hospital and the Boston City Hospital merged in 1996 to become the university’s Boston Medical Center. In the same year, BU began construction on a new School of Management building, to be named after former trustee Rafik Hariri.
On March 30, 1996, President John Silber resigned after serving for more than 25 years. Silber, who remains the chancellor of the university, was replaced by Jon Westling.
In 1997, the university completed construction of the Center for Photonics Research was completed, compliments of a large government grant and increased interest in photonics research from within and outside the university.
After a homecoming loss that year, BU officials announced the university would sack its lackluster football program. Fans passionately protested the decision, but officials said the university could not justify the $3 million price tag for the program, which had drawn sparse crowds for years.
The personal desktop computer and the Internet revolutionized campus life in the late ’90s. Instead of waiting in long lines to use the computer lab or searching through stacks of books at Mugar Memorial Library, students could do work from their dorm rooms.
“Google and the Internet have changed everyone’s life,” Development and Alumni Relations Director and Publications Executive Natalie McCracken said. “Is it a good thing? [It’s] more convenient.”
At the turn of the century, BU began construction on the John Hancock Student Village, the newest student residences on campus.
As health concerns grew, intramural and individual athletics saw a rise in popularity. Responding to student demand, the university began construction of the Track and Tennis Center in 2002 and the Fitness and Recreation Center in 2004.
“We raised money to build areas for intramural and individual [sports],” McCracken said.
BU’s student body also became more diverse during this time, as more international students arrived on campus and the countries represented within the university increased.
“[We were doing] more recruiting overseas to let high school students in different countries know what BU has to offer,” McCracken said.
Unlike the 1960s and 1970s, the last decade was not a time marked by strong political feeling. Although political groups were scattered on campus, students were not as active as their predecessors of the ’60s and ’70s.
“I don’t think there were any major events that affected BU in the ’90s from the outside,” journalism professor Christopher Daly said in an email. “That is, I don’t think anything off-campus affected the school nearly as much as our own internal decisions.”
After Westling resigned in 2002, former NASA head Daniel Goldin was appointed in the summer to fill the office, but the university Board of Trustees reneged on the offer days before he was to assume the office. After questions of Goldin’s temperament arose at an Oct. 16, 2003 meeting, the Board of Trustees submitted a “vote of no confidence,” but gave Goldin a $1.8 million severance.
“Having joined Boston University in 1984, I’m used to an exciting ride, but the executive committee’s 180-degree swing on Goldin is remarkable even by BU standards,” BU economics professor Laurence Kotlikoff said in an Oct. 31, 2003 Boston Globe editorial, one day before Goldin’s scheduled start date. “It’s also deeply troubling and dangerous.”
After the board voted for Goldin’s severance, Dr. Aram Chobanian, then the School of Medicine dean, was named president ad interim. After serving for one year, the board unanimously voted current president Robert Brown into office in June 2005. Brown had served as the provost of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Following Brown’s arrival, construction of a university-operated Level 4 Biosafety laboratory began, compliments of a 2003 grant from the National Institutes of Health. The lab “will be dedicated to study of emerging and reemerging infectious diseases, whether they occur naturally or are introduced deliberately through acts of bioterrorism,” according to the website.
The biolab’s construction has drawn criticism from Roxbury-area residents and city officials, as well as students on campus, because of the lab’s placement in a dense residential area. A federal judge recently approved the biolab’s construction, which BU officials have called a victory for the university.