Saint Michael’s College – USA

Saint Michael's College Playhouse was opened in 1947, bringing professional summer theater to Vermont, giving students the chance to work behind the scenes.

Before the 1950s, classes at Saint Michael's were small, just a few dozen Michaelmen in any class. In the 1950s, the college expanded to hundreds of students per class. To manage the influx of GI Bill students after World War II, Saint Michael's College acquired temporary housing in the form of military barracks from Fort Ethan Allen in Colchester. In the 1950s, the college began a building program that established the red brick architectural style that permeates campus today.

In the 1950s, freshmen were required to wear a dress shirt, coat and tie to every class and for the evening meal. All dorm students said the rosary before retiring.

Saint Michael's Applied Linguistics Department was started in 1954, focusing on teaching English to students from around the world.

About 130 refugees from the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 came to the college. Most of them, already well-educated, came to learn English.

In April 1970, the Board of Trustees approved a proposal by then-president Bernard Boutin to become a co-educational institution. In 1972, the first four female graduates of Saint Michael's received their degrees.