University of New Haven

• 1920 – New Haven YMCA Junior College was founded as a branch of Northeastern University.[4]
• 1923 – First associate degrees awarded[4]
• 1926 – Received state charter as "New Haven College"[4]
• 1948 – Received accreditation by the New England Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools[4]
• 1958 – Received authorization to offer Bachelor of Science degrees in business and engineering[4]
• 1960 – Moved to West Haven to the site of a former county orphanage, Ellis C. Maxcy Hall[4]
• 1965 – Constructed Student Center[4]
• 1966 – Received accreditation for baccalaureate programs[4]
• 1968 – Constructed engineering building[4]
• 1969 – Opened graduate school program, constructed first residence hall[4]
• 1970 – Renamed "University of New Haven"[4]
• 1971 – Added athletic complex[4]
• 1974 – Constructed Marvin K. Peterson Library[4]
• 1975 – Purchased Harugari Hall[4]
• 1985 – Acquired Arbeiter Maenner Chor[4]
• 1991 – Constructed new building for admissions[4]
• 1995 – Relocation of Southeastern Branch to Mitchell College in New London[4]
• 2012 – Opened the satellite campus in Prato, Italy
• 2013 – Purchased the Orange Campus[5]
• 2014 – Annexed the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts
• 2018 – Introduced plans for the "Building for Success" campaign including addition of Bergami Center of Science, Technology, and Innovation to campus, upgrades to Dodds Hall, and renovations to residence hall and athletic facilities.[6]
• 2018 – Announced discontinuation of degree-granting academic offerings at Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts[7]
• 2019 – Announced that inaugural comprehensive campaign, the Charger Challenge, exceeded its original goal of $100 million, and reset goal at $120 million.[8]
• 2020 – Opened the Bergami Center for Science, Technology, and Innovation and celebrated 100 years of being an educational institution.[9]

The Henry C. Lee Institute of Forensic Science was dedicated on October 15, 2010.

The Henry C. Lee Institute of Forensic Science opened on the campus of the University of New Haven in the fall of 1998. Henry C. Lee has been a member of the UNH faculty since 1975.[17] The institute was dedicated on October 15, 2010, and consists of a crime scene center, crisis management center, museum, laboratories, classrooms, a 104-seat lecture hall, and Lee's office.[18]

The institute is also known for holding multiple lectures and classes throughout the year, all of which are taught by practitioners with forensic experience. Popular and often recurring topics include crime-scene and evidence photography, death and homicide investigation, advanced blood stain and pattern analysis, and many others.[19] It has specialties in interdisciplinary research, training, testing, consulting, and education in forensic science, and is able to accomplish this by housing six centers of excellence:

• the National Cold Case Center
• the Learning Center
• the Forensic and Emergency Crisis Management Command Center
• an Advanced Technology Center
• the National Crime Scene Training Center[20]
• a Research and Training Center

Nineteen club sports[23] are recognized at the University of New Haven. Club sports are recreation or athletics student-led organizations that compete with other universities and colleges. Each club is a University of New Haven-recognized student organization and member of a regional or national governing association. Participation and individual dues vary by club.

• E-Sports (Co-ed)
• Gymnastics (Co-Ed)
• Swimming (Co-Ed)
• Softball (Women's)

Intramural Sports are organized sports leagues, one-day tournaments, special events, and online programs, which provide participants the opportunity to compete against and engage with their fellow students and university community. The University of New Haven offers 20+ team and individual sport programs throughout the academic year.

There are several recognized and unrecognized fraternities and sororities at the university.

The University of New Haven has two student-run governing bodies: the Undergraduate Student Government Association (USGA), and the Graduate Student Council (GSC). Student organizations offices are located on the top floor of Bartels Hall, the university's student center.[25]

The Charger Bulletin is the official, student-run newspaper at the University of New Haven since 1938. It is published weekly in a quarter-folded tabloid format. Both undergraduate and graduate students write for the paper. The Bulletin comes out weekly on Wednesdays while classes are in session. The paper version of the Bulletin is distributed for free throughout the campus of UNH, and is also published online.[26]

The University of New Haven Chargers Marching Band (UNHMB) is one of the fastest-growing collegiate marching bands in the country, starting in 2009 with only 20 members and now marching close to 300.[27]

The university's noncommercial radio station, WNHU-FM, first signed onto the air at 16:00 EDT on July 4, 1973. The WNHU studios moved to its current home on Ruden Street into the Lois Evalyn Bergami Broadcast Media Center in 2015.[28] Its location on Ruden Street includes a production space for live and recorded programming, a server room, staff offices, and a student lounge. WNHU is managed by a 10-person student leadership team. Positions include station manager, promotions director, Aircheck director, WNHU program director, director of fundraising, program/music director, and productions director. The University of New Haven's communications department started to work with the radio station for students to have access to the station. The station operates as a laboratory for student learning, and as a source of culturally diverse programming for the communities served.[29] WNHU is broadcast on 88.7 FM; it is considered the best college radio station in Connecticut according to the New Haven Advocate, which has awarded the station "Best College Radio Station" for over six consecutive years.[30]

WNHU is known for eclectic programming, with shows ranging from new music, rock, gospel, funk, and talk shows to specialty formats such as polka and Irish music.[31] Unlike many college or community radio stations where DJs change frequently, some WNHU personalities have hosted shows for years, many of whom are UNH alumni.[32]

Bucknall Theater was named in honor of William L. Bucknall, Jr. who has a passion for theatre and regularly attends shows at the University of New Haven and in New York and London. The theater has about two productions a semester as well as holding several functions for the university throughout the academic year. The space also doubles as a learning space for many of the classes pertaining to the Arts Department, more specifically theatre minors. It is used as a lecture hall and is equipped with pull-out desks on each of the 250 seats.[33]

On April 22, 2023, the BSU celebrated its 50th anniversary during the annual Sankofa Ball held during the university's Black and Latino Alumni Weekend.[34]

• Henry C. Lee (retired, former professor of forensic science) – Worked on famous cases such as the JonBenét Ramsey murder, the Helle Crafts woodchipper murder, the O. J. Simpson and Laci Peterson cases, the post-9/11 forensic investigation, the Beltway sniper shootings, and the reinvestigation of the assassination of John F. Kennedy.[38]
• Nikodem Popławski (professor of physics) is most widely noted for the hypothesis that every black hole could be a doorway to another universe and that the universe was formed within a black hole, which itself exists in a larger universe.[39] Popławski has also appeared in an episode of the TV show Through the Wormhole titled "Are There Parallel Universes?" and in an episode of the Discovery Channel show Curiosity titled "Is There a Parallel Universe?", which were hosted by Morgan Freeman and aired in 2011. He was named by Forbes magazine in 2015 as one of five scientists in the world most likely to become the next Albert Einstein.[40] As of 2020, Dr Nikodem Poplawski has published his groundbreaking work on black holes and the multiverse in the journal Foundations of Physics.[41]
• Horatio Strother (assistant professor of history) is the author of the authoritative book on the Underground Railroad in Connecticut.[42]