Saturday, October 21, 1933

I came home from Mrs. Raifert's this morning. Went downtown today. Stayed all night again.

University of Kansas City Administration Building (circa 1933)

During a bright autumn day on October 1, 1933, nearly 2,000 people gathered in the shade of trees

 along the south side of Brush Creek to officially celebrate the opening of the University of Kansas City.

Inspired speeches by Chairman of the Board Ernest E. Howard and Dr. Burris Jenkins, a prominent

 local minister, declared the founders' intention that the university should serve as an institution

 of opportunity for Kansas Citians who could not travel far away to attend college.  The following day,

on October 2, classes began with 264 students and 17 instructors. 

On July 25, 1963, UKC finally succumbed to longstanding financial difficulties and ceased to be a

private university.  It instead joined the University of Missouri System, which already had campuses

in Columbia, Rolla, and St. Louis, and was renamed the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC).