1972

1972 in Columbia history:

• Latino students protest for the establishment of Latino Studies
• Construction of the Marcellus Hartley Dodge Physical Fitness Center begins in the former Grove
• Teachers College alum Shirley Chisholm is the first black presidential candidate and the first woman to run for the Democratic Party nomination.

Spring

• January 26: Ruth Bader Ginsberg is named a professor at the law School; she is the first woman professor in its 114-year history
• February 9: Andrew Cordier resigns as Dean of SIA
• February 25: Columbia and Barnard agree to extend cross-registration and cooperate to eliminate course redundancies; Columbia to assume a controlling role in the tenuring of Barnard faculty
• March 23: James Polschek named the 6th Dean of the School of Architecture

Summer

• June 11: Carl Hovde is succeeded by Peter Pouncey as Dean of Columbia College
• July 25: Dean of Students Henry Coleman shot five times by a suspended student

Fall

• September 19: Columbia College Dean Pouncey approves concept of a gay lounge in one of the undergraduate dormitories

Preceded by 1971

History of Columbia University  1972

Succeeded by 1973