Following passage of a bond issue, designs for the initial buildings at SIUE were approved on May 26, 1962. Morris authorized invitations for bids on a library building and a combination general classroom and office building on February 20, 1963. Contracts were approved on April 26, and ground was broken in May 1963. Subsequently, additional contracts were awarded for a science laboratory building, a communications building, and a university center or student union.

Classes began in Edwardsville on Thursday, September 23, 1965. Individuals, labor groups, and corporations contributed more than $432,000 to help make the new campus a reality. But it was the determination of Delyte Morris that brought all the ingredients together and produced a new institution to serve the residents of southwestern Illinois.

SIUE Archives - Stephen Kerber, Publisher

http://www.siue.edu/~skerber/SIUE_History.html