Throwback Thursday: NU Merger Bill
- contact: Sarah Casey - University Communications
- phone: 402.554.2762
- email: scasey@unomaha.edu
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We'll share a vintage University of Nebraska Omaha (UNO) photo each Thursday on our homepage as part of the popular "Throwback Thursday."
Check back each week for a photo celebrating UNO's history, and to learn more about what's happening on campus and in our community, and future plans for the university.
This week's throwback photo features students campaining for the merger of then Municipal University of Omaha into the University of Nebraska system in 1967.
On January 30, 1967, a bill was introduced to the Nebraska Legislature for the merger. Nearly 11 months later, in December 1967, Omahans voted 4-1 to merge the universities.
On July 1, 1968, the Municipal University of Omaha became the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) and officially joined the University of Nebraska (NU) system.
One result of the OU merger with NU was a sizeable increase in enrollment at UNO--it increased more than 23 percent from the fall of 1967 to the fall of 1968 with a total of 11,000 students. UNO also gained access to state funding. Fourty-seven years later, UNO's enrollment has grown to more than 15,000 students, become classified as a Carnegie Doctoral/Research university, and moved to Division I athletics.