Dick Griffis had a hand in plenty of campus changes during his 27 years as campus engineer for Tri-State College, and then Tri-State University. But none of it compares to the transformation of TSU over the past several years, he said.

A 1953 TSU CE graduate, Griffis (“Griff” to his friends), stayed on at TSC as a civil engineering lab and surveying instructor for a couple years before accepting the campus engineer job. The Sniff building, now the renovated C.W. Sponsel Administration Center, once held his office. He views that restoration, and TSU’s new buildings, with amazement.

Richard M. Batemen, who served as TSC president from 1960 to 1974, drove many of the building projects back then, and Griff ticked off a list from memory.

Although he called those “amazing changes for the time,” he marvels at what the campus now offers. Griff also reflected upon the university’s name change in August. “You graduated from TSU, and now it will become Trine University,” he rhetorically tells fellow alumni. “That sounds a lot more like a university. I’m all for it. You’ll come back and remember the old days and see what the students have now. I’m just happy I’ve lived long enough to see this happen.”

Education analysts agree with Griff. U.S. News & World Report, a national source of service journalism and news, included TSU among Midwestern baccalaureate colleges in its 2008 edition of “America’s Best Colleges.”