Fifty years ago, in the fall of 1975, two very different schools became one. Lowell Technological Institute (LTI), a STEM powerhouse on what is now UMass Lowell's North Campus, and Lowell State College (LSC), a liberal arts and teaching school on today's South Campus, merged to form the University of Lowell. The union forever changed the city's higher education landscape — and with it, its athletics history, laying the foundation for all of UMass Lowell's accomplishments to come.
 
Change almost always brings with it some level of uncertainty and uneasiness, as was the case with a change this significant for college students, faculty and staff at the time in Lowell.
 
"The first time you heard about, it was kind of interesting and mentally you didn't know what it meant," recalled LTI and ULowell All-American diver and Hall of Famer Charles Stahley '76 about the merger. "Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Lowell Tech had a good reputation. Lowell State had a good reputation and now we're merging."
 
Although a Merger Planning Board with student representation was established prior to 1975, many students ignored the rumblings of change until it was thrust upon them.
 
"I really didn't hear a lot of talk about the merger beforehand, but maybe I didn't want to hear it because I was hesitant or because I wanted it to stay Lowell State to be honest with you," admitted LSC and ULowell softball captain and Hall of Famer Barbara Ryder Brennan '76. "I probably looked the other way many times when they talked about it."
 
From an athletics perspective, though, Brennan and the rest of her Lowell State teammates were less worried about the merger.
 
"I knew we didn't have the competition for the same sport at Lowell Tech. We were the only softball team, so I don't think I felt threatened in that way," she recalled.
 
However, many faculty and staff, along with male student-athletes of sports that competed on both campuses worried how the merger would affect them and how duplications would be addressed.
 
"As a faculty member sitting at the café on South Campus, there was a lot of talk and it wasn't positive," explained Hall of Famer and former Lowell State and ULowell instructor, coach and administrator Denise Legault. "Faculty from South didn't want to go to North to teach and vice versa."  
 
"Some of the basketball and baseball players were concerned because they weren't really sure what a merge meant in terms of coaching staffs and merging the teams," added Stahley.
 
Despite the worries that come with significant change, the merger marched on, bringing a refreshed culture and new opportunities.
 
"For the majority of people, I do think it was a welcome change," commented Stahley. "Lowell State had more of a campus type of atmosphere, so when the merge took place, it changed the culture."
 
"I went over to North Campus and was amazed at some of the things that they had over there like handball courts," Brennan reminisced. "Who knew they had things like that. That was amazing. And just to be able to get on a bus. They had transportation to go over to the other campus for those that were studying things that they couldn't get here on South Campus"
 
As the two schools began to find their way as one, the newly created ULowell navigated how to honor each of its predecessors' contributions.   
 
"I was on a committee that was involved in picking the athletic colors and mascot for the new university," explained Legault. "We took the blue from State and red from Tech and threw in white for an accent color. It was perfect – red, white and blue – for the bicentennial year and that's how the colors ended up for uniforms."
 
Growing pains like the logistics of students taking classes and playing sports on the two campuses proved to be a challenge.
 
"The challenge was busing back and forth," said Stahley. "We had to alter our schedules a lot. I had classes on South now and their times were different than these times, so they staggered classes so we could get back and forth."
 
As time passed, the integration became more seamless as the University of Lowell expanded as one school.
 
"In the end, both schools won," Legault confirmed. "I'd say it felt like one school when the first freshmen graduated. I could never imagine how it is now. It's even bigger now."
 
Brennan echoed the same sentiments, remembering the period as one of hard work, growth and transition that ultimately led to substantial benefits, particularly for women's athletics.
 
"With the merger came a new time for growth," Brennan reflected. "That came with new opportunities for women here. I don't know if that would have happened with us remaining just Lowell State. I wouldn't change a thing. I loved it when I came here and if I had to do it all over again, that's what I would do."
 
For Legault, Brennan and Stahley, the merger was both an ending and a beginning. Each has pride in the school they originally represented, but they also recognize what the union created for future generations.
 
"I walk in this building and look at it now and think this is pretty amazing," Stahley said of the Tsongas Center and the other facilities that have been built since. "Students are tied into sports more now. Now, it's huge."
 
Stahley summed up the sentiments of those that lived through the merger of Lowell State and Lowell Tech, coming out on the other side as the University of Lowell and eventually UMass Lowell.  
 
"I feel greatly privileged to have been an All-American at Lowell Technological Institute and an All-American at the University of Lowell. I feel very privileged and honored to have accomplished that from two schools, but really one."
 
Fifty years later, the university is larger, stronger and more unified than either school could have imagined. The rivalry between North and South may have faded, but the spirit of those institutions lives on as a foundation for every success that has come in the 50 years since.