The university was founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School. It wasn't until the school was Michigan State Normal College when the school's first nicknames (then Michigan State Normal College), were the "Normalites" and "Men from Ypsi". The "Hurons" first came into being as the result of a contest sponsored by the Men's Union in 1929. On Oct. 31 of that year, a three-person committee, composed of Dr. Clyde Ford, Dr. Elmer Lyman and Professor Bert Peet, selected the name "Hurons" from the many entries in the contest. The name was submitted by two students, Gretchen Borst and George Hanner. The runner-up name in that contest was Pioneers. The "Hurons" was adopted in 1929. In 1959, the school's name was changed to Eastern Michigan University but oddly, the mascot did not become the Emu. EMU was a member of the Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference from 1950 to 1961, and eventually joined the Mid-American Conference in 1972. The university switched from NCAA Division II to NCAA Division I athletics in the mid-1970s. Since the 1991 season, Eastern Michigan University athletic teams have gone by the nickname "Eagles."