Before 1920, the University of Buffalo was an affiliated group of professional schools—Medicine, Pharmacy, Dentistry, and Law—housed in buildings around the city. The University purchased the former Erie County Almshouse on Main Street in 1909, but it wasn’t until 1920, after a successful grassroots endowment campaign that raised $5 million in ten days, that development of the property began in earnest. With the growth of this centralized campus came the growth of on-campus student activities.

The university’s first combination concert and marching band was established in 1920. That same year, the Iris, UB’s yearbook, resumed publication. 1922 saw the first Moving Up Day, an annual celebration held the first Friday in May where each class “moved up,” academically speaking (freshmen to sophomores, sophomores to juniors, juniors to seniors). The next period of growth for student life came in the 1950s, with the construction of the first dormitories on campus. Enrollment increased, and many activities and traditions began around this time, including Homecoming, Winter Carnival (Winterfest), Greek life, student government, and many others.