University of Northern Iowa administrators were in Des Moines today, kicking off a celebration of the University’s 125th anniversary. The Iowa Senate today passed a resolution honoring U-N-I, which began in 1876 as the “Iowa State Normal School”. Senator Don Redfern of Cedar Falls says 27 students started out at the school which has now grown to almost 14-thousand students. The school’s original mission was to prepare teachers for the classroom. In 1909, the name was changed to “The Iowa State Teacher’s College” and in 1961, it became the “State College of Iowa”. It became the “University of Northern Iowa” in 1967. U-N-I President Robert Koob says his institution is “one of the nation’s finest, comprehensive universities.”Senators celebrated the University’s milestone by handing out cupcakes.