It started out with hording canned food in anticipation of the millennium bug. Nothing like this year’s swine flu — in 1999, the panic-inducing apocalypse on the horizon was known as Y2K. Even though this decade didn’t see an international computer shutdown, the news didn’t slow down. Here are our picks for the top 10 ASU news stories from 2000 through 2009.

1. Michael Crow. In 2002, Crow became the 16th University president.
With him came sustainability, innovation and the New American University — buzzwords you may have heard around ASU once or twice. Though some of his decisions have come with controversy, Crow has been an instrumental part of pushing ASU into the new millennium. Love him or blame him, Crow has worked to make ASU a household name. And most surprisingly, a name that’s known for academics, not partying.

2. Fight for funding. As your pocketbook will no doubt tell you, budget cuts have not been kind to ASU in recent years. With the state budget battle raging over the past few semesters, education has taken a significant hit, feeling pressure from tuition, surcharges, fees and furloughs. Imagine a time when student fees barely reached $100. Too bad that was 10 years ago.

3. Presidential debate. On Oct. 13, 2004, the nation turned its attention to ASU’s Grady Gammage Auditorium as the building hosted the third and final debate between President George W. Bush and Sen. John Kerry. The event brought unparalleled national attention to the University and, despite the hefty price tag, was generally considered a success.

4. Obama commencement. In May 2009, President Barack Obama delivered the commencement address to a full Sun Devil Stadium at the University’s spring graduation ceremony. The president’s speech imparted words of wisdom to the outgoing class of graduates and, oh yes, there may have been something about an honorary degree, too.

5. Pat Tillman. A key member of the 1997 Rose Bowl team, ASU’s gutsy, undersized No. 42 was already a legend when he left Frank Kush Field for the final time. Then, after the attacks of Sept. 11, Tillman turned down a multimillion-dollar deal from the Arizona Cardinals to enlist in the U.S. Army. In 2004, while deployed in Afghanistan, Tillman was killed by friendly fire. Now, Tillman looms large again on the ASU campus; this time as an American hero.

6. ASU’s growth. Over the course of the decade, the University ballooned into the nation’s largest research university, boasting a current enrollment of 68,064. In addition to gaining thousands of students, ASU added millions of square feet in research space, dedicated unprecedented resources to the West and Polytechnic campuses and opened a brand new campus, the Downtown Phoenix campus, in 2006.

7. Athletic success. The Devils had a roller coaster of a decade on both the gridiron and the hardwood, but otherwise, the athletic department found great success. ASU won six titles after Lisa Love took over the athletic director position in 2005, including softball’s 2008 title run, and cemented its place among the nation’s best athletics programs (Sports Illustrated listed ASU No. 1 in 2008).

8. Loren Wade shooting. In 2005, Wade, an ASU running back with NFL potential, shot and killed former Sun Devil football player Brandon Faulkner outside a Scottsdale nightclub. He was found guilty of second-degree murder more than two years later.

9. MU fire. The Great Memorial Union Fire sparked not only hysteria and confusion, but it also made getting lunch on campus highly inconvenient for several semesters after. The building may not have actually collapsed, but we’ll still remember Nov. 1, 2007 as the day the MU “burned down.”

10. Party school image. The battle over ASU’s reputation as a party school lives on today, but in the shadow of a once-epic Crow-bro showdown. In 2002, Crow arrived, Playboy named the University its top party school and, adding further fuel to the fire, student body vice president Brian Buck was ousted from office for his role in a pornographic movie filmed on the Tempe campus. Today, ASU is falling fast on national party lists and rising on national academic lists. Quid pro Crow, Mr. President.