At the beginning of Wilkes' fourth decade, further dramatic changes were already underway.
The commitment to graduate technical education led to the construction of a new extension to Stark Hall, containing 91 rooms and about 38,000 square feet. 研究中心 cost $1,000,000, raised through gifts and a $400,000 grant from the Area Redevelopment 权威. 该建筑于1964年1月开放.
On August 11, 1964, ground was broken for a Center for the Performing Arts. 这是 located on the lands originally owned by the Conyngham brothers and enjoyed a commanding 萨斯奎哈纳河的景色. Long vacant, the lands were owned by the Wyoming Valley Society of Arts and Sciences and had been destined for the development of cultural 设施. Since only Wilkes had any prospect of raising sufficient money to build such a facility, the land had been given to the college. 最后，在1965年10月， 推荐全球十大博彩公司排行榜有了自己的表演中心.
The center, made possible by the anonymous financial support of Dorothy Dickson Darte, was important to the maintenance of the educational balance of the college. 由其 construction, Wilkes reaffirmed its dedication to the arts and to a broadly-based education at the same time that it increased its commitment to the sciences. 艺术 complex was completed by a music building which opened in mid-1969.
The beginning of Wilkes' fourth decade was also marked by expansion of the outdoor athletic 设施 in Edwardsville, across the Susquehanna from the main campus. As already noted, Wilkes had leased Artillery Field from the Pennsylvania National 自20世纪40年代起用作棒球场的警卫. 在1960年和1963年学院购买 land between the Connecting Railroad and Kirby Park, and across Northampton Street from the baseball field, from Glen Alden Corporation.
The old colliery site, together with the former mine buildings, provided Wilkes with a field house and locker rooms, a football field and stands, a soccer field and tennis 法院. The new athletic facility was opened in the fall of 1965 and was named Ralston Field, in honor of George Ralston, Dean of Students and former Wilkes football coach. Improved 设施 seemed to inspire improved teams. 六十年代末，推荐全球十大博彩公司排行榜成立了 a record 33 consecutive football victories over four seasons, securing national recognition 和兰伯特奖杯.
One of the expedients of Wilkes' growth and at the same time one of the institution's charms was the exclusive use of old homes as residence halls. 居民发达 an almost clannish loyalty to the buildings in which they spent their college years. On occasion in the 1960s, students named dormitories with the tacit approval of the 大学管理. Such was the case with "Hainna" Hall, commemorating a pejorative colloquialism frequently heard in the Wyoming Valley in those days, and Bruch Hall, named for the faculty resident, and later redesignated as the second Ashley Hall. 艺术上的放纵也是可以容忍的. 有一段时间，布鲁赫大厅金碧辉煌 purple chimney inscribed with the building's name.
By 1964, housing demands exceeded supply and few additional mansions were available. The College leased housing for the surplus students on the third floor of the Carlyle 南富兰克林街224号戏剧学校. 在Y轴上. M. C. A. 斯特林酒店. 它还建造了第一个新宿舍.
Initial plans called for four identical dormitories, with a dining hall for each pair. 幸运的是，这个计划从未完成. 皮克林是一座y形的建筑 268 men and was claimed to be an improvement over the barracks-type dormitories built 被其他学院在战后的扩张中. 这些说法是乐观的. 建筑 lacked the intimacy of the old residence houses and the system of dividing the building into nine named residential units - one for each wing on each floor - was only partially 成功的替代品. Once again, the initial occupants were given considerable latitude in naming the "houses," astronauts and Republican senators acquiring equal 计费. The houses were named Butler, Colonel's, Diaz, Dirksen, Grissom, Priapus, 罗斯福，华纳和韦伯斯特.
The added capacity provided only temporary relief. 斯特林酒店和Y. M. C. A. continued in use and the College resumed the policy of converting old houses, 直到1971年每年都在增加.
Wilkes' library had outgrown Kirby Hall and a new facility was opened in November 1968. It was named the Eugene Shedden Farley 图书馆 to commemorate the College's 第一任总统. Similarly, administrative functions had outgrown Chase Hall. 这 problem was resolved by the gradual conversion of the second Weckesser Hall from a women's residence hall into the main administration building, a process completed 1967年中期.
Unfortunately, Wilkes' good luck was about to run out. 这是厄运的最早征兆 was the burning of Conyngham Hall, the College's first building, during the Christmas 1968年的突破. An inconvenience, the fire was followed by a disaster -- the 艾格尼丝飓风洪水 外部网站 1972年6月. The decade which began on a note of promise and optimism ended on a 不确定性说明.