Arkansas State University
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Arkansas State University |
|
---|---|
Motto | Powering Minds |
Established | 1909 |
Type | Public |
President | Les Wyatt |
Staff | 500 |
Undergraduates | 11,001 (17,401 for all campuses) [1] |
Location | Jonesboro, Arkansas, USA |
Campus | Urban |
Athletics | 16 teams |
Colors | Scarlet and Black |
Website | http://www.astate.edu/ |
Logo is a trademark of Arkansas State University |
Arkansas State University (A-State) or (ASU) is a public university and is the flagship campus of the Arkansas State University System, the state's second largest college system. It is located atop 800 acres on Crowley's Ridge at Jonesboro, Arkansas, USA.
Contents[hide] |
[edit] Campuses
- Main campus, Jonesboro, Arkansas
- Arkansas State University Beebe and Arkansas State Technical Institute
- Arkansas State University Searcy, a technical campus of ASU-Beebe
- Arkansas State University Heber Springs, a technical campus of ASU-Beebe
- Arkansas State University Little Rock Air Force Base, a degree center of ASU-Beebe
- Arkansas State University Mountain Home
- Arkansas State University Newport
- Arkansas State University Technical Center, Marked Tree campus and Jonesboro campus
- Arkansas State University Paragould, an instructional site of the Jonesboro campus
[edit] History
ASU or A-State, as it is called today, was founded in Jonesboro in 1909 by the Arkansas Legislature as a regional agricultural training school. It began offering a two-year college program in 1918, then became First District Agricultural and Mechanical College in 1925. A four-year degree program was begun in 1930, then A & M College became Arkansas State College in 1933. The Arkansas Legislature elevated the college to university status and changed the name to Arkansas State University in 1967.
[edit] Degree Programs
Master's degree graduate programs were initiated in 1955, and ASU began offering its first doctoral degree, in educational leadership, in the fall of 1992. A second doctoral program, in environmental science, was begun in the fall of 1997, and the doctoral program in heritage studies began in the fall of 2001. The doctoral program in the biomedical sciences kicked off in fall 2005.
Today, the institution has more than 55,000 alumni. Programs at the specialist's, master's, bachelor's and associate's degree levels are available through the various colleges: Agriculture, Business, Communications, Education, Engineering, Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, Nursing and Health Professions, Sciences and Mathematics, and University College.
[edit] The ASU System
The ASU system includes campuses in Jonesboro (Craighead County), which offers degree programs through the doctoral level; Beebe (White County), Mountain Home (Baxter County), and Newport (Jackson County), where associate degree programs are offered; and at Heber Springs, Marked Tree, and Searcy. Arkansas State University-Beebe became part of the ASU system in 1955. It associated with White River Vo-Tech at Newport in 1992; that campus has attained stand-alone status and is now Arkansas State University-Newport. The Mountain Home campus officially became ASU-Mountain Home on July 1, 1995. Delta Technical Institute at Marked Tree merged with ASU and became Arkansas State University Technical Center on July 1, 2001. A new campus is being built for ASU-Heber Springs, which operates as a sister campus of ASU-Beebe. Foothills Technical Institute at Searcy was merged with ASU-Beebe on July 1, 2003, and is now ASU-Searcy, a technical institute of ASU-Beebe.
ASU offers bachelor's degree programs, master's degree programs and upper level courses through ASU degree centers at ASU-Beebe, ASU-Mountain Home, and three other cities -- Blytheville, Forrest City, and West Memphis -- where partnership agreements have been established in cooperation with the local community colleges. ASU also operates an instructional site at nearby Paragould in Greene County.
ASU has grown rapidly over the past 20 years. Current enrollment for the Jonesboro campus stands at about 12,000, and the system has an enrollment of greater than 17,000.
[edit] Athletics
Arkansas State is affiliated with the Sun Belt Conference in sports and maintains NCAA Division I programs in the major sports including football where A-State is a I-A program. The school's sports teams are nicknamed "Indians" in honor of the Osage Nation that inhabited the area until the 1800s. [1][2]
As a member of the Southland Conference in 1970, Arkansas State was the NCAA small college football national champion. The Indians defeated Central Missouri State University in the Pecan Bowl, held in Arlington, Texas to win the national championship and complete an undefeated season, 11-0. During the 1970's ASU competed at the NCAA Division I level and in 1975 finished an undefeated 11-0. ASU was one of only two undefeated Division I football teams that year. They can also lay claim to being one of only four institutions to have gone undefeated and not win a National Championship at the Division I-A level. Since ASU was a member of the Southland Conference, and at that time the Southland did not have a bowl game tie-in, ASU was not selected for a bowl game even though they were ranked in the Associated Press Top 25. As a result of this inequity, the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, Louisiana was created and is still operating to this day. During the 1980's, ASU was a powerhouse in NCAA Division I-AA, making four appearances in the playoffs, including playing in the national championship game in 1986.
During the 2005 football season, Arkansas State finished the regular season as Sun Belt Conference champions with a record of 6 wins and 5 losses and was extended an invitation to the New Orleans Bowl. This was the school's first bowl game since the trip to the 1970 Pecan Bowl and subsequent national championship. The Indians were defeated by the University of Southern Mississippi in the game, which was played that year in the city of Lafayette, Louisiana due to the lingering effects of Hurricane Katrina.
The Indians have recently rekindled a rivalry with the Memphis Tigers within the last 3 years. Previously members of the Southland Conference, the #25 ranked Memphis Tigers beat the Indians 47-35 in 2004 before the largest crowd to ever watch a game at Indian Stadium, 30,427. And in 2006, Arkansas State beat Memphis at the Liberty Bowl after a last second hail mary touchdown to secure the win, 26-23. Both schools have met 53 times, with the Tigers leading the series 27-21-5.
Although they rarely ever play one another, the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville considers the Indians a rival. Since the UA has a majority of fan support throughout the state, and almost a monopoly with the state's media, the Razorbacks' AD Frank Broyles believes there is no advantage in playing the Indians, which has angered Arkansas sports fans across the state. When the two met in a 1987 Men's National Invitation Tournament game, the Hogs came back from a 23 point deficit to beat the Indians in overtime following several questionable calls, 67-64. In 2005, the Lady Indians defeated the Lady 'Backs in a Women's NIT game in front of the largest crowd to watch a game at the Convocation Center (10,892).
Arkansas State also shares an in-state rivalry with the University of Arkansas at Little Rock(UALR). Recently the basketball series has gone in the favor of ASU, having a winning streak against UALR for 5 games (updated 2006-2007 season). In the 2005-2006 season, ASU swept the series with UALR for the first time in six years.
Although Arkansas State hasn't developed a clear cut rivalry in the Sun Belt, among current Sun Belt members, the University of Louisiana Ragin Cajuns and University of Louisiana Monroe Warhawks were once members of the Southland Conference with ASU and at one time were considered rivals. Judging by the all-time series with Arkansas State and the two Louisiana schools, it seems possible to dub both schools as "rivals" based on close win/loss margins. In football, the Ragin' Cajuns lead the all-time series with Arkansas State, 18-16-1, while Warhawks lead the all-time series against ASU, 15-13.
[edit] Fight Song
On, on, on to Victory!
Brave team you're second to none
Let's make this game history
Along with the others you've won!
Fight! Fight! Fight!
With all your might
So that the world may see
That I-N-D-I-A-N-S means Victory!
[edit] Alma Mater
Our Alma Mater ASU Your hallowed halls shall ring With praise by daughter and noble son Who proudly stand and sing Mem'ries of your stirring glory And of youthful friends we knew The red and black shall ever wave On high for ASU
[edit] Alumni
Well-known alumni of Arkansas State University include:
- Larry P. Arnn- President, Hillsdale College
- Mike Beebe - Governor of Arkansas
- Earl Bell - Olympic bronze medal pole vaulter and former world record holder
- Bill Bergey - NFL star linebacker
- Ray Brown- retired veteran NFL offensive lineman
- Rodger Bumpass- comedian and voice of Squidward on the popular TV show "Spongebob Squarepants"
- Jeff Hartwig - US record holding pole vaulter
- Maurice Carthon - NFL/USFL player and NFL coach
- Brad Franchione - college football coach
- Thomas Hill - Olympic silver medalist in 110-meter hurdles in 1972
- Al Joyner - Olympic gold medalist in the triple jump
- Cleo Lemon - quarterback for Miami Dolphins
- Jerry Mooney ('75) - Memphis entrepreneur, former President of VHA Long Term Care and former board member of Servicemaster
- Major General Bobby Porter - former commanding general of US Army's 82nd Airborne Division
- Major General James Simmons - Deputy Commanding General of Army's III Corps and Fort Hood, Texas
- Major General Eugene Stillions - former commanding general of Army's Fort Lee, Virginia
- Kellie Suttle - two time Olympic pole vaulter and silver medalist at 2001 World Indoor Championships and 1999 Pan American Games
- Charley Thornton - sports figure
- Debbye Turner - Miss America, 1990
- Corey Williams- defensive tackle for Green Bay Packers
- Miller Williams - contemporary poet
[edit] Greek Life
Approximately 15% of ASU's students are members of one of the 21 Greek organizations located on the campus. Most other student organizations, including the Student Government Association, the Student Activities Board, and the Student Orientation Staff, are led and comprised mainly of Greek students. Many in these groups are dedicated to academics and community service. Also of interest, the cumulative Greek GPA is consistently higher than the overall average ASU GPA. The organizations also devote thousands of man-hours and dollars to local charities each year.
[edit] Sororities
- Alpha Gamma Delta 1948
- Alpha Kappa Alpha
- Alpha Omicron Pi 1949
- Chi Omega 1961
- Delta Sigma Theta (suspended since 2006)
- Delta Zeta 1991
- Kappa Delta 1968
- Phi Mu 1951
- Sigma Gamma Rho
- Zeta Phi Beta
- Zeta Tau Alpha 1968 (closed since 1991)
[edit] Fraternities
- Alpha Gamma Rho 1969
- Alpha Phi Alpha
- Alpha Tau Omega 1968
- Kappa Alpha Order
- Kappa Alpha Psi
- Lambda Chi Alpha
- Phi Beta Sigma (suspended in 2006)
- Pi Kappa Alpha 1948
- Omega Psi Phi
- Sigma Chi
- Sigma Phi Epsilon (closed in 2001)
- Sigma Pi 1948
- Tau Kappa Epsilon 1949
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Arkansas State University
- Dean B. Ellis Library
- ASU Athletics
- ASU Museum
- KASU
- The Herald
- ASU-TV
- The Edge
- A-State Baptist Collegiate Ministry
- Arkansas State University Rugby Club, first university in the United States to offer rugby scholarships
Sun Belt Conference |
---|
Arkansas–Little Rock • Arkansas State • Denver • Florida Atlantic • Florida International • Louisiana–Lafayette • Lousiana–Monroe • Middle Tennessee • New Orleans • North Texas • South Alabama • Troy • Western Kentucky |
Public Colleges and Universities in Arkansas |
---|
Arkansas • Arkansas-Fort Smith • Arkansas-Little Rock • Arkansas-Monticello • Arkansas-Medical Sciences • Arkansas-Pine Bluff • Arkansas State • Arkansas Tech • Central Arkansas • Henderson State • Southern Arkansas |
Arkansas State University System |
---|
Flagship & Related Sites: Jonesboro — Paragould • Marked Tree Secondary Campuses: Beebe — Heber Springs • Searcy • LRAFB • Arkansas State Technical Institute / Mountain Home / Newport |