Colorado State University
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Colorado State University |
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| Established | 1870 |
| Type | Public |
| Endowment | US$193 million |
| President | Larry Penley |
| Faculty | 1,403 |
| Undergraduates | 21,884 |
| Postgraduates | 4,534 |
| Location | Fort Collins, Colorado, United States |
| Campus | Urban |
| Nickname | Rams |
| Mascot | Cam the Ram |
| Website | www.colostate.edu |
Colorado State University is a public land grant institution of higher learning located in Fort Collins, Colorado in the United States. The current enrollment is approximately 25,000 students. The university has approximately 1,400 faculty in eight colleges and 55 academic departments.
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[edit] Student Life
CSU students have the opportunity to participate actively in research even as undergraduates. There also are opportunities to be active with bike trails near campus and hiking nearby.
Clubs and Activities
More than 300 student clubs and organizations. The student government is the Associated Students of Colorado State University. CSU's daily newspaper is The Rocky Mountain Collegian. CSU also has a student-run campus television station and a student radio station.
Residence Halls
CSU offers theme floors for people with shared interests. The halls also have a number of Living-Learning communities that directly link the on-campus living environment with a specific academic focus and opportunities in Honors; engineering; natural sciences; health and wellness; equine sciences; leadership development; and pre-veterinary medicine.
Examples include The Key Academic Community, an academically focused residential community for freshmen who share a desire for academic achievement, active involvement in classes, community service, campus activities, and appreciation of diversity. Residents share classes and take advantage of yearlong service opportunities with a close knit group of 19 other students.
Additionally, CSU's Honors Program houses about 1,000 participants, with the opportunity to live in the Honors Living Community.
Major Speakers
The Monfort Lecture Series has brought important speakers to campus. Past Lecturers include Mikhail Gorbachev, Madeleine Albright, General Norman Schwarzkopf and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
[edit] Notable Areas of Research
CSU faculty members are noted for their research on great global challenges including the reemergence of tuberculosis, the brown cloud of air pollution in Asian cities, severe weather forecasting, nutrition and wellness, and bio-terrorism. CSU researchers in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences processes and manages incoming data from a new satellite called CloudSat, which enables scientists to see cloud properties and vertical structure. Research in the Engines and Energy Conversion Laboratory has created a technological solution to limit pollutants from single-stroke engines, and is now in widespread use in the Philippines. Outlying campuses cater to a range of research activities including crops research, animal reproduction, and watershed management. In addition, Colorado operates 12 research centers statewide to conduct research and experiments in various scientific fields.
[edit] Academic Programs
Colorado State offers 150 programs of study across 8 colleges and 55 departments. In addition to its world-renowned[citation needed] programs in biomedical sciences, engineering, environmental science, agriculture, and human health and nutrition, CSU offers professional programs in professional disciplines including business, journalism, construction management as well as in the liberal and performing arts, humanities, and social sciences.
Colorado State's academic colleges are:
- College of Agricultural Sciences
- College of Applied Human Sciences
- College of Business
- College of Engineering
- College of Liberal Arts
- Warner College of Natural Resources
- College of Natural Sciences
- College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
[edit] Facts and Figures
Colorado State employs a total of 1,400 faculty members, with 930 on tenure-track appointments. The student:faculty ratio is 18:1. CSU awarded 5,727 degrees in 2005-2006, including 4,317 bachelor’s degrees; 1,089 master’s degrees; and 186 doctoral degrees.
Its current president is Larry Penley. He was inducted on August 1, 2003[citation needed], and is the thirteenth president in the history of the University[citation needed].
[edit] International Programs
Approximately 600 students per year participate in educational programs abroad, and 1,200 foreign students and scholars from more than 90 countries are engaged in academic work and research on campus. The initial pilot studies for the Peace Corps were conducted by Colorado State faculty, and the university is consistently one of the top-ranking institutions in the nation for the recruitment of Peace Corps volunteers[citation needed].
[edit] History
Colorado State University is a land-grant institution classified as a Carnegie Doctoral/Research University-Extensive. CSU was founded as the Colorado Agricultural College in 1870, six years before the Colorado Territory gained statehood. It was one of 68 land-grant colleges established under the Morrill Act of 1862. The doors opened to a freshman class of 19 students in 1879. In 1935, the school became the Colorado State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, or Colorado A&M, and was renamed Colorado State University in 1957.
The act to create the university was signed by Colorado Territory governor Edward M. McCook in 1870 arising from the Morrill Act. During the first years of its official existence, the university existed only on paper. A board of 12 trustees was formed to "purchase and manage property, erect buildings, establish basic rules for governing the institutions and employ buildings." But the near complete lack of funding by the territorial legislature for this mission severely hampered progress.
The first 30-acre (120,000 m²) parcel of land for the campus was deeded in 1871 by Robert Dazell. In 1872, the Larimer County Land Improvement Company contributed a second 80-acre (320,000 m²) parcel. The first $1000 to erect buildings was finally allocated by the territorial legislature in 1874. The funds were not sufficient, however, and trustees were required to find a matching amount, which they eventually obtained from local citizens and businesses.
Among the institutions which donated matching funds was the local Grange, which was heavily involved in the early establishment of the university. As part of this effort, in the spring of 1874 Grange No. 7 held a picnic and planting event at the corner of College Avenue and West Laurel Street, and later plowed and seeded 20 acres (80,000 m²) of wheat on a nearby field. Within several months, the university's first building, a 16-foot-by-24-foot red brick building nicknamed the "Claim Shanty" was finished, providing the first tangible presence of the institution in Fort Collins.
After Colorado achieved statehood in 1876, the territorial law establishing the university was required to be reauthorized. In 1877, the state legislature created the eight-member State Board of Agriculture to govern the school. Early in the 21st century, the governing board was renamed the Board of Governors of the Colorado State University System. The legislature also authorized a railroad right-of-way across the campus, and mill levy to raise money for construction of the campus' first main building, Old Main, which was completed in December 1878. Despite wall cracks and other structural problems during the first year, the building was opened in time for the welcoming of the first five students on September 1, 1879 by university president Elijah Evan Edwards.
The university has operated under four different names:
- 1879: Agricultural College of Colorado
- 1935: Colorado College of Agricultural and Mechanic Arts (Colorado A&M)
- 1944: Colorado Agricultural and Mechanical College (Colorado A&M)
- 1957: Colorado State University
[edit] Athletics
Before 1957, Colorado State University was referred to as Colorado Agriculture and Mechanical College. Athletic teams were referred to as "Aggies". In 1924, an "A" was white washed onto the western hillside of Fort Collins in support of the Aggies. The "A" is re-painted yearly by the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity prior to the Homecoming football game. The hillside where the "A" is painted is directly adjacent to Hughes Stadium and below Horsetooth Rock. Hughes Stadium (2006 Capacity: 34,000)is the current home of Rams Football. The field at Hughes Stadium (2007) is named after the Ram's well known coach and called "Sonny Lubick Field".
The ram was named the official mascot of Colorado State University in 1946. CAM the Ram is the current representation of the official mascot. The 2006 version of CAM is a Rambouillet ram and the 21st ram to represent the university. CAM was named using an acronym for the former university title "Colorado Agriculture and Mechanical College". Currently, the athletic teams are referred to as the Rams. The official school colors are green (usually hunter shade) and gold. The CSU fight song can be found here. Lyrics and explanation of Fum's Song are found here.
Colorado State University's athletic teams compete in the Mountain West Conference, which is an NCAA Division I conference and sponsors Division I-A football. The Rams football teams won or shared the title of Mountain West Conference Champions in 1999, 2000 and 2002.
Colorado State has three major rivalries. The Rams' football team plays the University of Colorado, often at Invesco Field at Mile Hile in Denver, in a game called the "Rocky Mountain Showdown." Within the Mountain West, Colorado State has a big rivalry with Air Force. The winner of the CSU-Air Force football game receives the Ram-Falcon Trophy. Colorado State also has a conference rivalry with Wyoming (the Border War), with the winner of the annual football game receiving the Bronze Boot. The CSU-Wyoming rivalry is the second oldest interstate rivalry west of the Mississippi, behind only the "Border Showdown" (formerly "Border War") of Missouri and Kansas.
Since Sonny Lubick took control over the Rams as head coach in 1992, the Rams have made seven bowl appearances (2006). The Rams had a losing season in 2004, and finished 6-6 (5-3 in Mountain West Conference play) in the 2005 season.
in 2004, The Rams Women's Volleyball team under coach Tom Hilbert made it to the Sweet Sixteen round of the NCAA tournament. In 2006, they won the Mountain West Conference tournament to make the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Colorado State also is home to highly competitive sports club teams in lacrosse, hockey, polo, archery and more. The Colorado State University Rams Men's club lacrosse team was the USL-MDIA national champion in 1999, 2001, 2003 and 2006. The CSU club baseball team has won 3 consecutive National Club Baseball Association National Championships in 2004, 2005, and 2006. The 2006 National Collegiate archery champion was a Colorado State University student, Brian Christensen.
[edit] Notable alumni
- Wayne Allard, politician
- John Amos, actor
- David Anderson (football), professional football player
- Al "Bubba" Baker, professional football player
- Mike Bell, professional football player 2nd overall draft pick in 1979 NFL Draft
- Jim Benemann, Denver television news anchor
- Randy Beverly, professional football player
- Baxter Black, cowboy poet
- Leslie Brown, graphic designer
- Susan Butcher, dog-sled racer
- Keith Carradine, Academy Award-winning actor
- Mary L. Cleave, astronaut
- Dominique Dunne, actress
- Martin J. Fettman, astronaut
- Clark Haggans, professional football player, member of 2006 Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers
- Becky Hammon, professional basketball player
- John Howell, professional football player
- Stan Matsunaka, politician
- Thurman "Fum" McGraw, Hall of Fame Football Player
- Mike Montgomery, professional basketball coach
- Sean Moran, professional football player
- Marilyn Musgrave, politician
- Greg Myers (football), professional football player Jim Thorpe Award winner (1995)
- Angie Paccione, politician
- Erik Pears, professional football player
- Joey Porter, professional football player, member of 2006 Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers
- Bill Ritter, Colorado Governor, former Colorado District Attorney
- Roy R. Romer, former Colorado governor
- Kent Rominger, astronaut
- Cecil Sapp, professional football player
- Jim Sheeler, Pulitzer prize winner
- Brady Smith, professional football player
- Amy Van Dyken, Olympic swimmer and gold medalist
- James Van Hoften, astronaut
- Bradlee Van Pelt, professional football player
- Carol Voisin, ethics professor and former candidate for Congress
- Bryan Berryhill, professional track athlete, 2001 NCAA Champion (indoor track-mile run), 2001 NCAA Champion (Outdoor track-1500 meters), currently Colorado State Head Cross Country Coach and Assistant Track Coach [1]
[edit] Notable faculty
- Raj Chandra Bose, statistician
- Robert E. Glover, groundwater engineer
- William M. Gray, atmospheric sciences
- Temple Grandin, animal sciences
- Thomas Sutherland, hostage in Lebanon
- Holmes Rolston III, father of environmental ethics
- Karolin Luger, biochemistry
- Laurence Belfiore, innovator of transport phenomena, leader of the vector-tensor gymnastics movement
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Official site
- History of CSU
- University Libraries
- CSU Featured Article on AnyCollege.com
- Official CSU athletics site
- CSU Archery site. Home of Intercollegiate Archery Champion, Brian Christensen
- RamLine.com (Historical site for CSU athletics)
- RamNation.com Home of everything CSU Rams
| Mountain West Conference |
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