Oklahoma State University–Stillwater

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Oklahoma State University–Stillwater
Motto	N/A
Established	1890
Type	Public Sun-grant Land-grant
Endowment	$382 million[1]
President	Dr Marlene Strathe, Interm
Staff	1,857
Students	23,819
Location	Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA (36°07′56.02″N, 97°04′51.23″W)
Campus	Small city, 415 acres (1.68 km²) Main Campus
Nickname	Cowboys/Cowgirls
Colors	Orange (Pantone 166), Black (Pantone Process Black)
Mascot	Pistol Pete
Affiliations	Big 12 Conference
Website	www.okstate.edu
Logo is a trademark of Oklahoma State University

Oklahoma State University–Stillwater, located in Stillwater, Oklahoma, is an institution of higher learning founded in 1890 as a land-grant university under the Morrill Act. Originally known as Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College (Oklahoma A&M), it is the flagship institution of the Oklahoma State University System. The campus had a total enrollment of 20,834 students for the 2005-06 academic year, 18,909 of which were undergraduates.

Contents 1 History 2 Colleges 3 Awards and distinctions 4 Student life 4.1 Student demographics 4.2 Housing 4.3 Student organizations 4.4 Greek life 5 Athletics 6 People 7 Campus buildings 7.1 Academic buildings 7.2 Residential buildings 7.3 Other buildings 8 Points of interest 9 See also 10 References 10.1 External links

[edit] History

On December 24, 1890, the Oklahoma Territorial Legislature finally gained approval for Oklahoma Territorial Agricultural and Mechanical College, the land-grant university established under the Morrill Act of 1862. It specified that the college was to be within Payne County. Such an ambiguous description created rivalry between towns within the county, with Stillwater ultimately winning out. Upon statehood in 1907, "Territorial" was dropped from its title.

The first students assembled for class on December 14, 1891. Classes were held for two and one-half years in local churches until the first academic building, later known as Old Central, was dedicated on June 15, 1894, on the southeast corner of campus. In 1896, Oklahoma A&M held its first commencement with six male graduates.

Much of the growth of OAMC can be attributed to work of Henry G. Bennett, who served as the school's president from 1928 to 1950. Early in his tenure Dr. Bennett developed a strategic vision for the physical expansion of the university campus. His vision was followed for more than fifty years and made the university what it is today, including the Georgian architecture that permeates the campus. The focal point of his vision was a new library, which became a reality when the Edmon Low Library opened in 1953.

On May 15, 1957, Oklahoma A&M changed its name for the final time to Oklahoma State University to reflect the broadening scope of curriculum offered. Branches have since been added in Okmulgee, Oklahoma City, and Tulsa to the Oklahoma State University System, with the Stillwater campus as the flagship institution.

In 2005, OSU announced its "Campus Master Plan", an ambitious campaign to enhance academic, athletic, and administrative facilities. It is intended to be an extension of the Bennett Plan developed almost 80 years ago. Over $800 million is planned to be spent on construction and renovation to be completed over twenty years.

The Plan calls for an "athletic village" where all of the university's athletic facilities will be located on the main campus. To accomplish this goal, the athletic department has bought all (or nearly all) the property north of Boone Pickens Stadium up to McElroy between Knoblock and Washington streets. This has drawn criticism from the city of Stillwater and those property owners. While the vast majority of the real estate was rental property targeting college students, a few owners were longtime residents. OSU responded by offering property owners well above their appraised value. At present, there is a lone holdout in this parcel of land, who has sued OSU over their right to use eminent domain. Plans include the construction of an indoor practice facility for most sports, a soccer stadium/outdoor track, a tennis complex, and a baseball stadium.

[edit] Colleges

In addition to these, the Graduate College oversees the graduate degree programs of all colleges, and the Honors College provides further opportunities for students to study, conduct research, and exchange ideas in a challenging and supportive academic environment.

• Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources
• Arts and Sciences
• Education
• Engineering, Architecture, and Technology
• Human Environmental Sciences
• William S. Spears School of Business
• Veterinary Health Sciences

[edit] Awards and distinctions

Oklahoma State has garnered many awards and distinctions. As a land-grant university, historically renowned programs include its College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources and the College of Veterinary Medicine. The College of Engineering is internationally renowned, particularly in the fields of architecture and mechanical engineering.

• The Princeton Review has named OSU as one of its "Best Value" colleges.^[2]
• The Student Guide to America's 100 Best College Buys named Oklahoma State as America's Best College Buy in 1998.
• It has been named a Truman Honor Institution for its success in producing Truman scholars.
• OSU is one of five U.S. universities where Sun Grant Research Initiative programs have been established by the U.S. Congress in the Sun Grant Research Initiative Act of 2003 for the purposes of researching and developing sustainable and environmentally-friendly bio-based energy alternatives.
• Oklahoma State has graduated more Native Americans than any other university in the nation.
• The Math Department has been recognized by the American Mathematics Association as one of four innovative programs in the nation and has produced five Sloan Fellows, which is equal to that of MIT.
• The U.S. National Security Agency has chosen OSU as its newest National Center of Academic Excellence for Information Assurance Education.
• OSU's architecture students have won more national and international competitions than any school in the nation except the University of Illinois.
• OSU chemical engineering students won first-place for the third time in the 10-year history of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers' National Team Plant Design Competition.
• Aerospace engineering designed, built, and flew multiple winning RPV aircraft in the annual international DBF, competitions sponsored by the American Institute for Astronautics and Aeronautics, Office of Naval Research, and Cessna Aircraft Company.
• The Oklahoma Mesonet, a state-of-the-art network of environmental monitoring stations that is an OSU-OU partnership, won a special award from the American Meteorological Society (AMS), the nation's leading professional society for those in the atmospheric and related sciences at the National Weather Center.^[3]
• OSU is headquarters for the International Ground Source Heat Pump Association, which has members from as far away as Sweden, Japan, Australia, England and South Africa.
• The Occupational Education program is consistently ranked in the top 10 programs nation wide by US News and World Report.
• According to U.S. News & World Report rankings, OSU's medical school is among the nation's best. OSU's College of Osteopathic Medicine in Tulsa climbed in national rankings for the fifth straight year as one of the nation's top medical schools for primary care, rural medicine, and family medicine. In the primary care category, one of the two main categories in which all medical schools are ranked, OSU's College of Osteopathic medicine was ranked above the medical schools of Cornell University and the University of Chicago and tied with the medical school at Northwestern University.

• The library was ranked among the top 70 in the nation by the Association of Research Libraries, in 2003-2004.
• KOSU, the campus radio station, recently won its fifth Edward R. Murrow Award, one of the most prestigious broadcast journalism awards in the country.
• Both the Columbia Scholastic Press Association and the Associated Collegiate Press recognize OSU's Daily O'Collegian as one of the top collegiate newspapers in the country.
• Oklahoma State is home of the Orange Peel, the nation's largest student run event. The students put on a concert/pep rally event which provides the OSU family with national and local headlining entertainment. Past entertainment includes Bill Cosby, Sinbad, Incubus, Barenaked Ladies, Better than Ezra, Alan Jackson, and Jeff Foxworthy.
• The famous Asian-American poet Ai is a member of the English faculty
• OSU’s Colvin Center has been named one of the top six collegiate sports facilities in the nation, by the The National Intramural and Recreational Sports Association. [1]
• Gallagher-Iba Arena was named the best college gymnasium by CBS Sportsline in August 2001, and was ranked #1 by ESPNU in their countdown of America's top college basketball arenas.

[edit] Student life

[edit] Student demographics

For the 2004-2005 academic year, the student body was 48.16% female and 51.84% male. By ethnicity, it was 75.95% White, 3.89% African-American, 8.03% Native American, 1.89% Hispanic, 1.65% Asian, and 8.6% of the population were international students. The average age of a student was 24.115 with 76.76% of the student body claiming Oklahoma as their state of residency.

[edit] Housing

Current university-owned housing options include Twenty-six residence halls, over 30 dining options, and seven family-first apartment complexes. In recent years on-campus housing has been undergoing significant transformation. Student living was previously dominated by traditional dormitories; however, apartment-style buildings now comprise approximately half of the living quarters. In 2005, the high-rise Willham North and South residential halls that once dominated the Stillwater skyline with Kerr and Drummond Halls were demolished and replaced with more apartments built on its site. Iba Hall, another traditional dorm, will be closed in 2007.

Kerr-Drummond, Parker, Wentz and Stout Halls continue to offer traditional dormitory accommodations. Apartments for single students are Bost, Davis, Morsani-Smith, Peterson-Friend, Kamm, Sitlington and Young Halls. Housing in suite-style accommodations are provided in the unimaginatively named Village CASNR (College of Agricultural Science and Natural Resources), Village HES (Human and Environmental Science), Village C, Village D, Village E and Village F. Deluxe Suites are provided in Patchin & Jones, Bennett, Zink & Allen, and Stinchcomb & Booker Halls. Graduate students and families are offered accommodations in seven apartment "neighborhoods" with a variety of floor plans and amenities: Brumley, Demaree, Morrison, Prosser, Stevens, West and Williams.

Additionally, a number of learning communities and special interest housing options are available, providing opportunity for students who share interests or majors to live together. Most of these communities occupy certain floors of buildings or Halls, rather than consisting of separate buildings. Included among the options are: FIT (Freshman in Transition, College of Agriculture), Athletic Training, Career Exploration (College of Arts and Sciences), Computer Science House, Engineering Houses, Health and Sciences House, HES House (College of Human and Environmental Sciences), Journalism and Broadcasting House, Kamm Leadership House, Ketchum House(Native American interests), Maude's Quad (Women in Engineering House), Recovery House (students recovering from drug and/or alcohol dependence), Spanish House (language immersion), Spears School of Business House, Stout Honors House (University's Honors Program), Uhuru House (African Centered Cultural House), Wellness House, and The Transfer Zone (transfer students).

[edit] Student organizations

Virtually every imaginable association of students is present on the OSU campus. Groups exist that cater to a student of every race, religion, and sexual orientation. Almost every major has its own club, and most majors have their own honor societies that are affiliated with national organizations.

[edit] Greek life

Oklahoma State Universities Fraternity and Sororities will celebrate 100 years of existence at OSU in 2008.

Social fraternities and sororities at Oklahoma State are divided among four councils: Panhellenic, Interfraternity, National Pan-Hellenic and Multicultural.

Eleven national Panhellenic sororities have chapters at OSU. They are: Alpha Chi Omega, Alpha Delta Pi, Chi Omega, Delta Delta Delta, Gamma Phi Beta, Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Delta, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Phi Mu, Pi Beta Phi and Zeta Tau Alpha.

Seventeen fraternities make up the Interfraternity Council. Member fraternities include: Alpha Gamma Rho, Alpha Tau Omega, Beta Theta Pi, Delta Tau Delta, FarmHouse, Kappa Alpha, Kappa Sigma, Lambda Chi Alpha, Phi Delta Theta, Phi Gamma Delta, Phi Kappa Tau, Pi Kappa Alpha, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Sigma Chi, Sigma Nu, Sigma Phi Epsilon, Tau Kappa Epsilon and Zeta Beta Tau.

NPHC member organizations are historically black fraternities and sororities. Alpha Kappa Alpha, Zeta Phi Beta, Phi Beta Sigma, Delta Sigma Theta, Omega Psi Phi, Sigma Gamma Rho and Kappa Alpha Psi. In March 2007, the Alpha Phi Alpha chapter at OSU was closed down in the midst of serious allegations of hazing.

The Multicultural Greek Council is the umbrella organization for additional minority Greek letter groups. Member organizations include Alpha Pi Omega, the nation's first American Indian sorority, Delta Epsilon Psi, a south Asian fraternity, and Phi Sigma Nu, an American Indian fraternity.

Other Greek letter organizations not affiliated with a governing council include Beta Upsilon Chi, a Christian fraternity, Omega Phi Alpha, a service-based sorority and a colony of Sigma Phi Lambda, a Christian sorority.

Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma, the national honorary fraternity and sorority for college bandmembers, were founded at Oklahoma State in 1919 and 1946, respectively.

See also Notable OSU Greek Alumni

[edit] Athletics

Main article: Oklahoma State Cowboys

Stats:

NCAA Division I-A

Conference: Big 12 (South)

Major Rivalries: University of Oklahoma Sooners

Minor Rivalries: University of Texas Longhorns, University of Kansas Jayhawks, University of Iowa Hawkeyes

NCAA Championships: 48

Wrestling: 34

Golf: 10

Basketball: 2

Baseball: 1

Cross Country: 1

Athletic Director: Mike Holder

The Cowboy wrestling team is among the most storied programs in all of college sports. The Pokes brought home their 33rd NCAA championship in spring 2005, scoring the most points ever by an Oklahoma State wrestling team in the NCAA. OSU won their 34th overall (and 4th consecutive) title in 2006.^[4] OSU's 34 team titles are the most ever collected by a school in one sport. The Cowboys have also produced 126 individual national champions, including the sport's first-ever four-time champion, Pat Smith.

Main article: Oklahoma State Cowboys wrestling

Men's basketball is tradition rich at Oklahoma State. Oklahoma State made the Final Four in 1995 and 2004 and was the first ever division one basketball program to win back-to-back National Championships. Heisman trophy winner Barry Sanders set the single season rushing record in 1988.

Since the 1924 Olympics, 55 Oklahoma State University Olympians have won a total of 24 medals, 21 gold, two silver, and one bronze.

[edit] People

Main article: List of Oklahoma State University people

The current interm president of Oklahoma State University is Dr. Marlene Strathe.

Today, there are over 190,000 living OSU alumni worldwide. Famous OSU alumni involved in politics include US Senator Tom Coburn, who has heavily pushed for federal budget restraints, Country Star Garth Brooks, and former acting Surgeon General of the United States, Robert A. Whitney. Prominent alumni include oil tycoon and billionaire philanthropist T. Boone Pickens,Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice Steven W. Taylor, legal scholar Anita Hill and actor James Marsden. Coaching alumni include OSU wrestling head coach John Smith, OSU football head coach Mike Gundy, former OSU basketball coach Eddie Sutton and OSU basketball head coach Sean Sutton. The Cowboys have had several NBA stars in the 21st century including current New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets player Desmond Mason and former New York Knicks guard, John Starks.

In addition, Oklahoma State Athletics recently received a generous donation from legendary oilman Boone Pickens. Pickens has donated $165 million to be used to fund one of the nation’s most comprehensive collegiate athletic complexes during the next five to 10 years.

[edit] Campus buildings

This currently an incomplete list. An interactive map is available to locate buildings on campus.^[5]

[edit] Academic buildings

• Advanced Technology Research Center
• Agriculture Hall
• Architecture
• Barlett Center for the Visual Arts
• Classroom Building
• Colvin Recreation Center
• Cordell
• Edmon Low Library
• Engineering North
• Engineering South
• Food and Agricultural Products Research & Technology Center
• Gundersen
• Hanner Hall
• Human Environmental Sciences
• Human Environmental Sciences West
• Life Sciences East
• Life Sciences West
• Math Statistics Computer Science
• Morrill Hall
• Noble Research Center

• North Murray
• Paul Miller Journalism Building
• Physical Sciences
• Seretean Center for the Performing Arts
• Spears School of Business
• Thatcher Hall
• Whitehurst
• Willard, home of the College of Education

[edit] Residential buildings

• Bennett Hall
• Bost Hall
• Davis Hall
• Drummond Hall
• Kamm-Peterson-Friend
• Kerr Hall
• Parker Hall
• Patchin-Jones Hall
• Scott Hall
• Stout Hall
• Booker Hall (formerly known as Suite A)
• Stinchcomb Hall (formerly known as Suite B)
• The Village Suite Halls A-F (now open)
• Wentz Hall
• Young Hall
• Zink-Allen

[edit] Other buildings

• Allie P. Reynolds Stadium - Baseball
• Bennett Memorial Chapel
• Boone Pickens Stadium - Football stadium named after T. Boone Pickens
• ConocoPhillips Alumni Center
• Colvin Center- Largest Student Recreation Center in the nation.
• Historic Gallagher-Iba Arena - Named top collegiate venue in the United States by CBS Sportsline. It is named after Edward C. Gallagher and Henry Iba. It is home to practice facilities, weight and locker rooms as well as the original white maple wood basketball court. The court has recently been named Eddie Sutton Court, in honor of OSU's recently retired Men's Basketball Coach.
• National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum
• Old Central - The oldest building on campus and site of the Oklahoma Museum of Higher Education.
• Student Union - Largest student center in the world. Portions of the 1992 film All-American Murder were filmed at the Student Union.^[6]

[edit] Points of interest

• Oklahoma Botanical Garden and Arboretum
• National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum
• Oklahoma Museum of Higher Education

[edit] See also

• Notable OSU Greek Alumni

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Oklahoma State University Homepage
• Official Oklahoma State Athletics Site
• OrangePower.com
• OSUConstruction.com
• O-State.com
• O State.com
• GoPokes.com
• The Daily O'Collegian
• Reference to some of the awards listed in the 'Awards and Distinctions' section of this article

• Maps and aerial photos Coordinates: 36.123175° -97.069644°
  • Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
  • Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
  • Topographic map from TopoZone
  • Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA

Oklahoma State University
Academics	Academics • College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources • College of Arts & Sciences • CEAT • College of Education • College of Human Environmental Services • Edmon Low Library • William S. Spears School of Business
Athletics	OSU Athletics • OSU Wrestling • Bedlam • Boone Pickens Stadium • Gallagher-Iba Arena • Allie P. Reynolds Stadium • Karsten Creek • Sherman E. Smith Training Center • Bullet • Pistol Pete • National Wrestling Hall of Fame
Campuses	Center for Health Sciences • Oklahoma City • Okmulgee • OSU Medical Center • Stillwater • Tulsa
History	History • Old Central
People	List of OSU people • List of OSU Olympians • List of OSU Greeks
Student Life	Colvin Center • Daily O'Collegian • Eskimo Joe's • Homecoming • Orange Peel • Student Union

Public universities in Oklahoma

Cameron University • East Central University • Langston University • Northeastern State University • Northwestern Oklahoma State University • Oklahoma Panhandle State University • Oklahoma State University • Rogers State University • Southeastern Oklahoma State University • Southwestern Oklahoma State University • University of Central Oklahoma • University of Oklahoma • University of Science & Arts of Oklahoma

Big 12 Conference
North Division: Colorado Buffaloes • Iowa State Cyclones • Kansas Jayhawks • Kansas State Wildcats • Missouri Tigers • Nebraska Cornhuskers South Division: Baylor Bears • Oklahoma Sooners • Oklahoma State Cowboys • Texas Longhorns • Texas A&M Aggies • Texas Tech Red Raiders