University of Maryland, College Park
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| Image:University of Maryland seal.png
| |
| Motto | Fatti Maschii, Parole Femine ("Manly deeds, womanly words") |
|---|---|
| Established | 1856 |
| Type | Public |
| President | C. Daniel Mote, Jr. |
| Faculty | 3,661 |
| Undergraduates | 25,140 |
| Postgraduates | 9,793 |
| Location | College Park, Maryland, United States () |
| Campus | Suburban, 1500 acres (6 km²) |
| Nickname | Terrapins |
| Website | http://www.umd.edu |
The University of Maryland, College Park (also known as UM, UMD, or UMCP) is a public university located in the city of College Park, in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C., in the United States. Founded in 1856, the University of Maryland is considered to be a "Public Ivy" by authors Howard and Matthew Greene of Greene's Guides (2001) and is the flagship institution of the state of Maryland. The University is most often referred to as the University of Maryland or simply Maryland, even though its formal name remains University of Maryland, College Park.
The University of Maryland's location near Washington, D.C., has created strong research partnerships, especially with government agencies. Many of the faculty members have funding from federal agencies such as the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Department of Defense, and the National Security Agency.
As of fiscal year 2007, the University of Maryland, College Park's operating budget was projected to be approximately $1.34 billion. [1]
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[edit] History
[edit] Early history
On March 6, 1856, the University of Maryland was chartered as the Maryland Agricultural College (MAC). Two years later, 420 acres (1.7 km²) of the Riverdale Plantation in College Park were purchased for $21,000 by a descendant of the Barons Baltimore and future U.S. Congressman, Charles Benedict Calvert. Calvert founded the school later that year with money earned by the sale of stock certificates. On October 6, 1859, the first 34 students entered the Maryland Agricultural College, including four of Charles Calvert's sons. The keynote speaker on opening day was Joseph Henry, the first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.
In July 1862, the same month that the MAC awarded its first degrees, President Lincoln signed the Morrill Land Grant Act. The legislation provided federal funds to schools that taught agriculture, engineering, or provided military training. Taking advantage of the opportunity, the school became a land grant college in February 1864 after the Maryland legislature voted to approve the Morrill Act.
[edit] Civil War period
A few months after accepting the grant, the Maryland Agricultural College proved to be an important site in the Civil War. In April 1864, General Ambrose E. Burnside and 6,000 soldiers of the Union's Ninth Army Corps camped on the MAC campus. The troops were en route to reinforce General Ulysses S. Grant's forces in Virginia. While encamped the troops tore down several hundred feet of fence for fire wood and attempted to set fire to a stone barn. The University later, unsuccessfully, attempted to sue the federal government for damages.
Later that summer, around 400 Confederate soldiers led by General Bradley T. Johnson stayed on the grounds while preparing to take part in a raid against Washington. Warmly welcomed by university President Henry Onderdonk, a Confederate sympathizer, the cavalrymen were thrown a party on the campus. Nicknamed "The Old South Ball," legend tells of a lavish party that carried on late into the night. The next morning the soldiers rode off to cut the lines of communication between Washington and Baltimore. The stigma of "The Old South Ball" would linger much longer.
Financial problems forced the increasingly desperate administrators to sell off 200 acres of land, but the continuing decline in student enrollment sent the Maryland Agricultural College into bankruptcy. For the next two years the campus was used as a boys preparatory school.
[edit] Postwar era
Following the Civil War, the Maryland legislature pulled the college out of bankruptcy and in February 1866 assumed half ownership of the school. The college then became, in part, a state institution. George Washington Custis Lee, son of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, was appointed president of the college by the Board of Trustees but due to public outcry declined the position. By October 1867, the school reopened with 11 students. In the next six years, enrollment at the college continued to grow, and the school's debt was finally paid off. Twenty years later, the school's reputation as a research institution began as the federally funded Agricultural Experiment Station was established at the college. During the same period, a number of state laws granted the college regulatory powers in a number of areas—including controlling farm disease, inspecting feed, establishing a state weather bureau and geological survey, and housing the board of forestry.
Also in 1888, the college began its first official intercollegiate baseball games against rivals St. John's College and the United States Naval Academy. Baseball, however, had been played at the college for decades before the first "official" games were recorded.
In 1897 the first fraternity, Phi Sigma Kappa, was established on Maryland's campus, and Morrill Hall (the oldest instructional building still in use on campus) was built the following year.
[edit] The Great Fire of 1912
On November 29, 1912, around 10:30 p.m., a fire, probably due to faulty electric wiring, broke out in the attic of the newest administration building where a Thanksgiving dance was being held. The approximately eighty students on the premises evacuated themselves safely, and then formed a makeshift bucket brigade. The fire departments summoned from nearby Hyattsville and Washington, D.C. arrived too late. Fanned by a strong southwest wind, the fire destroyed the barracks where the students were housed, all the school's records, and most of the academic buildings, leaving only Morrill Hall untouched. The loss was estimated at $250,000 (about $5 million in 2005 U.S. dollars) despite no injuries or fatalities. The devastation was so great that many never expected the university to reopen. The university President, Richard Silvester, resigned brokenhearted.
However, the students refused to give up. All but two students returned to the university after the break and insisted on classes continuing as usual. Students were housed by families in neighboring towns who were compensated by the university until dorms could be rebuilt, although a new administration building was not built until the 1940s.
A large brick and concrete compass inlaid in the ground designates the former center of campus as it existed in 1912. Lines engraved in the compass point to each building that was destroyed in the Thanksgiving Day fire. The only building not marked on the compass is Morrill Hall, which was eerily spared by the blaze. Prior to the establishment of the medical school at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, the medical school was located in College Park and Morrill Hall is actually where the cadavers were kept. Local campus legend contends that the spirits of the cadavers kept the building from being damaged.
[edit] Recent history
The state took complete control of the school in 1916, and consequently the institution was renamed Maryland State College. Also that year, the first female students enrolled at the school. On October 25, 1924, Alpha Omicron Pi sorority was founded at the University of Maryland, it was the first sorority on campus. On April 9, 1920, the college merged with the preestablished professional schools in Baltimore to form the University of Maryland. The graduate school on the College Park campus awarded its first Ph.D. degrees, and the University's enrollment reached 500 students in the same year. In 1925 the University was granted accreditation by the Association of American Universities.
By the time the first African American students enrolled at the University in 1951, enrollment at the school had grown to nearly 10,000 students—4,000 of whom were women. In 1957 president Wilson H. Elkins made a push to increase academic standards at the University. His efforts resulted in the creation of one of the first Academic Probation Plans. The first year the plan went into effect, 1,550 students (18% of the total student body) faced expulsion. Since then, academic standards at the school have steadily risen. Recognizing the improvement in academics, Phi Beta Kappa established a chapter at the university in 1964. In 1969, the university was elected to the Association of American Universities. The school continued to grow, and by the fall of 1985 reached an enrollment of 38,679.
On September 24, 2001, a tornado struck the College Park campus, killing two female students and causing $15 million in damage to 12 buildings.[2]
[edit] Name and structural changes
In a massive 1988 restructuring of the state higher education system, the school was designated as the flagship campus of the newly formed University System of Maryland and was formally named University of Maryland, College Park. However, in 1997 the Maryland General Assembly passed legislation allowing the University of Maryland, College Park to be known simply as the University of Maryland, recognizing the campus's role as the flagship institution of the University System of Maryland.
The other University System of Maryland institutions with the name "University of Maryland" are not satellite campuses of the University of Maryland, College Park, and are not referred to as such. For the above historical reasons, the University of Maryland, Baltimore is also sometimes called "University of Maryland." This is not a significant point of confusion, as UMB is limited to graduate professional education.
[edit] Academics
The University of Maryland offers 127 undergraduate degrees and 112 graduate degrees in 13 different colleges and schools. Some of its more prestigious colleges include the Phillip Merill College of Journalism, which has produced journalists like Connie Chung and Carl Bernstein, the Robert H. Smith School of Business, the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences, and the A. James Clark School of Engineering.
The University is also praised for its variety of living-learning programs. The Honors Program is for elite students at the university and is similar to most other Honors Programs throughout the country. The College Park Scholars program allows incoming freshman to live and take classes with a group of students who have a similar interest. The Jimenez-Porter Writers' House is a program that focuses on the creative writing skills of students. Civicus focuses on civil service. The Gemstone program is a program run by the A. James Clark School of Engineering in which a group of students live and work together on a complex research project.
Over the years, the University has increased in prestige. In the 1970s, it was generally considered to be a safety school for many applicants. Today, it is a competitive, top 25 public research university. To illustrate the perceived prestige of the university, President C.D. Mote has stated that he considers the University of Michigan, the University of Illinois, UCLA, University of California, Berkeley, and the University of North Carolina to be Maryland's peer institutions.
The University of Maryland also has a number of stand-alone academic programs in many fields. These undergraduate programs pull faculty from many different colleges and departments and a degree certificate or minor may be granted upon completion.
Specialized programs offer students academic, community service, and research opportunities outside of the traditional classroom interaction. Students are often invited into these programs based on academic merit, current community service involvement, and racial/ethnic designation. In some programs, a degree certificate or minor may be awarded upon completion.
[edit] Research
On October 14, 2004, the university added 150 acres (607,000 m²) in an ambitious attempt to create the largest research park inside the Washington, D.C., Capital Beltway. "M Square" solidifies the university's goal of excellent undergraduate education coupled with breakthrough research. The current construction of a new Bioscience Research Building on campus will also be sure to bolster university research in life sciences and continue driving forward the state's already impressive biotechnology industry. Research has played a pivotal role in its exaltation among enumerated college ranks. According to U.S. News & World Report, Maryland has moved from being ranked 30th in 1998, to being ranked 18th in 2007 on USNWR's top public school list.
The University of Maryland's unique location near Washington, D.C., has created strong research partnerships, especially with government agencies. Many of the faculty members have funding from federal agencies such as the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Department of Defense, and the National Security Agency. These relationships have created numerous research opportunities for the university including:
- taking the lead in the nationwide research initiative into the transmission and prevention of human and avian influenza
- creating a new research center to study the behavioral and social foundations of terrorism with funding from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security
- launching the joint NASA-University of Maryland Deep Impact spacecraft in early January 2005.
The University of Maryland Libraries provide access to and assistance in the use of the scholarly information resources required to meet the education, research and service missions of the University.
[edit] Athletics
The school's sports teams are called the Terrapins, and the mascot of the University (pictured right) is a diamondback terrapin named Testudo, which is Latin for "protective shell." The Terrapins sports teams participate in the NCAA's Division I-A, and the school is a founding member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. For years the school colors were black and gold. After World War One, new coach Clark Shaughnessy came to Maryland from Stanford, and brought a supply of that school's uniforms with him. Combining those colors with the old black and gold, the university's official colors were expanded to match those that appear on the Maryland State Flag: black, gold, red, and white. "Fear the Turtle" is a commonly used slogan by fans.[3]
The university's athletics program has enjoyed national prominence. Most recently, the Maryland women's basketball team won the 2006 Women's National Championship on 4 April, guided by Coach Brenda Frese, after beating Duke 78-75 in overtime. Previously, the men's football program won the 1953 national championship, and was a perennial bowl game invitee in the late 1970s and early 80s. Until Ralph Friedgen, a 1970 Maryland graduate, was hired as head coach in November 2000 they achieved little success for many years. Friedgen dramatically reversed the fortunes of Terrapin football in his first three seasons, leading the team to 31 wins, an appearance in the BCS Orange Bowl, commanding victories in the Peach Bowl and the Gator Bowl, consecutive top-3 finishes in conference, and one ACC regular season title.
Men's basketball has traditionally been the most popular sport at Maryland and is under the guidance of another Maryland graduate, Gary Williams of the class of 1968. Williams, who returned to his alma mater in 1989 after successful stints at American University, Boston College, and Ohio State, inherited a once-successful program that was suffering the aftereffects of the death of Len Bias as well as NCAA rules infractions under Williams's predecessor. After several years of competing under recruiting sanctions related to these events, Williams has elevated the Terp program to the level of conference foes Duke and North Carolina. Williams led Maryland to eleven consecutive NCAA tournament appearances (1993–2004) and eight consecutive seasons with 20 or more wins (1996–2004). In addition, he has taken the Terps to the tournament's Regional Semifinals (Sweet Sixteen) seven times, to the Final Four twice, and led the school to its first NCAA title in men's basketball in 2002. With one of the youngest teams in the nation, Williams led his team to his first ACC Tournament title in 2004. With a win over the Virginia Cavaliers on February 7th, 2006, Gary Williams became Maryland's all-time leader in basketball wins with 349, beating the previous record of Lefty Driesell, who attended the record-breaking game.
Beyond these primary revenue sports, Maryland excels in other areas as well. Women's basketball began a resurgence in 2002, and has reached the NCAA Women's Basketball tournament for four consecutive years under Coach Brenda Frese. And Coach Sasho Cirovski has taken the men's soccer team to four Final Fours since 1998. In 2005, the squad claimed the NCAA College Cup National Championship with a 1-0 win over New Mexico. The field hockey team has made eleven Final Four appearances (through 2006) and won the 1987, 1993, 1999, 2005, and 2006 national titles. The volleyball team won the ACC tournament in 2003 and qualified for their own NCAA tournament. In lacrosse, Maryland has been a consistent national leader. The women's lacrosse team has won a total of ten national championships since 1981, eight of which came under the direction of Cindy Timchal, including a run of seven straight (1995 through 2001). Additionally, the women's lacrosse team has been an NCAA finalist in eleven of the last fourteen years, and produced more All-Americans in the sport than any other school. The men's program is consistently ranked among the top 10 programs nationally and won the NCAA Championship in 1973 and 1975.
The Mighty Sound of Maryland Marching Band[4] attends all home football games and at least one away game each season. They provide a very exciting pregame performance which can be viewed on their website.[5] The band also plays at halftime during each game with a new show almost every week. Recent selections include a Spy Show, Tribute to New Orleans, Latin show, Swing Show, and Space Show. The band also travels to Championship and Bowl games when the football team makes it.
During the Basketball season, the marching band converts into the University of Maryland Pep Band.[6] During every Men's and Women's home game the Pep Band can be found energetically providing music in the stands. The wide range of music is compiled from past marching band shows as well as a few special arrangements. The Pep Band also travels with the basketball teams to tournaments during the season.
[edit] Testudo
In 1932, Curley Byrd proposed changing the school mascot to the Maryland diamondback terrapin, the state reptile. The first statue of Testudo cast in bronze was donated by the Class of 1933 and was displayed on U.S. Route 1 (Baltimore Ave.) in front of Ritchie Coliseum. However, the 300 pound mascot was subjected to many indignities by visiting college athletic teams.
One famous incident in 1947 involved students from Johns Hopkins University who stole the bronze statue of the mascot and returned to their campus in Baltimore. Maryland students went up to Baltimore from College Park to retrieve the statue and ended up besieging the dorm where the Johns Hopkins students had kept Testudo; over 200 riot police had to be called in.
In 1949, then university President Byrd was awoken by a phone call from a University of Virginia fraternity requesting that Testudo be removed from their lawn. Testudo was then later filled with 700 pounds of cement and fastened to his pedestal to ensure that the statue could not be stolen again in the future. However, students at rival schools still vandalized the statue and in the 1960s Testudo was moved from its location on Baltimore Avenue to a spot in front of McKeldin Library in the center of campus. The statue remains a good luck charm for students who rub his nose and leave him offerings during finals week.
In 1992 a twin statue of Testudo was placed at Byrd Stadium that the Maryland Terrapins football team touches for good luck as they pass by on their way onto the field. There is now also a statue of Testudo outside the Gossett Team House on the outskirts of Byrd Stadium. In 2002, another statue was placed in front of the school's new basketball arena, the Comcast Center; and in 2005, a fifth statue was erected in front of the new Riggs Alumni Center.
In 2006, fifty Testudo statues decorated by University students were placed throughout the region. Besides the campus and College Park, other areas where statues were placed included Silver Spring, Ocean City, Baltimore, Annapolis, Landover, and Washington, D.C.. [7]
[edit] The Diamondback
The Diamondback is the independent student newspaper of the University of Maryland. It was founded in 1910 as The Triangle and renamed in 1921 in honor of a local reptile, the Diamondback terrapin, which became the official school mascot in 1933. The newspaper is published five times a week during sessions and once a week during the summer, with a print circulation of 17,000 and annual advertising revenues of over $1 million. [8]
For the 2005-2006 school year, The Diamondback received a Mark of Excellence award from the Society of Professional Journalists, placing 3rd nationally for Best All-Around Daily Student Newspaper and placing first in its region in the same category.[9]
Notable journalists who have been with The Diamondback include Jayson Blair, who was editor-in-chief in 1996; Aaron McGruder, who first published the cartoon The Boondocks in The Diamondback; and Norman Chad, who was editor-in-chief in 1978.
[edit] Notable people
University attendees have achieved fame or notability across a variety of disciplines. Within the field of business, alumni of the University include Carly Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard; Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google; and Kevin Plank, founder of Under Armour. Notable journalists that have attended the University include Connie Chung, a television news personality; Carl Bernstein, Washington Post writer who was a leading figure in exposing the Watergate Scandal; and Robert M. Parker, Jr., a wine critic. Politicians that have attended the University include Steny Hoyer, who is serving as House Majority Leader in the 110th United States Congress; Gordon R. England, Deputy Secretary of Defense and former Secretary of the Navy in the George W. Bush administration; and Harry R. Hughes, former Governor of Maryland. Within the field of science, notable University alumni include Raymond Davis Jr., winner of the 2002 Nobel Prize in Physics; Herbert Hauptman, winner of the 1985 Nobel Prize in Chemistry; and Michael D. Griffin, Administrator of NASA.
In athletics, numerous professional athletes and coaches have either graduated or attended the University. Both of the coaches of the University's men's football and basketball teams, Ralph Friedgen and Gary Williams respectively, graduated from the University. Professional athletes that have attended include NFL Hall of Famers Randy White and Stan Jones; NFL players LaMont Jordan, Vernon Davis, E. J. Henderson, Kris Jenkins, and coach Mike Tice; and NBA players Steve Francis, Steve Blake, and Juan Dixon, Walt Williams, and MJ's towel boy Keith Booth to name a few.
Over the years, the University's faculty has included several Nobel Prize laureates.[10] The earliest recipient, Juan Ramón Jiménez, was a professor of Spanish language and literature and won the prize for literature in 1957. After a four-decade lapse, physics professor William Phillips won the prize in physics in 1997. In 2005, emeritus professor of economics Thomas Schelling was awarded the prize in economics for his contributions to game theory. In 2006, adjunct professor of physics and senior astrophysicist at NASA John Mather was awarded (alongside George Smoot) the prize in physics for "their discovery of the blackbody form and anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation".
Since the 1990s, several donors have distinguished themselves for their sizable gifts to the university. Businessman Robert H. Smith, who graduated from the university in 1950 with a degree in accounting, has given over $45 million, primarily to the business school that now bears his name.[11] Construction entrepreneur A. James Clark, who graduated with an engineering degree in 1950, has also donated over $45 million to the college of engineering, which also bears his name.[12] Another engineering donor, Jeong H. Kim, earned his Ph.D. from the university in 1991 and gave $5 million for the construction of a state-of-the-art engineering building.[13] Philip Merrill, a media figure, donated $10 million to the College of Journalism.[14]
[edit] Campus legends
The Point of Failure is the intersection of lines marked in concrete leading to the center of all the buildings that burned during the Great Fire of 1912. Tradition holds that a student who steps on this point will never graduate (and that a prospective student who steps on the point will not be admitted). The point is marked in concrete with a plaque nearby explaining what the point means and some of the history regarding the Great Fire and the buildings it destroyed.[15]
The only building spared by the Great Fire of 1912, Morrill Hall, has numerous ghost stories associated with it. Some mention the fact its basement was used to store cadavers for the medical students. Other stories might be attributed to ash that was accidentally released from the walls into the building several years ago when it was modernized to have central air conditioning. [16]
Included in unofficial campus tours as one of the stranger buildings on the College Park campus, Marie Mount Hall is supposedly haunted by the former Dean of Home Economics for whom the building was named. Employees working late during dark, stormy nights claim they heard piano playing, a skill Marie Mount was known for. [17]
Once known as "Zoo-Psych" (Zoology-Psychology), the "Bio-Psych" (Biology-Psychology) building's original interior is so strange (especially in the room-numbering pattern) that its design is rumored to have been developed as part of a psychology experiment. Supposedly it was fashioned by psychology professors to resemble a rat maze in order to confuse students.[citation needed] Currently, an addition to the building is nearing completion.[18]
[edit] Greek life
Currently, about 10% of Maryland's student body are involved in Greek Life. Many of the fraternities and sororities at the school are located on Frat Row, which is partially controlled by the University. Greek Life plays a significant role in the University's social scene, but not a dominant one.
Greek recruitment rates fell sharply after the death of a pledge in 2002, but have picked back up to earlier levels in 2006. [19]
| Sororities | Fraternities | ||
|---|---|---|---|
|
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[edit] References
- Maryland State Archives - page on the university
- University System of Maryland - page on the university
[edit] External links
[edit] General
- Official site
- The Diamondback - the independent student newspaper
- WMUC - the college radio station
- Rethink College Park - A website/blog about College Park development issues and a public participation venue for the larger campus community.
- The College Park Site - An independent College Park/UMD news and information site geared toward students and student life.
- University of Maryland Terrapins - official athletic site
- "MarylandRHA" - Residence Hall Association
- Adele H. Stamp Student Union- center for student life and entertainment
[edit] Colleges
- College of Information Studies
- School of Public Policy
- College of Computer, Mathematical and Physical Sciences
- College of Agriculture and Natural Resources
- College of Arts and Humanities
- College of Behavioral and Social Sciences
- College of Chemical and Life Sciences
- Robert H. Smith School of Business
- College of Health and Human Performance
- College of Education
- A. James Clark School of Engineering
- School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation
- Philip Merrill College of Journalism
[edit] Other programs
[edit] Living-learning programs
- Civicus - Emphasis on citizenship, leadership, community building in a diverse society, scholarship, and community service-learning;
- College Park Scholars - Community service and academic rigor within a chosen field;
- Gemstone - Specific topical research-based academic rigor;
- Global Communities - Cultural diversity program;
- Hinman CEOs – Entrepreneurship-based business-style learning;
- Honors Humanities – Seminar-based academic rigor with an emphasis on the arts and humanities;
- Language House - Language acquisition and immersion program;
- Jiménez-Porter Writers' House - Creative writing program;
- University Honors Program – Broad-seminar-based academic rigor; and
- Beyond the Classroom - Upper-classman program in which students obtain significant research, community service, or internship experience.
| University System of Maryland |
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