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Wichita State University

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Wichita State University
Established 1895
Type Public
President Donald L. Beggs
Faculty 479 full-time
41 part-time
Students 15,000
Location Wichita, Kansas, USA
Address 1845 N. Fairmount
Wichita, Kansas 6726
Campus Light Metropolitan, 330 acres
Nickname Shockers
Mascot WuShock
Image:WichitaStateShockers2.gif

Wichita State University (WSU) is an American state-supported university located in the middle-size city of Wichita, Kansas, in the south central part of the state. WSU is one of six state universities governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The current President is Dr. Donald Beggs.

Wichita State University offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in six undergraduate colleges: W. Frank Barton School of Business, College of Education, College of Engineering, College of Fine Arts, College of Health Professions, and Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The Graduate School offers an extensive program including 44 master's degrees in more than 100 areas and a specialist in education degree. It offers doctoral degrees in applied mathematics; chemistry; communicative disorders and sciences; psychology (programs in human factors, community, and A.P.A. accredited clinical psychology); educational administration; and aerospace, electrical, industrial, and mechanical engineering.

With an enrollment of more than 15,000, the University's students come from almost every state in the USA and 110 foreign countries; 87 percent are from Kansas, representing nearly all counties in the state. Wichita State has 479 full-time faculty and 41 part-time faculty. Of the total, 73 percent have earned the highest degree in their field.

The 330 acre (1.3 km²) campus is modern and accessible and at the same time retains the flavor of the University's 110-year heritage. The campus also has one of the largest outdoor sculpture collections of any U.S. university. About 1000 students live in campus dormitories.

Contents

[edit] History

Wichita State University was instituted as Fairmount College, a private Congregational school, in 1886 by the Rev. Joseph Homer Parker. The college continued the preparatory program of Fairmount Institute which began in 1892. Collegiate classes began in 1895. In 1926, by a vote of the citizens of Wichita the college became a public non-denominational institution named the Municipal University of Wichita; it was the first municipal university west of the Mississippi.

After 38 years as a municipal university, WSU again changed its status on July 1, 1964, when it officially entered the state system of higher education. Now, Wichita State University is one of six state universities governed by the Kansas Board of Regents.


[edit] Alma Mater

Our alma mater Wichita,
Stands Proudly on the hill;
Our sons and daughters bow to thee,
Our hearts with praise we fill.

Then, hail! Alma Mater!
Hail, thee, Grand and True,
Long wave the Yellow and Black,
O Wichita, Here's to you!

Around our lives are memories
That tenderly entwine; And
Thru the midst of the rolling years,
Of thee we build a shrine.

Then, hail! Alma Mater!
Hail, thee Grand and True,
Long wave the Yellow and the Black,
O Wichita, Here's to you!

Thy call to all that life hold dear
Is a clear and constant guide;
With Love and Truth and Loyalty,
And may they e'er abide.

Then, hail! Alma Mater!
Hail, thee Grand and True,
Long wave the Yellow and the Black,
O Wichita, Here's to you!

[edit] Athletics

WSU is a NCAA Division I institution, and fields teams in tennis, cross-country, basketball, track, golf, crew, bowling, men's baseball, and women's volleyball and softball. The men's baseball team is one of college baseball's most successful programs since the late 1970's, with numerous conference championships and NCAA tournament appearances. The baseball team won the national championship in 1989, and was runner-up in 1982, 1991, and 1993. The men’s and women’s bowling teams have won numerous USBC Collegiate Bowling Championships, including the men’s 2003 title and the women's 2005 title. The men's basketball team reached the Sweet 16 in the '05-'06 season but lost to the George Mason Patriots (63-55).

The WSU athletic program has been one of the most successful in the Missouri Valley Conference in recent years, capturing the all-sports trophy the last three years in a row. [1]

[edit] Shockers

Image:WichitaStateShockers2.gif

The name for WSU's athletic teams is the Shockers and, collectively, students are also referred to as being "Shockers". The name reflects the University's heritage: Early students earned money by shocking, or harvesting, wheat in nearby fields. Early football games were played on a stubbled wheat field. Pep club members were known as Wheaties. Tradition has it that in 1904, football manager and student R.J. Kirk came up with the nickname Wheatshockers. [2] Although the Wheatshockers name was never officially adopted by the university, it caught on and survived until it was later shortened to Shockers. Until 1948, the university used a nameless shock of wheat as its symbol. WuShock came to life when junior Wilbur Elsea won the Kappa Pi honorary society's competition to design a mascot typifying the spirit of the school. Elsea, who had been a Marine during World War II, decided that "the school needed a mascot who gave a tough impression, with a serious, no-nonsense scowl."

Once Elsea's mascot was adopted by the university, which by that time was known as the Municipal University of Wichita, all that was needed was a name. The Oct. 7, 1948, issue of The Sunflower, the student newspaper, ran an advertisement urging students to submit names for the school's new mascot. It was freshman Jack Kersting who suggested the winning name, "WuShock."

In 1998, WuShock, also referred to as "Wu," marked his 50th birthday by undergoing a redesign and getting a pumped-up physique and revved-up attitude. The mascot's costume has changed over the years, as well. With the redesign, a new costume was introduced in fall 1998. In fall 1999, the head of the new costume underwent another redesign after a number of supporters suggested the mascot needed a more intimidating look. In 2006 it was decided to once again update the Wu costume. The general consensus was that many wanted the costume to more accurately reflect the depiction of Wu in the school's logo. The new WuShock will also have the ability to run, jump, and walk up stairs without help. On the website for SportsFan Magazine in April 2006, sports writer Bill Fitzgerald said WuShock looked like a 'big order of French fries.' Many officials feel that a more professional and intimidating mascot on the field will certrainly bolster WSU's image.


[edit] Football team tragedy

On October 2, 1970, a beautiful crisp autumn day, the first, or "gold" plane (the twin plane to the second, or black, plane) took off from a Colorado airport after refueling, bound for Logan, Utah for a game against Utah State University. It would never reach its destination. It pulled into a mountain valley too narrow to turn back. The plane smashed into a mountianside, killing 31 of the 40 players, administrators and fans near a ski resort 40 miles away from Denver. President Richard Nixon sent the president of the university at the time a note which read, "Our thoughts and prayers go out to you in this time of sorrow." The Shockers' next game at the University of Arkansas, the team was greeted by an emotional standing ovation from the opposing crowd while two players and the head coach, in crutches, limped toward midfield for the coin toss. Later, Marshall University would lose its entire team in a plane crash, and the two colleges would join together in Wichita State's cramped basketball arena to raise tens of thousands of dollars. Today, a stone memorial structure on the corner of Alumni Drive commemorates those who died on that fateful day.

[edit] Faculty Awards

Wilson Baldridge MCLL, 2006 PEN award for Poetry in translation. Albert Goldbarth, 1991 and 2001 National Book Critics Circle awards.

[edit] Famous alumni

[edit] External links


Missouri Valley Conference
Bradley • Creighton • Drake • Evansville • Illinois State • Indiana State • Missouri State • Northern Iowa • Southern Illinois • Wichita State
Public Colleges and Universities in Kansas
Emporia State • Fort Hays State • Kansas • Kansas State • Pittsburg State • Wichita State
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