Wichita State University

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Wichita State University
Established1895
Type:Public
Endowment:$161,301,000[1]
President:Donald L. Beggs
Faculty:479 full-time
41 part-time
Students:15,000
LocationWichita, Kansas, USA
Campus:Light Metropolitan, 330 acres
Athletics:NCAA Division I
Nickname:Shockers
Mascot:WuShock
Image:WichitaStateShockers.png

Coordinates: 37°43′09″N, 97°17′35″W

Wichita State University (WSU) is an American state-supported university located in the city of Wichita, Kansas. 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 United States 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) main Wichita State University 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. Approximately 1000 students live in campus dormitories.

Wichita State University also hosts classes at two satellite campus locations. Wichita State University West Campus is located in Maize, Kansas. This 9-acre campus hosts 100-150 university classes each academic semester. Wichita State University South Campus first began offering classes in Derby, Kansas, in August 2007 in Derby High School. The university's South Campus will begin offering Wichita State University coursework at a new facility in Derby beginning January 2008.

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!

(Before basketball games, when the Alma Mater is sung, it is traditional for the entire crowd to shout "BLACK!" along with the song. It is also a tradition for the student section to turn their backs when introducing the other team.)

[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 college baseball's winningest team for the past 31 years, 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 basketball team reached the Final Four in 1964, the Elite Eight in 1981 and the Sweet Sixteen in 2006. 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 and 2007 title.

[edit] Shockers

Image:WichitaStateShockers.png
Wichita State Shockers logo

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. [1] 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 now has the ability to run, jump, and walk up stairs without help. Many officials feel that a more professional and intimidating mascot on the field will certainly bolster WSU's image.

The Shockers are also known for the hand gesture used by many students and fans, often confused with the popular culture hand gesture known as the shocker. This hand gesture is held up during free throws and three point shots at basketball games. The hand gesture referred to as "The Shocker" in popular culture today is actually a different formation all-together from the one used for many years by WSU's cheer squads, players and fans, although this fact is lost on those not associated with WSU athletics. The student body and cheer squad at WSU started dropping the use of the thumb in WSU's hand gesture around the time that the sexually-connotated gesture was gaining popularity, causing many people to draw a correlation between the WSU hand gesture and "The Shocker" sexual hand gesture. Since that time the administration of the school has strongly discouraged the flashing of the hand gesture without the use of the thumb by fans and students. For the most part this has been adhered to, causing the traditional WSU shocker hand gesture to be restored to it's previous formation and meaning, which was nothing more than a hand formation in the form of the letter "W".

[edit] Football team plane crash

Main article: Wichita State University Crash

On October 2, 1970, 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 pulled into a mountain valley too narrow to turn back and smashed into a mountainside, 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 a note which read, "Our thoughts and prayers go out to you in this time of sorrow."

[edit] Faculty Awards

[edit] Notable alumni

[edit] WSU Gallery

FirstPizzaHut.jpg

First Pizza Hut Building

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.nacubo.org/documents/research/2006NES_Listing.pdf

[edit] External links

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