University of Missouri

The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, University of Missouri–Columbia or simply Missouri) is a public research university located in the state of Missouri. In 1839 the university was founded in Columbia, Missouri, as the first public institution of higher education west of the Mississippi River. The largest university in Missouri, MU enrolls 33,762 students in 20 academic colleges. The university is the flagship of the University of Missouri System which maintains campuses in Rolla, Kansas City and St. Louis. MU is one of 34 public universities to be members of the Association of American Universities and the only one in Missouri. There are more than 262,000 MU alumni living worldwide, with almost half continuing to reside in Missouri. The University of Missouri was ranked 90th in the 2012 U.S. News & World Report among the national universities, up four spots from 2011. It is the highest-ranked public school in the state and second overall (tied with Saint Louis University).

The campus of the University of Missouri is 1372 acre just south of Downtown Columbia and is maintained as a botanical garden. The historical campus is centered on David R. Francis Quadrangle, a historic district that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and a number of buildings on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1908, the world's first school of journalism was founded by Walter Williams as the Missouri School of Journalism.

The University of Missouri Research Reactor Center is the world's most powerful university research reactor. It is one of only six public universities in the United States with a school of medicine, veterinary medicine, engineering, agriculture, and law all on one campus. The university also owns the University of Missouri Health Care system, which operates four hospitals in Mid-Missouri.

Missouri's only Division I-A athletic team is known as the Missouri Tigers and compete as members of the Big 12 conference. In 2012 Missouri will compete as members of the Southeastern Conference. The school's mascot, Truman the Tiger, is named after Missourian and former U.S. president Harry S Truman. According to the NCAA, the American tradition of Homecoming was established at the University in 1911; the tradition has since been adopted nationwide.

Early years (1830-1890)
In 1839, the Missouri Legislature passed the Geyer Act to establish funds for a state university. It would be the first public university west of the Mississippi River. To secure the university, the citizens of Columbia and Boone County pledged $117,921 in cash and land to beat out five other central Missouri counties for the location of the state university. The land on which the university was eventually constructed was just south of Columbia's downtown and owned by James S. Rollins. He was later called the "Father of the University." As the first public university in the Louisiana Purchase, the school was shaped by Thomas Jefferson's ideas about public education.

In 1862 the American Civil War forced the university to close for much of the year. Residents of Columbia formed a "home guard" militia that became known as the "Fighting Tigers of Columbia". They were given the name for their readiness to protect the city and university. In 1890, the University's newly formed football team took the name the "Tigers" after the Civil War militia. In 1870 the institution was granted land-grant college status under the Morrill Act of 1862. The act led to the founding of the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy as an off shoot of the main campus in Columbia. It developed as the present-day Missouri University of Science & Technology. In 1888 the Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station opened. This grew to encompass ten centers and research farms around Missouri. By 1890 the university encompassed a normal college (for training of teachers of students through high school), engineering college, arts and science college, school of agriculture and mechanical arts. school of medicine, and school of law.

On January 9, 1892, Academic Hall, the institution's main building, burned in a fire that completely gutted the building, leaving little more standing than six stone Ionic columns. Under the administration of Missouri Governor David R. Francis, the university was rebuilt, with additions that shaped the modern institution.

1892-present
After the fire, some state residents tried to have the university moved further west to Sedalia; but Columbia rallied support to keep it. The columns were retained as a symbol of the historic campus. Today they are surrounded by the Francis Quadrangle, the oldest part of campus. At the southern end of the quad is Academic Hall's replacement, Jesse Hall, named for Richard Jesse (the president of the university at the time of the fire). Built in 1895, Jesse Hall holds many administrative offices and Jesse Auditorium. The buildings surrounding the quad were constructed of red brick, leading to this area becoming known as Red Campus. The area was tied together in planned landscaping and walks in 1910 by George Kessler in a City Beautiful design of the grounds. To the east of the quadrangle, later buildings constructed of white limestone in 1913 and 1914 to accommodate the new academic programs became known as the White Campus. In 1908 the world's first journalism school opened at MU. It became notable for its "Missouri Method" of hands-on, experience-based instruction. It later established an award for "Distinguished Journalism".

After World War II, the enrollment at universities around the country grew at an extraordinary pace, and MU was no exception. This was due in part to the G.I. Bill, which allowed veterans to attend college with the assistance of the federal government.

In April 1923, a black janitor accused of rape, James T. Scott, was lynched to death before his trial took place. In the winter of 1935, four graduates of Lincoln University—a traditionally black school about 30 mi away in Jefferson City—were denied admission to MU's graduate school. One of the students, Lloyd L. Gaines, brought his case to the United States Supreme Court. On December 12, 1938, in a landmark 6–2 decision, the court ordered the State of Missouri to admit Gaines to MU's law school or provide a facility of equal stature. Gaines disappeared in Chicago on March 19, 1939, under suspicious circumstances. The University granted Gaines a posthumous honorary law degree in May 2006. Undergraduate divisions were integrated by court order in 1950, when the University was compelled to admit African Americans to courses that were not offered at Lincoln University.

Campus
The grounds of the campus are designated a botanical garden by the state of Missouri. As noted above, the academic buildings are classified as two main groups: Red Campus and White Campus. Red Campus is the historical core of mostly brick academic buildings around the landmark columns of the David R. Francis Quadrangle; it includes Jesse Hall and Switzler Hall. In the early 20th century, the College of Agriculture began a period of rapid expansion in which several buildings were constructed to accommodate the growing program and student body. The new buildings, constructed in Neo-Gothic style from native Missouri limestone, form the White Campus. Its most notable building is Memorial Union.

During the 1990s, Red Campus was extended to the south with the creation of the Carnahan Quadrangle. Hulston Hall of the University of Missouri School of Law, completed in 1988, formed the eastern border of the future quad. The Reynolds Alumni Center was completed in 1992 on the west side of the new quad. It was completed in 2002 with Cornell Hall of the Trulaske College of Business and Tiger Plaza. While the original MU intercollegiate athletic facilities, such as Rollins Field and Rothwell Gymnasium, were located just south of the academic buildings, later expanded facilities were constructed across Stadium Boulevard, where Memorial Stadium opened in 1926. The Hearnes Center was built to the east of the stadium in 1972. In 1994, the university developed the first draft of a master plan for the campus to tie together all of Tiger athletic facilities to the south of Stadium Boulevard and add to its design. Today, the MU Sports Park includes the Mizzou Arena, Taylor Stadium, Walton Stadium, Mizzou Athletics Training Complex, University Field and Devine Pavilion. Student athletic facilities remain in the core area of campus. Rothwell Gymnasium and Brewer Fieldhouse are part of the 283579 sqft Student Recreation Center, which was ranked number one in the nation in 2005 by Sports Illustrated.

The main campus of the University of Missouri Hospitals and Clinics is north of the sports complex. It includes the University of Missouri Hospital and Truman Memorial Veterans Hospital. Two of the hospitals, Columbia Regional Hospital and Ellis Fischel Cancer Center, are located northeast of the main campus near I-70.

To the south of the MU Sports Park is the MU Research Park. It includes the University of Missouri Research Reactor Center, International Institute for Nano and Molecular Medicine, MU Life Science Business Incubator at Monsanto Place, and Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center. In 2005, the University of Missouri Board of Curators approved legislation to designate the South Farm of the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources (CAFNR) as a research park. The 114 acre park, located southeast of the main campus on US63, is now known as Discovery Ridge Research Park. Tenants at Discovery Ridge include ABC Laboratories and the MU Research Animal Diagnostic Laboratory.

The main campus is flanked to the east and west by Greek Life housing. The University of Missouri has nearly 50 national social fraternities and sororities, many of which occupy historical residences now valued in the millions of dollars. Beta Sigma Psi, Kappa Alpha Order, Sigma Chi, Beta Theta Pi, Alpha Gamma Rho, and Sigma Nu form a Greek Row (also called Frat Row) along College Avenue in the East Campus area. Most of the Greek-letter organizations are located in a Greek Town, with approximately 30 Greek residences, to the north of Memorial Stadium.

Academics
MU is one of six public universities that houses a law school, medical school, and a veterinary medicine school on the same campus. In Missouri, MU is the designated land-grant university (along with Lincoln University), the largest public research institution). It is the only Missouri university that is both a member of the Association of American Universities and designated as a "Doctoral/Research Extensive" university by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Only 35 universities in the nation have both such designations. The University of Missouri Research Reactor Center is the largest university reactor in the U.S.

In 1908, the Missouri School of Journalism (known colloquially as the "J-school"), was founded in Columbia, claiming to be the first of its kind internationally. The French established their Ecole Supérieure de Journalisme de Paris in 1899.

The UM System owns and operates KOMU-TV, the NBC/CW affiliate for Columbia and nearby Jefferson City. It is a full-fledged commercial station and a working lab for journalism students. The MU School of Journalism publishes the Columbia Missourian and Vox Magazine, where students learn reporting, editing and design in a newsroom managed by professional editors. It operates the local National Public Radio Station KBIA and produces Radio Adelante, a Spanish-language radio program.

Founded in 1978 after 23 years as a unit of the School of Medicine, the School of Health Professions became an autonomous division in December 2000. The school's five departments and eight accredited academic programs have a long history, some dating to the early 20th century. It is Missouri's only state-supported school of health professions on a campus with an academic health center, and the only allied health school in the UM system. The university maintains the second largest library collection in the State of Missouri. As of the 2006-2007 academic year, the collection held nearly 3.1 million volumes, 8.1 million microforms, 1.7 million government documents, more than 272,000 print maps, and more than 49,000 journal subscriptions. The collection is housed in Ellis Library, the University Archives, and seven specialized academic libraries across campus. Most of the original collection, housed in Academic Hall, was lost in the 1892 fire.

During the American Civil War, Union troops used the Library as a guard room. The Union troops caused significant damage, including taking 467 volumes to build fires. The Board of Curators later sued the US Army for the destruction on campus. Settled in 1915, the suit's award was used to build the Memorial Gateway on the northern edge of Red Campus.

In 1913, construction began on a new main library, completed in 1915. It was expanded in 1935, 1958, and 1985. It was dedicated as Elmer Ellis Library on October 10, 1972, in honor of the thirteenth president of the University of Missouri. Today, the MU libraries are home to the 47th largest research collection in North America.

Presidents and chancellors
Each campus of the University of Missouri System is led by a chancellor, who reports to the president of the UM System. Prior to the formation of the system in 1963, the Columbia campus and its offshoot in Rolla were led directly by the president and the position of chancellor did not exist. See University of Missouri System for a list of presidents from 1963–present. This list does not include interim presidents or chancellors. John Lathrop is the only president or chancellor to have served nonconsecutive terms.

Presidents, 1841–1963 and Chancellors, 1963–present † Elmer Ellis became president of the University of Missouri System upon its creation, serving until 1966.
 * 1) John Hiram Lathrop (1841–1849)
 * 2) James Shannon (1850–1856)
 * 3) William Wilson Hudson (1856–1859)
 * 4) Benjamin Blake Minor (1860–1862)
 * 5) John Hiram Lathrop (1865–1866)
 * 6) Daniel Read (1866–1876)
 * 7) Samuel Spahr Laws (1876–1889)
 * 8) Richard Henry Jesse (1891–1908)
 * 9) Albert Ross Hill (1908–1921)
 * 10) John Carleton Jones (1922–1923)
 * 11) Stratton Brooks (1923–1930)
 * 12) Walter Williams (1931–1935)
 * 13) Frederick Middlebush (1935–1954)
 * 14) Elmer Ellis† (1955–1963)
 * 15) John W. Schwada (1964–1970)
 * 16) Herbert W. Schooling (1971–1978)
 * 17) Barbara Uehling (1978–1987)
 * 18) Haskell Monroe (1987–1993)
 * 19) Charles Kiesler (1993–1996)
 * 20) Richard L. Wallace (1997–2004)
 * 21) Brady J. Deaton (2004–present)

From its inception in 1839 until the creation of the University of Missouri System in 1963, the university in Columbia was known simply as the University of Missouri. Upon creation of the system, each university was renamed with its host city; thus, the university in Columbia became the University of Missouri–Columbia. In the proceeding decades, colloquial and verbal usage of the generic name in reference to MU continued. There were various attempts to drop Columbia from its name by students, faculty, alumni, and administrators who felt it might cause the university to be perceived as a regional institution. This change was long resisted by the UM System and the other universities on the basis of uniformity and fairness. However, after a renewed effort for "name restoration", the Board of Curators voted unanimously on 29 November 2007 to allow MU to drop Columbia from its name for effectively all public purposes. Continued use of the name University of Missouri–Columbia is not incorrect but is being phased out by MU, except as required on official internal documents within the UM System. Its use also continues to be advocated by some faculty, administration, and alumni of UMKC, UMSL, and Missouri S&T.

Residential Life
The University of Missouri operates 23 on-campus residence halls and leases two off-campus sites. The two off-campus locations include: Tiger Diggs at Campus View Apartments and True Scholars House. Many residence halls on campus offer learning communities and freshman interest groups. Both programs seek to ensure that students succeed academically while living in the residence halls.

Groups and activities
Tap Day is an annual spring ceremony in which the identities of the members of the six secret honor societies are revealed. The participating societies are QEBH, Mystical Seven, LSV, Omicron Delta Kappa, Mortar Board, and the Rollins Society. The ceremony, first held in 1927, takes place at the columns on Francis Quadrangle.

The Associated Students of the University of Missouri (ASUM) is a student-run lobbying organization that represents the students' interests in the state and national capitals. ASUM's platform has included issues such as equalizing the "Access Missouri" grant, expanding "Bright Flight" funding, and giving students a vote on the Board of Curators.

The Trulaske Consulting Association was started in 2009. It is a relatively new student organization and is open to students of all departments. However most members are MBA and undergrad business students. The association aims to increase awareness, provide exposure, and facilitate networking between students and professionals in the consulting industry. The growing popularity of the association has been attributed to the resources available to student members. Workshops by management consultants and case studies on strategy form an integral part of the activities organised by TCA.

The Muslim Student Organisation (MSO) provides an inclusive, inviting educational and social environment for the Muslims at the University of Missouri-Columbia; and works to create bridges between Muslims and other groups in the Columbia community. The Muslim Student Organisation engages in religious, educational, and social activities that aim to increase unity on campus and awareness of Islam among Muslims and people of other faiths. The Organization aspires to promote a healthy understanding of Islam in the context of social and cultural settings. MSO membership is open to all students at MU.

Greek Life
MU is home to one of the oldest and largest Greek systems in the nation. The University is home to the first chapter of an existing national fraternity founded at a public institution west of the Mississippi. Currently, more than 70 Greek-letter organizations remain active at MU.

Athletics
The Missouri Tigers are a member of the Big 12 Conference. Mizzou is the only school in the state with all of its sports in the NCAA Division I and a football team that competes in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivsion (FBS). These are the nation's highest levels of college sports. The colors are black and gold. Athletic sports include men's and women's basketball, baseball, cross country, football, golf, gymnastics, swimming & diving, softball, track, tennis, volleyball, women's soccer, and wrestling. Historic sports included a shooting club, in which the ladies' team in 1934 won a national championship. Former football coach Dan Devine holds the record at the university for most wins on the gridiron. Additionally, former basketball coach and alum Norm Stewart maintains the record for most wins on the hardcourt.

MU football games are played on Faurot Field. Built in 1926, the stadium has an official capacity of 71,004, and features a nearly 100 ft. wide "M" behind the north end zone. Men's and women's basketball games are played at the Mizzou Arena, located just south of the football stadium. The Hearnes Center hosted men's and women's basketball from 1972 to 2004 and is still used for other athletic and school events.

The Missouri Tiger men's basketball team has had 22 NCAA tournament appearances, the second-most NCAA Tournament appearances without a final four. The Tigers have appeared in the regional finals of the NCAA tournament (elite eight) six times, two under legendary coach Norm Stewart. The Tigers have won 15 conference championships in total: first with the Missouri Valley conference, to the Big 6, and the big 8 conference. In 1994 the Tigers went undefeated in the Big 8 to take the regular season title. In 2009 Missouri won its only Big 12 Championship, over Baylor. Standout players from the Mizzou's basketball team include, Anthony Peeler, John Brown, Jon Sundvold, Steve Stipanovich, Kareem Rush, Doug Smith, Willie Smith, Norm Stewart, Linas Kleiza, Derrick Chievous, and DeMarre Carroll.

The official mascot for Missouri Tigers athletics is Truman the Tiger, created on September 16, 1986. Following a campus-wide contest, Truman was named in honor of Harry S. Truman, the only U.S. president from Missouri. Today, Truman the Tiger appears to cheer on the team, mingle with supporters at Mizzou athletic events as well as at pep-rallies, alumni association functions, and frequent visits to Columbia-area schools.

On November 24, 2007, the Mizzou football team played its biggest rival, Kansas, at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. At that time KU was ranked #2 and MU was ranked #3 nationally. At the end of the game, Mizzou defeated KU, 36–28. The following day MU was ranked #1 in the country for the second time in its history. On December 1, 2007, the Mizzou football team lost the Big 12 Championship game in San Antonio, Texas, to Oklahoma 38–17, falling out of national title and Bowl Championship Series contention. They played in the Cotton Bowl January 1, 2008 at Dallas, Texas and defeated the Arkansas Razorbacks 38–7. In the final Associated Press "Top 25 football poll" of the 2007 season, Mizzou was ranked #4 in the country, its highest finishing position in the team's history.

On November 6, 2011, the University of Missouri announced that it would be leaving the Big 12 Conference to join the Southeastern Conference effective July 1, 2012.

Tiger Walk and Prowl
The Tiger Walk is held annually before the fall semester in the Quad, as welcome and orientation for new students to the University. Students can meet and also learn about school organizations, which have stations around the Quad. After hearing of the four pillars of success, students walk in procession through the quad and the The Columns toward Jesse Hall, symbolizing their entrance into the University. Tiger Prowl is held for graduation seniors on the quad. They walk through the columns, away from Jesse Hall, to symbolize becoming alumni.

Official song
The university song is "Old Missouri". With lyrics written in 1895, it is sung to the tune of "Annie Lisle."

First Verse:

Old Missouri, fair Missouri

Dear old Varsity.

Ours are hearts that fondly love thee

Here's a health to thee.

Chorus:

Proud art thou in classic beauty

Of thy noble past

With thy watch words: honour, duty,

Thy high fame shall last!

Second verse:

Every student, man and maiden

Swells the glad refrain.

'Till the breezes, music laden

Waft it back again. (repeat chorus)

Homecoming
MU is credited with founding alumni "Homecoming" in the US; a created tradition rapidly adopted by many colleges (which use it for fundraising) and high schools across the country. In 1911 athletic director Chester L. Brewer invited alumni to "come home" for the big football game against KU. A spirit rally and parade were planned as part of the celebration. The Council for Advancement and Support of Education has called MU's homecoming celebration the best in the nation and a model program. It includes service elements: since 1999, the homecoming blood drive has earned the Guinness Record as the nation's largest.