Eastern Kentucky University

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Eastern Kentucky University
Eastern Kentucky University Seal
Motto Where Students and Learning Come First
Established 1874
Type Public
Endowment $14.7 million
President Joanne Glasser
Undergraduates 13,837
Postgraduates 2,346
Location Richmond, KY, USA
Campus semi-urban
Athletics 15 varsity teams, called "Colonels"
Colors Maroon █ and White █
Affiliations Ohio Valley Conference
Website www.eku.edu
Eastern Kentucky University"The Colonel"

Eastern Kentucky University, commonly referred to as Eastern or by the acronym EKU by local residents, is an undergraduate and graduate teaching and research institution located in Richmond, Kentucky, U.S.A.. EKU is known for its graduate Criminal Justice program. In addition, EKU offers graduate programs in the arts, sciences, education and teaching, nursing, business administration, public administration, and public health. It has extension campus locations in Corbin, Danville, and Manchester. Its current president is Joanne Glasser. EKU is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).

Contents

[edit] History

University Building
Enlarge
University Building

Eastern was founded in 1874 as Central University. In 1906, the Kentucky State Legislature established the Eastern Kentucky State Normal School as a teacher's college. In 1922 it became a four-year institution and changed its name to the Eastern Kentucky State Normal School and Teachers College, awarding its first degrees under that name in 1925. Today the undergraduate division remains the largest unit within the university. The school received accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools in 1928; then, two years later, in 1930, it changed its name again to the Eastern Kentucky State Teachers College. Eastern added graduate studies in 1935, and thirteen years later, in 1948, the General Assembly removed the word Teachers from the school's name, and granted it the right to grant nonprofessional degrees. It was not until 1966 that the school was officially renamed Eastern Kentucky University.

In 1987 EKU received attention when it was ranked 30th in Playboy's list of "America's Top Party Schools." However, it was not included in the 2002 list, which was the last time the company published the list. [1]

[edit] Campus media

  • EKU's campus newspaper is known as the ''Eastern Progress'. The paper was founded in 1922, after two previous campus newspapers had quit publication. The Progress is published on essentially a weekly schedule during the school year, excluding major holiday breaks, for a total of about thirty issues per academic year.
  • EKU's radio station, WEKU broadcasts classical music and NPR news to much of central and southeastern Kentucky.
Aerial View of Central Campus
Enlarge
Aerial View of Central Campus

[edit] Athletics

Referred to as the "Maroons" until the mid-1960s, Eastern's sports teams are known as the "Colonels." They compete in the NCAA's Division I in the Ohio Valley Conference. In football, they are classified as Division I-AA.

The school has traditionally had much success on the football field, having won 16 OVC conference titles and two Division I-AA National Championships in 1979 and 1982. Much of the success came during the long tenure of head coach Roy Kidd from 1964 to 2002. Eastern honored Kidd upon his retirement by naming the school's football stadium Roy Kidd Stadium.

In 2005, Eastern's men's and women's basketball teams won the Ohio Valley Conference tournament championships, earning the men their first bid to the NCAA basketball tournament since 1979. The basketball teams play their home games in McBrayer Arena within Alumni Coliseum, an arena with a vaulted roof and wooden ceiling that uses the Catalan vault as its structural system. The arena was inaugurated in 1962 by then-Vice-President of the United States and future President Lyndon Baines Johnson.

OVC Championship, 2005
Enlarge
OVC Championship, 2005

[edit] The Blue Lady

The “Blue Lady” is described as a blue-like fog or mist that surrounds the Bell tower at Eastern Kentucky University. It, or she, rather, has been seen numerous times. There are many reports of a blue mist, fog or drizzle around the bell-tower of the Keen Johnson Building. People have reported seeing a bluish mist form around the bell tower lights. Moments after the mist fades, there is a radiant figure of a woman in a long ball gown on the rails, walking and singing. The Blue Lady tends to appear during the early morning hours and during humid nights. She is neither haunting nor scary to anyone who sees her. It is said that a woman in nursing school committed suicide by hanging herself in her room on the third floor. Some prospects believe that this woman who committed suicide is the Blue Lady that inhabits the area around the bell tower. [2]

[edit] Greek Life

Sororities

National Panhellenic Conference:

National Pan-Hellenic Council:

Fraternities

North-American Interfraternity Conference:

National Pan-Hellenic Council:

[edit] Notable alumni

Notable Athletic Alumni

[edit] External links

Kentucky Higher Education
Public Universities
Eastern Kentucky University • Kentucky State University • Morehead State University • Murray State University • Northern Kentucky University • University of Kentucky • University of Louisville • Western Kentucky University
Private Colleges and Universities
Alice Lloyd College • Asbury College • Asbury Theological Seminary • Bellarmine University • Berea College • Brescia University • Campbellsville University • Centre College • Clear Creek Baptist Bible College • Frontier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing • Georgetown College • Kentucky Christian University • Kentucky Mountain Bible College • Kentucky Wesleyan College • Lexington Theological Seminary • Lindsey Wilson College • Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary • Mid-Continent University • Midway College • Pikeville College • Saint Catharine College • Southern Baptist Theological Seminary • Spalding University • Spencerian College • Sullivan University • Thomas More College • Transylvania University • Union College • University of the Cumberlands
Community/Technical Colleges
Ashland • Big Sandy • Bluegrass • Bowling Green • Elizabethtown • Gateway • Hazard • Henderson • Hopkinsville • Jefferson • Madisonville • Maysville • Owensboro • Somerset • Southeast Kentucky • West Kentucky


Ohio Valley Conference
Austin Peay • Eastern Illinois • Eastern Kentucky • Jacksonville State • Morehead State • Murray State • Samford • SEMO • Tennessee State • Tennessee Tech • Tennessee–Martin
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../e/a/s/Eastern_Kentucky_University_c82d.html"
In other languages