University of Wyoming

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University Of Wyoming
UWYO
Established 1886
Type Public
President Tom Buchanan
Students 13,000
Location Laramie, Wyoming
Colors Brown and Gold
Nickname Cowboys and Cowgirls
Mascot Cowboy Joe & Pistol Pete
Website www.uwyo.edu

The University of Wyoming is a land-grant university located in Laramie, Wyoming, situated on Wyoming's high plains, at an elevation of 7,200 feet (2194 m), between the Laramie and Medicine Bow mountain ranges. The university first opened in September 1886 and is the only educational institution in Wyoming that offers bachelor's and graduate degrees. The university also offers outreach education in counties throughout Wyoming.

UW is also a national research university, prominently in the fields of environment and natural resource research, specializing in agriculture, energy, geology, and water resource related fields.

The University of Wyoming consists of seven colleges: Agriculture, Arts and Sciences, Business, Education, Engineering, Health Sciences, and Law. The university maintains a low student-faculty ratio - one of the lowest such ratios among four-year schools in the west. UW also offers a variety of cultural and social activities. The university offers 86 Bachelor, 66 Master, and 26 Doctoral degrees. Professional Pharmacy, Juris Doctor (law) and Education degrees are also available.

The university is a hub of cultural events in Laramie. It offers a variety of performing arts events, ranging from rock concerts in the Arena Auditorium to classical concerts and performances by the University's theatre and dance department at the Fine Arts Center. Wyoming also boasts a competitive athletic program, one which annually challenges for conference and national championships. Wyoming offers many extracurricular activities, including over 150 recognized student organizations that include a wide range of social, professional and academic groups. The newly renovated Wyoming Union is the hub of the campus, with the campus bookstore and numerous student facilities. The University is also home to the American Heritage Center. The Center contains numerous special collections, manuscripts and artifacts covering a broad range of disciplines. The collections relate to the American experience, not just that of Wyoming or its residents.


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[edit] Campus Life

The University has four types of housing available for students. Primary among these are the four main residence halls - Orr, White, Downey and McIntyre. All four residence halls are connected together via Washakie Center (named for Chief Washakie), which contains the main dining hall and other student services. Two other residence halls (dorms) - Crane and Hill - house upperclassmen exclusively. Married students are provided the opportunity to live in townhomes east of War Memorial Stadium and the university has off-campus apartments (Spanish Walk) available to upperclassmen. All incoming freshmen are expected to live in one of the main residence halls, but dispensation can be made for those with off-campus housing.

The main 'quad' of the campus is Prexy's Pasture. A large open grassy area located within a ring of classroom and administrative buildings, Prexy's (as it is commonly known) is home to many students between classes. A sculpture at the center of Prexy's - the University of Wyoming Family (visible from the PastureCam) - garnered national attention when it was installed.

UW also has an extensive intramural athletic program that brings students and student groups together on the athletic fields. In addition, with the abundance of outdoor recreational opportunities at students' doorsteps, such as skiing and hiking in the nearby mountains and its location to many national parks and forests, Laramie was recently voted one of America's top 40 college towns by Outside Magazine.

[edit] Athletics

Wyoming Cowboys
Wyoming Cowboys

Wyoming is somewhat unique in that there are two mascots for the school - "Cowboy Joe" (a pony present primarily at football games) and "Pistol Pete" (a cowboy). The athletic teams are cheered on by the school song "Ragtime Cowboy Joe" and the fight song "Fight, Wyoming, Fight". Men's athletic teams are known as "Cowboys" and women's teams are called "Cowgirls". Teams of either gender are also referred to as "Pokes", short for Cowpokes.

Wyoming competes in NCAA Division I (I-A for football) as a member of the Mountain West Conference. In 2004 the Cowboy football team ended a 38-year streak of Bowl Game losses by defeating the University of California, Los Angeles in the Las Vegas Bowl on December 23.

Wyoming's basketball team has also had its share of success. In 1943 it defeated Georgetown University 46-34 to win the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship. Brittney Kennedy was a All-First Team selection for the women's basketball team in 2004. The gifted shooting guard set many school records in her four years there.

Jonah Field at War Memorial Stadium, capacity 32,580, was built in 1950. An artificial turf sets off this stadium, which at an elevation of 7,220 feet is the highest Division I football stadium in America. The Wyoming basketball teams have always enjoyed playing on the "Highest Courts" in the nation. Built in 1982 at a cost of $15 million, the Arena-Auditorium (or "Dome of Doom") seats over 15,000.

[edit] University of Wyoming Facts

  • Named by the New York Times as one of the best education buys in the nation
  • One of the more successful extracurricular organizations at the University of Wyoming is its Speech and Debate Team (sometimes called the Forensics Team), which has existed since at least 1912. UW debaters captured national championships in parliamentary debate in 1995 and 2003, with national runners-up in 1996, 2000, and 2001.
  • The UW Residence Hall area is the most densely populated area in Wyoming, with 2,500 students on 1 1/3 acres of land
  • White Hall, a twelve-story dormitory on the UWYO campus, is the tallest residential building in Wyoming
  • Wyoming is the "coolest" summer school in America, with temperatures rarely ranging into the 90s
  • War Memorial Stadium becomes the third-largest city in Wyoming when filled to capacity
  • It is still legal to graze your horse on Prexy's Pasture
  • Traditionally, the university hosts the first NPDA debate tournament of the year in early September

[edit] Notable alumni and attendees

[edit] External links

Mountain West Conference
Air Force • BYU • Colorado State • New Mexico • San Diego State (SDSU Aztecs) • TCU • UNLV • Utah (Utah Utes) • Wyoming
Related Pages: MountainWest Sports Network (mtn.)
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