University of Nevada, Reno

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“University of Nevada” redirects here. For the similarly-named university in Las Vegas, see University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

The University of Nevada, Reno
Motto Omnia Pro Patria
(All for our Country)
Established 1874
Type Public, State Assisted
President Dr. Milton Glick
Faculty 999 (Headcount)
Students 15,146
Undergraduates 11,962
Postgraduates 3,184
Location Reno, Nevada, United States
Campus Urban, 255 acres (1 km²)
Colors Cobalt Blue and Silver
Nickname Nevada Wolf Pack
Website http://www.unr.edu

The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada or UNR) is a university located in Reno, Nevada, USA, and is known for its programs in agricultural research, animal biotechnology, and mining-related engineering and natural sciences. Additionally, the university is fast becoming known for its journalism school, which has produced several Pulitzer Prize winners, and for its program in seismology, which is one of the most technologically advanced in North America.

The university is also home to the University of Nevada School of Medicine, which was founded in 1969. The medical school specializes in family medicine.

Contents

[edit] History

Manzanita Lake in the Southwestern part of the campus.
Manzanita Lake in the Southwestern part of the campus.

The University of Nevada was originally founded in Elko, Nevada in 1874 as a small, makeshift prep school that really could not be considered a true university. In 1885, the state legislature voted to close the Elko institution and the fledgling institution was moved from Elko to its current home in Reno, where classes began two years later.

After several decades of struggling to implement requirements of federal Morrill land-grant legislation, the university made large strides toward becoming the modern institution it is today with the opening of the Desert Research Institute in 1960 and a medical school in 1967. The University of Nevada, Reno remained the only four-year academic institution in the state of Nevada until 1965, when the current-day University of Nevada, Las Vegas attained university status as Nevada Southern University.

[edit] Campus

An older picture showing part of the campus in the forground
An older picture showing part of the campus in the forground

The campus is located on top of a hill north of downtown Reno overlooking Truckee Meadows and the downtown casinos. Modeled in the style of Thomas Jefferson's "academic village" (most notable for its use at the University of Virginia), the campus is considered one of the prettiest in the western United States.

The university's first building, Morrill Hall (completed in 1887), still stands on the historic "quad" at the campus' southern end. Lincoln Hall (all-male dormitory) and Manzanita Hall (all-female dormitory) were both completed in 1896, making them the oldest residence halls west of the Mississippi River.

Across the campus of the university exists the University of Nevada, Reno Arboretum, which was established in 1985, contains a collection of trees, shrubs, flowers, ornamentals and native flora, including over 60 genera and about 200 species of trees, many with several cultivars present. Thirty-six mature elm trees line the Quad.

The campus contains a statue of John William Mackay (namesake of Nevada's Mackay School of Mines, later renamed the Mackay School of Earth Sciences and Engineering), created by Mount Rushmore designer Gutzon Borglum.

[edit] Academics

The fountain located in the University of Nevada Honor Court
The fountain located in the University of Nevada Honor Court

Bachelor's, master's, and doctoral programs are offered through the College of Agriculture, Biotechnology, and Natural Resources; the College of Business Administration; the College of Education; the College of Engineering; the College of Human and Community Sciences; the College of Liberal Arts; the College of Science; the Cooperative Extension Service; the Graduate School; the Mackay School of Earth Sciences and Engineering; the Reynolds School of Journalism; and the School of Medicine.

Nevada is one of the few universities in the western hemisphere to sponsor a center dedicated to Basque studies (Including Basque language), due to the large Basque population in northern Nevada.

The university and surrounding community is served by several campus libraries. Between them, over a million books and bound periodicals are in circulation in addition to government documents, audio-visual matierials, and various databases. The libraries are: Noble H. Getchell (main library), DeLaMare (engineering, computer science, mining, and geology), Life and Health Sciences, Physical Sciences, W. M. Keck Earth Sciences and Mining Reasearch Information Center, Savitt Medical, and the Mary B. Ansari Map Library.

[edit] Student government

The Associated Students of the University of Nevada (ASUN) represents the undergraduate population at the university. ASUN has three branches: executive, legislative and judicial.

The president of ASUN, executive vice president, and vice presidents for clubs and organizations and programming constitute the executive. The Executive Council consists of the aforementioned executive officers and the speaker of the student senate.

The Senate is the legislative branch ASUN. Consisting of 22 senators elected from each of the university's colleges and schools, the Senate takes action on matters on behalf of the student body. The Senate's membership is apportioned by population in each college. The College of Liberal Arts (the largest), for instance, has seven seats in the Senate while the Reynolds School of Journalism has only one. The speaker of the Senate, also a senator, chairs all Senate meetings.

The Judicial Council, comprised of seven justices and two alternates, hears matters related to the ASUN Constitution and other matters that require peer review, such as alleged violation of university policies. Justices serve a two-year term.

Elections are held on an annual basis for executive and legislative officers. GPA and completed credit requirements determine who is eligible for office. Credit requirements are graduated; the more senior the office in ASUN, the more credits must be completed in order to be eligible for office.

ASUN is duly constituted under the laws of the state of Nevada, the university's Board of Regents policies and is bound by its own Constitution.

[edit] Athletics

Wolf Pack Athletics
Wolf Pack Athletics

Though often known as UNR within the state, the university prefers to be called simply Nevada for athletics purposes; its sports teams are nicknamed the Wolf Pack (always two words). They participate in the NCAA's Division I (I-A for football) and in the Western Athletic Conference.

[edit] Men's basketball

Further information: Nevada Wolf Pack basketball

In March 2004, the Wolf Pack men's basketball team qualified for the NCAA tournament and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in school history. The team earned a repeat trip in 2005 and beat Texas in the first round before falling to eventual national runner-up Illinois. The team returned for 2006 as a #5 seed but was upset in the first round by former Big Sky Conference rival Montana. They began the 2006-07 season ranked #24. The Pack's major star during this recent period of success has been Nick Fazekas. In 2007, Nevada was ranked #9 in men's basketball, which is the highest ranking that Nevada has ever held.

[edit] Football

On November 26, 2005, the Nevada Wolf Pack football team clinched a share of their first Western Athletic Conference championship, along with Boise State University, by pulling off an upset against 16th-ranked Fresno State. A month later, it won the Hawaii Bowl by defeating the University of Central Florida, 49-48. The Nevada football program has won a total of thirteen conference championships, seven in the 1990s. In 2006, the University of Nevada football team achieved a record of 8-5 including a one-point loss in the MPC Computers Bowl to the University of Miami (FL)

[edit] Other notable sports

Other notable successes have come in rifle shooting. The Nevada rifle team placed second in the 2004 NCAA Rifle team championship, losing to national champion Alaska Fairbanks.

[edit] Rivalries

Annually, Nevada's football team plays its primary rival, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, for the Fremont Cannon in the Battle for Nevada. Nevada's primary out-of-state rival, particularly in football, is Boise State University.

[edit] Mascot

The Wolf Pack's mascot is an anthropomorphized wolf named Alphie, who took over the duties of cheering from his uncle, Wolfie, in 1999.

[edit] Miscellaneous

Nevada's independent, weekly student newspaper, The Nevada Sagebrush, has been in continuous publication since 1893, making it one of the oldest newspapers still in publication in the state of Nevada. Prior to 2004, the newspaper called itself simply the Sagebrush. It was recently a finalist for a Pacemaker at the 2006 ACP student journalism awards.

There is a controversy over whether the university should be called UNR or Nevada. It stems from the sentiment of the Board of Regents that the university is not the sole University of Nevada in the state, and hence should always be identified by its full name, the University of Nevada, Reno. However, some claim that since it was the first university in the state, its historical name should be its official designation, as it is in many other multi-campus public university systems such as the University of Michigan. Several of the university's institutions retain the wording "University of Nevada", including the alumni association, the student government, the campus bookstore, and the athletics department (which refers to the school's teams simply as "Nevada").

The University of Nevada's classically-styled campus has served as the setting for many movies, including:

  • Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble (1944)
  • Margie (1946)
  • Apartment for Peggy (1948)
  • Mother Is a Freshman (1949)
  • Mr. Belvedere Goes to College (1949)
  • Hilda Crane (1956)

[edit] Trivia

In 2004 an 11-year-old child in Japan murdered one of her classmates and became known in the media as Nevada-tan, because of a widely distributed photo of her wearing a University of Nevada sweatshirt.

[edit] Greek system

The university has a thriving Greek community including the fraternities:

National Panhellenic Conference sororities represented on campus include:

The school is also the home of a secret society called Coffin and Keys.

[edit] Notable alumni

[edit] Pulitzer Prize

  • Ron Einstoss, 1955 - Awarded in 1966 for coverage of the Watts Riot
  • Susan Forrest, 1982 - Awarded for general news reporting in 1988
  • Kristen Go, 1998 - Awarded in 1998 for her coverage of the Columbine High School tragedy
  • Warren Lerude, 1961 - Awarded in 1977
  • Edward Montgomery, 1934 - Awarded for distinguished local reporting in 1952
  • Howard Sheerin, 1931 - Awarded for public service in 1956

[edit] Arts and media

[edit] Athletics

[edit] Politics and public service

[edit] Other notables

[edit] External links

Western Athletic Conference
Boise State • Fresno State • Hawai'i • Idaho • Louisiana Tech • Nevada • New Mexico State • San José State • Utah State
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