| The University of Tulsa | |
|---|---|
| Motto | Wisdom, Faith, Service |
| Established | 1894 |
| Type | Private |
| Religious affiliation | Presbyterian |
| Endowment | $647 million[1] |
| President | Steadman Upham |
| Admin. staff | 306 (full-time) |
| Students | 4,165 |
| Undergraduates | 2,987 |
| Postgraduates | 1,178 |
| Location | Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States |
| Campus | Urban, 230 acres (930,000 m²) |
| Sports | Golden Hurricane |
| Colors | Old Gold, Royal Blue, and Crimson |
| Mascot | Captain Cane |
| Website | www.utulsa.edu |
The University of Tulsa (TU) is a private university awarding bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. The university is historically affiliated with the Presbyterian Church USA. Tulsa's athletic teams compete in Division I of the NCAA as members of the Conference USA and are collectively known as the Tulsa Golden Hurricane.
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The Presbyterian School for Girls was founded in Muskogee, Indian Territory to offer a primary education to Creek girls. In 1894, it was renamed Henry Kendall College in honor of Reverend Henry Kendall, secretary of the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions.[2] The first president was William A. Caldwell, who served until 1896. He was succeeded by William Robert King. Kendall College, while still in Muskogee, granted the first post-secondary degree in Oklahoma in June 1898.[3] However, in its thirteen years in Muskogee, Kendall College had only 27 graduates. Struggling financially, the school decided to relocate.
The Tulsa Commercial Club (a forerunner of the Tulsa Chamber of Commerce) decided to bid for the college. Club members who packaged a bid in 1907 to move the college to Tulsa included: B. Betters, H. O. McClure, L. N. Butts, W. L. North, James H. Hall (sic), Grant C. Stebbins, Rev. Charles W. Kerr, C. H. Nicholson.[4] The offer included $100,000, 200 acres of real estate and a guarantee for utilities and street car service.
The school opened to 35 students in September 1907, two months before Oklahoma became a state. These first students attended classes at First Presbyterian Church until permanent buildings could be erected on the new campus. This became the start of higher education in Tulsa. Kendall Hall, the first building of the new school, was completed in 1908. It was quickly followed by two other buildings. All three buildings have since been demolished. In 1972, Kendall Hall was the last to be razed.[5] The bell that once hung in the Kendall Building tower was saved and displayed in Bayless Plaza.
According to the TU Alumni Website, the Kendall College presidents during 1907-1919 were: Arthur G. Evans, Levi H. Beeler, Seth R. Gordon, Frederick W. Hawley, Ralph J. Lamb, Charles Evans, James G. McMurtry and Arthur L. Odell.[6]
In 1918, the Methodist Church proposed building a college in Tulsa, using money donated by Tulsa oilman Robert M. McFarlin. The proposed college was to be named Mc Farlin College. However, it was soon apparent that Tulsa could not support two such schools. In 1920, Henry Kendall College merged with the proposed Mc Farlin College to become Tulsa University. The McFarlin library of Tulsa University was named for the principal donor of the proposed college. The name of Henry Kendall has lived on to the present as the Henry Kendall College of Arts and Sciences.
Tulsa University opened its School of Petroleum Engineering in 1928.[7]
The Great Depression hit the university hard. By 1935, the school was about to close because of its poor financial condition. It had a debt of $250,000, enrollment had fallen to 300 students (including many who could not pay their own tuition), the faculty was poorly paid and morale was low. It was then that Waite Phillips offered the school presidency to Clarence Isaiah ("Cy") Pontius, a former investment banker. His primary focus would be to rescue the school's finances. A deans' council would take charge of academic issues.[8]
However, Pontius' accomplishments went beyond raising money. During his tenure the following events occurred:
The University of Tulsa is noted for having one of the world's premier programs in petroleum engineering, and has distinguished programs in English, computer science, natural sciences, Clinical and Industrial/Organizational Psychology, and several engineering disciplines. The university also maintains a school of law, which is one of the few to specialize in Native American legal issues. The University of Tulsa College of Law Review ranks in the top 15% of most cited legal periodicals as ranked by Washington and Lee University.[8] In its focus on energy, the University of Tulsa maintains both the National Energy Policy Institute and the National Energy-Environment Law and Policy Institute.[9]
The University has a strong undergraduate research program, evidenced by 44 students receiving Goldwater Scholarships since 1995.[10] The Tulsa Undergraduate Research Challenge (TURC) allows undergraduates to conduct advanced research with the guidance of top TU professors.[11]
Currently, there are six colleges, programs, and departments at the University of Tulsa:
| University rankings (overall) | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Forbes[12] | 110 |
| U.S. News & World Report[13] | 75 |
| Washington Monthly[14] | 223 |
In 2011, Tulsa's Collins College of Business was ranked 33rd in the country among undergraduate business schools by Bloomberg Businessweek based on a student survey. It was ranked 20th by a survey of recruiters.[15]
U.S. News & World Report’s 2012 edition of Best Colleges ranked The University of Tulsa as 75th. TU’s No. 75 ranking is TU’s highest position ever in the U.S. News survey. This 2012 ranking was the 9th consecutive year that TU has been listed in the Top 100 national universities, and TU is the only Oklahoma university to be included within the top 100. The U.S. News & World Report 2012 rankings also show TU as 46th among the nation’s private doctoral universities.[16]
In 2008, Tulsa was ranked ninth in "Quality of Life" by the Princeton Review's "The Best 366 Colleges" guide. The University of Tulsa also placed sixth among all colleges for "Happiest Students," was ranked eleventh in the "Lots of Class/Race Interaction" category, and in "Town-Gown Relations" Tulsa was ranked fifth in the country. In the 2006 edition, the university was described as follows: “The University of Tulsa is one of the sleeper gems of the Great Plains, a private school large enough to house numerous top-flight programs but small enough to facilitate one-on-one instruction provided in a homey atmosphere.”
The University of Tulsa is one of 150 colleges to be included in the inaugural edition of “Colleges of Distinction” and is also included in "The Unofficial Biased Guide to the 331 Most Interesting Colleges, 2005 edition." Cosmo Girl magazine named TU one of the top 50 schools in the country for women in its October 2004 edition.
The University of Tulsa is known for the large number of National Merit Scholarship winners in attendance, approximately one in every ten undergraduate students. According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, for 2004 The University of Tulsa's freshman class ranked 9th nationally among research universities in the number of National Merit Scholars per capita.[17]
The campus of the University of Tulsa centers on a wide, grassy, quad-like space known as "The U." The predominant architectural style is English Gothic. Most of the buildings are constructed from tan and rose-colored Crab Orchard sandstone from Tennessee interspersed with stone quarried in Arkansas. Other materials include Bedford limestone from Indiana and slate quarried in Vermont.
University of Tulsa has participated in efforts towards sustainability including RecycleMania and Adopt a Recycle Bin. Many campus efforts have been led by student groups like the Sustainability Committee, the Student Association, TU Earth Matters, and the TU Food Garden. The Food Garden is a student-run organic garden that is able to provide food to dining services. The University is also striving to have its buildings meet LEED Standards in order to reduce the school’s overall carbon footprint. The university achieved a D+ on the Sustainable College Report Card in 2009, which is up from a D in 2008.[18][19]
Completed in 2006, Bayless Plaza houses the Kendall Bell, hanging in the cupola of the former Kendall Hall. The plaza lies directly south of Tyrrell Hall, long time home of the School of Music, and serves as the apex of Tucker Drive, the University's main entrance.
TU football played in Skelly Stadium until 2007 when the venue was renamed Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium, following renovations. The Case Athletic Complex in the north end of the field provides office facilities for the football staff, a new locker room and trainer facility, a letterman's lounge and box seating on the top level, and meeting rooms, a computer lab, and study spaces for student-athletes. Renovations are completed and provide renovated seating throughout the stadium, new turf, an updated score board and Jumbotron, and an expanded press box. The changes also include the addition of an extensive plaza area (Thomas Plaza) on the west side of the stadium to accommodate restrooms, food and drink stands, and souvenir shops.
At the top of The U sits one of the campus' most notable landmarks, the McFarlin Library, which is named after Robert and Ida McFarlin, the library's primary benefactors. The McFarlins had only one stipulation with their gift, the view of Downtown Tulsa from McFarlin can never be blocked. Ground breaking ceremonies took place on May 3, 1929 and the edifice was dedicated on June 1, 1930. The library continued to grow over the years, adding two five-story additions by 1979. Currently, the library houses over three million items and is noted for its collections of 20th-century British, Irish, and American literature, including the world's second largest collection of materials by James Joyce. It also houses the papers of Nobel Prize winner V.S. Naipaul. The library also contains a vast collection of books on Native American history.[20] Renovations began in the spring of 2007 on a 12,000-square-foot (1,100 m2) addition that consolidated the library's computing and technology resources into one location. The library's reading rooms were restored to provide quiet areas for student and faculty study. Construction was completed in 2009.
Home to women's volleyball along with the men's and women's basketball programs, the Donald W. Reynolds Center houses office and meeting space, practice and weights facilities, as well as the main basketball arena. Commencement Exercises are held in the Reynolds center in December and May.
Named for its principal donors, Mr. and Mrs. Robert C. Sharp, Sharp Chapel was completed on November 27, 1959. It replaced the university's original chapel that was located in Kendall Hall before its destruction and replacement by the current Kendall Hall theater building. Sharp Chapel houses the Offices of University Chaplain and serves the religious needs of multiple denominations present on campus as well as hosting many awards ceremonies and weddings.
Additions to Sharp Chapel were completed in the spring of 2004, including the Westminster Room, an atrium, kitchen, and a second floor including administrative offices and a conference room.
On-campus housing consists of six residence halls, six sorority houses, and six university-owned apartment complexes, including eight apartments designed like townhouses.
Residence halls:
Apartment complexes include Brown Village, Lorton Village (includes townhouses), Mayo Village, Norman Village, University Square South, and University Square West.
Beginning in July 2008, Tulsa University has taken over management of the Gilcrease Museum in a public-private partnership with the City of Tulsa. The museum has one of the largest collections of American Western art in the world and how growing collections in artifacts from Central and South America. The museum sits on 460 acres (1.9 km2) of ground in northwest Tulsa a considerable distance from the main university campus.[21]
The University of Tulsa is home to more than 200 student organizations, registered with and partially funded by the Student Association.
The Student Association is the University of Tulsa student government body. It is organized into three branches: the Executive Branch, which includes Cabinet and is in charge of organizing large campus wide events and activities; the Judicial Branch; and the Legislative Branch, or Student Senate, which coordinates funding, oversees student organizations, and addresses general issues impacting student life on campus. Its budget is provided partially by the university and partially by a fee paid by students each semester.
Traditionally, the Student Association coordinates Homecoming activities, including cross campus competitions and the homecoming game tailgate. Another traditional event is Springfest, a week long series of events including food, various on campus activities, and a concert bringing in such names as Cake, Guster, and Ben Folds. Activities organized by Student Association are free to all TU students.
There are 5 IFC fraternities and 6 NPC sororities on campus. The living quarters in the back of the sorority houses are university owned residence halls, but, traditionally, only current members of the sororities live there.
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There are also a number of historically black sororities and fraternities on campus that fall under the National Pan-Hellenic Council. Currently, there are five active organizations:
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Other fraternities on campus that do not fall under the National Pan-Hellenic Council include:
Tulsa's sports teams participate in NCAA Division I as a member of Conference USA; its football team is part of the top-tier Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Tulsa has the smallest undergraduate enrollment of any FBS school.
The university's nickname is the Golden Hurricane. The Sound of the Golden Hurricane marching band plays at all home football and basketball games as well as traveling to championships in support of the Golden Hurricane. Tulsa has won six national championships (three NCAA), four in women's golf and two in men's basketball. The University of Tulsa currently fields a varsity team in eight men's sports and ten women's sports.[22] Tulsa's current interim athletic director is Ross Parmley.
Athletic facilities are distributed throughout a number of buildings on campus. Mabee Gym houses an extensive indoor rowing facility, an indoor golf practice facility, and volleyball practice gyms. Renovations in Spring 2008 incorporated FieldTurf into an indoor practice field for the soccer, softball, and football programs. The tennis teams are housed in the Michael D. Case Tennis Center, which includes a number of indoor and outdoor courts. The Hurricane Soccer & Track Stadium is home to the track and field and soccer programs.
In September 2009 the university unveiled a new look and back story for its mascot, Captain Cane. He is presented as a muscular, square-jawed superhero clothed in a blue body suit, a mask, golden gloves and boots, and a hurricane flag cape. He carries a "storm summoning sword" shaped like a lightning bolt. Two-thousand coloring books were distributed to children at a September 26, 2009 home football game presenting the story of a brainy TU student's transformation into Captain Cane as the result of an accident involving storm-generated static electricity. Before this, starting in 1994, Captain Cane was depicted as an anthropomorphized golden hurricane with human attributes such as biceps, clothes, and a perpetual smirk on a swirled over-sized inverted cone-shaped golden head. From 1978 to 1994, the mascot was known as "Huffy," who was similar to Captain Cane in appearance.
The school's colors are Old Gold (PMS 873), Royal Blue (PMS 280), and Crimson (PMS 032).[23]
The university's motto used to read, in full, "Faith, Wisdom, Service: For Christ, For State."
The University of Tulsa Collegian is the long-standing independent and student-run newspaper on campus. New to the campus is the 631, another independent and student-run publication offering a conservative alternative to the Collegian.
The following scholarly journals are published by the University:
The Tulsa Institute for Trauma, Abuse and Neglect (TITAN) is an interdisciplinary institute committed to evidence-based education, scholarship, research, and service that reduce the incidence and impact of trauma and adversity. This group is composed of students and professors primarily in Psychology, Sociology, and Nursing. The group is contributing to the fields through presentations at local and major conferences and publications.
In 2003 Tulsa joined the efforts of Brown University on the Modernist Journals Project, an online archive of early 20th-century periodicals. Tulsa has contributed various modernist texts from McFarlin Library’s Special Collections to the project's website.
Dr. Sean Latham, editor of the James Joyce Quarterly, brought the 2003 North American James Joyce Conference to the University of Tulsa.
Tulsa is one of the first universities in the United States to have a mosque located on campus.[24]
Tulsa's faculty includes the famous Russian poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko, psychologist Robert Hogan, political scientist Robert Donaldson, Catholic philosopher F. Russell Hittinger, computer scientist Sujeet Shenoi,[25] former US Congressman Brad Carson, and "2010 Big Brother of the Year" Art Rasher.[26]
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