Webster University

Webster University
Webster University's Webster Hall in 2012
Established	1915
Type	Private
Endowment	$87.6 million[1]
Chancellor	Neil George
President	Elizabeth J. Stroble
Academic staff	14.7:1 student-faculty ratio; 184 full-time, 1,642 adjunct[2]
Students	21,091[2]
Undergraduates	4,895 (2010)
Postgraduates	16,126 (2010)
Location	Webster Groves, Missouri, United States
Campus	Webster Groves main campus 47 acres (19 ha),[3] plus more than 100 others globally
Colors	Navy, gold, and white
Athletics	NCAA Division III, 7 Men's Sports, 7 Women's Sports
Nickname	Gorloks
Mascot	Gorlok
Website	Webster.edu

Webster University is an American non-profit private university with its main campus in Webster Groves, Missouri, United States. Webster University is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission and is a member of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.^[4] Webster University is ranked 21st among regional universities (Midwest), according to college and university rankings in US News.^[5]

Webster operates as an independent, non-denominational university with more than 100 campus locations around the world, including Webster University Geneva, Webster University Thailand, Webster University Vienna, Regent's American College London, and Webster University Leiden. In 2013, Webster opened a campus in Accra, Ghana.^[6] It offers undergraduate and graduate programs in a wide array of disciplines, including the liberal arts, fine and performing arts, teacher education, business and management.

In Fall 2013, the university enrolled about 25,000 students (16,196 graduate students; 4,895 undergraduate students) around the globe who range from traditional college-age students to adult learners. They represent 49 US states and more than 100 nationalities.^[2]

History

It was founded in 1915 by the Sisters of Loretto as Loretto College, a Catholic women's college, one of the first west of the Mississippi River. The first male students were admitted in 1962. The Sisters of Loretto transferred ownership of the university to a lay Board of Directors in 1967. They were the first Catholic college in the United States to be totally under lay control.<ref name=WU /^[7]

Webster was involved in the early racial integration battles in St. Louis. During the early 1940s, many local priests, especially the Jesuits, challenged the segregationist policies at the city's Catholic colleges and parochial schools. The St. Louis chapter of the Midwest Clergy Conference on Negro Welfare arranged in 1943 for Webster College to admit a black female student, Mary Aloyse Foster, which would make it the city's first Catholic college to integrate. However, in 1943 Archbishop John J. Glennon blocked that student's enrollment by speaking privately with the Kentucky-based Superior General of the Sisters of Loretto.^[8] The Pittsburgh Courier, an African-American newspaper with national circulation, discovered Glennon's actions and ran a front-page feature on the Webster incident in February 1944.^[9] The negative publicity toward Glennon's segregationist policies led Saint Louis University to begin admitting African American students in summer 1944.^[10] In the Fall of 1945, Webster College responded to pressure by admitting Irene Thomas, a Catholic African-American woman from St. Louis, as a music major.^[11]

Academics

Webster Hall in 2007

Colleges include the College of Arts & Sciences, the Leigh Gerdine College of Fine Arts, the George Herbert Walker School of Business & Technology, the School of Communications, and the School of Education.^[12]

Webster University is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission (North Central Association),^[13] the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP),^[14] the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM),^[15] the National League for Nursing (NLN),^[16] the Council on Accreditation (COA),^[17] the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE),^[18] the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education,^[19] and the National Board for Certified Counselors.^[20]

Twitter founder Jack Dorsey speaking at the university in 2008

Webster University also hosts a speaker series, originally titled The Success to Significance Speaker Series and now known as the Walker Speaker Series, that has featured business professionals including Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, Edward Whitacre, Jr., former chairman of the board and chief executive officer of AT&T Inc., and August A. Busch IV, former President & CEO of Anheuser-Busch.^[21]

Campus

Webster University campus in Leiden

Webster University campus in Geneva

Webster University's home campus is located in Webster Groves, a suburb of St. Louis.^[22] The university maintains nearly 100 campuses across the U.S. and abroad.^[23] Many of the domestic campuses are located near military bases; some are located in various metropolitan areas. The international campuses are located in several European countries including Switzerland, Austria, and the Netherlands; several are also located in Asia, such as in Thailand and China.^[23] Webster has also begun the process of opening its first campus in Africa in Accra, Ghana.^[22]

In addition to its own international campuses, Webster has also formed partnerships with a few universities that are based in the country of interest. For example, The Webster Graduate School is tied with Regent's College in London;^[24] and Webster maintains a relationship with Kansai University in Osaka, Japan^[25] and with The Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara in Guadalajara, Mexico.^[26]

Because of the nature of the Webster system worldwide, it is relatively easy for Webster students to study at different campuses. Some students elect to study abroad for an entire semester (16 weeks) at a single campus, or to move to a new campus after a single term (8 weeks). There are also short-term programs to locations that may not be tied to Webster permanently; often, these programs are faculty-led.^[27] Also, Webster maintains affiliations with over two dozen American universities that allows students of the affiliate universities to study abroad on international Webster campuses.^[28]

Webster University has recently established graduate degree programs that take advantage of the international network of campuses.^[29] While enrolled in these programs, students travel between campuses and take classes at each for a short duration of approximately 9 weeks.^[30] The Global MBA^[31] and the Global M.A. in International Relations^[32] are the two extant programs.

Athletics

Webster University's athletic mascot is the Gorlok. Athletic teams participate in the NCAA Division III and in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC).^[33]

• Men's Sports: Baseball; basketball; cross country; golf; soccer; tennis; and, track and field
• Women's Sports: Basketball; cross country; soccer; softball; tennis; track and field; and, volleyball

Webster's Chess Team is the 2012 National Co-Champion.

People

Students

Webster University, in Fall 2008, enrolled 4,887 undergraduate students and 15,823 graduate students.^[34] The average SAT composite score for the undergraduate class was 1,194. The average ACT composite score was 24. Students come from 49 states and more than 122 countries.

Webster University St. Louis has a student newspaper called The Journal and a student radio station called The Galaxy. The Galaxy was re-launched online in 2007.^[35] The campus GTV station (Gorlok Television) is operated by students. Webster University has student magazine called The Ampersand, which is published twice a year, as well as other newsletters and departmental publications.

Webster University recently allowed the formation of the first Greek organization on its St. Louis campus, with the founding of the 152nd Chapter of Delta Upsilon and the founding of the Gamma Zeta Chapter of Delta Phi Epsilon.

Faculty

Professors for the university have included actor/dancer Lara Teeter, dancer Alicia Graf Mack, poet David Clewell,^[36] video artist Van McElwee,^[37] political scientists Daniel Hellinger and Johannes Pollak, sports economist Patrick Rishe,^[38] United Nations Special Rapporteur for Violence Against Women Rashida Manjoo,^[39] activist and writer Sulak Sivaraksa, sound engineer Bill Porter, Holocaust scholar Harry J. Cargas, and former Missouri Governor Bob Holden.^[40]

Alumni

Alumni include Tony Award winning actor Norbert Leo Butz and multiple Tony Award winning choreographer and director Jerry Mitchell, as well as actor and cabaret artist Nathan Lee Graham;^[41]William Broad, Pulitzer Prize winning reporter for The New York Times;^[42] John Boccieri former U.S. Congressman; Ann Walsh Bradley, Wisconsin State Supreme Court Justice;^[42] Lloyd James Austin III, Army General;^[43] Clarence Harmon, former Mayor and Chief of Police for St. Louis;^[42] Roderick Royal, former Mayor of Birmingham, Alabama; and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.^[44] R. Alan King Military Veteran (Panama and Iraq) and author of Twice Armed: An American Soldiers Battle for Hearts and Minds in Iraq – Winner of 2008 William E. Colby Award. Kathy Mazzarella, President and CEO of Graybar, one of only 16 female CEOs of Fortune 500 companies nationwide. Three-time Emmy Awardee, Leyna Nguyen, KCAL9 News Anchor, Los Angeles.

References

External links

• Official website
• Official athletics website

Coordinates: 38°35′21″N 90°20′45″W / 38.5892°N 90.3457°W / 38.5892; -90.3457