Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a publicland-grantresearch university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known as Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College (Oklahoma A&M), the Oklahoma State University campus in Stillwater is the flagship institution of the Oklahoma State University System, which enrolls more than 34,000 students across its five institutions with an annual budget of $1.69 billion for fiscal year 2024.[2] As of Fall 2023, 26,008 students are enrolled at the university.[4] OSU is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity".[8] According to the National Science Foundation, OSU spent $226.5 million on research and development in 2023.[9]
Students spend part of the fall semester preparing for OSU's Homecoming celebration, begun in 1913, which draws more than 40,000 alumni and over 70,000 participants each year to campus. It is billed by the university as "America's Greatest Homecoming Celebration."[16] The Oklahoma State University alumni network exceeds 250,000 graduates.
History
Old Central at Oklahoma A&M, 1894Williams Hall, the Castle of the Prairies, in 1920
On December 25, 1890, the Oklahoma Territorial Legislature finally gained approval for Oklahoma Territorial Agricultural and Mechanical (A&M) College, the land-grant institution established under the Morrill Act of 1862. The legislature specified that the college was to be within Payne County. Such an ambiguous description created a rivalry among towns in the county, with Stillwater ultimately gaining the campus. Upon statehood in 1907, "Territorial" was dropped from its title.
Oklahoma A&M seal
The first students assembled for class on December 14, 1891. For two and a half years, classes were held in local churches, until the first academic building, later known as Old Central, was constructed and dedicated on June 15, 1894, on the southeast corner of campus. It was surrounded by a flat plowed prairie.[17]
In 1896, Oklahoma A&M held its first commencement with six male graduates. The first Library was established in Old Central in one room shared with the English Department. The first campus building to have electricity, Williams Hall, was constructed in 1900. Because of its turreted architecture, it was referred to as the "Castle of the Prairies";[18] It survived until 1969.
One of the earliest campus buildings was also a barn, used as part of an agricultural experiment station, which was served by a large reservoir pond created in 1895. The barn burned down in 1922, but the pond, enlarged and remodeled in 1928 and 1943, is now known as Theta Pond, a popular campus scenic landmark.[19] In 1906, Morrill Hall was completed and became the principal building on campus. A fire gutted the building in 1914, but the outside structure survived intact, and the interior was reconstructed.
Boy's Dormitory, later Crutchfield Hall
On-campus housing at Oklahoma A&M College began in 1910, with the opening of the Boys' Dormitory.[20] Later renamed Crutchfield Hall, the Historic American Buildings Survey said it was significant as "... the first permanent boy's dormitory in Oklahoma ... [and] the sole surviving example of a pre-1930 utilitarian dormitory that is characteristic of modified Italian Renaissance Revival architecture".[21] Crutchfield Hall later served the School of Music and the College of Engineering, Architecture, and Technology before it was ranked as outdated and demolished in 1995.[20]
Also opened in 1910 was the Women's Building, a dorm for female students that also contained a dining hall, home economics classes, and a women's gymnasium. It was later named Garner Hall. Today it is known as the Bartlett Center for the Studio Arts and houses the Gardiner Art Gallery.[20][22]
By 1919 the campus included Morrill Hall, the Central Building, the Engineering Building (now Gundersen Hall), the Women's Building, the Auditorium (replaced later by the Seretean Center for Performing Arts),[23] the Armory-Gymnasium (now the Architecture Building) and the Power Plant.[24]
At the beginning of World War II, Oklahoma A&M was one of six schools selected by the United States Navy to give the Primary School in the Electronics Training Program (ETP), also known as Naval Training School Elementary Electricity and Radio Materiel (NTS EE&RM).[25] Starting in March 1942, each month a new group of 100 Navy students arrived for three months of 14-hour days in concentrated electrical engineering study. Cordell Hall, the newest dormitory, was used for housing and meals; lectures and lab sessions were held in the Engineering Building. Professor Emory B. Phillips was the Director of Instruction. ETP admission required passing the Eddy Test, one of the most selective qualifying exams given during the war years.[26] At a given time, some 500 Navy students were on the campus, a significant fraction of the war-years enrollment. The training activity continued until June 1945 and served a total of about 7,000 students; among these was Robert B. Kamm, a future professor and president of Oklahoma State University.[27][28]
Student Union Building at OSU
Much of the growth of Oklahoma A&M and the architectural integrity of the campus can be attributed to Henry G. Bennett, who served as the school's president from 1928 to 1950. Early in his tenure, Dr. Bennett developed a strategic vision for the university campus's physical expansion. The plan was adopted in 1937, and his vision was followed for more than fifty years, including the predominant Georgian architecture style that permeates the campus. He intended the focal point to be a centrally located library building: this was the Edmon Low Library, which opened in 1953. Another major addition to the campus during the Bennett years was the Student Union, which opened in 1950. Subsequent additions and renovations have made the building one of the largest student union buildings in the world at 611,000sqft (56,800m2).[29]
Oklahoma A&M's global engagement at an institutional level began in the 1950s when President Bennett was appointed in 1950 to be the first director of US President Harry Truman’s “Point Four Program,” a technical assistance program for developing countries.[30] As part of the Point Four program, Oklahoma A&M College entered into an agreement in 1952 with the government of Ethiopia to establish a technical high school, an agricultural university, and an agricultural extension service there.[31] Faculty and staff from the Stillwater campus traveled to Ethiopia and established Jimma Agricultural Technical School (now Jimma University), the Imperial Ethiopian University of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts (now Haramaya University), and an agricultural and research station at Debra Zeit.[32] In recognition of the contributions of the OSU staff, Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie visited the Stillwater campus in 1954, the first foreign head of state to visit Oklahoma and the only one to visit Stillwater.[33][34]
Statue of Henry G. Bennett near Library Lawn at OSU
On May 15, 1957, Oklahoma A&M changed its name to the Oklahoma State University of Agricultural and Applied Sciences, to reflect the broadening scope of its curriculum. Oklahoma Gov. Raymond Gary signed the bill authorizing the name change passed by the 26th Oklahoma Legislature on May 15, 1957. However, the bill only authorized the Board of Regents to change the college's name, a measure they voted on at their meeting on June 6. However, the name was quickly shortened to Oklahoma State University for most purposes, and the "Agricultural & Applied Sciences" name was formally dropped in 1980. Subsequently, the Oklahoma State University System was created, with the Stillwater campus as the flagship institution and several outlying branches: OSU-Institute of Technology in Okmulgee (1946), OSU-Oklahoma City (1961), OSU-Tulsa (1984), and the Center for Health Sciences also in Tulsa (1988).[35]
In 2005, OSU announced its "Campus Master Plan", a campaign to enhance academic, athletic, and administrative facilities. Over $800 million is earmarked for campus construction and renovation over twenty years. The Plan calls for an "athletic village", where all of the university's athletic facilities will be located on the main campus. To accomplish this goal, the athletic department bought all (or nearly all) the property north of Boone Pickens Stadium up to McElroy between Knoblock and Washington streets. The city of Stillwater and property owners criticized this land gram.[36] While the vast majority of the real estate was rental property appealing to college students, a few owners were longtime residents. A lone holdout in this parcel of land sued OSU over their right to use eminent domain to condemn and acquire their land.[37]
Edmon Low Library
In 2006, OSU received a gift of $165 million from an alumnus T. Boone Pickens to the university's athletic department, and in 2008 received another gift from Pickens, of $100 million for endowed academic chairs. It was the largest gift for academics ever given in the state.[38] Ethical concerns have been raised by the media questioning the propriety of some of the Pickens' gifts, which were in media reports about the propriety of how some of the Pickens gifts have been made, were immediately returned to Pickens, and then placed in hedge funds owned by Pickens' companies[39] In February 2010, Pickens announced that he was pledging another $100 million to fund a scholarship endowment as part of a $1 billion fund-raising campaign titled "Branding Success." The pledge brought the total pledged or contributed to OSU by Pickens to over $500 million.[40]
On October 24, 2015, during the annual homecoming parade, Adacia Chambers drove her vehicle into a crowd of people, killing 4 people and injuring 47. She faced 2nd-degree murder charges.[41]
Colleges
The medical campus has an affiliation with Oklahoma State University Medical Center for clinical training and offers residency/fellowship opportunities. Also with the medical school, OSU established a campus in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, the capital of the Cherokee Nation and the nation's first, and currently only, tribally-affiliated medical school.[42]
In 2020, the College of Education and Human Sciences was created, which merged the College of Human Sciences and College of Education, Health, and Aviation into a single college. In August 2021, the university announced the creation of the Oklahoma Aerospace Institute for Research and Education (OAIRE).[43]
Admissions
For the class of 2023 (enrolling Fall 2019), OSU received 15,277 applications and accepted 10,691 (70.0%), with 4,200 enrolling.[44] The middle 50% range of SAT scores for enrolling freshmen was 530–635 for evidence-based reading and writing, 510–630 for math, and 1040–1255 for the composite.[44] The middle 50% ACT score range was 19–27 for math, 21–27 for English, and 21–28 for the composite.[44]
OSU is one of six U.S. universities where Sun Grant Research Initiative programs have been established by the U.S. Congress in the Sun Grant Research Initiative Act of 2003 to research and develop sustainable and environmentally-friendly bio-based energy alternatives.
The Math Department has been recognized by the American Mathematics Association as one of four innovative programs in the nation and has produced four Sloan Fellowship winners.[52]
The School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, housed in the Spears School of Business, is ranked 11th in the United States and comes in at 22nd in the world.[54]
Current university-owned housing options include 31 residence halls, more than 15 dining options, and six family-first apartment complexes. In recent years, on-campus housing has been undergoing significant transformation. Student living was previously dominated by traditional residence halls; however, apartment-style buildings now comprise approximately half of the living quarters.[56] In 2005, the high-rise Willham North and South residence halls that once dominated the Stillwater skyline were demolished and replaced with the Village suites on its site.[57] Iba Hall, another traditional hall, was closed in 2007 but was reopened in 2011 due to an increase of incoming freshman.[58] In 2017, Iba Hall underwent significant renovations which lasted through most of that year, before reopening in time for the Fall 2018 semester.
Iba, Parker, Wentz, and Stout Halls continue to offer traditional residence hall accommodations. In addition, three residence halls were opened in the fall of 2015, collectively known as the University Commons. North houses female students, south houses male students, and West is a co-ed facility that also houses the twenty-four-hour service desk for the area. Although Kerr-Drummond was slated to be closed with the opening of the University Commons, Drummond was reopened in the fall 2015 due to increased occupancy of campus housing.[59] Kerr was closed and is scheduled for demolition in the coming years. Apartments for single students are Bost, Davis, Morsani-Smith, Peterson-Friend, Kamm, Sitlington, and Young Halls. Housing in suite-style accommodations are provided in the named Village CASNR (College of Agricultural Science and Natural Resources), Village HS (Human Sciences), Village C, Village D, Village E and Village F. Deluxe suites are provided in Patchin & Jones, Bennett, Zink & Allen, and Stinchcomb & Booker Halls.[60] Graduate students and families are offered accommodations in seven apartments "neighborhoods" with a variety of floor plans and amenities: Brumley, Demaree, Prosser, Stevens, West, and Williams.[56]
11 conference titles – 34 bowl games played – 1945 National Champions - 1988 Heisman Trophy winner and single-season rushing record (Barry Sanders).[citation needed]
Men's basketball is tradition rich at Oklahoma State. Oklahoma State made the Final Four in 1995 and 2004 and was the first ever Division 1 basketball program to win back-to-back National Championships in 1945–1946.[citation needed]
The Cowboy wrestling team brought home their 33rd NCAA championship in spring 2005, scoring the most points ever by an Oklahoma State wrestling team in the NCAA. OSU won their 34th overall (and 4th consecutive) title in 2006.[62] OSU's 34 team titles are the most ever collected by a school in one sport. The Cowboys have also produced 143 individual national champions, including the sport's first-ever four-time champion, Pat Smith.[citation needed]
Notable among several songs commonly played and sung at various events such as commencement, convocation, and athletic games are: The Waving Song, Ride 'Em Cowboys (the Oklahoma State University fight song), and the OSU Chant.[64] At the end of every sporting event win or lose, OSU student-athletes face the student section and sing the alma mater along with other students, faculty, alumni, and staff.
Historic Gallagher-Iba Arena – Named top collegiate venue in the United States by CBS Sportsline. It is named after Edward C. Gallagher and Henry Iba. It is home to practice facilities, weight, and locker rooms as well as the original white maple wood basketball court. The court is named Eddie Sutton Court, in honor of the former OSU Men's Basketball Coach. Sutton led the Cowboys to two Final Four appearances during his time as coach.
↑ The percentage of students who received an income-based federal Pell grant intended for low-income students.
↑ The percentage of students who are a part of the American middle class at the bare minimum.
Related Research Articles
The Ohio State University is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollment in the United States, with nearly 50,000 undergraduate students and nearly 15,000 graduate students. The university consists of sixteen colleges and offers over 400 degree programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels.
Stillwater is the tenth-largest city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, and the seat of Payne County. It is located in north-central Oklahoma at the intersection of U.S. Route 177 and State Highway 51. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 48,394. The Stillwater Micropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 78,399 according to the 2012 census estimate. Stillwater was part of the first Oklahoma Land Run held on April 22, 1889, when the Unassigned Lands were opened for settlement and became the core of the new Oklahoma Territory. The city charter was adopted on August 24, 1889, and operates under a council-manager government system.
Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees through all 11 colleges. It has the seventh-largest engineering college in the nation for 2023. Undergraduate enrollment for all colleges combined averages over 32,000 while an additional 5,000 students are engaged in post-graduate coursework through the university.
West Texas A&M University is a public university in Canyon, Texas, United States. It is the northernmost campus of the Texas A&M University System and accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). It was established on September 20, 1910, as West Texas State Normal College as one of the seven state-funded teachers' colleges in Texas.
The Oklahoma State University System is a public university system in Oklahoma comprising five educational institutions: four general academic universities and one health sciences center. The system's flagship institution is the Oklahoma State University campus in Stillwater. As of Fall 2023, the OSU System is the largest university system in the state of Oklahoma with a total enrollment of 34,455 students.
Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences (OSU-CHS) is a public medical school in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It also has a branch campus in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Founded in 1972, OSU-CHS is part of the Oklahoma State University System. OSU-CHS offers a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) and over fifteen other different graduate degrees.
Gallagher-Iba Arena, also known as "The Rowdiest Arena in the Country" and "The Madison Square Garden of the Plains”, is the basketball and wrestling venue at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. Originally completed in 1938 and named the 4-H Club and Student Activities Building, it was soon renamed Gallagher Hall to honor wrestling coach Ed Gallagher. After renovations in 1987, the name became Gallagher-Iba Arena, as a tribute to longtime basketball coach and innovator Henry Iba.
Boone Pickens Stadium has been home to the Oklahoma State University Cowboys football team in rudimentary form since 1919, and as a complete stadium since 1920. Aligned in an east-west direction since 1920, the field is the oldest in the Big 12 Conference.
Thomas Boone Pickens Jr. was an American business magnate and financier. Pickens chaired the hedge fund BP Capital Management. He was a well-known takeover operator and corporate raider during the 1980s. As of November 2016, Pickens had a net worth of $500 million.
A student center is a type of building found on university and some high school campuses. In the United States, such a building may also be called a student union, student commons, or union. The term "student union" refers most often in the United States to a building, while in other nations a "students' union" is the student government. Nevertheless, the Association of College Unions International has several hundred campus organizational members in the US; there is no sharp dichotomy in interpretation of union in this context. The US usage in reference to a location is simply a shortened form of student union building.
David James Schmidly is an American academic administrator and zoologist who served as president of Texas Tech University, Oklahoma State University, and the University of New Mexico. On April 22, 2011, Schmidly announced his decision to retire as UNM's President at the end of his five-year contract in 2012, citing health concerns and his desire to end his career working in his academic field of natural history and mammalogy.
The Oklahoma State Cowboys football program represents Oklahoma State University–Stillwater in college football. The team is a member of the Big 12 Conference and competes at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. The Cowboys are led by Mike Gundy, who is in his 20th year as head coach. Oklahoma State plays its home games at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
The Sherman E. Smith Training Center is an on-campus athletic training facility built on the campus of Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
Northern Oklahoma College (NOC) is a public community college in Tonkawa, Oklahoma, with additional campuses located in Enid, Oklahoma and Stillwater, Oklahoma. Student enrollment is approximately 2,700. NOC bought the former Phillips University in Enid, Oklahoma, in 1999 and it became the NOC Enid campus.
Robert William MacVicar (1918–1998) was an American chemist and academic administrator who served as the chancellor of Southern Illinois University, and the 11th president of Oregon State University from 1970 and 1984.
Pistol Pete is the athletics mascot of Oklahoma State University. The Pistol Pete mascot costume features traditional cowboy attire and a headpiece resembling Frank Eaton. Pistol Pete has been the mascot for the Oklahoma State Cowboys since 1923.
Dr. Cynthia S. Ross, better known as Cindy Ross, is a fifth generation Oklahoman whose work in higher education and administration lead to her pioneering roles for women. She is known primarily for her service as the first female president of Cameron University.
The 2015 Oklahoma State University homecoming parade attack occurred on October 24, 2015, in Stillwater, Oklahoma, when Adacia Avery Chambers intentionally drove her sedan into a crowd watching the homecoming parade for Oklahoma State University–Stillwater on the university's campus. Four people were killed in the crash, and 47 others were reported injured. Chambers pleaded no contest to second-degree murder and assault charges, and was sentenced to life imprisonment.
↑ Test and Research Staff, Bureau of Naval Personnel; “Psychological test construction and research in the Bureau of Naval Personnel. Part V. Navy radio technician training program”; American Psychologist, vol 1(3), Mar. 1946, pp 80-90
↑ Naeter, Albrecht; "Naval Training School," The Oklahoma State Engineer, Dec. 1943
↑ Watson, Raymond C. Jr.; Solving the Naval Radar Crisis, Trafford Publishing, 2007, pp. 208-211, ISBN978-1-4251-6173-6
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
