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General
The University of Arkansas is a public co-educational land-grant university. Itis the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and is located inFayetteville, Arkansas. Founded as Arkansas Industrial University in 1871, its present name was adopted in 1899 and classes were first held in February 1872.It is noted for its strong architecture, agriculture (particularly poultry science),reative writing and business programs.It is also noted for the fact that University of Arkansas engineering students won the 2006 world championship for solar-powered boats.
The University of Arkansas strives to be known as a "nationally competitive, student-centered research university serving Arkansas and the world." The school recently completed its "Campaign for the 21st Century," in which the university raised more than $1 billion for the school, used in part to create a new Honors College and significantly increase the university's endowment. Among these gifts were the largest donation given to a business school at the time ($50 million), and the largest gift given to a public university in America ($300 million), both given by the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation.
Enrollment for the fall semester of 2007 was 18,647, with 3,137 (16.8%) being graduate students. The University campus comprises 130 buildings on 345 acres, including the Inn at Carnall Hall, which serves as an on-campus hotel facility. Academic programs are in excess of 200. The ratio of students to faculty is 17:1.
The University of Arkansas was founded in 1871, on the site of a hilltop farm that overlooked the Ozark Mountains, giving it the nickname "The Hill". The University was established under the Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act of 1862. The University founding also satisfied the provision in the Arkansas Constitution of 1868 that the General Assembly was to "establish and maintain a State University."
Initially, to found the University, $130,000 was raised by the citizens of Washington County. This was in response to the competition created by the Arkansas General Assembly Organic Act of 1871, providing for the "location, organization and maintenance of the Arkansas Industrial University with a normal department [i.e., teacher education] therein." Classes started in February 1872. Completed in 1875, Old Main, a two-towered brick building designed in the Second Empire style, was the primary instructional and administrative building. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Its design was based on the plans for the main academic building at the University of Illinois. Although the southern tower was designed with clock faces, it never held a working clock until 2006. The bell tower has always had some type of chime, initially a bell that was rung on the hour by student volunteers. Electronic chimes were installed in 1959. In addition to the regular chimes of the clock, the university's Alma Mater plays at 5 p.m. every day. Old Main housed many of the earliest classes taught at the university, and has served as the offices of every college within the university during its history. Today, in addition to hosting classes, it contains the restored Giffels Auditorium and historic displays, as well as the administrative offices of the J. William Fulbright College of Arts & Sciences.
Beginning with the class of 1876, the names of students at University of Arkansas are inscribed in "Senior Walk" and wind across campus for more than five miles (2.5 miles of sidewalk). The sidewalk is one of a kind nationally. More recently, the names of all the recipients of honorary degrees were also added. School superstition states that it is bad luck to step on the Class of 1900.
One of the more unusual structures at Arkansas is the Chi Omega Greek Theatre, a gift to the school by the national headquarters of the sorority. It marked the first time in the history of Greek letter social organizations that a national sorority had presented a memorial of its foundation to the institution where it was founded. Chi Omega was organized on April 5, 1895, at the University of Arkansas and is the mother (Psi) chapter of the national organization. The theater has been used for commencements, convocations, concerts, dramas and pep rallies.
During the 1980s, Professors Allen Hermann and Zhengzhi Sheng of the Department of Physics were in the vanguard of research in superconductivity: the phenomenon whereby Direct Current (DC) electricity, once started, can flow essentially forever. The Thallium-based material they discovered at Arkansas held the world's record for high temperature, 125K, for five years (1988-93) and drew international attention to the University. Their work led to numerous patents and a manufacturing agreement, as well as further advances in high-density electronics.
Altogether, there are eleven branches and three other units in the University of Arkansas System, including the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock and a branch campus in Pine Bluff. Other branch campuses are in Monticello, Little Rock, and Fort Smith. Additionally, the UA System includes two year or community college campuses in Hope, Batesville, De Queen, Morrilton, and the Phillips Community College in Helena.
The following degree-granting academic divisions are located on the Fayetteville campus:The University of Arkansas is also the home for the Southeastern Conference Academic Consortium (SECAC), where the twelve member schools of the Southeastern Conferences pool resources to assist each other academically.
The University of Arkansas campus sweeps across hilltops on the western side of Fayetteville, Arkansas. Among the 130 buildings on the campus, 11 buildings have been added to the National Register of Historic Buildings. The Fine Arts Complex was designed by Fayetteville native Edward Durell Stone, who also designed Radio City Music Hall and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. The buildings are indicative of Stone's idiosyncratic modern style which included patterns of ornament. The recently demolished campus apartment complex Carlson Terrace was also designed by Stone.
The mascot for the University of Arkansas is the Razorback, a type of wild boar, and Arkansas teams are often referred to as the Hogs (shortened version of Razorbacks). The school competes in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) in Division I of the NCAA. No school in the SEC has more total national championships than Arkansas, and only 4 schools nationwide (UCLA, Southern Cal, Stanford, and Oklahoma State) have more national titles than the Razorbacks. Arkansas is unusual among major U.S. universities in having separate men's and women's athletic departments.
The school's football team is currently led by Coach Houston Nutt. The team plays its home games either at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium, located on the University of Arkansas campus, or at War Memorial Stadium, located in Little Rock. The football program won nine SWC titles, three SEC Western Division titles, and won a national title in 1964. During a stretch between December 1963 and January 1966, the Razorbacks won 22 straight football games. They currently feature running back Darren McFadden.
The men's basketball team head coach is John Pelphrey (previously at South Alabama). Dana Altman was hired on April 2, 2007 for the head coaching job but decided to return back to Creighton University the following day. Altman would have replaced Stan Heath who was fired on March 26, 2007. The Razorbacks play their home games in Bud Walton Arena on the University of Arkansas campus. The school has been to six Final Fours (1941, 1945, 1978, 1990, 1994, 1995) and was named as the eighth-best program in history by Street and Smith's magazine.
The baseball team, under Dave van Horn, reached the 2004 College World Series. They have made five trips to the College World Series (1978, 1985, 1987, 1989, 2004), going as far as the championship game. The team plays home games in Baum Stadium, which finished several major renovations in 2004. Baum was once recognized by Baseball America magazine as being the top collegiate ball park in America.
The most successful program in NCAA history, the Arkansas men's track and field teams, led by head coach John McDonnell are the most decorated teams in the athletics department. The program has won 43 national titles in Cross Country and Track & Field. One of its most famous stars is recent graduate Alistair Cragg who competed for Ireland at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Greece. Other Olympians have included Michael Conley, Daniel Lincoln, and Matt Hemingway. The team has a home indoor track at the Randal Tyson Track Center and outdoor field at John McDonnell Field, which is under renovation and expansion, and will host the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Track Championships.
The women's teams at the University of Arkansas are referred to as the Lady Razorbacks or "Lady'Backs". There are 11 varsity women's sports: basketball, cross country, indoor and outdoor track, golf, gymnastics, soccer, softball, swimming & diving, tennis, and volleyball. Among the most successful Lady'Back teams are volleyball, with 11 SEC Western Division titles; cross country with more SEC championships than any member institution; basketball with 17 postseason appearances in 30 years, including the 1998 NCAA Final Four; track and field with six SEC titles and the first back-to-back women's SEC triple crowns; and gymnastics nationally-ranked since the start of the program in 2002 with two (soon three) NCAA appearances. Sprinter Veronica Campbell was the first Lady'Back to win a gold medal in the Olympics, with marathoner Deena Kastor bringing home a bronze medal in 2004.