Colorado State University

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Colorado State University is a public land grant institution of higher learning located in Fort Collins, Colorado in the United States. The current enrollment is approximately 25,000 students. The university has approximately 1,400 faculty in eight colleges and 55 academic departments.

Contents

1 History
2 Sports
3 Notable alumni
4 See also
5 Notable faculty
6 External links

History

The act to create the university was signed by Colorado Territory governor Edward M. McCook in 1870 arising from the Morrill Act. During the first years of its official existence, the university existed only on paper. A board of 12 trustees was formed to "purchase and manage property, erect buildings, establish basic rules for governing the institutions and employ buildings." But the near complete lack of funding by the territorial legislature for this mission severely hampered progress.

The first 30-acre (120,000 m²) parcel of land for the campus was deeded in 1871 by Robert Dazell. In 1872, the Larimer County Land Improvement Company contributed a second 80-acre (320,000 m²) parcel. The first $1000 to erect buildings was finally allocated by the territorial legislature in 1874. The funds were not sufficient, however, and trustees were required to find a matching amount, which they eventually obtained from local citizens and businesses.

Towns in Colorado viewed a college as any other state institution that might help to secure growth. Golden fought off Denver's claim to the School of Mines with the complaint that Denverites had already captured the territorial capital. The Agricultural College went to Fort Collins after Cañon City chose the penitentiary.

Among the institutions which donated matching funds was the local Grange, which was heavily involved in the early establishment of the university. As part of this effort, in the spring of 1874 Grange No. 7 held a picnic and planting event at the corner of College Avenue and West Laurel Street, and later plowed and seeded 20 acres (80,000 m²) of wheat on a nearby field. Within several months, the university's first building, a 16-foot-by-24-foot red brick building nicknamed the "Claim Shanty" was finished, providing the first tangible presence of the institution in Fort Collins.

After Colorado achieved statehood in 1876, the territorial law establishing the university was required to be reauthorized. In 1877, the state legislature created the eight-member State Board of Agriculture to govern the school. The legislature also authorized a railroad right-of-way across the campus, and mill levy to raise money for construction of the campus' first main building, Old Main, which was completed in December 1878. Despite wall cracks and other structural problems during the first year, the building was opened in time for the welcoming of the first five students on September 1, 1879 by university president Elijah Evan Edwards.

The university has operated under four different names:

1879: Agricultural College of Colorado
1935: Colorado College of Agricultural and Mechanic Arts
1944: Colorado Agricultural and Mechanical College (Colorado A&M)
1957: Colorado State University

Sports

The team name is the Rams, The Mascot's name is Cam the Ram and the colors are green and gold.

Colorado State University's athletic teams compete in the Mountain West Conference, which is an NCAA Division I conference and sponsors Division I-A football.

Colorado State has three major rivalries. The Rams' football team plays the University of Colorado every year in either Denver or Boulder in a game called the "Rocky Mountain Showdown." (also known as the Centennial Bowl) Within the Mountain West, Colorado State has a big rivalry with Air Force. The winner of the CSU-Air Force football game receives the Ram-Falcon Trophy. Colorado State also has an intraconference rivalry with Wyoming (the Border War), with the winner of the annual football game receiving the Bronze Boot. The CSU-Wyoming rivalry is the second oldest interstate rivalry west of the Mississippi, behind only the "Border Showdown" (formerly "Border War") of Missouri and Kansas.

Since Sonny Lubick took control over the Rams in 1992, the Rams have gone on to make seven bowl appearances. The Rams had a losing season in 2004, and finished 6-6 (5-3 in Mountain West Conference play) in the 2005 season.

Notable alumni

Wayne Allard, politician
John Amos, actor
Jim Benemann, Denver television news anchor
Randy Beverly, professional football player
Baxter Black, cowboy poet
Leslie Brown, graphic designer
Susan Butcher, dog-sled racer
Mary L. Cleave, astronaut
Dominique Dunne, actress
Martin J. Fettman, astronaut
Clark Haggans, professional football player, member of 2006 Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers
Becky Hammon, professional basketball player
John Howell, professional football player
Stan Matsunaka, politician
Thurman "Fum" McGraw, Hall of Fame Football Player
Mike Montgomery, professional basketball coach
Marilyn Musgrave, politician
Angie Paccione, politician
Joey Porter, professional football player, member of 2006 Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers
Roy R. Romer, former Colorado governor
Kent Rominger, astronaut
Cecil Sapp, professional football player
Amy Van Dyken, Olympic swimmer and gold medalist
James van Hoften, astronaut
Bradlee Van Pelt, professional football player
Greg Myers, professional football player jim thorpe award
Brady Smith, professional football player
Sean Moran, professional football player
Mike Bell, professional football player 2nd overall draft pick in 1979 NFL Draft
Al "Bubba" Baker, professional football player

Notable faculty

William M. Gray, atmospheric sciences
Temple Grandin, animal sciences
Thomas Sutherland, hostage in Lebanon
Holmes Rolston III, father of environmental ethics
Laurence Belfiore, innovator of transport phenomena, leader of the vector-tensor gymnastics movement

External links

[Official site]
[History of CSU]
[Official CSU athletics site]
[RamLine.com] (Historical site for CSU athletics)
[Colorado State University Information] An Unofficial Profile
[RamNation.com Home of everything CSU Rams]
[Colorado State University] on Placeopedia

Collegiate Institutions