Eastern Michigan University

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Eastern Michigan University (EMU) is a comprehensive, co-educational public university located in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School, the first normal school west of the Allegheny Mountains, it became the Michigan State Normal College in 1899, then Eastern Michigan College in 1956, and finally Eastern Michigan University in 1959. The university is governed by an eight-member Board of Regents, who are appointed by the Governor of Michigan for eight-year terms. The school belongs to the Mid-American Conference and was re-accredited by the North Central Association in 2001. Its mascot, since 1991, has been the Eastern Eagle.

Total student population averages about 25,000 of whom roughly 7,000 are graduate students. Currently, EMU comprises five colleges - Arts & Sciences, Business, Education, Health & Human Services, and Technology - along with a Graduate School. Most programs are undergraduate or master's level although the university has doctoral programs in Educational Leadership and Technology. Its College of Education is one of the nation's oldest and largest colleges of education and produces more classroom teachers than any other school.

Eastern Michigan University has had twenty-one presidents since its founding. John Fallon III, Ph.D., began his tenure as EMU president on July 15, 2005.

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Facts related to EMU

The Bruce T. Halle Library has one of the largest collections of children's literature in the United States. Bruce T. Halle also started and now owns Discount Tire Company. He currently resides in Scottsdale AZ.
Legendary cartoonist Winsor McCay attended business classes at EMU when it was called the Michigan State Normal College.
Noted as "the most elaborate pop hoax in history," the "Paul Is Dead" myth has generated more rumors and speculation for the Beatles than for any other group. It all started on Sunday, Oct 12, 1969, Russ Gibb, working on WKNR-FM heard from an Eastern Michigan University student about a series of clues that seemed to point to Paul's death. The story took on a life of its own, both on Keener and WKNR-FM and Russ received credit for making it a national story. The documentary ['Who Buried Paul McCartney?'] by Wouter van Opdorp explores the origin of the Paul-is-dead story.
EMU is home to one of the nation's foremost Forensics (competitive speech) teams, with 10 team national championships, and 63 individual national championships. They are also the only program in the country to place in the top ten at every national championship since they began in 1971, with a 36 year streak of excellence. The program is headed by Ray Quiel.
EMU has also produced a number of successful performing artists (especially actors), including Dann Florek and Michael A. Garcia, both of whom are alums of the EMU Forensics Team. In his time on the team, Garcia won eight individual national championships, a record unbroken to this day. Jeff Daniels attended the EMU drama school in Summer 1976, to participate in a special Bi-Centennial Repertory programme; and his younger sister, Patti Daniels, graduated from the drama school in the early 1980's.

Notable people and alumni

Kim Antieau -- American novelist
Charlie Batch -- NFL player, currently with the Pittsburgh Steelers
Earl Boykins -- NBA player, currently with the Denver Nuggets
Richard Campbell -- Head athletic trainer for the New York Islanders
John C. Coburn -- Four-star general, Commander U.S. Army Materiel Command
Dennis Cockrum -- American actor
Dr. Royal S. Copeland -- U.S. Senator from New York
Dave Coverly -- syndicated cartoonist, Speed Bump (comic strip)
Derrick Dial -- NBA player, formerly with the San Antonio Spurs, New Jersey Nets, and Orlando Magic
Loren D. Estleman -- American author
Dann Florek -- American actor (Law & Order, )
George Gervin -- Retired hall of Famer of the NBA
Bruce Halle -- Philanthropist and founder of Discount Tire Company (largest independent tire dealer in [North America])
Stan Heath -- Head basketball coach for the University of Arkansas Razorbacks
John Heffron -- Winner of NBC's Last Comic Standing 2 in 2004
John Hieftje -- Mayor of Ann Arbor, Michigan since 2000
Sheryl James -- Winner of the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing
Hayes Jones -- Tokyo Olympics 110 meter hurdles Gold Medalist
Ella Joyce -- American stage actress
Grant Long -- Retired NBA player
Frank J. Manley -- Among the founders of the "community school" movement
Greg Mathis, Judge and later TV personality of Judge Mathis fame
Winsor McCay -- Pioneering cartoonist
Paul McMullen -- 1996 Olympics track star
Michael G. Morris -- President and CEO of American Electric Power
Jamie Nieto -- 2004 Olympics track star
Charles E. Potter -- U.S. Senator from Michigan
Carl D. Pursell -- U.S. Congressman from Michigan
John Reinhard -- poet
Chris Roberson -- NFL player, currently with the Jacksonville Jaguars
Jack Roush -- CEO, and owner of Roush Racing NASCAR and Chairman of the Board of Roush Enterprises
Faris Abdullah Sanabani -- Yemeni magazine, newspaper and book publisher
Rodney E. Slater -- U.S. Secretary of Transportation under President Bill Clinton
Greg C. Smith -- Executive Vice President and President, The Americas of Ford Motor Company
Larry Soderquist -- Corporate and Securities law expert, author, and Vanderbilt professor
Kevin Walter -- NFL player, currently with the Houston Texans
Bob Welch -- Former Major League Baseball player, 2-time All-Star, Cy Young Award winner (1990), and best-selling author
Robert Winterhalter -- Noted philanthropist and Alaskan king crab fisherman

The

School Songs

The Eastern Michigan University alma mater is "Our Pledge":

Eastern, sacred alma mater,
To your name we shall be true.
Ever marching on to victory,
We'll stand by to see you through.
Softly floating on the breeze
Verdant green with white of snow.
This our banner we shall carry
In our hearts, where e'er we go.

The main Eastern Michigan University fight song is "[Eagles Fight Song]":

Eastern Eagles hats off to you
Fight, fight, fight for ole E-M-U
Look to the sky,
The Eagles will fly,
The bravest will defy
Rah! Rah! Rah
Hold that line for old green and white
Sons and daughters show your might
So FIGHT! FIGHT! for ole E-M-U and vic-tor-ry

The Eastern Michigan University Spirit Song is "Go Green":

Go Green, roll up the score
Go Green, let's get some more
Raise a cheer for old green and white
Let's show them we came here to fight
Go Green, vic'try we'll claim
Go Green, let's win this game
We'll always fight (what) for (who?) old E-M-U
''Come on and let's go Green!

The words and music of "Our Pledge" was written by Edward Bowles and was arranged for the marching band by Thomas Tyra
The Melody of "Eagles Fight Song" was written by Larry Livingston and arranged for marching band by Thomas Tyra. The percussion parts were written by Whitney Prince. The lyrics were revised by Dr. Max Plank after the Eastern Michigan University mascot was changed from the Hurons to the Eagles.
"Go Green" was written by Thomas Tyra.

The Eastern Michigan University Marching Band

The Eastern Michigan University Marching Band was first formed in 1924 by Thomas Tyra.
The Eastern Michigan University Marching Band play both "Go Green" and the "Eagles Fight Song" for pregame at their football games.
After every game and every rehearsal the marching band sings "Our Pledge".
The marching band is directed by Scott Boerma and Mark Waymire. Music for half time is arranged by Scott Boerma, with some arrangements by R. MacKenzie Lewis. Drill is written by Mark Waymire.

The Eastern Michigan University Basketball Band

The Eastern Michigan University Basketball Band is directed by the 2 graduate assistants of the band.
The basketball band travels with the basketball teams if they go to the MAC tournament or the NCAA tournament.

Enrollment, 2005

Undergraduate: 19,000
Graduate: 4,862
Total university: 23,862

Ethnicity (non-foreign nationals)

African-American: 16%
Asian: 3%
Latino-American / Hispanic: 2%
Native American: 1%
White: 70%
Undeclared: 8%

Gender

Female undergraduate: 60%
Male undergraduate: 40%

Female graduate: 65%
Male graduate: 35%

Geographic distribution

Michigan resident: 85%
Number of states represented: 46
Number of countries represented: 80

Participation

Fraternities or sororities: 4%
A club or organization: 75%
Sports (including intramural): 50%

Academic profile (freshmen class of 2005)

Average GPA: 3.2
Average ACT Score: 21
Average SAT Score: 1014

College jobs

Part-time employment (on or off campus): 70%

EMU Athletics

Conference: Mid-American (MAC)
Nickname: Eagles (were known as the Hurons from 1929 - 1991)
Colors: green and white
NCAA division I-A
Number of sports at EMU: 21

Recent MAC championships

2006: Woman's Swimming and Diving
2005: Men's Cross Country
2003: Men's baseball
1995–2003: Men's track
2000–2005: Men's swimming and diving
2004: Women's Basketball
2003: Women's soccer
2003: Women's outdoor track
2000: Women's indoor track
2001: Women's tennis

NCAA individual champions

Men's Cross Country:

2001 Boaz Cheboiywo

Men's Track and Field:

2004 Jordan Desilets, 3000 meter steeplechase
2002 Boaz Cheboiywo, 10,000 meter outdoor track
1975 Halsey Crawford, 100 yards
1999 Clement Chukwu, 400 meters
1985 Earl Jones, 800 meters
1959 Hayes Jones, 120 & 220YD Hurdles
1932 Eugene Beatty, 400 meter hurdles

Women's Track and Field:

2005 Lela Nelson, heptathlon
1995 Sevatheda Fynes, 200 meters

Olympians

2004 Athens Games: USA- Jamie Nieto (High Jump, 4th)
2000 Sydney Games: Nigeria- Nduka Awazie (4x400 meter relay, Silver), Nigeria - Clement Chukwu (200 & 400 meters)
1996 Atlanta Games: USA- Paul McMullen (1500 meters, 9th), Suriname - Tommy Asinga (800 meters), British West Indies - Greg Rhymer (1500 meters), Nigeria - Clement Chukwu (200 & 400 meters), Bahamas - Sevetheda Fynes (100 & 200 meters, 400M Relay)
1992 Barcelona Games: Suriname - Tommy Asinga (800 meters)
1988 Seoul Games: Suriname - Tommy Asinga (800 meters)
1984 Los Angeles Games: USA- Earl Jones (800 meters, Bronze), Trinidad and Tobago- Hasely Crawford (100 meters)
1980 Moscow Games: Trinidad and Tobago- Hasely Crawford (100 meters)
1976 Montreal Games: Trinidad and Tobago- Hasely Crawford (100 meters, Gold, 200 meters)
1972 Munich Games: Trinidad and Tobago- Hasely Crawford (100 meters)
1968 Mexico City Games: Canada - Dave Ellis (10,000 meters)
1964 Tokyo Games: USA- Hayes Jones (110 High Hurdles, Gold), USA - Dean Rockwell, Manager of the Greco Roman Wrestling Squad
1960 Rome Games: USA- Hayes Jones (110 High Hurdles, Bronze)
1948 London Games: USA - George Marshall, Manager, Men's Track and Field
1932 Los Angeles Games: USA - Lloyd Olds, Assistant Coach, Track and Field

EMU Athletic Facts

Highest NCAA Team Finish: 2003 Men's Cross Country (3rd), 1975 Men's Cross Country 6th
In 1940, EMU was runner-up at the NCAA Cross Country Championships behind Indiana
Most MAC Championships in a sport: 25, Men's Swimming and Diving 1979,1981-1996,1998,2000-2005

Student Journalism

The Eastern Echo, EMU's independent student newspaper, publishes three times a week during the fall and winter semesters and once a week during the spring semester. The paper won eight awards in the 2005 Division 1 Michigan Collegiate Press Association contest, including second place in the general excellence category. The newspaper, which is funded through advertising revenue, is not under the editorial control of the university. It also publishes content online at http://www.easternecho.com.

Also part of the EMU Student Media Office is Cellar Roots, the school's student-run literary and fine arts magazine. Cellar Roots celebrated its 35th anniversary in 2006 with a week of events that highlighted the history of the publication. Cellar Roots is a five time winner of the National Pacemaker award for design, an award often equated with the Pulitzer Prize for the college level, as well an numerous other awards. [Cellar Roots]

External links

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