Stetson University
Encyclopedia : S : ST : STE : Stetson University
Stetson University is a private, co-educational university in DeLand, Florida, United States, with a teacher education center in Celebration, Florida, a main Stetson Law School in Gulfport, Florida (near St. Petersburg), and the Tampa Law Center, which offers evening courses for Juris Doctor students. It is one of the top four regional universities in the South according to the yearly US News and World Report college rankings.
Campus
Stetson's main campus is situated right next to the historic downtown area of DeLand, Florida, about halfway between Orlando, Florida and Daytona Beach.
History
Stetson is Florida's first private university, founded in 1883 by Henry A. DeLand and originally called the DeLand Academy. John B. Stetson, whose name is also associated with the hats he manufactured, was a founding trustee of the university. In honor of his considerable gifts of effort and financial resources, the university was named after him in 1889.In 1900, the law school was opened, making it the first law school in Florida. In 1960, Stetson became the first white college in Florida to admit a black student.
Organization
Today the university is located on four campuses:
DeLand (main) campus:
- School of Arts and Sciences
- School of Music
- School of Business
- Graduate College
St. Petersburg Campus:
Celebration campus:- Stetson Center at Celebration
- The Tampa Law Center (Stetson Law)
Students
In 2004-05, there were 2,300 undergraduates and 400 graduate students enrolled at Stetson (not including the College of Law), from 44 states and over 47 foreign countries. 43% are male, 57% female.Sports, clubs, and traditions
Stetson is a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference, Division I. There are varsity teams in crew, soccer, baseball (M), softball (W), basketball, golf, cross country, tennis, and volleyball (W).
Intramurals include the above sports as well as ultimate, water polo, swimming, bowling, flag football, table tennis, and other sports as determined by student interest.
There are 5 social sororities on campus: Alpha Chi Omega, Alpha Xi Delta, Delta Delta Delta, Pi Beta Phi, and Zeta Tau Alpha. Also, 7 social fraternities: Alpha Phi Alpha, Delta Sigma Phi, Lambda Chi Alpha, Phi Sigma Kappa, Pi Kappa Phi, Sigma Nu, and Sigma Phi Epsilon.
In addition to these, there are about 20 honorary organizations and over 100 other student organizations on campus.
Notable alumni
- Max Cleland, former U.S. Senator, head of U.S. Veterans' Administration
- Dr. James Merritt, former President of the Southern Baptist Convention, current pastor and CEO of television show Touching Lives
- George Winston, new age recording artist
- E. Clay Shaw, Jr., U.S. Representative
- Charles E. Merrill, co-founder of Merrill Lynch
- Kevin Nicholson, 2004 Olympian
- Lawrence R. Johnston, CEO, Albertsons
- Richard J. McKay, president and general manager, Atlanta Falcons
- Ted Cassidy, actor who played Lurch on the TV show, "The Addams Family"
- Craig Crawford, television political commentator, writer, and columnist for the Congressional Quarterly (1978)
- Roy Geiger - United States Marine Corps general
External links
- [Stetson University (official site)]
- [Stetson University 2003-04 Fact Book (.pdf)]
- [Stetson U. College of Law (official site)]
- [Stetson Center in Celebration (official site)]
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.