Michigan State University
Agriculture school
The
Michigan Constitution of 1850 called for the creation of an "agricultural school",
[Michigan Constitution of 1850. Article 13, Section 11] though it was not until
February 12,
1855 that Michigan
Governor Kinsley S. Bingham signed a bill establishing the United States' first agriculture college, the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan.
[MSU Sesquicentennial Page — Origins of MSU] Classes began in May 1857 with three buildings, five faculty members, and 63 male students. The first president,
Joseph R. Williams, designed a curriculum that required more scientific study than practically any undergraduate institution of the era. It balanced
science,
liberal arts, and practical training. The curriculum excluded
Latin and
Greek studies, since most applicants did not study any classical languages in their rural high schools. However, it did require three hours of daily
manual labor, which kept costs down for both the students and the College.
Despite Williams' innovations and his defense of education for the masses, the State Board of Education saw Williams' curriculum as
elitist. They forced him to resign in 1859 and reduced the curriculum to a two-year vocational program.
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The Red Cedar River is at the heart of campus. |
Land Grant pioneer
In 1860, Joseph Williams became acting
lieutenant governor[MSU University Archives and Historical Collection. Joseph R. Williams Biographical Information.] and helped pass the Reorganization Act of 1861. This gave the College a four-year curriculum and the power to grant
master's degrees. Under the act, a newly-created body, known as the State Board of Agriculture, took over from the State Board of Education in running the institution.
[MSU University Archives and Historical Collection. Milestones of MSU's Sesquicentennial.] The College changed its name to State Agricultural College, and its first class graduated in the same year. However, there was no time for an elaborate graduation ceremony: the
Civil War had just begun, and the first alumni were drafted into the war effort. The following year,
Abraham Lincoln signed the First Morrill Act of 1862 to support similar colleges, making the Michigan school a national model. Williams never witnessed the cause to which he had dedicated so much of his life, having taken ill and died the previous year.
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The Alice B Cowles House is the official home of the university president and is the oldest existing building on campus. |
Co-ed college
The college first admitted women in 1870, although at that time there were no female dormitories. The few women who enrolled either boarded with faculty families or made the arduous
stagecoach trek from
Lansing. Nonetheless, even from the early days female students took the same rigorous scientific agriculture courses as male students. In 1896, the faculty created a "Women Course" that melded a
home economics curriculum with
liberal arts and sciences. That same year, the College turned the old Abbot Hall male dorm into a women's dormitory and more firmly established itself as co-ed. However, it was not until 1899 that the State Agricultural College admitted its first
African American student, William O. Thompson. He went on to teach at what is now
Tuskegee University under the wing of
Booker T. Washington, whom President Jonathan L. Snyder invited to be the Class of 1900 commencement speaker. A few years later, Myrtle Craig became the first female African American student to enroll at the College. Along with the Class of 1907, she received her degree from U.S. President
Theodore Roosevelt, commencement speaker for the Semi-Centennial celebration. The City of East Lansing was incorporated in that same year,
and two years later the college officially changed its name to Michigan Agricultural College (M.A.C.).
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John A. Hannah was president of MSU from 1941 to 1969 and oversaw much of the university's expansion. |
Big Ten university
During the early 20th century, M.A.C. expanded its curriculum well beyond agriculture. By 1925, it had expanded enough that it changed its name to Michigan State College of Agriculture and Applied Science (M.S.C.). In 1941, the Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture,
John A. Hannah, became president of the College. He began the largest expansion in the institution's history, with the help of the 1945
G.I. Bill, which helped World War II veterans to receive an education. One of Hannah's strategies was to build a new dormitory building, enroll enough students to fill it, and use the income to start construction on a new dormitory. Under his plan, enrollment increased from 15,000 in 1950 to 38,000 in 1965.
Hannah also got the chance to improve the athletic reputation of M.S.C. when the
University of Chicago resigned from the
Big Ten Conference in 1946. Hannah lobbied hard to take its place, gaining admission in 1950. Five years later, in its Centennial year of 1955, the State of Michigan renamed the College as Michigan State University of Agriculture and Applied Science.
Nine years after that, the University governing body changed its name from the State Board of Agriculture to the MSU Board of Trustees. The State of Michigan allowed the University to drop the words "Agriculture and Applied Science" from its name. Since 1964, the institution has gone by the name of Michigan State University.
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The National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory features one of the most powerful instruments of its type in the world. |
Global leader by 2012
Since the end of the Hannah era, Michigan State has shifted its focus from increasing the size of its student body to improving its national and global reputation, which has not been easy. In recent years, "
town and gown" relations have soured as students and permanent residents looked at each other with increasing hostility. Tensions worsened when East Lansing erupted in riots in 1997,
[Terlep, Sharon. "E.L. turmoil angers city". The State News. September 9, 1997.] 1998,
[Mullin, Greg. "17 arrested in weekend riot". The State News. May 4, 1998.] and 1999.
[Staff reports. "Thousands of revelers crowd streets in violent, fiery riot". The State News. March 28, 1999.] After several years without major incidents, another disturbance happened on
April 2 2005, after MSU's defeat to
North Carolina in the 2005 men's basketball
Final Four.
[Phillips, Lauren. "Police, student actions disputed". The State News. April 4, 2005.] Officially deemed a "civil disturbance" rather than a riot, the incident sparked a debate over
police brutality in East Lansing, which has yet to be resolved. Despite the damage to MSU's image, the University looks to improve its academic reputation in the 21st century. In September 2005, current president
Lou Anna Simon called for MSU, one of the public ivy institutions, to become the global model leader for Land Grant institutions by the year 2012. Her plans include creating a new
residential college and increasing
National Institutes of Health donations past the
$100 million mark. While there are over 100 Land Grant universities in the United States, she has stated that she would like Michigan State University to be the leader.
[Darrow, Bob.Simon: MSU to be model university. The State News. September 9, 2005.] |
MSU's main campus lies north of the CN Railroad. |
MSU's sprawling campus is located in
East Lansing on the banks of the
Red Cedar River. The campus started in 1857 with three buildings: a multipurpose building called
College Hall, a dormitory later called "
Saints' Rest", and a barn. Today, MSU's contiguous campus consists of 5,200
acres (2,104
ha), 2,000 acres (809.4 ha) of which are developed. There are currently 676 buildings: 203 for academics, 154 for agriculture, 245 for housing and food service, as well as 74 other buildings. Overall, the University has 21,931,085
square feet (2,037,464.5
m²) of total indoor space.
[MSU Physical Plant. Building Data Summary (PDF File). 2004.] MSU also owns 44 non-campus properties, totaling 22,000 acres (8,903 ha) in 28 different counties.
[MSU Land Management Office. "About LMO". August 29, 2005.] |
Morrill Hall is amongst the oldest structures still standing on campus. |
North campus
The oldest part of campus lies on the north bank of the Red Cedar. It includes
Collegiate Gothic architecture, plentiful trees, and curving roads with few straight lines. It was in this area that the College built its first three buildings, of which none survive. Other historic buildings north of the river include
Cowles House, the president's official residence, and
Beaumont Tower, a
carillon clock tower marking the site of
College Hall, the original classroom building. To the east lies
Eustace-Cole Hall and
Marshall-Adams Hall, America's first freestanding laboratories for
horticulture and
bacteriology, respectively.
Other landmarks include the statue of former president
John A. Hannah, the
W. J. Beal Botanical Garden, and the painted
boulder known as "
The Rock", which is a popular spot for theatre,
tailgating, and candlelight vigils. On the northwest corner of campus lies the University's hotel, the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center.
South campus
The campus south of the river consists mostly of post-World War II
International Style buildings with sparse foliage, relatively straight roadways, and numerous parking lots. The "2020 Vision" Master Plan proposes replacing these parking lots with
parking ramps and green space,
[2020 Vision: A community concept for the Michigan State University campus.] but these plans will take many years to reach fruition. As part of the master plan, the University erected a new bronze statue of "
The Spartan" in 2005. This replica replaced the original
terra cotta statue, which can still be seen on the west concourse of the
Spartan Stadium. Notable academic and research buildings on the South Campus include the
Cyclotron and the
College of Law. This part of campus is home to the
MSU Horticulture Gardens and the adjoining
4-H Children's Garden. South of the gardens lie the
Canadian National and
CSX railroads, which divide the main campus from thousands of acres of university-owned farmland.
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The MSU Library is located on the oldest part of campus between Beaumont Tower and the river. |
MSU has the
sixth largest student body in the U.S. There are 45,166 total students, with 35,678
undergraduates and 9,488
graduate and professional students. The student body is 54% female and 46% male. While 89% of students come from all 83 counties in the State of Michigan,
[The Princeton Review. "Michigan State University: Student Body". 2005.] also represented are all 50 states in the U.S. and about 125 other countries.
[Michigan State University Newsroom — MSU Facts] MSU has about 4,500 faculty and 6,000 staff members, and a student/faculty ratio of 19:1.
Like other large American universities, MSU has a large number of
teaching assistants teaching upper-level courses. This led
The Princeton Review in 2005 to rank MSU eleventh worst in the category of "teaching assistants teach too many upper-level courses".
[The Princeton Review. "Teaching Assistants Teach Too Many Upper-Level Courses". 2005.] |
The Computer Center once housed the early computers MISTIC and MSUDC. |
Rankings
Michigan State ranks 77th in the world, according to a
Shanghai Jiao Tong University study,
[Top 500 World Universities (2005). Institute of Higher Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. October 1, 2005.] with
U.S. News & World Report's ranking MSU 74th in the U.S.
[U.S. News and World Report: America's Best Colleges 2006: National Universities: Top Schools.] The university has over 200 academic programs,
[StateUniversity.com. Michigan State University.] several of them highly-ranked.
U.S. News has ranked MSU's graduate-level
elementary[U.S. News and World Report: America's Best Graduate Schools 2006: Elementary Education] and
secondary education[U.S. News and World Report: America's Best Graduate Schools 2006: Secondary Education] programs number one for the last eleven years. In
U.S. News ' 2006 ranking of
nuclear physics programs, MSU ranked second behind only
MIT. Indeed, MSU's Physics & Astronomy department ranks highly based on the number and impact of publications its faculty publishes. The
National Communication Association ranks MSU doctoral programs as the nation's most effective in educating researchers in health communication and communication technology.
[National Communications Association. 2004 Study of the Reputational Programs in Communication.] MSU also is ranked in the top four in several other communication fields, including international/intercultural communication, mass communication and interpersonal communication. Other programs of note include
criminal justice,
[Rykert, Wilbur Lewis. "The History of the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University 1935-1963" (Masters Thesis). 1985.] music therapy,
[MSU School of Music. Fast Facts.] packaging,
[MSU School of Packaging. History.] political science,
[MSU Department of Political Science. [1].] and
communications.
[MSU College of Communications Arts and Sciences Highlights.] MSU's
study abroad program is the largest of any single-campus university in the United States with 2,461 students studying abroad in 2004–05 in over 60 countries on all continents, including
Antarctica.
[MSU Office of Study Abroad. Studies in Antarctic System Science — Antarctica] |
The Veterinary Research Farm. |
Research
The university spent
$289,787,000 on research in 2002,
[The Top American Research Universities The Center. December 2004.] capping a long history of productive research. In 1877, botany professor
William J. Beal performed the first documented genetic crosses to produce hybrid
corn, which led to increased yields. MSU dairy professor
G. Malcolm Trout invented the process for the
homogenization of milk in the 1930s. In the 1960s, MSU scientists developed
cisplatin, a leading cancer fighting drug. Today Michigan State continues its research with facilities such as the
U.S. Department of Energy-sponsored MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory and a
particle accelerator called the
National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory. In 2004, scientists at the Cyclotron produced and observed a new isotope of the element
germanium, called Ge-60.
[MSU Today. New germanium isotope discovered at MSU. July 29, 2004.] In that same year, Michigan State, in consortium with the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the government of
Brazil, broke ground on the 4.1-meter
Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope (SOAR) in the
Andes Mountains of
Chile. The consortium telescope will allow the Physics & Astronomy department to study galaxy formation and origins.
[MSU Today. Points of Pride. March 25, 2005] Since 1999, MSU has been part of another consortium called the
Michigan Life Sciences Corridor, which aims to develop
biotechnology research in the State of Michigan.
[Truscott, John. "Governor Signs Bill Creating "Life Sciences Corridor" in Michigan". Michigan Executive Office press release. July 19, 1999.]Endowment
MSU's (private, non-Morrill Act)
endowment started in 1916 when the Engineering Building burned down. Automobile magnate
R.E. Olds helped the program stay afloat with a gift of $100,000.
While this opened the door for other types of private donations, MSU has often lagged behind peer institutions in terms of endowments. As recently as the early 1990s, MSU was last among the eleven Big Ten schools, with barely over $100 million in endowment funds. However, in the early 2000s, the University started a campaign to increase the size of the endowment. At the close of FY 2004â€"05, the endowment had risen to $1.325 billion, raising the University to sixth of the 11 Big Ten schools in terms of endowment; within $2M of the fifth-rated school.
[Seguin, Rick (2006). Endowment surges in growth, rankings. MSU News Bulletin.] The rapid increase in the size of the endowment will help to improve outdated facilities, such as the Music Building, which the music department hopes to soon replace with money from its alumni fundraising program.
[MSU School of Music. Capital Campaign.]Residential colleges
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The South Campus skyline. |
MSU has several
residential colleges, based on the
Oxbridge "living-learning" model. By putting classes in student domitories, these colleges improve access to faculty and facilities. MSU's first residential college,
Justin Morrill College started in 1965 with an interdisciplinary curriculum.
[Justin Morrill College. Unofficial website.] MSU elimated Morrill College in 1979, but today the university has two remaining residential colleges, with a third scheduled to start in 2007. Though these colleges started as an experiments, they are now well-respected programs.
[Goode, Stephen. "Winning Colleges." Insight. 2 October 2000: http://www.cccnews.net/college/guide/insight30.htm]Started in 1967,
James Madison College tries to merge the best attributes of a small
public affairs college and a major university.
[James Madison Official Website http://www.jmc.msu.edu/alumni/vr/index.asp] Classes in the college are small, with an average of 25 students, and most instructors are
tenure track
faculty.
[James Madison Official Website http://www.jmc.msu.edu/quickfacts.asp] Each of Madison's three
majors requires two years of foreign language and one year of "field experience" in an
internship or study abroad program.
[James Madison Official Website http://www.jmc.msu.edu/quickfacts.asp]Although Madison students make up about 4% of MSU graduates, they represent around 35% of the MSU's
Phi Beta Kappa members.
[James Madison Official Website http://www.jmc.msu.edu/quickfacts.asp] |
Snyder-Phillips Hall was built in 1947. The building is currently being expanded to make room for a new residential college. |
The
Lyman Briggs School of Science teaches math and science within social, historical and philosophical contexts.
[Lyman Briggs School of Science. "Educational Philosophy @ Lyman Briggs School".] Founded in 1967 as Lyman Briggs College, it was merged into the College of Natural Science in 1981, though the school is now trying to regain full College status.
[Lyman Briggs School of Science. "Growth and Expansion of Lyman Briggs School".] Many Lyman Briggs students intend to pursue careers in medicine, but the school supports over 30 coordinate majors, from human biology to computer sciences.
[Lyman Briggs School of Science. "Major Information @ Lyman Briggs School".] Lyman Briggs is one of the few colleges that lets undergraduates teach as "Learning Assistants."
[Lyman Briggs School of Science. "Growth and Expansion of Lyman Briggs School" {PDF File}. p. 13.]In 2007, MSU will accept its first class of students for the
Residential College in Arts & Humanities. Founded October 21, 2005,
[Collins, Laura. "Trustees approve residential college". State News. October 24, 2005.] the college will provide around 600
undergraduates with an individualized
curriculum in the
liberal,
visual and
performing arts. Though all the students will graduate with the same
degree, MSU will encourage students in the college to get a
second degree or specialization.
[Michigan State University Residential College in Arts &Humanities. Flexible Program.] The university will house the new college in Snyder-Phillips Hall, which it is currently renovating to make room for the new college.
[Michigan State University Residential College in Arts & Humanities. RCAH Life.]Professional schools
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The MSU Law School Building. |
The
Michigan State University College of Law is a
private law school, even though MSU is a
public institution. Founded in Detroit in 1891 as the Detroit College of Law, MSU bought the school in 1995, and moved it to East Lansing. Students attending MSU College of Law come from 42 states and 13 countries. The law school publishes the Michigan State Law Review
[Michigan State Law Review. Main Page.] and several journals. Michigan State University College of Law is the home of the
Geoffrey Fieger Trial Practice Institute
[Michigan State University College of Law. The Geoffrey Fieger Trial Practice Institute.], the first trial practice institute in the United States. The
Intellectual Property and Communications Law program is ranked seventeenth nationally.
[White, Russ. "MSU College of Law's Intellectual Property and Communications Law Program nabs number one ranking among Big Ten law schools, 17th ranking in nation's top 20". Michigan State University Newsroom. April 4, 2006.]The
Eli Broad College of Business has programs in
accounting,
information systems,
finance,
management,
marketing and
supply chain management, and
hospitality business. The school has 4,775
undergraduate students and 776
graduate students. The Eli Broad Graduate School of Management, which
Business Week magazine ranks 11th among public institutions, offers 3
MBA programs, as well as
joint degrees with the
College of Law.
[The Eli Broad College of Business and Eli Broad Graduate School of Management. Graduate Programs.]Michigan State's
NCAA Division I-A program offers 14
varsity sports for men and 15 for women.
[The Princeton Review. "Michigan State University: Extracurriculars". 2005.] Since their teams are called the
Spartans, MSU's mascot is a Spartan warrior named
Sparty. The university participates in the
Big Ten Conference in all varsity sports except ice hockey, which competes in the
Central Collegiate Hockey Association. The current athletic director is
Ron Mason, who served as head hockey coach from 1979 to 2002, retiring with a record total of 924 wins, and a 608-261-64 record at MSU.
[MSU Spartans.com Player Bio: Ron Mason.] MSU's
Spartan Marching Band plays the
fight song at every university event, and both students and alumni sing along. Michigan State is the only NCAA division one athletic program to have multiple national championships in both football and basketball. Michigan State is among only sixteen Division 1A teams to win multiple national titles in football, and the only school to win multiple national titles in football and basketball.
Football
Football has a long tradition at Michigan State. Starting as a club sport in 1884, football gained varsity status in 1896.
In the 1950s, MSU led the nation in desegregation, allowing black athletes in all sports. It won the
Rose Bowl in 1954, 1956, and 1988. In 1967 the Spartans accounted for four of the top eight picks in the NFL draft, the only time a college football program has accomplished such feat.
Today, the football team competes in
Spartan Stadium, a renovated 75,025 person football stadium in the center of campus. The current coach is
John L. Smith, who has an 18-18-0 record.
[College Football Data Warehouse. Michigan State Coaching Records.] MSU's traditional archrival is the
University of Michigan, against whom they compete for the
Paul Bunyan Trophy. MSU is traditionally the underdog, with a 28-65-5 record in the annual game.
[College Football Data Warehouse. Michigan State vs. Michigan.] Michigan State is one of three Big Ten teams to have an annual non-conference football game against the
Notre Dame. MSU's record against the Fighting Irish is 25-43-1.
[College Football Data Warehouse. Michigan State vs. Notre Dame.]. Michigan State has won three (recognized) national championships and eight conference championships.
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The Jack Breslin Student Events Center is home to the men and women's basketball teams. |
Men's basketball
MSU's men's basketball team has won the
National Championship twice: in 1979 and again in 2000. In 1979,
Earvin "Magic" Johnson, along with
Greg Kelser,
Jay Vincent, and Mike Brkovich, led the MSU team to a 75-64 win against the
Larry Bird-led
Indiana State Sycamores. In 2000, three players from
Flint, Michigan,
Morris Peterson,
Charlie Bell, and
Mateen Cleaves led the team to its second national title. Dubbed the "Flintstones", they were the key to the Spartans' win against the
University of Florida. On
December 13,
2003, Michigan State and
Kentucky played in the
Basketbowl, in which a record crowd of 78,129 watched the game in
Detroit's
Ford Field. Kentucky won 79-74.
[MSU Spartans.com Men's Basketball Falls To No. 8 Kentucky, 79-74.] The team currently plays at the
Breslin Student Events Center under head coach
Tom Izzo, who has a 233-97 record.
[MSU Spartans.com Player Bio: Tom Izzo.] Izzo's coaching has helped the team make four of the last eight NCAA
Final Fours, winning the title in 2000. In recent years, MSU's successes on the basketball court have been associated with riots that have received heavy press coverage and strained relations between the students and the permanent residents of East Lansing.
Men's Ice Hockey
The MSU men's
ice hockey team started in 1924, though it has only been a
varsity sport since 1950. The team has since won national titles in 1966 and 1986. They play at MSU's
Munn Ice Arena. The current head
coach is
Rick Comley, who has a 34-19-3 record at MSU.
[ MSU Spartans.com Player Bio: Rick Comley.] Since the
Big Ten Conference does not include Division I men's
ice hockey, Michigan State competes in the
Central Collegiate Hockey Association. Along with the
University of Michigan and the
Ohio State University, it is one of three Big Ten schools in the CCHA. As with other sports, the hockey rivalry between MSU and U-M is a fierce one, and on October 6, 2001 MSU faced UM in the
Cold War, during which a world record crowd of 74,544 packed
Spartan Stadium to watch the game end in a 3-3 tie.
[MSU Spartans.com. Spartan Hockey Ties Wolverines In Front Of Record Crowd. October 6, 2001.] |
Hubbard Hall is a twelve-story residence hall on the eastern edge of campus. It is MSU's second tallest building. |
East Lansing is very much a
college town, with 58.6% of the population between the ages of 18 and 24.
[U.S. Census. East Lansing, Michigan. 2000.] President John A. Hannah's push to expand in the 1950s and 1960s resulted in the largest
residence hall system in the United States.
[Kiernan, Vincent. "Michigan State Asks Students to Turn Off Their Computers Over Winter Break". The Chronicle of Higher Education. January 2, 2003.] 16,000 students live in MSU's 23 undergraduate halls, one graduate hall, and three apartment villages. Each residence hall has its own hall government, with representatives in the
Residence Halls Association (RHA). Yet despite the size and extent of on-campus housing, 58% of students live off-campus,
[The Princeton Review. "Michigan State University: Campus Life". 2005.] mostly in the "
student ghettos" of East Lansing. One of these student-dominated neighborhoods is "Cedar Village". The city since has declared Cedar Village "
blighted", and proposed to redevelop the 35
acre (14 ha) site as a complex of upscale condominiums and retail stores called East Village. Several
fraternities in the affected area have mounted a campaign against the redevelopment plan.
[Cendrowski, Scott. "FarmHouse and friends fight East Village plan". December 7, 2005.] As of 2006, the plan remains at a stalemate.
[Darrow, Bob. "Planning commission makes little progress on future of Cedar Village area". December 15, 2005.] |
The MSU Union is home to many events on campus. |
Activism
Activists have played an important role in MSU history. During the height of the
Vietnam War, student protests helped create
co-ed residence halls, blocked the routing of
Interstate 496 through campus, and led to the resignation of MSU President
John A. Hannah. In the 1980s, Michigan State students got the University to
divest the stocks of companies doing business in
apartheid South Africa from its endowment portfolio, such as
Coca-Cola.
Today, MSU has many student groups focused on political change. The
student government is the
Associated Students of Michigan State University (ASMSU). It is known for its unusual nonpartisan bicameral structure, which includes the parallel
Student Assembly and
Academic Assembly.
[Associated Students of Michigan State University. Constitution.] Graduate campus groups include the Graduate Employees Union (GEU) and the Council of Graduate Students (COGS). Michigan State also has a variety of
partisan groups ranging from
liberal to
conservative. The
College Republicans and the
College Democrats as are several
third party organizations. Other partisan activist groups include
Young Americans for Freedom on the
right and Students for Economic Justice and
Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan (
MEChA) on the
left. Given MSU's proximity to the Michigan state capital of
Lansing, many politically-inclined Spartans get internships for the state representatives.
Media
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A 2005 bronze replica of "The Spartan" replaces the 1943 original. |
MSU has a variety of campus media outlets. The student-run newspaper, the
State News, is the country's most widely distributed campus newspaper. Free copies of the paper are available online or at East Lansing newsstands. The paper prints 28,500 copies of the paper Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters, and 15,000 copies three times a week during the summer.
[The State News. Masthead] The paper is not published on weekends, holidays, or semester breaks. The campus
yearbook, the
Red Cedar Log, is the largest in the United States.
The university has its own public television station, a
PBS affiliate called
WKAR-TV. The station is the second-oldest educational television station in the United States, and the oldest east of the
Mississippi River. Besides broadcasting PBS shows, WKAR-TV produces its own local programming, such as a high school
quiz bowl show called
QuizBusters. In addition
RHA runs 4 original student-produced programs on the dormitory's private television channel. Another student run show is a TV news magazine called
Focal Point.
MSU has two
National Public Radio affiliated radio stations; WKAR-AM plays NPR's talk radio programming, whereas WKAR-FM focuses mostly on classical music programming.
[WKAR Radio FM 90.5 and AM 870 from Michigan State University.] Michigan State also has a student-run radio station,
WDBM, "The Impact." WDBM broadcasts mostly alternative music during weekdays, and electric music programming nights and weekends. In addition, through the MSU's partnership with the online music service
Ruckus, students get access to free and legal music downloads.
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MSU's campus is heavily forested. This trail runs behind several residence halls, including Owen Hall, McDonel Hall, and Holmes Hall. |
Greek Life
Michigan State University's
greek system consists of around fifty Greek lettered student societies. These chapters are in turn under the jurisdiction of one of MSU's four Greek governing councils. Of these four, the
Interfraternity Council (IFC) and the
Women's Panhellenic Council are each entirely responsible for their own budgets, giving them the freedom to hold large fundraising and recruitment events. MSU's fraternities and sororities hold many
philanthropy events and community fundraisers. Many chapters even hold two or three events per year. For example, in March 2006, the Greek system held Greek Week to raise over $170,000 for the
American Cancer Society, Ele's Place, the
Ronald McDonald House, and the
Special Olympics.
[Spurlock, Amanda. "Cancer relay promotes unity, awareness". March 27, 2006.]The current president of the University is
Lou Anna Simon, who took over on
January 1,
2005, after being appointed by MSU's
governing board, the Board of Trustees. The Board receives its mandate from the Michigan Constitution since MSU is a state-owned school. The constitution allows for eight
trustees, elected by statewide referendum every two years. Trustees have eight-year terms, with two of the eight elected every other year.
[Michigan Constitution of 1963. Article VIII. Section 5.] As of 2005, the Board is made up of five
Republicans and three
Democrats, and has a 4:4 gender balance.
[Roeschke, Jaclyn. "Ferguson, Foster win MSU trustee seats". The State News. November 5, 2004.]19th century
Important College leaders in the 1800s include
John C. Holmes, who kept the Agriculture School from being a part of the
University of Michigan,
Joseph R. Williams, the first president, and
T.C. Abbot, the third president who stabilized the College after the Civil War. Also of importance was botany professor
William J. Beal, an early plant (hybrid corn) geneticist who corresponded with
Charles Darwin and championed the laboratory teaching method. Another distinguished faculty member of the era was the alumnus/professor
Liberty Hyde Bailey. Bailey was the first to raise the study of horticulture to a science, paralleling botany, which earned him the title of "Father of American Horticulture".
Other famous 19th century graduates include
Charles E. St. John, a prominent early
astrophysicist and an associate of
Albert Einstein,
Ray Stannard Baker, a famed "
muckraker" journalist and
Pulitzer Prize winning biographer of
Woodrow Wilson, and
William Chandler Bagley, a pioneering education reformer. Prominent 19th century
Japanese alumni include
Minakata Kumagusu (1888), a renowned environmental scientist, and
Michitaro Tsuda (B.S. 1884), who went on to become a member of the Emperor's
Privy Council.
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The Human Ecology Building. |
20th / 21st centuries
Today, there are about 389,000 living MSU
alumni worldwide. Famous MSU alumni include former Michigan governors
James Blanchard and
John Engler, billionaire
Eli Broad, and
Teamsters president
James P. Hoffa. Alumni in
Hollywood include actors
James Caan,
Anthony Heald,
Robert Urich, and
Spider-Man director
Sam Raimi. Hollywood alike has had its involvement with Michigan State University—in 1997 actress
Angelina Jolie and 2003 pop star
Christina Aguilera completed online/correspondence courses through the University. Also, two of the
Little Rock Nine attended Michigan State, including
Ernest Green, the first black student to graduate from Little Rock Central High School; and
Carlotta Walls Lanier.
Spartans formerly or currently in the
NBA include
Earvin "Magic" Johnson,
Steve Smith,
Scott Skiles,
Jason Richardson,
Mateen Cleaves,
Alan Anderson,
Zach Randolph, and
Charlie Bell, . On the
American Football League's
All-Time Team are tight-end
Fred Arbanas and safety
George Saimes. In the
National Football League, MSU alumni include
Morten Andersen,
Plaxico Burress,
Andre Rison,
Derrick Mason,
Muhsin Muhammad,
T.J. Duckett,
Flozell Adams,
Julian Peterson,
Charles Rogers and
Bubba Smith. Former Michigan State players in the
National Hockey League include
Anson Carter,
Adam Hall,
John-Michael Liles, brothers
Kelly Miller,
Kevin Miller and
Kip Miller, as well as their cousin
Ryan Miller.Former Michigan State players who formerly played or currently playing in
Major League Baseball include
Kirk Gibson,
Steve Garvey,
Robin Roberts, and
Mark Mulder.
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Official site*
Official athletics site*
Campus map*
MSU Statewide Resource Network*
Michigan State University Press*
Michigan Agricultural College (MAC later became MSU) - A collection of artifacts
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A Brief History of East Lansing, Michigan includes the campus park and the buildings of the M.A.C. era.
