Muskingum University

Muskingum College
Latin: Collegii Muskingumensis
Former names
 Muskingum College
(1837–2009)
Motto Omne trium perfectum (Latin)
Motto in English
 Everything which comes in threes is perfect
Type Private liberal arts college
Established 1837
Religious affiliation
 Presbyterian
Endowment $74 million
President Dr. Susan Schneider Hasseler
Academic staff
 114
Undergraduates 1,300
Postgraduates 1,300
Location New Concord, OH, USA
39°59′53″N 81°44′17″W / 39.998°N 81.738°W / 39.998; -81.738Coordinates: 39°59′53″N 81°44′17″W / 39.998°N 81.738°W / 39.998; -81.738
Campus Rural, 225 acres (910,000 m²)
Colors Black and Magenta          
Athletics NCAA Division III – OAC
Nickname Fighting Muskies
Affiliations APCU
CIC
Website www.muskingum.edu
Montgomery Hall, Muskingum's main administrative building
Muskingum's campus lake and surrounding hills

Muskingum University is a private university located in New Concord, Ohio, United States. It is located approximately sixty miles east of the state capital of Columbus. Founded in 1837, Muskingum University is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA).

Collectively, the university's alumni are referred to as the "Long Magenta Line" and students (both past and present) are known simply as "Muskies" while its athletic teams are called the "Fighting Muskies". New Concord, Ohio is located in far eastern Muskingum County, which derives its name from the Muskingum River. Muskingum offers more than 40 academic majors. Graduate programs are offered in education and management information systems, strategy and technology. Muskingum's campus consists of 21 buildings, a football stadium and a small lake, which all sit atop 225 acres (0.91 km2) of rolling hills overlooking New Concord.

History

In 1827, the National Road (now US 40) was laid through what is now New Concord, roughly following what had been the primitive roadway known as Zane's Trace. A year later, the village of New Concord, Ohio was established by Scotch-Irish Presbyterians. On July 9, 1836, the first recorded meeting of the "Friends of Education" in New Concord, led by New Concord residents Samuel Willson and Benjamin Waddle, was held. A year later, the Ohio General Assembly authorized the creation of a college in New Concord, OH after being petitioned by the "Friends of Education" committee. On April 24, 1837, Muskingum College opened. Muskingum became a coeducational institution in 1854. In 1958, the United Presbyterian Church of North America and the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America merged by signing a historic agreement in Brown Chapel on Muskingum's campus. In 2001, the school's women's softball team captured the NCAA Division III National Championship, the school's first national title.

Academics

Muskingum has been continuously accredited by the North Central Association of College and Secondary Schools since 1919. "The school up on the hill," as it is sometimes called by locals, offers Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees at the undergraduate level, and at the graduate level Master of Information Strategy Systems and Technology, Master of Arts in Education, and Master of Arts in Teaching graduate degrees. The university offers 44 academic majors along with a large number of minors, 9 pre-professional programs (including pre-law and pre-medicine) and teaching licensure, all of which must be pursued within a strong liberal arts curriculum, known at Muskingum as the "Liberal Arts Essentials" (LAEs) (see below). Among Muskingum's strongest undergraduate academic programs are its science division, math program, education department, and English department. Muskingum is often proclaimed as a "best value" in education, by combining strong academics with low tuition, by U.S. News & World Report and similar publications. In their 2008 America's Best College's guide, U.S. News & World Report ranked Muskingum the "31st Best Master's Level University" in the Midwest academically.[1] and the "4th Best Value" among Midwest Master's Level Universities.[2]

Campus

Most of Muskingum's academic buildings are clustered around a traditional quad near the southern part of the campus. The quad is bordered by Montgomery Hall and the College Library to the south, Caldwell Hall, Cambridge Hall and the Student/Faculty Center to the west, the Recreation Center and John Glenn Gym to the north and Boyd Science Center to the east. Brown Chapel sits on the southeastern corner of the quad.

Fraternities and Sororities

More than one in every four undergraduate students at Muskingum are members of Greek Life. The university has seven active fraternities on campus: Phi Kappa Tau, Phi Kappa Psi, Kappa Sigma, Phi Mu Alpha, Ulster (local), MACE (local), and Stag (local). Phi Kappa Tau and Kappa Sigma started as local organizations (Alban and Sphinx respectively) while other national organizations came on as colonies. The University also has 5 sororities: Chi Alpha Nu (local), FAD (local), Delta Gamma Theta (local), Theta Phi Alpha, and Alpha Sigma Alpha. There are almost twice as many women in Muskingum Greek life than there are men.

Athletics

Muskingum competes athletically in the NCAA as a Division III school and as one of the first and longest affiliated members of the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC). M.U.'s teams compete under the name the Fighting Muskies. Its mascot is the Fighting Muskie (muskellunge), the largest member of the pike family.

Rather than using the traditional magenta, Muskies athletics wear black and red. The school's main athletic rival is fellow OAC competitor the Marietta College Pioneers (which ironically was originally called the Muskingum Academy when established in 1797). Muskingum fields teams in American football, women's volleyball, baseball, women's softball, wrestling and men's and women's indoor track, outdoor track, soccer, tennis, cross country, lacrosse, and golf. Muskingum has won 79 Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Championships, since the school joined the conference in 1923.

During the period between 1925- 1970 Muskingum was in the OAC, led by college football Hall of Famer Edgar Sherman, first as a player and then as head coach. The Muskies even represented the OAC in two Grantland Rice Bowls (1964 & 1966) and won 12 OAC football championships during that forty-five year period.

Alumni

Alumnus John Glenn '42

Collectively, Muskingum's alumni are referred to as the "Long Magenta Line". Muskingum College's favorite son is former astronaut and U.S. senator John Glenn, who graduated with a bachelor of science in 1942.[3] Glenn also has an honorary degree from Muskingum from 1961, but the B.S. is an earned degree). In 1983, John Glenn launched his White House bid from the Muskingum College quad in the heart of the campus. Glenn also announced his retirement from the United States Senate in Brown Chapel on live national television in 1997. Upon his retirement, Glenn donated his archives to the Ohio State University, with special conditions that Muskingum students would benefit from the collection at any time. Muskingum received national media attention once again in 1998, when a 77-year-old Glenn returned to space aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery, becoming the oldest person ever in space.

References

  1. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-08-24. Retrieved 2007-08-22.
  2. ↑ "Best Colleges | College Rankings | US News Education - US News". Colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com. Retrieved 2016-07-19.
  3. ↑ DeFelice, David (2015-04-03). "Biography - John H. Glenn". Retrieved 2016-07-05.
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