Oklahoma State University–Stillwater Informations

Oklahoma State University (Oklahoma State, OKState, or OSU) is a public land-grant and sun-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma. OSU was founded in 1890 under the Morrill Act. Originally known as Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College (Oklahoma AandM), it is the flagship institution of the Oklahoma State University System. Official enrollment for the fall 2010 semester system-wide was 35,073, with 23,459 students enrolled at OSU-Stillwater. Enrollment shows the Freshman class of 2012 was the largest on record with 4,298 students. OSU is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a research university with highest research activity.

The Oklahoma State Cowboys and Cowgirls' athletic heritage includes 52 national championships, a total greater than all but three NCAA Division I schools in the United States, and first in the Big 12 Conference. Students spend part of the fall semester preparing for OSU's Homecoming celebration, begun in 1913, which draws more than 40,000 alumni and over 70,000 participants each year to campus and is billed by the university as "America's Greatest Homecoming Celebration."

On December 25, 1890, the Oklahoma Territorial Legislature finally gained approval for Oklahoma Territorial Agricultural and Mechanical (AandM) College, the land-grant university established under the Morrill Act of 1862. It specified that the college was to be within Payne County. Such an ambiguous description created rivalry between towns within the county, with Stillwater ultimately winning out. Upon statehood in 1907, "Territorial" was dropped from its title.

The first students assembled for class on December 14, 1891. Classes were held for two and one-half years in local churches until the first academic building, later known as Old Central, was dedicated on June 15, 1894, on the southeast corner of campus, which at the time was flat plowed prairie. In 1896, Oklahoma AandM held its first commencement with six male graduates. The first Library was established in Old Central in one room shared with the English Department. The first campus building to have electricity, Williams Hall, was constructed in 1900. With its turreted architecture it was referred to as the "Castle of the Prairies"; It remained standing until 1969. One of the earliest campus buildings was also a barn, used as part of an agricultural experiment station, which was served by a large reservoir pond created in 1895. The barn burned in 1922, but the pond, enlarged and remodeled in 1928 and 1943, is now known as Theta Pond, a popular campus scenic landmark. In 1906, Morrill Hall was completed and became the principal building on campus. A fire gutted the building in 1914, but the outside structure survived intact, and the interior was reconstructed. The first dormitory for women was completed in 1911. It contained a kitchen, dining hall, some classrooms, and a women's gymnasium. It is now the Bartlett Center for the Studio Arts and houses the Gardiner Art Gallery. By 1919 the campus included Morrill Hall, the Central Building, the Engineering Building (now Gundersen Hall), the Women's building, the Auditorium (replaced later by the Seretean Center for Performing Arts), the Armory-Gymnasium (now the Architecture Building) and the Power Plant.

At the beginning of World War II, Oklahoma AandM was one of six schools selected by the United States Navy to give the Primary School in the Electronics Training Program (ETP), also known as Naval Training School Elementary Electricity and Radio Materiel (NTS EEandRM). Starting in March 1942, each month a new group of 100 Navy students arrived for three months of 14-hour days in concentrated electrical engineering study. Cordell Hall, the newest dormitory, was used for housing and meals; lectures and lab sessions were held in the Engineering Building. Professor Emory B. Phillips was the Director of Instruction. ETP admission required passing the Eddy Test, one of the most selective qualifying exams given during the war years. At a given time, some 500 Navy students were on the campus, a significant fraction of the war-years enrollment. The training activity continued until June 1945, and served a total of about 7,000 students; among these was Robert B. Kamm, a future professor and president of Oklahoma State University. During some of the war years, the Navy also had a Yeoman training activity for WAVES and SPARS on the campus.

Much of the growth of Oklahoma AandM and the campus architectural integrity can be attributed to work of Henry G. Bennett, who served as the school's president from 1928 to 1950. Early in his tenure Dr. Bennett developed a strategic vision for the physical expansion of the university campus. The plan was adopted in 1937 and his vision was followed for more than fifty years, making the university what it is today, including the Georgian architecture that permeates the campus. The focal point of his vision was a centrally located library building, which became a reality when the Edmon Low Library opened in 1953. Another major addition to the campus during the Bennett years was the construction of the Student Union, which opened in 1950. Subsequent additions and renovations have made the building one of the largest student union buildings in the world at 611,000 sq ft (56,800 m2). A complete renovation and further expansion of the building began in 2010.

On May 15, 1957, Oklahoma AandM changed its name Oklahoma State University of Agricultural and Applied Sciences to reflect the broadening scope of curriculum offered. Oklahoma Gov. Raymond Gary signed the bill authorizing the name change passed by the 26th Oklahoma Legislature on May 15, 1957. However, the bill only authorized the Board of Regents to change the name of the college, a measure they voted on at their meeting on June 6. However, the name was quickly shortened to Oklahoma State University for most purposes, and the "Agricultural and Applied Sciences" name was formally dropped in 1980. Subsequently, the Oklahoma State University System was created, with the Stillwater campus as the flagship institution and several outlying branches: OSU-Institute of Technology in Okmulgee (1946), OSU-Oklahoma City (1961), OSU-Tulsa (1984), and the Center for Health Sciences also in Tulsa (1988).

In 2005, OSU announced its "Campus Master Plan", a campaign to enhance academic, athletic, and administrative facilities. Over $800 million is ear-marked for campus construction and renovation over twenty years. The Plan calls for an "athletic village" where all of the university's athletic facilities will be located on the main campus. To accomplish this goal, the athletic department bought all (or nearly all) the property north of Boone Pickens Stadium up to McElroy between Knoblock and Washington streets. This drew criticism from the city of Stillwater and property owners. While the vast majority of the real estate was rental property targeting college students, a few owners were longtime residents. There was a lone holdout in this parcel of land, who sued OSU over their right to use eminent domain. The case was decided in favor of the University. The project includes the construction of an indoor practice facility for most sports, a soccer stadium/outdoor track, a tennis complex, and a baseball stadium.

In 2006, OSU became the recipient of a gift of $165 million from alumnus T. Boone Pickens to the university's athletic department, and in 2008 received another gift from Pickens of $100 million for endowed academic chairs. It was the largest gift for academics ever given in the state. Ethical concerns have been raised in media reports about the propriety of how some of the Pickens gifts have been made, immediately returned to Pickens, and then placed in hedge funds owned by Pickens' companies In February 2010, Pickens announced that he was pledging another $100 million to fund a scholarship endowment as part of a $1 billion fund-raising campaign titled "Branding Success." The pledge brought the total pledged or contributed to OSU by Pickens to over $500 million.

On October 24, 2015 during the annual homecoming parade, Adacia Chambers drove her vehicle into a crowd of people killing 4 people and injuring 47.

Oklahoma State University–Stillwater offers nearly 200 undergraduate degree majors through six Colleges:

OSU provides further opportunities for select students to study, conduct research, and exchange ideas in a more challenging and supportive academic environment through the Honors College.

The graduate degree programs of all colleges are administered through the Graduate College.

The Center for Veterinary Health Sciences (CVHS) has three academic Departments: Veterinary Pathobiology, Physiological Sciences, and Veterinary Clinical Sciences. Each of the three academic departments share responsibility for the four-year professional curriculum leading to the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (D.V.M.) degree. The interdepartmental Veterinary Biomedical Sciences graduate program offers MS and PhD degrees. It also offers ECFVG and PAVE programmes for foreign trained veterinarians.

As a land-grant university, OSU has several historically renowned programs, including the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources and the College of Veterinary Medicine. The College of Engineering is renowned in the fields of architecture and mechanical engineering. The School of Entrepreneurship is internationally renowned at both the practical and academic levels.

Current university-owned housing options include 26 residence halls, more than 15 dining options, and seven family-first apartment complexes. In recent years, on-campus housing has been undergoing significant transformation. Student living was previously dominated by traditional residence halls; however, apartment-style buildings now comprise approximately half of the living quarters. In 2005, the high-rise Willham North and South residence halls that once dominated the Stillwater skyline were demolished and replaced with the Village suites on its site. Iba Hall, another traditional hall, was closed in 2007, but was reopened in 2011 due to an increase of incoming freshman. In 2017, Iba Hall underwent significant renovations which lasted through most of that year, before reopening in time for the Fall 2018 semester.

Iba, Parker, Wentz and Stout Halls continue to offer traditional residence hall accommodations. In addition, three residence halls were opened in the fall of 2015, collectively known as the University Commons. North houses female students, south houses male students, and west is a co-ed facility that also houses the twenty-four-hour service desk for the area. Although Kerr-Drummond was slated to be closed with the opening of the University Commons, Drummond was reopened in fall 2015 due to increased occupancy of campus housing. Kerr was closed and is scheduled for demolition in the coming years. Apartments for single students are Bost, Davis, Morsani-Smith, Peterson-Friend, Kamm, Sitlington and Young Halls. Housing in suite-style accommodations are provided in the named Village CASNR (College of Agricultural Science and Natural Resources), Village HS (Human Sciences), Village C, Village D, Village E and Village F. Deluxe suites are provided in Patchin and Jones, Bennett, Zink and Allen, and Stinchcomb and Booker Halls. Graduate students and families are offered accommodations in seven apartment "neighborhoods" with a variety of floor plans and amenities: Brumley, Demaree, Morrison, Prosser, Stevens, West and Williams.

Additionally, a number of learning communities and special interest housing options are available, providing opportunity for students who share interests or majors to live together. Most of these communities occupy certain floors of buildings or halls, rather than consisting of separate buildings. Included among the options are: FIT (Freshman in Transition, College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources), athletic training, career exploration (College of Arts and Sciences), computer science floor, engineering floors, health and sciences floor, HS housing (College of Human and Environmental Sciences), journalism and broadcasting housing, Kamm Leadership House, Ketchum House (Native American interests), James Building (Young Engineers House), Maude's Quad (Women in Engineering House), Recovery House (students recovering from drug and/or alcohol dependence), Spanish House (language immersion), Spears School of Business House, Stout Honors housing (University's Honors Program), Uhuru House (African Centered Cultural House), Wellness House, and The Transfer Zone (transfer students).

Oklahoma State University's fraternities and sororities celebrated 100 years of existence at OSU in 2008.

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