The University of Tulsa (TU) is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

research university A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are "the key sites of Knowledge production modes, knowledge production", along with "intergenerational ...

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa ( ) is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, second-most-populous city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the List of United States cities by population, 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The po ...

. It has a historic affiliation with the

Presbyterian Church Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Christianity, Reformed Protestantism, Protestant tradition named for its form of ecclesiastical polity, church government by representative assemblies of Presbyterian polity#Elder, elders, known as ...

, although it is now nondenominational, and the campus architectural style is predominantly

Collegiate Gothic Collegiate Gothic is an architectural style subgenre of Gothic Revival architecture, popular in the late-19th and early-20th centuries for college and high school buildings in the United States and Canada, and to a certain extent Europ ...

. The school traces its origin to the Presbyterian School for Indian Girls, which was established in 1882 in Muskogee, Oklahoma, then a town in Indian Territory, and which evolved into an institution of higher education named Henry Kendall College by 1894. The college moved to Tulsa, another town in the Creek Nation in 1904, before the state of Oklahoma was created. In 1920, Kendall College was renamed the University of Tulsa.University of Tulsa. "History & Traditions." Undated.
The University of Tulsa is

classified Classified may refer to: General *Classified information, material that a government body deems to be sensitive *Classified advertising or "classifieds" Music *Classified (rapper) (born 1977), Canadian rapper * The Classified, a 1980s American ro ...

among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity". It manages the

Gilcrease Museum Gilcrease Museum, also known as the Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art, is a museum northwest of downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma housing the world's largest, most comprehensive collection of art of the American West, as well as a gr ...

, which includes one of the largest collections of American Western art and indigenous American artifacts in the world. TU also hosts the ''

Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature ''Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature'' (''TSWL''), founded by Germaine Greer in 1982, is devoted to the study of women's literature and women's writing in general. Publishing "articles, notes, research, and reviews of literary, historicist, and ...

'', founded by former TU professor and noted feminist critic

Germaine Greer Germaine Greer (; born 29 January 1939) is an Australian writer and feminist, regarded as one of the major voices of the second-wave feminism movement in the latter half of the 20th century. Specializing in English and women's literature, she ...

(now at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

). TU's athletic teams are collectively known as the

Tulsa Golden Hurricane The Tulsa Golden Hurricane are the athletic teams that represent the University of Tulsa. These teams are referred to as the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (or variously as TU or Tulsa). Before adopting the name Golden Hurricane in 1922, the Universit ...

and compete in Division I of the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

as members of the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (AAC), also known as The American, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States, featuring 13 full member universities and 6 affiliate member universities that compete in t ...

(The American). The University of Tulsa is designated as a National Security Agency Center of Academic Excellence in both Information Assurance and Cyber Defense. The McDougall School of Petroleum Engineering is ranked 6th among petroleum engineering graduate schools and 10th among undergraduate PE schools by U.S. News & World report.

History

Frontier Origins

The Presbyterian School for Indian Girls (also known as "Minerva Home")Mullins, Jonita. ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''. "Muskogee County." Retrieved April 22, 2013. was founded in Muskogee,

Indian Territory Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United States, ...

, in 1882 to offer a primary education to young women of the

Creek Nation The Muscogee Nation, or Muscogee (Creek) Nation, is a List of federally recognized tribes, federally recognized Native American tribe based in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The nation descends from the historic Muscogee Confederacy, a large grou ...

. In 1894, the young school expanded to become Henry Kendall College, named in honor of Reverend Henry Kendall, secretary of the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions.Logsdon, Guy William. "The University of Tulsa: a history from 1882–1972." Norman, Okla.; 1975.Delfraisse, Betty Dew. "The history of the University of Tulsa." Austin, Tex.: .l. 1929. The first president was William A. Caldwell, who served a brief two-year term, which ended in 1896. Caldwell was succeeded by William Robert King, a Presbyterian minister and co-founder of the college, who had come to Oklahoma from

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

, by way of the

Union Theological Seminary Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York (shortened to UTS or Union) is a Private college, private ecumenical liberal Christian seminary in Morningside Heights, Manhattan, affiliated with Columbia University since 1928. Presently, Co ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

(affiliated with

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

). Kendall College, while still in Muskogee, granted the first post-secondary degree in Oklahoma in June 1898. Under King, the college was moved from its original location in downtown Muskogee to a larger campus on lands donated by

Chief

Pleasant Porter Pleasant Porter (September 26, 1840 – September 3, 1907, Creek) was an American Indian statesman and the last elected Principal Chief of the Creek Nation, serving from 1899 until his death. He had served with the Confederacy in the 1st C ...

. Kendall College students, faculty and administrators were instrumental in efforts to get the

State of Sequoyah The State of Sequoyah was a proposed U.S. state, state to be established from the Indian Territory in Eastern Oklahoma, eastern present-day Oklahoma. In 1905, with the end of tribal governments looming, Five Civilized Tribes, Native Americans (th ...

recognized; they wrote most of the proposed constitution and designed the seal among other things. The opening of the new campus coincided with the start of the tenure of the third president, A. Grant Evans. Over the next 10 years, Evans oversaw the struggling school's growth. In most years, class sizes remained small and although the academy, the attached elementary, middle, and high school was more successful; by the end of the 1906–07 year Kendall College had had only 27 collegiate graduates. At the request of the administration, the Synod of Indian Territory assumed control as trustees and began to look at alternatives for the future of the school. When the administration was approached by the comparatively smaller town of Tulsa and offered a chance to move, the decision was made to relocate."Henry Kendall College Bulletin"

Relocation to Tulsa

The Tulsa Commercial Club (a forerunner of the Tulsa Chamber of Commerce) decided to bid for the college. Club members who packaged a bid in 1907 to move the college to Tulsa included: B. Betters, H. O. McClure, L. N. Butts, W. L. North, James H. Hall (''sic''), Grant C. Stebbins, Rev. Charles W. Kerr, C. H. Nicholson. The offer included $100,000, 20 acres of real estate, and a guarantee for utilities and street car service.The University of Tulsa, "Tulsa Commercial Club 'had a hunch and bet a bunch.'"
The college opened to 35 students in September 1907, two months before Oklahoma became a state. These first students attended classes at the First Presbyterian Church until permanent buildings could be erected on the new campus. This became the start of higher education in Tulsa. Kendall Hall, the first building of the new school, was completed in 1908 and was quickly followed by two other buildings. All three buildings have since been demolished, with Kendall the last to be razed in 1972. The bell that once hung in the Kendall Building tower was saved and displayed in Bayless Plaza. The Kendall College presidents during 1907–1919 were Arthur Grant Evans, Levi Harrison Beeler, Seth Reed Gordon, Frederick William Hawley, Ralph J. Lamb, Charles Evans, James G. McMurtry and Arthur L. Odell. In 1918, the Methodist Church proposed building a college in Tulsa, using money donated by a Tulsa oilman Robert M. McFarlin. The proposed college was to be named McFarlin College. However, it was soon apparent that Tulsa could not yet support two competing schools. In 1920, Henry Kendall College merged with the proposed McFarlin College to become the University of Tulsa. The McFarlin Library of TU was named for the principal donor of the proposed college. The name of Henry Kendall has lived on to the present as the Kendall College of Arts and Sciences.

20th century

The University of Tulsa opened its School of Petroleum Engineering in 1928..Tulsa University Website "History of TU." Accessed February 24, 2011
The

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

hit the university hard. By 1935, the school was about to close because of its poor financial condition. It had a debt of $250,000, enrollment had fallen to 300 students (including many who could not pay their tuition), the faculty was poorly paid and morale was low. It was then that the oil tycoon and TU-patron

Waite Phillips Waite Phillips (January 19, 1883 – January 27, 1964) was an American petroleum businessman who created a fully integrated operation that combined petroleum producing, refining and marketing. With headquarters in Tulsa, Oklahoma, he also develo ...

offered the school presidency to Clarence Isaiah ("Cy") Pontius, a former investment banker. His primary focus would be to rescue the school's finances. A dean's council would take charge of academic issues.Scott Cooper, "Pontius Pilot", Tulsa World, January 12, 1998. However, Pontius' accomplishments went beyond raising money. During his tenure, the following events occurred: *In 1935, the university opened the College of Business Administration, which it renamed the Collins College of Business in 2008. *The Tulsa Law School, located in downtown Tulsa, became part of the university in 1943. *In 1948, oil magnate William G. Skelly donated funds to found the university radio station, KWGS (named for his initials), now known as Public Radio Tulsa. Skellylg

After William G. Skelly died, his widow donated the Skelly Mansion, at the corner of 21st Street and Madison Avenue, to the University of Tulsa. The school sold the mansion and its furnishings to private owners in 1959. On July 5, 2012, the university announced that it would repurchase the house as a residence for its president. TU sold the property in 2021. In 1958, Ben Graf Henneke, a scholar of theater and communications, became the first alumnus to hold the presidency of the University of Tulsa. During his tenure, the university established new doctoral programs, increased the proportion of faculty with doctorates, started new publications including ''Petroleum Abstracts'' and the ''

James Joyce Quarterly The ''James Joyce Quarterly'' (''JJQ'') is a peer-reviewed academic journal established in 1963 that covers critical and theoretical work focusing on the life, writing, and reception of James Joyce. The journal publishes essays, notes, reviews, le ...

'', developed a North Campus center for

petroleum engineering Petroleum engineering is a field of engineering concerned with the activities related to the production of hydrocarbons, which can be either crude oil or natural gas or both. Exploration and production are deemed to fall within the ''upstrea ...

research, and expanded many main campus facilities. He was succeeded by Eugene L. Swearingen, a

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

-trained economist and Oklahoma native who served on the National Finance Committee for the

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

Presidential Campaign. Swearingen increased TU's endowment and expanded the footprint of its campus.

21st century

In 2004, anthropologist

Steadman Upham Steadman Upham (April 4, 1949 – July 30, 2017) was an American archaeologist and university administrator who served as president of Claremont Graduate University from 1998 to 2004 and the University of Tulsa (TU) from 2004 to 2016. Prior ...

joined the University of Tulsa as president, having served in faculty and leadership positions at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

and

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

. Within five years of his arrival, TU saw 13 major construction projects and renovations on campus, ranging from the construction of the Roxana Rozsa and Robert Eugene Lorton Performance Center to the overhaul of Keplinger Hall, and plans for seven more major projects finalized (despite the nationwide recession). The university also launched the Oxley College of Health Sciences, in downtown Tulsa, named in recognition of a major gift from Tulsa's Oxley Foundation. In 2023, the unit was renamed the Oxley College of Health & Natural Sciences. The university also partnered with the George Kaiser Family Foundation to temporarily house The Bob Dylan Archive at TU in 2016. Under Upham's leadership, the University of Tulsa assumed management of the famous

in northwest Tulsa. In 2016, President Upham retired and was succeeded by Gerard Clancy, who previously served as a psychiatry professor and held leadership positions at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

and the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

. About two and a half years into his presidency, in the spring of 2019, President Clancy and Provost Janet K. Levit announced a restructuring of academic programs at the university that would eliminate several academic programs. The plan was met with resistance from some faculty who believed it was formulated without adequate input from faculty. Although faculty members voted "

no confidence A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fit ...

" in the president and provost in November, the university's board of trustees publicly affirmed their support of the plan. In January 2020, President Clancy informed the board that he needed to cut back on his activities because of unspecified medical issues. The board named Provost Levit as interim president of the school, effective in January 2020. Former Congressman Brad R. Carson became president of the University of Tulsa on July 1, 2021.

Academics

The University of Tulsa offers liberal arts, music, film, and professional programs, including

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

natural sciences Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

, social sciences, health sciences, business, law, and other disciplines. The university has an undergraduate research program, evidenced by 45 students receiving Goldwater Scholarships since 1995. The Tulsa Undergraduate Research Challenge (TURC) allows undergraduates to conduct advanced research with the guidance of top TU professors.

Rankings

''U.S. News & World Report''s 2025 edition of "Best Colleges" ranked the University of Tulsa tied for 179th among "national universities" and tied at 90th for "Best Value".

Scholarship and fellowship recipients

TU students have won 67 Goldwater Scholarships, 5

Marshall Scholarship The Marshall Scholarship is a postgraduate scholarship for "intellectually distinguished young Americans ndtheir country's future leaders" to study at any university in the United Kingdom. It is considered among the most prestigious scholarsh ...

s, 3

Rhodes Scholarship The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world. Established in 1902, it is ...

s (9 Rhodes finalists), 28

Fulbright Scholarships The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

, and numerous Department of Defense, National Science Foundation, and Morris K. Udall Fellowships.

Campus

The campus of the University of Tulsa centers on a wide, grassy, quad-like space known as Dietler Commons, formerly called "The U." The predominant architectural style is English Gothic. Most of the buildings are constructed from tan and rose-colored Crab Orchard

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

from

interspersed with stone quarried in

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

. Other materials include Bedford

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

from

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

and

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

quarried in

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

. The university's campus borders Tulsa's Kendall Whittier neighborhood and is not far from Tulsa's downtown and midtown neighborhoods. The campus, in particular its football venue Skelly Field, is located on the historic

U.S. Route 66 U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 (US 66 or Route 66) is one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System. It was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The high ...

, America's "Mother Road" stretching from

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium

Tulsa Golden Hurricane football The Tulsa Golden Hurricane football program represents the University of Tulsa in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level. Tulsa has competed in the American Athletic Conference (The American) since the 2014 ...

has played home games at

Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium is an outdoor college football stadium in the south central United States, located on the campus of the University of Tulsa in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Commonly known as H. A. Chapman Stadium, it is the ho ...

since 1930.

Museums and libraries

McFarlin Library: Resources and Notable Collections The library's Department of Special Collections and University Archives houses over 12 million archival items and has over 1,000 collections on a wide-ranging array of topics including 20th-century

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

, Irish, and

American literature American literature is literature written or produced in the United States of America and in the British colonies that preceded it. The American literary tradition is part of the broader tradition of English-language literature, but also ...

, which includes the world's second-largest collection of materials by

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...

. It also houses the papers of

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

winners

V.S. Naipaul Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul (; 17 August 1932 – 11 August 2018) was a Trinidadian-born British writer of works of fiction and nonfiction in English. He is known for his comic early novels set in Trinidad, his bleaker novels of alienatio ...

and

Doris Lessing Doris May Lessing ( Tayler; 22 October 1919 – 17 November 2013) was a British novelist. She was born to British parents in Qajar Iran, Persia, where she lived until 1925. Her family then moved to Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), where ...

, as well as novelists and poets

Jean Rhys Jean Rhys, ( ; born Ella Gwendoline Rees Williams; 24 August 1890 – 14 May 1979) was a novelist who was born and grew up in the Caribbean island of Dominica. From the age of 16, she resided mainly in England, where she was sent for her educa ...

, Eliot Bliss,

David Plante David Robert Plante (born March 4, 1940, in Providence, Rhode Island) is an American novelist, diarist, and memoirist of both French-Canadian and North American Indian descent. Life The son of Albina Bisson and Aniclet Plante, Plante is of b ...

Anna Kavan Anna Kavan (born Helen Emily Woods; 10 April 1901 – 5 December 1968) was a British novelist, short story writer and painter. Originally publishing under her first married name, Helen Ferguson, she adopted the name Anna Kavan in 1939 as both ...

, and

Stevie Smith Florence Margaret Smith (20 September 1902 – 7 March 1971), known as Stevie Smith, was an English poet and novelist. She won the Cholmondeley Award and was awarded the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry. A play, '' Stevie'' by Hugh Whitemore, bas ...

, just to name a few. In addition to these famous novelists, McFarlin Library houses the papers of Congresswoman

Alice Mary Robertson Alice Mary Robertson (January 2, 1854 – July 1, 1931) was an American educator, social worker, Native Americans' rights activist, government official, and politician who became the second woman to serve in the United States Congress, and the fi ...

, literary critic

Richard Ellmann Richard David Ellmann, Fellow of the British Academy, FBA (March 15, 1918 – May 13, 1987) was an American Literary criticism, literary critic and biographer of the Irish writers James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, and W. B. Yeats, William Butler Yeats. ...

, comic book innovator E. Nelson Bridwell, Cherokee Principal Chief J.B. Milam, and writer/sexologist Edward Charles, among others. The Department of Special Collections also contains a vast collection of books on Native American history.

Partnership with Gilcrease Museum

In July 2008, the University of Tulsa took over management of

in a public-private partnership with the City of Tulsa. The museum has one of the largest collections of American Western art in the world (including famous works by

Frederic Remington Frederic Sackrider Remington (October 4, 1861 – December 26, 1909) was an American painter, illustrator, sculptor, and writer who specialized in the genre of Western American Art. His works are known for depicting the Western United Sta ...

Thomas Moran Thomas Moran (February 12, 1837 – August 25, 1926) was an American painter and printmaker of the Hudson River School in New York whose work often featured the Rocky Mountains. Moran and his family, wife Mary Nimmo Moran and daughter Ruth, took ...

, and others) and houses growing collections of artifacts from Central and South America. The museum sits on in northwest Tulsa.

The Bob Dylan Archive

The Bob Dylan Archive is a collection of documents and objects relating to iconic American singer-songwriter

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

(whose mentor was Oklahoman

Woody Guthrie Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer, songwriter, and composer widely considered to be one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American Left, A ...

). It was announced on March 2, 2016, that the archive had been acquired by the George Kaiser Family Foundation (GKFF) and the University of Tulsa. The university has since relinquished ownership to GKFF.

Student body and student life

Students at the University of Tulsa represent 47 states and over 79 foreign countries, of which 58% are

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

residents. Among the most common countries of origin for TU international students are China,

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

, India,

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

, and the United Kingdom. The University of Tulsa is home to more than 150 student organizations, registered with and partially funded by the Student Government Association.

Diversity and campus life

Several groups exist to support diversity on the University of Tulsa campus. There are at least 25 campus organizations existing to support and sustain a diverse campus community. In addition, TU hosts the Chevron Multicultural Resource Center, funded by a gift from the energy company, which hosts events and programming to promote diversity on campus. Although TU has historic ties to the Presbyterian Church, the university has long embraced religious diversity. In 2002, TU was home to the first

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

built on an American university campus.Lanvanhar, Marvin. "Tulsa, a Divinely Inspired City". Chapter 13 in Joyce, Davis D. ''Alternative Oklahoma: contrarian views of the Sooner State''p. 213. Available through Google Books. Accessed February 20, 2011. TU also hosts a chapter of

Hillel International Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, alternatively Hillel International or simply Hillel, is the largest Jewish student organization in the world. Hillel brands itself as a safe space for Jewish students and events aimed at facilitati ...

, an organization to support Jewish life on campus. The university also hosts several organizations reflecting different streams of Christian spiritual practice, including Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox.

2015 student speech controversy

In February 2015, after the University of Tulsa suspended a student under its zero-tolerance policy for harassment for threatening and defamatory Facebook postings by his fiancée against multiple faculty members and a female student, administrators attempted to discourage the campus newspaper from publishing information the university deemed "confidential". The controversy was picked up by two websites that claimed the administration used "threats" and "intimidation" to "cover up" their handling of the disciplinary issue. In January 2016, the former student filed a lawsuit against the university, claiming his dismissal was unfair and was a breach of the institution's commitment to due process. The incident earned the university a spot on the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) 2016 "10 Worst Colleges for Free Speech". By 2023, however, the University of Tulsa had received a "green light" rating from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression in recognition of the university's commitment to free speech.

Athletics

Tulsa's sports teams participate in

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

as a member of the

(The American); its

football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st ...

is part of the

Football Bowl Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...

(FBS). Tulsa has the smallest undergraduate enrollment of any FBS school. TU has had a rivalry with the slightly larger

Rice University William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University, is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. Established in 1912, the university spans 300 acres. Rice University comp ...

and a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

rivalry with the substantially larger University of Houston. It also has two current rivalries with D-I schools that do not sponsor football—an in-conference rivalry with

Wichita State University Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...

, especially in

men's basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, and a crosstown rivalry, most prominently in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, with

Summit League The Summit League, or The Summit, is an NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletic conference with its membership mostly located in the Midwestern United States, from Minnesota in the east, to the Dakotas, Nebraska and Colorado to the West, and Mis ...

member

Oral Roberts University Oral Roberts University (ORU) is a Private university, private Evangelicalism, evangelical university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Founded in 1963, the university is named after its founder, Charismatic Christianity, Charismatic Christian preacher Oral ...

. The university's nickname is the Golden Hurricane (it was originally the Golden Tornadoes). The Sound of the Golden Hurricane marching band plays at all home football and basketball games as well as traveling to championships in support of the Golden Hurricane. Tulsa has won six national championships (three NCAA): four in women's golf and two in men's basketball. The University of Tulsa currently fields a varsity team in seven men's sports and ten women's sports.

Symbols

The school's colors are

old gold Old gold is a dark yellow, which varies from light olive or olive brown to deep or strong yellow, generally on the darker side of this range. The first recorded use of ''old gold'' as a color name in English was in the early 19th century (exact ...

( PMS 7502),

royal blue Royal blue is a deep and vivid shade of blue. It is said to have been created by a consortium of mills in Rode, Wiltshire (in Somerset as of 1937), which won a competition to make a robe for Queen Charlotte, consort of King George III. I ...

(PMS 661C), and

crimson Crimson is a rich, deep red color, inclining to purple. It originally meant the color of the kermes dye produced from a scale insect, '' Kermes vermilio'', but the name is now sometimes also used as a generic term for slightly bluish-red col ...

(PMS 186). The university's original motto was, in full: "Faith, Wisdom, Service: For Christ, For State."

Media

The '' University of Tulsa Collegian'' is the long-standing independent and student-run newspaper on campus. The following scholarly journals are published by the university: * '' Nimrod International Journal of Prose and Poetry'' * ''

'' * ''

'' * ''Energy Law Journal'' * ''Tulsa Law Review'' In 2003 Tulsa joined the efforts of

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

on the

Modernist Journals Project The Modernist Journals Project (MJP) was created in 1995 at Brown University in order to create a database of digitized periodicals connected with the period loosely associated with modernism. University of Tulsa, The University of Tulsa joined in ...

, an online archive of early 20th-century periodicals. Tulsa has contributed various modernist texts from McFarlin Library's Special Collections to the project's website. Sean Latham, then-editor of the ''

'', brought the 2003 North American James Joyce Conference to the University of Tulsa. The university is the owner of the Tulsa region’s

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

station,

KWGS KWGS (89.5 FM) is a listener-supported, non-commercial, public radio station in Tulsa, Oklahoma. KWGS and its classical music sister station 88.7 KWTU are owned and operated by the University of Tulsa. The studios and offices are located in ...

, as well as KWTU, which airs a classical music format.

Notable people

TU students have won 67 Goldwater Scholarships, 5

s, 3

s (9 Rhodes finalists), 28

, and numerous Department of Defense, National Science Foundation, and Morris K. Udall Fellowships.

Alumni

The University of Tulsa counts a number of distinguished individuals among its alumni, including current

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...

CEO

Doug McMillon Carl Douglas McMillon (born October 17, 1966) is an American businessman who has been the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Walmart since 2014. He also sits on the retailer's board of directors. McMillon first joined the company as ...

, New York School poet

Ted Berrigan Edmund Joseph Michael Berrigan Jr. (November 15, 1934 – July 4, 1983) was an American poet. Early life Berrigan was born in Providence, Rhode Island, on November 15, 1934. After high school, he spent a year at Providence College before joining ...

, ''The Outsiders'' author S.E. Hinton, voicemail inventor Gordon Matthews, ''Golden Girls'' actress

Rue McClanahan Eddi-Rue McClanahan (February 21, 1934 – June 3, 2010) was an American actress. She was best known for her roles on television sitcoms, including Maude (TV series)#Characters, Vivian Cavender Harmon on ''Maude (TV series), Maude'' (1972–78), ...

, actor

Peter McRobbie Peter McRobbie (born January 31, 1943) is a Scottish-American actor, best known for his roles as John C. Twist in the 2005 romantic drama film ''Brokeback Mountain'', Mike Sheenan in the 2006 action film '' 16 Blocks'', Pop Pop Jamison in the 20 ...

, roboticist and author Daniel H. Wilson, radio legend

Paul Harvey Paul Harvey Aurandt (September 4, 1918 – February 28, 2009) was an American radio broadcaster for ABC News Radio. He broadcast ''News and Comment'' on mornings and mid-days on weekdays and at noon on Saturdays and also his famous ''The Rest o ...

, Kuwaiti Petroleum Company CEO Hani Abdulaziz Al Hussein, TV personality Dr.

Phil McGraw Phillip Calvin McGraw (born September 1, 1950), also known as Dr. Phil, is an American television personality and author who is best known for hosting the talk show '' Dr. Phil''. He holds a doctorate in clinical psychology, though he ceased ...

(who played football for TU but did not graduate),

Cherokee Nation The Cherokee Nation ( or ) is the largest of three list of federally recognized tribes, federally recognized tribes of Cherokees in the United States. It includes people descended from members of the Cherokee Nation (1794–1907), Old Cheroke ...

Chief

Chad "Corntassel" Smith Chadwick "Corntassel" Smith (Cherokee name Ugista:ᎤᎩᏍᏔ derived from Cherokee word for "Corntassel", Utsitsata:ᎤᏥᏣᏔ; born December 17, 1950) is a Cherokee Nation politician and attorney who served as Principal Chief of the Cheroke ...

, botanist and ecologist Harriet George Barclay, U.S. Congressman and Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver

Steve Largent Stephen Michael Largent (born September 28, 1954) is an American former professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports) ...

, NBA basketball player Steve Bracey, and Brazilian billionaire businessman Ermirio Pereira de Moraes; HE Suhail Al Mazroui, Minister of Energy & Industry for the United Arab Emirates, member of the

Supreme Petroleum Council The Supreme Petroleum Council () was the highest governing body of oil, gas and similar industry-related activities in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Formed in 1988, the Council was tasked with supervising all oil and gas companies that operate in Abu ...

, and sits on the executive committee and other sections of

Mubadala Investment Company Mubadala Investment Company PJSC (), or simply Mubadala, is a state-owned global investment firm that acts as one of the sovereign wealth funds of the government of Abu Dhabi. The company was established in 2017 when then-named Mubadala Developme ...

Faculty

Several notable individuals have served on the University of Tulsa's faculty over the years. Current notable faculty members include psychologist Robert Hogan, political scientist Robert Donaldson, Catholic philosopher F. Russell Hittinger, computer scientist Sujeet Shenoi, and former U.S. Congressman

Brad Carson Brad Rogers Carson (born March 11, 1967) is an American lawyer and politician who was the 21st president of the University of Tulsa. A member of the Democratic Party, he served two terms in the United States House of Representatives from 2001 to ...

. Noted artist

Adah Robinson Adah Matilda Robinson (July 13, 1882 – March 10, 1962) was an American artist, designer and teacher, who influenced many other artists, especially architects, during the first half of the 20th century. Born in Indiana, she was educated in art s ...

was the founder and first chairperson of the university's Department of Art."Robinson, Ada Matilda (1882–1962).
" ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''. Everett, Dianna. Retrieved October 20, 2014. Several renowned literary figures and critics have served on Tulsa's faculty, including feminist pioneer

, Booker-prize winning novelist Paul Scott, author and critic Darcy O'Brien, and the famous Russian poet and dissident intellectual

Yevgeny Yevtushenko Yevgeny Aleksandrovich Yevtushenko (; 18 July 1933 – 1 April 2017) was a Soviet and Russian poet, novelist, essayist, dramatist, screenwriter, publisher, actor, editor, university professor, and director of several films. Biography Early lif ...

until he died in 2017. Other notable former faculty members include legal scholars

Paul Finkelman Paul Finkelman (born November 15, 1949) is an American legal historian. He is the author or editor of more than 50 books on American legal and constitutional history, slavery, general American history, and baseball. He has also published more than ...

and Larry Catá Backer, psychologist Brent Roberts, painter

Alexandre Hogue Alexandre Hogue (February 22, 1898 – July 22, 1994) was an American artist active from the 1930s through the 1980s. He was a realist painter associated with the Dallas Nine; the majority of his works focus on Southwestern United States and Sout ...

, Catholic Bishop Daniel Henry Mueggenborg, and others.

Notes

References

External links

*
Tulsa Golden Hurricane Athletics website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tulsa, University Of 1894 establishments in Oklahoma Territory Buildings and structures in Tulsa, Oklahoma Cultural institutions in Tulsa, Oklahoma Universities and colleges established in 1894 Private universities in Oklahoma Tourist attractions in Tulsa, Oklahoma Universities and colleges affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) Universities and colleges in Tulsa, Oklahoma Universities and colleges accredited by the Higher Learning Commission