KUJH-LP

The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital in Kansas City, Kansas, the Edwards Campus in Overland Park. There are also educational and research sites in Garden City, Hays, Leavenworth, Parsons, and Topeka, an agricultural education center in rural north Douglas County, and branches of the medical school in Salina and Wichita. The university is a member of the Association of American Universities and is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity".

Founded March 21, 1865, the university was opened in 1866 under a charter granted by the Kansas State Legislature in 1864 and legislation passed in 1863 under the state constitution, which was adopted two years after the 1861 admission of the former Kansas Territory as the 34th state into the Union.

, 23,872 students were enrolled at the Lawrence and Edwards campuses with an additional 2,836 students enrolled at the University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC) for a total enrollment of 26,708 students across the three campuses. Overall, the university (including KUMC) employed 3,196 faculty members (faculty, faculty administrators, librarians, and unclassified academic staff) .

Kansas's athletic teams compete in NCAA Division I sports as the Jayhawks, as members of the Big 12 Conference. They field 16 varsity sports, as well as club-level sports for ice hockey, rugby, men's volleyball, soccer, basketball, rock climbing, triathlon, cross country, track, swim, pickleball, table tennis, and water skiing.

History

On February 20, 1863, Kansas Governor Thomas Carney signed into law a bill creating the state university in Lawrence. The law was conditioned upon a gift from Lawrence of a $15,000 endowment fund and a site for the university, in or near the town, of not less than of land. If Lawrence failed to meet these conditions, Emporia instead of Lawrence would get the university.

The site selected for the university was a hill known as Hogback Ridge (later known as Mount Oread), which was privately donated by Charles L. Robinson, the Republican governor of the state of Kansas from 1861 to 1863, and one of the original settlers of Lawrence, Kansas. Robinson and his wife Sara bestowed the site to the State of Kansas in exchange for land elsewhere. The philanthropist Amos Adams Lawrence donated $10,000 of the necessary endowment fund, and the citizens of Lawrence raised the remaining money themselves via private donations. On November 2, 1863, Governor Carney announced Lawrence had met the conditions to get into the state university, and the following year the university was officially organized.
The school's Board of Regents held its first meeting in March 1865, which is the event that KU dates its founding from. Work on the first college building began later that year. The school opened for classes on September 12, 1866, and the first class graduated in 1873. According to William L. Burdick, the first degree awarded by the university was a Doctor of Divinity, bestowed upon noted abolitionist preacher Richard Cordley.

During the early development of the University of Kansas, Chancellors Joshua Lippincott, Francis H. Snow, and Frank Strong, along with the Kansas Board of Regents, worked to establish the university as not only a center for higher education but also a representative agency of the state. Snow, who served from 1890 to 1901, emphasized scientific research and public engagement, while Strong, beginning in 1902, advanced the university’s role in public service. This vision aligned with the sentiments expressed by Professor M. S. Ward, who stated in 1891 that "Students should find in the University preparation for all the various pursuits and callings of society. The ultimate aim of our own State University ought to be romotingthe highest Christian culture, an ample professional training, hichwill make our civilization the highest possible on earth."

In an effort to appeal to the predominantly Christian population of Kansas, many of who in the early history of the university were critical of state money being used to fund a secular institution, Chancellor Lippincott sought to reassure the public that the University of Kansas maintained strong Christian values. In response to a concerned parent questioning the university’s mission, Lippincott wrote, "The University is a Christian institution founded by a Christian state. We have daily prayers conducted for the most part by members of the Faculty of whom nearly all are Christian and several ministers of the Gospel."

Although the university was a secular institution, religion remained a central cultural force among students. In an 1880 community letter, an anonymous student reflected on the broader moral and spiritual purpose of education at KU, writing, "We are all seeking the truth, we are all earnest in our effort to correctly solve the great problem of a worthy and useful existence—we all recognize the wonderful features of a Christian age and a Christian country and we all hope to be true men and women f the countryand almost all acknowledge that in accomplishing this we need an inspiration which is not of this earth nor fashioned after this world."

Chancellor Lippincott emphasized the importance of individual development in higher education, distinguishing universities from more rigid collegiate institutions in other parts of the country. In a lecture to students, James Marvin, the third Chancellor of the University stated, "Higher education should aid students to realize all their potentialities, but only in a university are all individualities respected. Colleges that require all students ofollow the same course have a factory air about them. Students go through the same milling process and come out machines, but God did not intend man to be a machine, and the University of Kansas should be about His work."

Beginning in 1880, the University began to field intercollegiate athletics programs, starting with baseball. The University would introduce football in 1890, men's basketball in 1898, a women's club basketball team in 1902, and various other varsity athletics programs throughout the 20th century.

During World War I, the University of Kansas became a key training ground for military personnel, and courses were added for male students to reflect this. Military drills and coursework in military science were made mandatory for male students, and in 1918, KU established a unit of the Students' Army Training Corps (SATC) to provide academic and military instruction. Faculty contributed to war-related research, while female students supported Red Cross efforts. Chancellor Frank Strong emphasized KU’s role in preparing students for both military service and national responsibility. Strong was a vocal opponent of the United States entering a foreign war, and helped found the Kansas Branch of the League to Enforce Peace in 1915, which was a collection of activists who were opposed to American involvement in foreign conflicts. Strong advocated for patriotism during his later years as Chancellor, stating at the University Assembly in 1915 that "it is America's destiny to preserve Western Civilization, which seems to be destroying itself abroad. While the youth of Europe are on its battlefields, the youth of America must seek higher education to enable them to carry on the material for the leadership of the world. America and its universities, with the University of Kansas having a big place among them, must become the center of the greatest intellectual life that the next generation should know." In April 1917, after Congress declared a state of war, Strong sent a letter to Congress stating that the University "has always been loyal to country and to the flag, and always will be."

During World War II, Kansas was one of 131 colleges and universities nationally that took part in the V-12 Navy College Training Program, which offered students a path to a Navy commission.

Landmarks and structures

KU is home to the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics, the Beach Center on Disability, Lied Center of Kansas and radio stations KJHK, 90.7 FM, and KANU, 91.5 FM. The university is also host to several significant museums. These include the University of Kansas Natural History Museum, founded in 1927, which contains important collections in mammalogy, ornithology, vertebrate paleontology, and entomology; and the Spencer Museum of Art, founded in 1928, home to a wide variety of cultural materials from all around the world, with a particular emphasis on American Indian materials. The libraries of the university include Watson Library, Kenneth Spencer Research Library, the Murphy Art and Architecture Library, Thomas Gorton Music & Dance Library, and Anschutz Library. Of athletic note, the university is home to Allen Fieldhouse, which is heralded as one of the greatest basketball arenas in the world, and David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, which is the eighth oldest college football stadium in the country.

Academics

The University of Kansas is a large, state-sponsored university with five campuses. KU is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU) and is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". KU features the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, which includes the School of the Arts and the School of Public Affairs & Administration; and the schools of Architecture, Design & Planning; Business; Education; Engineering; Health Professions; Journalism & Mass Communications; Law; Medicine; Music; Nursing; Pharmacy; and Social Welfare. The university offers more than 345 degree programs. In 2017 Johnson County accounted for most of instate enrollment.

According to the National Science Foundation, KU spent $339 million on research and development in 2018, ranking it 74th in the nation.

School of Architecture and Design

The University of Kansas School of Architecture and Design (ArcD), with its main building being Marvin Hall, traces its architectural roots to the creation of the architectural engineering degree program in KU's School of Engineering in 1912. The Bachelor of Architecture degree was added in 1920. In 1969, the School of Architecture and Urban Design (SAUD) was formed. In 2001, architectural engineering merged with civil and environmental engineering. The design programs from the discontinued School of Fine Arts were merged into the school in 2009, forming the School of Architecture and Design.

The Department of Design began in 1921. The Bachelor of Fine Arts degree program began eight years later. Industrial Design was added in 1941, interior design in 1946, jewelry and silversmithing, art history, and the Masters of Fine Arts program in 1948.

In 2009, the university reorganized the School of Fine Arts. The professional design practice programs became the Department of Design, administratively located in the School of Architecture and Design.

School of Business

The University of Kansas School of Business is a public business school on the main campus of the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas. The KU School of Business was founded in 1924 and has more than 80 faculty members and approximately 1500 students.

Named one of the best business schools in the Midwest by Princeton Review, the KU School of Business has been continually accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) for its undergraduate and graduate programs in business and accounting.

For 2021, '' U.S. News & World Report'' ranked KU's business school 68th out of 477 evaluated.

In 2016, The University of Kansas completed construction on a new home for the business school, named Capitol Federal Hall. It is located at 1654 Naismith Drive, near KU's Rec Center and across the street from Allen Fieldhouse. Capitol Federal Hall is a 166,500 square-foot building complete with state-of-the-art technology and several research labs.

School of Law

The University of Kansas School of Law, founded in 1878, was the top law school in the state of Kansas, and tied for 70th out of 198 nationally, according to the 2021 ''U.S. News & World Report'' rankings. Classes are held in Green Hall at W 15th St and Burdick Dr, which is named after former dean James Green.

School of Engineering

The KU School of Engineering is a public engineering school located on the main campus. The School of Engineering was founded officially in 1891, although engineering degrees were awarded as early as 1873.

In the ''U.S. News & World Report''s "America's Best Colleges" 2021 issue, KU's School of Engineering was ranked tied for 102nd among 218 engineering schools whose highest degree is a doctorate.

Notable alumni include Charles E. Spahr (1934), the former CEO of Standard Oil of Ohio.

School of Journalism and Mass Communications

In addition to its academic programs, the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications sponsors publications including ''The University Daily Kansan'', ''Jayplay'' magazine, and KUJH TV.

Medical Center

The University of Kansas Medical Center features three schools: the School of Medicine, School of Nursing, and School of Health Professions that each has its own programs of graduate study. As of the Fall 2013 semester, there were 3,349 students enrolled at KU Med. The Medical Center also offers four-year instruction at the Wichita campus, and features a medical school campus in Salina, Kansas devoted to rural health care.

The University of Kansas Health System is co-located at the University of Kansas Medical Center.

Edwards Campus, Overland Park

KU's Edwards Campus is in Overland Park, Kansas. Established in 1993, its goal is to provide adults with the opportunity to complete undergraduate, graduate, and certificate programs. About 2,000 students attend the Edwards Campus, with an average age of 31.

University of Kansas Leavenworth

Near the beginning of the 2018–2019 school year, KU launched classes in Leavenworth, Kansas, offering classes to "both civilian and military" students, emphasizing a "high priority in supporting military-affiliated students". The Leavenworth classes offer both undergraduate and graduate courses.

Computing innovations

KU's School of Business launched interdisciplinary management science graduate studies in operations research during Fall Semester 1965. The program provided the foundation for decision science applications supporting NASA Project Apollo Command Capsule Recovery Operations.

KU's academic computing department was an active participant in setting up the Internet and is the developer of the early Lynx text-based web browser. Lynx provided hypertext browsing and navigation prior to Tim Berners Lee's invention of HTTP and HTML.

Student activities

Athletics

The University of Kansas has had teams representing them athletically since at least 1867, a year after classes officially started. Starting in 1867, a baseball team made up of KU students represented the University of Kansas in games played at the Kansas State Fair against local teams from around the state of Kansas.

The school's sports teams, wearing crimson and blue, are called the Kansas Jayhawks. They participate in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big 12 Conference. The University of Kansas has won thirteen National Championships all-time: six in men's basketball (two Helms Foundation championships and four NCAA championships, most recently in 2022), three in men's indoor track and field, three in men's outdoor track and field, one in men's cross country and one in women's outdoor track and field. The home course for KU Cross Country is Rim Rock Farm. Their most recent championship came in 2022, the men's basketball team won the 2022 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.

Kansas football dates from 1890 and is one of the oldest continuous programs in the nation. They have played in the Orange Bowl three times: 1948, 1969, and 2008, as well as nine other bowl games. They are currently coached by Lance Leipold, who was hired in May 2021. From its inception in 1890 to 1929, the program saw consistent success, winning several conference titles in four different conferences. After joining the Big 6 Conference (which would eventually become the Big 8) in 1929, Kansas began to struggle in the win-loss column. With the formation of the Big 8 conference in 1960, Kansas became a consistent winner again and fielded legendary coaches like Pepper Rodgers, Don Fambrough, Bud Moore, and Glen Mason. In 2008, under the leadership of Mark Mangino, the #7 Jayhawks emerged victorious in their first BCS bowl game, the FedEx Orange Bowl, with a 24–21 victory over the #3 Virginia Tech Hokies. This capstone victory marked the end of the most successful season in school history, in which the Jayhawks went 12–1 (.923). The team plays at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, which recently underwent an $85 million renovation to add an indoor practice facility with a 120-yard field, an outdoor practice facility with two full fields and three partial fields, new locker rooms, a new weight training facility, new residencies for players, new offices, new turf, new seats, and a state-of-the-art video board.

The KU men's basketball team has fielded a team every year since 1898. The Jayhawks are a perennial national contender, coached by Hall of Fame coach Bill Self. The team has won six national titles, including four NCAA tournament championships in 1952, 1988, 2008, and 2022. The basketball program is currently the winningest program in college basketball history with an overall record of 2,355–877 up to their Final Four appearance in the 2021–22 season. The team plays at Allen Fieldhouse. Perhaps its best-recognized player was Wilt Chamberlain, who played in the 1950s, later becoming an NBA star and Harlem Globetrotter.

Kansas has counted among its coaches James Naismith (the inventor of basketball), Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Phog Allen

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