Northeastern State University (NSU) is a

public university A public university, state university, or public college is a university or college that is State ownership, owned by the state or receives significant funding from a government. Whether a national university is considered public varies from o ...

with its main campus in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. The university also has two other campuses in Muskogee and Broken Arrow as well as online. Northeastern is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of Oklahoma as well as one of the oldest institutions of higher learning west of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

. Tahlequah is home to the capital of the

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 ...

and about 25 percent of the students at NSU identify themselves as American Indian.Agnew, Brad. ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''. "Northeastern State University

The university has many courses focused on Native American linguistics, and offers

Cherokee language file:Cherokee Speakers by County, 2000.png, 350px, Number of speakers file:Lang Status 20-CR.svg, Cherokee is classified as Critically Endangered by UNESCO's ''Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger'' Cherokee or Tsalagi (, ) is an endangere ...

Education as a major. Cherokee can be studied as a

second language A second language (L2) is a language spoken in addition to one's first language (L1). A second language may be a neighbouring language, another language of the speaker's home country, or a foreign language. A speaker's dominant language, which ...

, and some classes are taught in Cherokee for

first language A first language (L1), native language, native tongue, or mother tongue is the first language a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period hypothesis, critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' ...

speakers as well.

History

On May 7, 1851, the

founded the Cherokee National Female Seminary at Tahlequah, the same year that it opened a male seminary in its territory. This was after its removal to

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, ...

and part of its building institutions to support its future. On March 6, 1909, after statehood, the State Legislature of

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 ...

passed an act providing for the creation and location of Northeastern State Normal School at Tahlequah, Oklahoma for the training of teachers. For this purpose, it purchased from the Cherokee Tribal Government the building, land, and equipment of the Cherokee Female Seminary. In 1921, the name was changed to Northeastern State Teachers College as it had expanded to a full four-year curriculum. In the 1950s Northeastern emerged as a comprehensive state college, broadening its curriculum at the baccalaureate level to encompass liberal arts subjects and adding a fifth-year program designed to prepare master teachers for elementary and secondary schools. With addition of graduate-degree programs, in 1974, the Oklahoma Legislature authorized changing the name of the institution from Northeastern State College to Northeastern Oklahoma State University; in 1985 it authorized a change in name to Northeastern State University. In 1979, NSU opened its College of Optometry. In the early 21st century, NSU is the fourth-largest university in Oklahoma. On March 6, 2009, NSU celebrated its centennial with Founders Day celebrations.

Presidents

*Albert Sydney Wyly, 1909 *Frank Redd, 1909–1911 *Frank E. Buck, 1911–1912 *W.E. Gill, 1912–1914 *George W. Gable, 1914–1919 *William T. Ford, 1919–1923 *Monroe P. Hammond, 1923–1935 *J.M. Hackler (acting), 1935–1936 *John Samuel Vaughan, 1936–1951 *Louis H. Bally (acting), 1951 *Harrell E. Garrison, 1951–1970 *Robert E. Collier, 1970–1977 *Elwin Fite (acting), 1977–1978 * W. Roger Webb, 1978–1997 *Larry B. Williams, 1997–2007 *Kim Cherry (interim), 2007–2008 * Don Betz, 2008–2011 *Martin Tadlock (interim), 2011 *Steve Turner, 2012–2023 *Rodney Hanley, 2023-present

Tahlequah campus

The Tahlequah campus, which spans over , was developed on the grounds of the Cherokee Female Seminary. The original building for the seminary is now used as Seminary Hall, an academic building. The campus has numerous classroom, laboratory, residential, and athletic facilities. In recent years the university constructed a $10 million Science Center, funded by a bond issued by the university. NSU offers 69 undergraduate degree programs, 18 graduate degree programs, and 13 pre-professional programs in five colleges (Business & Technology,

Liberal Arts Liberal arts education () is a traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''skill, art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the fine arts. ''Liberal arts education'' can refe ...

, Education, Optometry, and Health & Science Professions). The student-to-faculty ratio is 26 to 1, and in the Spring of 2008 the total enrollment for the Tahlequah Campus was 6,216. There is also a distance-learning program, by which students who cannot attend the university due to work or family obligations can complete courses via the Internet or videoconferencing.

Athletics

The Northeastern State (NSU) athletic teams are called the RiverHawks. The university is a member of the Division II ranks of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association 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. ...

(NCAA), primarily competing in the

Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. Its fourteen me ...

(MIAA) for most of its sports since the 2012–13 academic year; while its men's soccer team competes in the

Great American Conference The Great American Conference (GAC) is a List of NCAA conferences, college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the NCAA Division II, Division II level, with headquarters located in Russellvil ...

(GAC). The RiverHawks previously competed as an NCAA D-II Independent during the 2011–12 school year; in the D-II Lone Star Conference (LSC) from 1997–98 to 2010–11; and in the Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference (OIC) of the

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for higher education, colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic schola ...

(NAIA) from 1974–75 to 1996–97. NSU competes in 11 intercollegiate sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, football, golf and soccer; while women's sports include basketball, golf, soccer, softball, spirit squads and tennis.

Accomplishments

In 2003, the men's basketball team won the NCAA Division II National Championship, beating Kentucky Wesleyan 75–64.

Name change

Northeastern State University announced on May 23, 2006, that they would be dropping "Redmen" and selecting a new mascot. The change was made proactively in response to the 2005 NCAA Native American mascot decision. The university announced its new athletic name as the RiverHawks on November 14, 2006.

Campus life

Campus organizations

There are several campus organizations such as NAB (Northeastern Activities Board), NSUSF (Northeastern State University Student Foundation), and NSGA (Northeastern Student Government Association) that provide alternate activities, usually free of charge for students to enjoy on campus. The NSGA is the official organization to represent the students of NSU. The purpose of the NSGA is to establish a representative student government and to provide a forum for student's views and ideas for the purpose of promoting and representing the students of NSU. RHA caters to on-campus residents and hosts such annual events as "Welcome Week Luau," Freshman Move-in Day, Mardi Gras, and "Resident Round-up".

Greek life

Northeastern State University has several fraternities and sororities located on the Tahlequah campus.

Jazz Lab

Created in 1993, the Jazz Lab is the site of the jazz program offices and classes. The university offers a Bachelor of Arts in Music with a major in Jazz Studies and has two student jazz ensembles, as well as several different combo groups ranging in style from fusion to

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

to straight ahead. The NSU Jazz Ensemble performs with regional, national, and international guest artists at the Jazz Lab every year.

Branch campuses

Muskogee

NSU's Muskogee campus was opened in 1993 as a facility located on . The campus offers upper-level and graduate courses in education, business, general studies, nursing, and industrial management. In 2001 the NSU Muskogee opened the Mike Synar Center in honor of Mike Synar, former U.S. Congressman from the 2nd District of Oklahoma from 1979 to 1995. The Mike Synar Center is a facility that is used for offices and classrooms. The center also houses the Master of Business Administration and the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program for the campus.

Broken Arrow

NSU's Broken Arrow campus was opened in 2002 with a little over 1,000 students. Funding for the campus came from a one-half percent sales tax which was approved by Broken Arrow voters. The first phase of the campus included an administration building, a maintenance facility, and two classroom buildings. In 2004 the campus began a $26 million expansion made possible by Tulsa County's Vision 2025, which also funded Tulsa's new BOK Center. The expansion doubled the size of the campus and also allowed room for up to another 5,000 students. It also added a library along with science and classroom buildings. Construction was completed in the fall of 2007.

Notable alumni

References

External links

*
Athletics website
* {{authority control Public universities and colleges in Oklahoma Universities and colleges established in 1851 Education in Cherokee County, Oklahoma Buildings and structures in Tahlequah, Oklahoma Education in Muskogee County, Oklahoma Education in Tulsa County, Oklahoma Optometry schools in the United States Cherokee language 1909 establishments in Oklahoma 1851 establishments in Indian Territory