Worcester State University
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Worcester State University (WSU) 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 ...
in
Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Massachusetts, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the list of United States cities by population, 113th most populous city in the United States. Named after Worcester ...
. The fourth largest of the Commonwealth’s nine Universities, WSU enrolls over 4800 undergraduates and nearly 900 graduate students in more than 80 undergraduate majors and minors and 32 graduate programs. WSU was one of several Massachusetts State Universities that was founded as a normal school in the 19th century before evolving into a state college in the 1960s and achieving university status in 2012. WSU is administered by the
Massachusetts Department of Higher Education Massachusetts Department of Higher Education (DHE) is a state agency of Massachusetts overseeing tertiary education. Its headquarters is in One Ashburton Place in Boston. Its Office of Student Financial Assistance is in Malden, Massachusetts, Malde ...
which oversees 29 campuses including community colleges, state universities, and research universities across the Commonwealth.


History

Founded in 1874 as the Massachusetts State Normal School at Worcester, WSU was the fifth of nine teacher training colleges in the state. Spurred by the success of a city-run normal school founded two years earlier, its school committee successfully petitioned the
Massachusetts General Court The Massachusetts General Court, formally the General Court of Massachusetts, is the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts located in the state capital of Boston. Th ...
for a state-sponsored institution in Worcester. The original campus was located in a Second Empire-style stone building on St. Ann's Hill, near the city's downtown. By 1900, the campus included a president's house, the "Stoddard Terrace" residence hall, and a turreted gymnasium annex. This site would serve WSU for nearly sixty years until the current Chandler Street campus opened in 1932. The first "principal" of WSU, Elias Harlow Russell (1874–1909), shaped the school's early curriculum. A pioneer in the Child Study Movement that emphasized childhood development and educational reform efforts, Russell partnered with colleague
G. Stanley Hall Granville Stanley Hall (February 1, 1844 – April 24, 1924) was an American psychologist and educator who earned the first doctorate in psychology awarded in the United States of America at Harvard University in the nineteenth century. His ...
, who later became President of Clark University, to develop a program that placed normal school students in city schools. Russell was later succeeded by Francis Randsom Lane (1909–1912). In the 1920s, WSU followed national trends in teacher education by introducing a broader array of college courses and a Bachelor of Science in Education degree in 1921 culminating in a new designation of Worcester State Teachers College in 1932. 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 ...
threatened the College as the state proposed cost-cutting measures that would eliminate many schools. Presidents William B. Aspinwall (1912–1940) and Clinton E. Carpenter (1940–1946) led the college through this crisis and set the stage for post-war development under the presidency of Eugene A. Sullivan (1947–1970). President Sullivan oversaw the expansion of the WSU curriculum. In 1952, the college introduced a Master of Science in Education, and in 1963, a Bachelor of Arts degree. In 1960 the school was designated Worcester State College. Sullivan also oversaw the development of a collegiate athletic system, introducing varsity sports in 1950 and constructing a new gymnasium building in 1958. President Robert E. Leestamper (1970–1975), further expanded graduate programs and introduced professional programs such as nursing and business. In 1973, Chandler Village was created as the first residence halls on the Chandler Street campus. The tenure of presidents Joseph J. Orze (1975–1982) and Phillip D. Vario (1982–1992) expanded the campus with the addition of a student center and a new residence hall, named Dowden Hall, as well as continued support of varsity sports and degree offerings in speech and occupational therapy. Under the tenure of President Vario, the school joined the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities. The Worcester State Foundation was created in 1994, during the presidency of Kaylan K. Ghosh (1992–2002), to support school fundraising efforts. During the following decade, the campus grew to include the new Ghosh Science and Technology Center, as well as an additional residence hall and parking structure, which was built during the tenure of President Janelle C. Ashley (2002–2011). In 2010, WSU reorganized into two schools: the School of Humanities and Social Sciences and the School of Education, Health, and Natural Sciences. That same year, the state granted Massachusetts State Colleges university status and the college became the Worcester State University. In 2011, Worcester State installed its eleventh president, Barry M. Maloney. That same year, students and faculty relaunched the '' Worcester Spy'', a newspaper originally founded in 1775. At the end of the 2020–2021 academic year, nearby Becker College closed, and transferred custody of their academic records to WSU.


Campus

WSU is located on Chandler Street in the Tatnuck neighborhood of Worcester. The 58-acre campus includes woods and wetlands, and features several buildings constructed on a steep, east-facing slope. In the late nineteenth century, the campus was the site of "Willow Farm", home of William Sever Lincoln (1811–1889), who led the 34th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment during the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
and was brevetted Brigadier General in 1865. He was the son of Levi Lincoln Jr., former
Governor of Massachusetts The governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the head of government of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The governor is the chief executive, head of the state cabinet and the commander-in-chief of the commonw ...
. The property was later purchased by Worcester industrialist George I. Rockwood for whom Worcester's Rockwood Field, adjacent to WSU's campus, is named. In 1930, the farm was acquired for WSU's new campus and, in 1942, an additional thirty-five acres were added, forming the campus's current boundaries . Today, about thirty-percent of full-time students reside on campus.


Buildings

*Ghosh Science and Technology Center (2000): The center is named after former President Ghosh and features offices, laboratories, and classrooms for Biology, Chemistry, Communication Sciences and Disorders, Computer Science, Earth, Environment, and Physics, Health Sciences, Nursing, and Occupational Therapy programs. *Learning Resource Center (1971): The center includes the university library, along with classrooms and academic departments, namely the Communication, Criminal Justice, and Visual and Performing Arts, and Information Technology Services and Multicultural Affairs offices. The building also includes campus mail services. In 2010 building was re-clad in its distinctive metallic siding during renovations. *May Street Building (1949): Built as the home of Temple Emanuel Sinai, WSU purchased the multipurpose building in 2015 to house classrooms, auditoriums, the Department of Sociology, and offices for the Center for Business and Industry. *Sagamore Studios: The studios hold visual arts classes within the Worcester Center for Crafts, located at 25 Sagamore Road. *Shaughnessy Administration Building (1932): Named for Helen G. Shaughnessy ('43) who served as a long-time educator and administrator, the building houses administrative offices including the offices of the President and the Provost, and offices for Admissions, Alumni, Development, Financial Aid, Graduate and Continuing Education, Marketing, and the Registrar. The building includes the Fuller Theater, a 166-seat venue created within the original campus auditorium. *Student Center (1978): The center includes student organization offices, meeting spaces, lounges, and dining areas. Included are offices for Career Services, Commuter Services, International Programs, Military Affairs and Veterans Services, and Student Involvement and Leadership Development. *Sullivan Academic Center (1966): The center houses classrooms and offices for multiple academic departments. Included are Business and Economics, Education, English, History and Political Science, Mathematics, philosophy, Psychology, Sociology, and Urban Studies. The center also includes the Sullivan and Eager Auditoriums. Originally the science building, the facility was renamed the Dr. Eugene A. Sullivan Building in 1980 in honor of the fifth university president. *Wellness Center (2016): The newest campus building, the center features multipurpose gymnasiums, exercise areas and classrooms. Included are offices for the Department of Athletics


Residence halls

*Chandler Village (1973): The village is an apartment-style complex that accommodates 420 students. It was the first student housing built on the Chandler Street campus. *Dowden Hall (1990): Named after Vera M. Dowden, a former education faculty member, the building was expanded in 2010 to include space for 177 students. *Sheehan Hall (2014): Named in honor of James F. Sheehan ('55), a Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel, the hall houses 400 students. It also houses the main campus dining hall, as well as Health Services, the Office of Residence Life and Housing, and recreational facilities. *Wasylean Hall (2004): Named after Phillip M. Wasylean II ('63), the hall accommodates 350 students. The university police station is located on the ground floor. In 2005, the building received an Honor Award for Design Excellence from the
American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C. AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach progr ...
of Central Massachusetts.


Athletics

Worcester State Lancers wordmark Worcester State athletics teams are nicknamed the ''Lancers''. The university is a Division III member 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) in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC), of which it is a charter member. The field hockey and women's tennis teams also used to compete within the Little East Conference (LEC), before Field Hockey was incorporated as a sponsored sport by the MASCAC. Worcester State claimed the first MASCAC Field Hockey title in 2023. Formerly, the men's football team played in the Commonwealth Coast Football (CCC) between 1985 and 2013. Their main venue is the John F. Coughlin Memorial Field, a two-thousand seat capacity venue that is located on Chandler Street. Teams also use the Wellness Center, Rockwood Park, and the Worcester Ice Center for games. Coughlin Field was the home soccer field of the Worcester Kings of the Premier Development League for their only two seasons before dissolving. In 2016, WSU unveiled a new mascot, named Chandler H. Lancer, at the Worcester Art Museum.


Rankings

In 2024, Worcester State University was ranked 96th out of 181 "Regional Universities" in North by U.S. News & World Report and 450th in the nation by
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.


Notable faculty

* Gerard T. Indelicato (dean) * Jacob Hen-Tov (history) * Julie E. Wollman (academic affairs)


Notable alumni

* Bill Adamaitis (1951), 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), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
player * Agnes Ballard (1905), architect * John Binienda (1970), member of the
Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into ...
* Tyler Boudreau (1997),
United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...
veteran * David W. Breneman (honorary), educator and economist * Mario J. Bruno (2000), regional chief executive officer of the
American Red Cross The American National Red Cross is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit Humanitarianism, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. Clara Barton founded ...
* Kevin Campbell (1973),
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
veteran * Mark Carron, member of the
Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into ...
* Brien Cullen (1977),
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 ...
coach for Worcester State Lancers * John Dufresne (1970), professor at the
Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Westchester, Florida, United States. Founded in 1965 by the Florida Legislature, the school opened to students in 1972. FIU is the third-largest univ ...
* Mary Fell (1969), poet * Kimberly Ferguson, member of the
Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into ...
* Daniel Garvey (1973), President Emeritus of Prescott College * Bob Haas, professional football player * Jimmy Kang (2006), music entrepreneur * Paul King,
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
referee * Todd Leach (1983), Chancellor of the University System of New Hampshire * Raymond Mariano (1973), former Mayor of Worcester * Mary McNally (1978), member of the Montana Senate * Joe Morrone (1963), soccer coach for the University of Connecticut Huskies * David Muradian (2005), member of the
Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into ...
* Don Nardo (1974), historian and writer * DJ Obi, disc jockey * Jim O'Day (1983), member of the
Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into ...
* Steve Palermo (1971),
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
umpire * Lorine Pruette,
feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...
* Tony Reno (1997),
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 ...
coach for
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
Bulldogs * Brian Skerry (1985), photographer * Aron Stevens, World Wrestling Entertainment wrestler, billed as "Damien Sandow" * Sarah Ella Wilson (1894), educator * Geoffrey Zakarian (1981), chef


See also

* List of college athletic programs in Massachusetts * List of colleges and universities in Massachusetts * List of NCAA Division III institutions


References


External links

*
Athletics website
{{authority control Public universities and colleges in Massachusetts Universities and colleges in Worcester, Massachusetts Universities and colleges established in 1874 1874 establishments in Massachusetts