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Colorado State University is a public land grant institution of higher learning located in Fort Collins, Colorado in the United States. The current enrollment is approximately 25,000 students. The university has approximately 1,400 faculty in eight colleges and 55 academic departments.

History

The act to create the university was signed by Colorado Territory governor Edward M. McCook in 1870 arising from the Morrill Act. During the first years of its official existence, the university existed only on paper. A board of 12 trustees was formed to "purchase and manage property, erect buildings, establish basic rules for governing the institutions and employ buildings." But the near complete lack of funding by the territorial legislature for this mission severely hampered progress.

The first 30-acre (120,000 m²) parcel of land for the campus was deeded in 1871 by Robert Dazell. In 1872, the Larimer County Land Improvement Company contributed a second 80-acre (320,000 m²) parcel. The first $1000 to erect buildings was finally allocated by the territorial legislature in 1874. The funds were not sufficient, however, and trustees were required to find a matching amount, which they eventually obtained from local citizens and businesses.

Towns in Colorado viewed a college as any other state institution that might help to secure growth. Golden fought off Denver's claim to the School of Mines with the complaint that Denverites had already captured the territorial capital. The Agricultural College went to Fort Collins after Cañon City chose the penitentiary. Among the institutions which donated matching funds was the local Grange, which was heavily involved in the early establishment of the university. As part of this effort, in the spring of 1874 Grange No. 7 held a picnic and planting event at the corner of College Avenue and West Laurel Street, and later plowed and seeded 20 acres (80,000 m²) of wheat on a nearby field. Within several months, the university's first building, a 16-foot-by-24-foot red brick building nicknamed the "Claim Shanty" was finished, providing the first tangible presence of the institution in Fort Collins.

After Colorado achieved statehood in 1876, the territorial law establishing the university was required to be reauthorized. In 1877, the state legislature created the eight-member State Board of Agriculture to govern the school. The legislature also authorized a railroad right-of-way across the campus, and mill levy to raise money for construction of the campus' first main building, Old Main, which was completed in December 1878. Despite wall cracks and other structural problems during the first year, the building was opened in time for the welcoming of the first five students on September 1, 1879 by university president Elijah Evan Edwards.

The university has operated under four different names:

  • 1879: Agricultural College of Colorado
  • 1935: Colorado College of Agricultural and Mechanic Arts
  • 1944: Colorado Agricultural and Mechanical College (Colorado A&M)
  • 1957: Colorado State University

Sports

The team name is the Rams, The Mascot's name is Cam the Ram and the colors are green and gold.

Colorado State University's athletic teams compete in the Mountain West Conference, which is an NCAA Division I conference and sponsors Division I-A football.

Colorado State has three major rivalries. The Rams' football team plays the University of Colorado every year in either Denver or Boulder in a game called the "Rocky Mountain Showdown." (also known as the Centennial Bowl) Within the Mountain West, Colorado State has a big rivalry with Air Force. The winner of the CSU-Air Force football game receives the Ram-Falcon Trophy. Colorado State also has an intraconference rivalry with Wyoming (the Border War), with the winner of the annual football game receiving the Bronze Boot. The CSU-Wyoming rivalry is the second oldest interstate rivalry west of the Mississippi, behind only the "Border Showdown" (formerly "Border War") of Missouri and Kansas.

Since Sonny Lubick took control over the Rams in 1992, the Rams have gone on to make seven bowl appearances. The Rams had a losing season in 2004, and finished 6-6 (5-3 in Mountain West Conference play) in the 2005 season.

Notable alumni

See also

Notable faculty

External links

Colorado State University | Land-grant universities

Colorado State University

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Colorado State University".

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