Southern Methodist University
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Southern Methodist University, often known by its acronym of SMU, is a private university in University Park, Texas, USA. University Park is one of two adjacent Dallas suburbs sometimes called The Bubble (the other being Highland Park) because they are surrounded by the city of Dallas and are two of the most wealthy regions of the city and the surrounding metropolitan area.
SMU was founded in 1911 by the United Methodist Church, and the first building (Dallas Hall) opened in 1915. The university currently operates campuses in Dallas and Taos, New Mexico, serving a total of almost 11,000 students.
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University facts and figures
Of the university's roughly 11,000 students, around 6,000 are undergraduates. 20% classify themselves as "minorities", and half of the student body claims religious affiliation (despite the university's name, only 14% of its students claim affiliation with the Methodist church).
The school's sports teams, known as the Mustangs, participate in NCAA Division I (I-A for football) as a member of the Western Athletic Conference. The team was once a national powerhouse before its football program received the "death penalty" for NCAA violations and will soon leave the WAC to join Conference USA. The men's soccer program is currently competing in the Missouri Valley Conference, but that arrangement will likely end with the move to C-USA, as that conference (unlike the WAC) sponsors men's soccer. The SMU mascot is a pony named Peruna. The name comes from a verse in the song "She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain", which provides the melody for one of the school's fight songs.
In the television show Dallas the character of Lucy Ewing was a student at Southern Methodist University, and several scenes were shot on location in the main quad.
Dallas Hall is registered in the National Registry of Historic Places. A scene from "Born on the Fourth of July" was shot around the exterior of the west wing of Dallas Hall.
Also, the university is home to the Edwin L. Cox School of Business which houses a nationally ranked MBA graduate program.
Schools
- Perkins School of Theology
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Notable alumni
- Laura Bush - U.S. First Lady
- Kathy Bates - Oscar-winning actress
- Patricia Richardson - actress, Home Improvement
- James Cronin - Nobel Prize-winning physicist
- John Tower - U.S. Senator
- Payne Stewart - professional golfer
- Doak Walker - Heisman Trophy winner
- Aaron Spelling - TV and film producer
- Craig Flournoy - Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
- Beth Henley - Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright
- Paige Davis - TLC Network personality
- Harriet Miers - White House Counsel
- Don Meredith - former Dallas Cowboys quarterback and Monday Night Football commentator
- Robert Dennard - computing pioneer
External links
- Southern Methodist University's official web site (http://www.smu.edu)
- Official SMU athletics site (http://www.smumustangs.com)
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