Boston University

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Boston University is a non-sectarian private university located in Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded as a Methodist seminary in Vermont in 1839, then transferred to Concord, New Hampshire in 1847, to Brookline, Massachusetts in 1867, and finally moved to its present campus along the Charles River in Boston from 1939-1948. Originally the "Newbury Biblical Institute," it changed its name to "Methodist General Biblical Institute of Concord," "Brookline School of Theology," "Boston Theological Seminary" and "Boston School of Theology" before adopting the name "Boston University." [1] (http://www.bu.edu/visit/about/history/index.html) It should not be confused with Boston College, an entirely separate university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.

With over 3,000 faculty and nearly 30,000 students, BU is the fourth largest private university in the nation. The school offers associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees. The university operates on two urban campuses, the main campus on the Charles River in Boston's Back Bay, and the Boston University Medical Center in Boston's South End neighborhood.

Contents

1 Academics

2 Campus and facilities

2.1 Student housing
2.2 John Hancock Student Village
2.3 Other facilities

3 Athletics

4 Boston University people

5 External link

6 Further reading

Academics

Boston University includes the Colleges of Fine Arts, the College Arts and Sciences, the College of Communication, College of Engineering, College of General Studies, and Health and Rehabilitation; Schools of Education, Dentistry, Hospitality Administration, Law, Medicine, Management, Music, Public Health, Social Work, Theatre Arts, and Visual Arts; as well as the University Professors program.

Campus and facilities

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The "BU Beach", located behind Marsh Plaza and the College of Arts and Sciences building, is a popular place for students to gather during warm weather. It gets its name from the wave-like sounds produced by cars passing on nearby Storrow Drive.

The university's main Charles River Campus follows Commonwealth Avenue and the Green Line, beginning near Kenmore Square and continuing for over a mile and a half to its end near the border of Boston's Allston neighborhood. The Boston University Bridge over the Charles River into Cambridge represents the dividing line between East Campus, where most schools and classroom buildings are concentrated, and West Campus, home to several athletic facilities and playing fields, the large West Campus dorm, and the new John Hancock Student Village complex.

Student housing

Originally a commuter school, the university now guarantees the option of on-campus housing for all undergraduate students, a challenge considering the size of its undergraduate population and the urban setting. 76% of the undergraduate population currently lives on campus, and the school's housing system is the nation's 10th largest.

In order to house its students the university has bought up and converted several former hotels (including the Myles Standish Hotel on Kenmore Square, home for a time to Babe Ruth, and Shelton Hall, formerly the Sheraton Hotel and home to Eugene O'Neill) as well as brownstone apartments along tree-lined Bay State Road and in an area across the Mass Pike known as South Campus. Larger dormitory-style housing is more common amongst university freshmen and sophomores, with the large Warren Towers and West Campus dorms each housing well over 1,000 students.

John Hancock Student Village

The Student Village is a large new residential and recreational complex covering 10 acres between Buick Street and Nickerson Field, ground formerly occupied by a National Guard Armory, which had been used by the University as a storage facility prior to its demolition and the start of construction. The Student Village was designed with the intention of fostering community and bridging the divide between East and West campuses.

The dormitory of apartment suites at 10 Buick Street (often abbreviated to "StuVi" by students or simply "The Village") opened to juniors and seniors in the fall of 2001. In 2002, John Hancock Insurance announced its sponsorship of the multi-million dollar project. The Agganis Arena, named after Harry Agganis, which can house up to 7,200 spectators, opened to concerts and hockey games in January 2005. In March of 2005, the final major element of the Student Village complex, the Fitness and Recreation (FitRec) Center, was opened, drawing large crowds from the student body.

Other facilities

The Mugar Memorial Library is the home of the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, where documents belonging to thousands of eminent figures in literature, journalism, diplomacy, the arts, and other fields are housed. Among them are Isaac Asimov's personal papers from 1965 onward, and documents from distinguished alum Martin Luther King Jr.

Athletics

Main article: Boston University Athletics

Boston University's Terriers compete in basketball, cross country, golf, ice hockey, rowing, soccer, swimming, tennis, track, and wrestling, while the Lady Terriers compete in basketball, cross country, field hockey, golf, lacrosse, rowing, soccer, swimming, tennis, and track. Boston University Athletics teams compete in the America East, Hockey East, and Colonial Athletic Association conferences, and their mascot is Rhett the Boston Terrier. Boston University recently constructed the new Agganis Arena, which opened on January 3, 2005 with a men's hockey game between the Terriers and the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers. Boston University has won 26 Beanpot titles, one fewer than the rest of the Beanpot teams (Boston College, Harvard University, and Northeastern University) combined.