Florida State University
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The Florida State University, also commonly referred to as "FSU" or "Florida State", is a public university located in Tallahassee, Florida. Its president is T. K. Wetherell.
Florida State's main campus is located in Tallahassee near the Florida State Capitol building. The campus is bordered by Tennessee Street (U.S. Highway 90) to the north, Gaines Street to the south, Stadium Drive to the west, and Macomb Street to the east. Florida State also maintains two additional campuses in Panama City and Sarasota. Additionally, Florida State operates an overseas studies institution in Panama, and another in London.
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History
The Legislature of the State of Florida in a Legislative Act of January 24, 1851, provided for the establishment of two seminaries of learning, one to be located east and the other west of the Suwannee River. By 1854, the City of Tallahassee had established a school for boys called the Florida Institute. The city's hope was that the State would take it over as one of the seminaries. After an unsuccessful attempt by the city to make this happen in 1854, Mayor Francis Eppes in 1857, again made the offer which was accepted by the Florida Legislature. In 1857 first meeting of the Board of Education of the State Seminary West of the Suwannee River was held. The school became co-education the following year, when it absorbed the Tallahassee Female Academy, begun in 1843 as the Misses Bates School. The school existed as the West Florida Seminary from 1857 until 1863, when the state legislature changed the name to The Florida Military and Collegiate Institute, reflecting the addition of a military section which trained cadets. In 1901, the school was renamed Florida State College, and was a four-year institution organized in four departments: the College, the School for Teachers, the School of Music, and the College Academy. In a 1905, Florida's educational system was reorganized by the state Legislature, and six state institutions of higher learning were consolidated into two when the University of Florida in Gainesville was established and designated a men's school and the Florida State College became a women's school called the Florida Female College. In 1909 the name of the college was changed to Florida State College for Women. Demand by returning World War II veterans had brought men back to the campus in 1946 with the establishment of the Tallahassee Branch of the University of Florida. On May 15, 1947, the Governor of Florida signed an act of the Legislature returning Florida State College for Women to coeducational status and naming it The Florida State University. Today, the student population is almost 38,000. Florida State is also the home of the first chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society in the state of Florida, and is home to one of the oldest schools of public administration in the country. Florida State is presently is comprised of seventeen independent schools and colleges.
Departments
Bachelors, master's, specialist's, doctoral, and professional degree programs are offered through the College of Arts & Sciences; the College of Business; the College of Communication; the College of Education; the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, jointly administered with Florida A&M University; the College of Human Sciences; the College of Law; the College of Medicine; the College of Social Sciences; the School of Criminology & Criminal Justice; the School of Motion Picture, Television & Recording Arts (Film); the College of Information; the College of Music; the School of Nursing; the College of Social Work; the School of Theatre; and the School of Visual Arts & Dance.
Traditions
The school's colors are garnet and gold. School songs include the alma mater, "High Over Towering Pines" along with the "Hymn to the Garnet and Gold" and the "FSU Fight Song".
Florida State's school colors of garnet and gold are a merging of the University's past. In 1904 and 1905 the Florida State College won football championships wearing purple and gold uniforms. When FSC became Florida State College for Women in 1905, the football team was forced to attend an all male school in Gainesville. The following year, the FSCW student body selected crimson as the official school color. The administration in 1905 took crimson and combined it with the recognizable purple of the championship football teams to achieve the color garnet. The now famous garnet and gold colors were first used on an FSU uniform in a 14-6 loss to Stetson on October 18, 1947. [1] (http://www.college-basketball-tickets.net/florida_state_seminoles/history.htm)
School Athletics
The school has an athletic department with programs for men and for women. The men's program consists of as baseball, basketball, cross country running, football, golf, swimming, tennis, and track & field. The women's program consists of basketball, cross country running, golf, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track & field, and volleyball.
The school's athletic teams are called the Seminoles . They participate in the NCAA's Division I (Division I-A for football) and in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Their traditional rivals include the Gators of the University of Florida and the Hurricanes of the University of Miami. The Seminoles football team earned the national championship in football 1993 and 1999. Template:Atlantic Coast Conference
Facilities
FSU is home to a pair of cutting edge nuclear resonance magnets that are used for theoretical physics research as well as for developing cures for cancer and neurological disorders. The National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (NHMFL), or "Mag Lab", is one of only nine such facilities in the world.
Famous alumni
- Reubin O'Donovan Askew, former Governor of Florida
- Paul Azinger, professional golfer
- Alan Ball, screenwriter
- Fred Biletnikoff, NFL Hall of fame player
- Terry Bowden, television commentator (son of FSU coach Bobby Bowden)
- Allen Boyd Jr., congressman (Democrat)
- Derrick Brooks, professional NFL football player
- Matt Chapman, co-creator of Homestar Runner
- Tara Dawn Holland Christensen, Miss America 1997, singer
- Rita Coolidge, singer
- Lee Corso, sports broadcaster
- J.D. Drew, professional MLB baseball player
- Warrick Dunn, professional NFL football player
- Davis Gaines, stage actor, The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical)
- General Jay Garner, United States Army, ret. defense consultant
- Paul Gleason, actor
- Paris Glendening, former Governor of Maryland
- Traylor Howard, actress
- Dick Howser, professional MLB baseball player
- Tony La Russa, MLB manager (J.D.)
- Christine Lahti, actress
- Doug Marlette, cartoonist
- Mel Martinez, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and current Senator (Republican)
- Henry Polic, actor
- Gabrielle Reece, professional volleyball player, model
- Burt Reynolds, actor
- Marcus Roberts, jazz pianist
- Deion Sanders, professional NFL football player
- Ron Sellers, professional NFL football player
- Winston Scott, astronaut
- Sonny Shroyer, actor
- Richard Simmons, fitness expert
- Tonea Stewart, actress
- Norman Thagard, NASA astronaut
- Charlie Ward, Heisman Trophy winner, professional NBA basketball player
- David Ward-Steinman, composer
- Chris Weinke, Heisman Trophy winner, professional NFL football player
- Robert Urich, actor
- Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, composer, 1st woman to win Pulitzer prize in music
Attended but did not graduate
- Jim Morrison, singer/songwriter
More distinguished/notable alumni can be found at the FSU Alumni Association, [2] (http://www.fsu.edu/~FSUAlum/distinguished/index.html).
External links
- http://www.fsu.edu/ Official school site
- http://www.seminoles.com/ Official athletics site
- http://www.fsu.com/ Officially-sanctioned university news site
- http://www.fsunews.com/ FSView & Florida Flambeau, independent student newspaper
- http://www.magnet.fsu.edu/ National High Magnetic Field Laboratory site
- History of Florida State University website (http://www.fsu.edu/~dof/Faculty-Handbook/Ch2/Ch2.1.html)