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Rutgers University

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For other meanings of Rutgers, see Rutgers (disambiguation)
Rutgers University
Official Seal of Rutgers University
MottoSol iustitiae et occidentem illustra
(Sun of righteousness, shine upon the West also.)
TypePublic, research university
EstablishedNovember 10, 1766
PresidentRichard L. McCormick
Undergraduates38,576
Postgraduates12,904
Location
New Brunswick/ Piscataway
Camden
Newark
,
New Jersey
,
USA
CampusUrban
Athletics27 sports teams
MascotScarlet Knight
Websitehttp://www.rutgers.edu/

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey is the largest institution for higher education in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The university's primary campus is located in the cities of New Brunswick and Piscataway, with two smaller campuses in Newark and Camden. Rutgers offers more than 100 distinct bachelor, 100 master, and 80 doctoral and professional degree programs across 29 degree-granting schools and colleges, 16 of which offer graduate programs of study.

Rutgers is the eighth-oldest institution of higher learning established in the United States, originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. While originally a Dutch Reformed Church-affiliated institution, the university is now non-sectarian and makes no religious demands on its students.

Rutgers was designated the State University of New Jersey by acts of the New Jersey Legislature in 1945 and 1956. The University of Newark merged with Rutgers in 1946, expanding the school to include the current campus in Newark. The College of South Jersey, which became the Camden campus, merged in 1950.

Rutgers was once widely considered to be Columbia University's sister school until the more recent prestige of the Ivy League disassociated the two. The original names Queen's College (Rutgers) and King's College (Columbia) were intended to reflect this relationship.

About Rutgers University

File:RutgersColonial.JPG
COlonial Style building at Rutgers University

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a leading national research university and is unique as the only university in the nation that is a colonial chartered college (1766), a land-grant institution (1864), and a state university (1945/1956). There are seventeen degree-granting divisions at Rutgers.

Rutgers College became the land-grant college of New Jersey in 1864, resulting in the establishment of the Rutgers Scientific School, featuring departments of agriculture, engineering, and chemistry. Further expansion in the sciences came with the founding of the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station in 1880 and the division of the Rutgers Scientific School into the College of Engineering (now the School of Engineering) in 1914 and the College of Agriculture (now Cook College) in 1921. The precursors to several other Rutgers divisions were also established during this period: the College of Pharmacy (now the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy) in 1892, the New Jersey College for Women (now Douglass College) in 1918, and the School of Education in 1924.

The first Summer Session began in 1913 with one six-week session. That summer program offered 47 courses and had an enrollment of 314 students. Currently, Summer Session offers over 1,000 courses to more than 15,000 students on the Camden, Newark, and New Brunswick/Piscataway campuses, off-campus, and abroad.

Along with Army and Navy, Rutgers often played against the schools that would form the Ivy League but did not join the league. Rutgers maintains rivalries with Princeton and Columbia in sports other than football.

File:RutgersGreenery.JPG
Rutgers Halls in greenery

Rutgers was designated the State University of New Jersey by acts of the New Jersey Legislature in 1945 and 1956. Since the 1950s, Rutgers has continued to expand, especially in the area of graduate education. The Graduate School—New Brunswick, and professional schools have been established in such areas as business, management, public policy, social work, applied and professional psychology, the fine arts, and communication, information and library studies. (A number of these schools offer undergraduate programs as well.) Also at the undergraduate level, Livingston College was founded in 1969, emphasizing the urban environment.

Many Rutgers departments are nationally recognized for important scholarly contributions -- notably English, History, Mathematics, Philosophy, and Physics. Rutgers is ranked by U.S. News & World Report as the third best state university in the Northeast.[1]

On September 10, 1970, after several years of debate and planning, the Board of Governors voted to admit women into the previously all-male Rutgers College. The transformation from single-sex to coeducational institutions became a trend in many colleges across the United States that had — up to the late 1960's and early 1970's — remained all-male. Today, Douglass College (originally the New Jersey College for Women) remains all-female, while the rest of the institution is coeducational.

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is accredited by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (since 1921). In 1989, Rutgers University became a member of the Association of American Universities, an organization comprised of the 62 leading research universities in North America.

Richard Levis McCormick (b. 1947) is the current president of Rutgers University.

Divisions of the New Brunswick/Piscataway Campus

To view divisions at other campuses go to Rutgers University-Newark or Rutgers University-Camden.

Starting in the fall of 2007, Douglass, Livingston, University, and Rutgers Colleges will be merged into the School of Arts and Sciences. Cook College will become the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences. All incoming Arts and Sciences undergraduates will have the same admission and graduation requirements, unlike the current structure where different colleges have different policies for the same thing. There will also be a Rutgers Core curriculum.

one of campus buildings

These changes, introduced in a July 2005 task force report, Transforming Undergraduate Education, were intended to end the confusion between colleges and open all programs to all Rutgers students. It also united the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, which had no specific student body but ran the degree programs, with the students at the four colleges which had no specific faculty since a reorganization in 1981. The proposals were opposed by many people, especially Douglass with its own "Save Douglass" movement to keep its all-female identity. President McCormick has proposed the concept of residential colleges, particularly for Douglass, to keep these identities and extracurricular programs.

History and tradition

Early history

Shortly after the creation of the College of New Jersey (later Princeton University) in 1746, ministers of the Dutch Reformed Church sought to establish autonomy in ecclesiastical affairs. At that time, those who wanted to become ministers within the church had to travel to the Netherlands to be trained and ordained, and many of the affairs of churches in the American colonies were managed from Europe. Thus, the ministers sought to create a governing body known as a classis to give local autonomy to the church in the colonies, and offer opportunities for the education of ministers.

Jacob Hardenbergh and Theodorus Frelinghuysen's son John lived in this building - the Old Dutch Parsonage, Somerville, New Jersey

Throughout the 1750s, Dutch ministers joined the effort to create a classis in the colonies, including Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen who travelled on horseback in winter of 1755 to several congregations throughout the northeast to rally ministers and congregations to the cause. Soon after, Frelinghuysen travelled to the Netherlands to appeal to the General Synod, the Dutch Reformed Church's governing council for the creation of the classis. In 1761, the effort having failed, Frelinghuysen set sail for the colonies, but as the vessel approached New York City, he mysteriously perished at sea.

After Frelinghuysen's death, Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh (later Rutgers' first president) established himself as spokesperson for the cause, and a strong supporter of establishing a college in New Jersey. Hardenbergh, travelled to Europe renewing Frelinghuysen's efforts to gain the Synod's approval, but was also rejected. Much to the Synod's chagrin, however, Hardenburgh returned to the colonies with money for the establishment of a college.

Queen's College

The school now called Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, was chartered on November 10, 1766 as "Queen's College," in honor of King George III's Queen-consort, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1744–1818). The charter was signed and the young college supported by William Franklin (1730–1813), the last Royal Governor of New Jersey and illegitimate son of Benjamin Franklin. The original charter specified the establishment both of the college, and of an institution called the Queen's College Grammar School, intended to be a preparatory school affiliated and governed by the college. This institution, today the Rutgers Preparatory School, was a part of the college community until 1957.

Early nineteenth century drawing of Old Queen's

The original purpose of Queen's College was to "educate the youth in language, liberal, the divinity, and useful arts and sciences" and for the training of future ministers for the Dutch Reformed Church—though the university is now non-sectarian and makes no religious demands on its students. It admitted its first students in 1771—a single sophomore and a handful of first-year students taught by a lone instructor—and granted its first degree in 1774, to Matthew Leydt. When the Revolutionary War broke out, the college abandoned the tavern and held classes in private houses, in and near New Brunswick. During its early years, the college developed as a classic liberal arts institution.

In its early years, Queen's College was plagued by a lack of funds. In 1793, with the fledgling college falling on hard times, the board of trustees voted on a resoluton to merge with the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University). The measure failed by one vote. The problem did not go away, and in 1795, lacking both funds and tutors, the trustees consider moving the college to New York. Instead, they decide to close, only to reopen in 1808 after the Trustees raised $12,000.

Old Queen's, at Rutgers.

The next year, the College got a building of its own, affectionately called "Old Queen's" (still standing), which is regarded today by architectural experts as one of the nation's finest examples of Federal architecture. University President Ira Condict laid the cornerstone on April 27, 1809. However, continued financial woes would cause the building to wait 14 years for completion. In its early years, Queen's College, the Queen's College Grammar School, and the New Brunswick Theological Seminary shared space in Old Queen's. In 1856, with Old Queen's suffering from overcrowding, the Seminary, moved to a home of its own nearby.

Colonel Henry Rutgers (1745–1830)

A nationwide economic depression, combined with impending war, forced Queen's College to close down a second time, in 1812. In 1825, Queen's College was reopened, and its name was changed to "Rutgers College" in honor of American Revolutionary War hero Colonel Henry Rutgers (1745–1830). According to the Board of Trustees, Colonel Rutgers was honored because he epitomized Christian values, although it should be noted the Colonel was a wealthy bachelor known for his philanthropy. A year after the school renamed itself, it received 2 donations from its namesake. Rutgers, a descendant of an old Dutch family that settled in New Amsterdam (now New York City), gave the fledgling college a $200 bell that is hung from the cupola of the Old Queen's building, then later in 1826 he donated the interest on a $5,000 bond. This second donation finally gave the college the sound financial footing it had sorely needed. The college's early troubles inspired numerous student songs, including an adaptation of the drinking song Down Among the Dead Men with the lyrics "Here's a drink to old Rutgers, loyal men/May she ne'er go down but to rise again."

Rutgers College was renamed Rutgers University in 1924. The institution currently known as Rutgers College is the largest among several Arts and Sciences Colleges at the University.

Athletics

Scene from a Rutgers football game

Rutgers was among the first American institutions to engage in intercollegiate athletics, and participated in a small circle of schools that included Yale University, Columbia University and long-time rival, Princeton University.

On May 2, 1866, in the first intercollegiate athletic event at Rutgers, the Rutgers baseball team was humiliated by the Princeton team, 40-2.

Rutgers University is sometimes referred to as The Birthplace of College Football. Rutgers and Princeton played the first game of intercollegiate football on November 6, 1869, on a plot of ground where the present-day Rutgers gymnasium now stands. Rutgers won that first game, 6-4. [1]

However, "football" at the time meant a variety of games and the rules of the game played by Rutgers in 1869 resembled soccer much more than modern American football. Instead of wearing uniforms, the players stripped off their hats, coats, and vests and bound their suspenders around the waistbands of their trousers. For headgear, the Rutgers team wound their scarlet scarves into turbans atop their heads. During the 1870s, games resembling rugby became popular at other American colleges, and Rutgers eventually adopted similar rules. These games eventually developed into modern American football. (See the article History of American football, for further information.) The site, then a field, is now occupied by the College Avenue Gymnasium.

An amusing sidenote: the first intercollegiate competition in Ultimate Frisbee (now called simply "Ultimate") was held between Rutgers and Princeton on November 6, 1972—the 103rd anniversary of the first intercollegiate football game. Rutgers won six to four.

Today, Rutgers University is a member of the Big East Conference, (in football since 1991, all other sports since 1995) a collegiate athletic conference consisting of sixteen colleges and universities in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States. The Big East is a member of the Bowl Championship Series. Rutgers is a Division I-A school as sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Rutgers continues to play Princeton and Columbia every year in nearly every sport the schools all compete in with the exception of football.

The Rutgers University Fight Song

Keep Rutgers colors to the fore
For they must win so fight, fight, fight
And we'll advance some more to score
The Rutgers flag flies high tonight, alright alright
We'll fling that scarlet banner out
And Rutgers men will fight, fight, fight, fight, fight
The Bells of Queens each victory shout
The Bells of Queens must ring tonight
R-U, Rah, Rah,
R-U, Rah, Rah,
Whoo-Raa, Whoo-Raa;
Rutgers Rah
Up-Stream Red Team;
Red Team Up-Stream
Rah, Rah,
Rutgers Rah!!

Mascot

The Rutgers University mascot is the Scarlet Knight.

Since its days when the school was officially known as Queen's College, the athletic teams were referred to as the Queensmen. Officially serving as the mascot figure for several football seasons beginning in 1925 was a giant, colorfully felt-covered, costumed representation of an earlier campus symbol, the "Chanticleer." Though a fighting bird of the kind which other colleges have found success, to some it bore the connotation of "chicken." It is also a little-known fact that the New Brunswick-based broadcast station, WCTC, which serves as the flagship station of Rutgers athletics, had its call letters derived from the word "ChanTiCleer." Chanticleer remained as the nickname for some 30 years.

In the early 1950's, in the hope of spurring both the all-around good athletic promise and RU fighting spirit, a campus-wide selection process changed the mascot to that of a knight. By 1955, the Scarlet Knight had officially become the new Rutgers mascot.

Traditions and legacies

Statue of Prince William the Silent donated anonymously by Dr. Fenton B. Turck to Rutgers. This statue was once said to whistle upon detecting a virgin. A similar statue stands in The Hague.

Howard Fullerton, a member of the Order of the Bull's Blood, goes down in Rutgers history not only for his penning the alma mater but for allegedly inspiring the theft of a cannon from the campus of Princeton University on April 25, 1875, an event—and the ensuing debate between the two university presidents—reported in nationwide newspapers. The cannon was believed to have belonged to Rutgers when used in battle. Princeton students retaliated by raiding the Rutgers Armory and stealing a few muskets. Eventually the committee appointed by the two colleges recommended the return the stolen items to their owners before the event. When the cannon was returned, Princeton University officials ordered it buried in the ground, encased in cement, with only a few feet of the butt end exposed above ground.

Several Rutgers students attempted to repeat the crime, unsuccessfully, in October 1946, attaching one end of a length of heavy chain to the cannon and the other to their Ford. Surprised by Princeton men and the local constabulatory, they gunned the engine of the Ford so viciously that the car was torn in half. The Rutgers army managed to escape, but with neither the car, nor their prize, the cannon.

To this day, intrepid Rutgers students journey the 20 miles to Princeton University to place their declaration of ownership of the cannon by painting the cannon scarlet red. Unfortunately, like the students who stole the cannon in 1875, they usually paint the wrong cannon, as there are two on Cannon Green behind Nassau Hall at Princeton. Today, a cannon is placed in the ground before Old Queens at Rutgers, memorializing both this event, and alumni in the service who were killed in action. At Commencement, tradition leads undergraduates to break clay pipes over the cannon, symbolizing the breaking of ties with the college, and leaving behind the good times of one's undergraduate years. This symbolism dates back to when pipe-smoking was fashionable among undergraduates, and many college memories were derived from evenings of pipe smoking and revelry with friends.

The bell in the Old Queen's cupola, an 1826 gift of namesake donor Colonel Henry Rutgers, is traditionally used to announce the graduation of classes. It is also rung on special occasions, including those of prized athletic success. Most recently, the bell was rung when the 1999-2000 women's basketball team advanced to the NCAA Final Four in Philadelphia, and when the 1990 men's soccer team reached the championship game of the NCAA Tournament.

Trivia

  • The college first met at a tavern called the Sign of the Red Lion, on what is today the grounds of the Johnson & Johnson corporate headquarters in New Brunswick.[citation needed]
  • The College Avenue Gymnasium, built on the site where the first college football game was played, hosted New Jersey's 1947 and 1966 Constitutional Conventions.[citation needed]
  • In 1810, a book of 104 rules and regulations were published to guide student down a moral path. Among these rules were prohibitions on dancing and fencing schools, billiards, cards, dice, beer and oyster houses, firearms, powder, and public ball alleys; and further, no student was to "disguise himself for the purpose of imposition or amusement," "speak upon the public stage anything indecent, profane, or immoral," or "employ a barber on the Lord's day to dress his head or shave him." Ironically, the Rutgers University Dance Marathon is now one of the largest student run philanthropy events in the country; and the Rutgers Fencing team regularly competes with and defeats the nation's top teams such as Duke and NYU.[citation needed]
  • In 1879, Mark Twain, the famed American author, accepted an honorary membership into the Philoclean Society at Rutgers, but failed to make the customary monetary contribution.[citation needed]
  • During the 1960s, the Rutgers art department was a hotbed of Fluxus activity. See Fluxus at Rutgers University.
  • In addition to being the "birthplace of college football," Rutgers has given birth to discoveries and innovations such as water-soluble sustained release polymers, Tetraploids, robotic hands, artificial bovine insemination, several antibiotics, and developed the ceramic tiles for the heat shield on the Space Shuttle. Currently Rutgers researchers are driving closer and closer to an effective cure for AIDS.[citation needed]
  • Despite urban myths[2] to the contrary, Cheez Whiz, was not invented at Rutgers[3].
  • Among the more famous actors who are alumnae of Rutgers University are Paul Robeson, James Gandolfini (who plays Tony Soprano from the HBO hit show The Sopranos), Kristin Davis (Charlotte York from Sex and the City), and Calista Flockhart (of Ally McBeal fame).
  • All of the law school scenes in Rounders were filmed in and around Rutgers Law School in Newark, New Jersey.[citation needed]
  • The famous Grease Trucks reside on the Rutgers College campus, just across the street from the main academic area, the Voorhees mall. At the Grease Trucks, one can buy a famous "Fat Sandwich," featuring an outrageous combination of foodstuffs one would never expect to combine in one sandwich.[citation needed]
  • In 2004, Maxim magazine proclaimed the "Fat Darrell", found at RU Grill on Easton Avenue, to be one of the top sandwiches in the nation. The Fat Darrell was created at Rutgers in 1997 by an innovative undergraduate student by the name of Darrell Butler. The Fat Darrell contains chicken fingers, mozzarella sticks, french fries, and marinara sauce all on a hoagie roll. [citation needed]
  • In 2005, Rutgers accepted a bowl bid to play Arizona State University in the Insight Bowl in Phoenix, Arizona; their first bowl since 1978. The only other bowl appearance for the Scarlet Knights was the now defunct Garden State Bowl, held at Giants Stadium, against the aforementioned ASU Sun Devils. They lost 2005's game in a thriller, 45-40, but 5th year head coach Greg Schiano promised to be even better the next season.[citation needed]
  • The most famous fictitious alumni of Rutgers is the cartoon character Mr. Magoo.[citation needed]

Katie Worthington, not only an excellent student, but all-around amazing person in general, has also brought excitement to campus through her thrilling athletic performances on the women's cross country team.

  • Rutgers students have coined a term, the "RU Screw," for the bureaucratic mishaps that often occur under Rutgers administration.[citation needed]
  • The Daily Targum is the school newspaper, established in 1869, and operating privately since 1980.
  • Once a year, The Daily Targum publishes a newspaper filled with absurd or nonsensical stories. At times, this paper has run its masthead as as The Mugrat (i.e., "Targum" spelled backwords).
  • The Rutgers College Program Council provides many culture events for students, including the annual Rutgersfest, and is the largest student run programing board in the nation.[citation needed]
  • The Main New Brunswick/Piscataway Campus actually consists of four smaller campuses spread-out enough to be within the borders of six different municipalities.
  • Where as many big univerisities have their own Police Departments and/or a Volunteer EMS, Rutgers has its own Police, Fire, and paid EMS.
File:RutgersBus.JPG
Rutgers Buses in their livery
  • To Connect the four New Brunswick/Piscataway campuses Rutgers has the largest bus system of any school in the country.
  • My Chemical Romance guitarist Frank Iero briefly attended with a scholarship, before dropping out to join the band.
  • Elliot Lurie (lead guitar), Lawrence Gonsky (piano), Pieter Sweval (bass) a brother of Phi Sigma Kappa at Rutgers, and Jeff Grob (drums) formed a band called Looking Glass at Rutgers in 1969. Their most famous song is Brandy (You're a Fine Girl), supposedly a tribute to the legend of Mary Ellis, burried in a parking lot off of nearby route 18.
  • Barry Weisfeld, the owner of New Jersey's largest independent music store, was buying and selling used vinyl records in Rutgers student center when he was first offered to expand to Princeton University's "Used Store", which then lead to his current location. This year marks its 25th anniversary. Visit the wiki page for: Princeton record exchange or their website www.prex.com)

Alma Mater

The alma mater of Rutgers University is the song entitled On the Banks of the Old Raritan, written by Howard Fullerton (Class of 1872). The lyrics to the song are, as follows:

I.
My father sent me to old Rutgers,
And resolv'd that I should be a man [woman];
And so I settled down,
in that noisy college town,
On the banks of the old Raritan.
(Chorus)
On the banks of the old Raritan, my boys [girls],
where old Rutgers ever more shall stand,
For has she not stood since the time of the flood,
On the banks of the old Raritan.
II.
Then sing aloud to Alma Mater,
And keep the scarlet in the van;
For with her motto high,
Rutgers' name shall never die,
On the banks of the old Raritan.
(Chorus)
*N.B.: The phrase "my boys" in the first line of the chorus was changed in 1990 to "my friends" in light of Rutgers being coeducational since 1970. When the Alma Mater is performed by the Queen's Chorale, an all-women group, they sing "And resolv'd that I should be a man" quickly followed by "or a woman".

Presidents of Rutgers University

  1. 1785–1790 Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh (1736–1790) - Hardenbergh Hall, a "Riverdorm" (towering dorm by the Raritan River), is named for him
  2. 1791–1795 William Linn (1752–1808)
  3. 1795–1810 Ira Condict (1764–1811)
  4. 1810–1825 John Henry Livingston (1746–1825)
  5. 1825–1840 Philip Milledoler (1775–1852) - Milledoler Hall, an academic/administrative building is named for him.
  6. 1840–1850 Abraham Bruyn Hasbrouck (1791–1879)
  7. 1850–1862 Theodore Frelinghuysen (1787–1862) - Frelinghuysen Hall, a Riverdorm, bears his name
  8. 1862–1882 William Henry Campbell (1808–1890) - Campbell Hall, a Riverdorm, is named after him
  9. 1882–1890 Merrill Edward Gates (1848–1922)
  10. 1891–1906 Austin Scott (1848–1922) - Scott Hall, an acadmeic building, is named for him.
  11. 1906–1924 William Henry Steele Demarest (1863–1956) - Demarest Hall, the special interest dorm, is named after him.
  12. 1925–1930 John Martin Thomas (1869–1952)
  13. 1930–1931 Philip Milledoler Brett (1871–1960) - Brett Hall, the honors dormitory is named for him.
  14. 1932–1951 Robert Clarkson Clothier (1885–1970) - Clothier Hall, a dormitory bears his name.
  15. 1951–1958 Lewis Webster Jones (1899–1975)
  16. 1959–1971 Mason Welch Gross(1911–1977) - the Mason Gross School of the Arts is named after him
  17. 1971–1989 Edward J. Bloustein (1925–1989) - the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy is named after him
  18. 1990–2002 Francis L. Lawrence (b. 1937)
  19. 2002— Richard Levis McCormick (b. 1947)

See also

References

  1. ^ America's Best Colleges 2006, U.S. News & World Report, accessed May 4, 2006
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