Southwestern University

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This article is about the U.S. university. For the university in the Philippines, see Southwestern University (Philippines).
Not to be confused with Southwestern Law School.

Southwestern University
SU-signature.png
MottoNon Quis Sed Quid
Motto in English
Not Who But What
TypePrivate
Established1840; 180 years ago (1840)
Religious affiliation
Methodist
Endowment$296.4 million (2019)[1]
PresidentLaura Skandera Trombley
DeanAlisa Gaunder
Academic staff
386
Administrative staff
317
Undergraduates1,515[2]
Location
Georgetown
,
Texas
,
United States
CampusSuburban
700 acres (2.8 km²)
ColorsBlack & Gold
   
AthleticsNCAA Division III – SCAC
NicknamePirates
Affiliations
MascotPirate
Websitesouthwestern.edu

Southwestern University (Southwestern or SU) is a private university in Georgetown, Texas. Formed in 1873 from a revival of collegiate charters granted in 1840, Southwestern is the oldest university in Texas. Southwestern offers 40 bachelor's degrees in the arts, sciences, fine arts, and music as well as interdisciplinary and pre-professional programs. The university is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and the National Association of Schools of Music. It is historically affiliated with the United Methodist Church.

The university is a member of the Annapolis Group, the Associated Colleges of the South, the Council of Independent Colleges, and is a signatory of the Talloires Declaration.

History[edit]

The Roy and Lillie Cullen Building shortly after completion
Students in front of Mood-Bridwell Hall in 1910

Prior to assuming the university's current form, charters had been granted by the Texas Legislature (Texas Congress 1836–1845) to establish four educational institutions: Rutersville College of Rutersville, Texas, Wesleyan College of San Augustine, Texas, McKenzie College of Clarksville, Texas, and Soule University of Chappell Hill, Texas.

In 1873, the union of these four institutions opened in Georgetown as Texas University.[4] Wishing to reserve that name for a proposed state university in Austin, the University of Texas, the Texas Legislature instead granted a charter in 1875 under the name Southwestern University as a continuation of the charters for Rutersville, Wesleyan, McKenzie, and Soule. The university considers its founding date to be 1840 when Rutersville College opened. Southwestern thus claims to be the oldest university in Texas and the second oldest coeducational liberal arts college west of the Mississippi.

Until 1965, no African-Americans were allowed to attend the school. In 1965, Ernest Clark enrolled, and graduated in 1969.[5]

Southwestern was a charter member of the Southwest Conference in 1915. Southern Methodist University was Southwestern's main rival for several decades in remembrance of an unsuccessful attempt to relocate Southwestern to Dallas which instead resulted in the establishment of SMU. When SMU's student population became much larger, students at Southwestern began considering Trinity University and Austin College to be the school's main rivals. After World War II, Southwestern transformed itself into a small liberal arts institution, discontinuing its post-graduate degrees, disbanding the football team, and rebuilding much of the campus with a massive capital campaign. The endowment rose substantially.

Southwestern has a history of drawing prolific lecturers to campus, including William Jennings Bryan, Helen Keller, bell hooks, and alumnus J. Frank Dobie. Orators traveling by train often stopped off on their way to or from Austin, giving their lectures and catching the next train. Speakers at the annual Brown Symposium have included author Isaac Asimov (through a video conference) in the early 1980s and Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz in 2002. Since it began, the Shilling Lecture series has brought a variety of prominent figures, including presidential advisor Karen Hughes (2003), Archbishop Desmond Tutu (2004), former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto (2005), former Governor of New Jersey Thomas Kean (2006), former Secretary of State James Baker (2007), former U.S. senator Bill Bradley (2008), Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai (2009), senior fellow in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Global Health Program William Foege (2010), founder of TOMs Shoes Blake Mycoskie (2011), and three-time Pulitzer Prize winner Thomas Friedman (2012).[6] In 2002, The Writer's Voice series presented Pulitzer Prize winning author Michael Chabon.[7] The Writer's Voice has also welcomed such authors as Joyce Carol Oates (2000), Margaret Atwood (2003), Amy Tan (2007), and Azar Nafisi (2008).[8]

Former university president Edward B. Burger stepped down in January 2020 and assumed the role of president and CEO of St. David's foundation. Southwestern trustee and former provost Dale T. Knobel assumed interim presidency of Southwestern.[9][10]

Academics[edit]

The university offers 40 majors and 36 minors divided between the Brown College of Arts, Garey School of Natural Sciences, and the Sarofim School of Fine Arts. In addition to traditional academic majors, Southwestern offers interdisciplinary, independent, and paired majors as well as pre-professional programs in Engineering, Law, Medicine, and Theology.[11][12]

In the 2013-2014 school year, total student enrollment was at 1,536, with a gender distribution of about 60 percent female and 40 percent male. Of the entering first-year students in Fall 2013, 37 percent were in the top 10 percent of their high school graduating class with an average SAT score of 1166 (*writing section not included). While the majority of students come from Texas (89 percent), the remaining 11 percent come from 23 other states and 6 countries. Minority students constitute 33 percent of the student body.[13]

The student to faculty ratio is 11:1, with an average class size of 15 students. Ninety-nine percent of the tenured or tenure-track faculty hold a doctorate or highest degree in their fields. Collaborative research and publication with students is common.[13]

Research[edit]

Southwestern hosts two interdisciplinary academic exhibitions each year to showcase research by students at Southwestern and researchers across the country. The Brown Symposium held in the early spring is an academic conference attracting guest lecturers and panelists. All Brown Symposium speakers present research that shares the symposium's theme for that year.[14] The Creative Works Symposium held near the end of the spring semester offers undergraduate students an opportunity to display their own research as a formal oral presentation, panel discussion, poster presentation, art exhibit, or technology demonstration. These student presentations are often the culmination of senior capstone projects, independent studies, collaborations with a faculty member, or a requirement for receiving research grants.[15]

Awards and rankings[edit]

University rankings
National
Forbes[16] 286
Liberal arts colleges
U.S. News & World Report[17] 87
Washington Monthly[18] 35

Loren Pope, former education editor for The New York Times, included Southwestern in his 1996 book, Colleges That Change Lives, and in a 2012 update to that book.[19]

Campus[edit]

Southwestern University is located in Georgetown, Texas, about 30 miles (50 km) north of Austin. The campus comprises 700 acres (2.8 km²) mostly located north of University Avenue, although the eastern portion of these lands remains largely undeveloped with some portions serving as an EcoLab where faculty and students conduct research. The main campus is organized around a central academic mall formed by a semi-circular grassy area bounded by a pedestrian walkway and academic buildings. Residence halls and on-campus apartments are located to the east and northwest of the academic mall. Sports fields, support facilities, and parking are on the periphery of the main campus.

Notable buildings[edit]

The Hugh Roy and Lillie Cullen Building in 2009
The Lois Perkins Chapel situated along the Academic Mall

The Hugh Roy and Lillie Cullen Building (formerly called the Administration Building) was built in 1898 in the Richardsonian Romanesque style and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Cullen Building currently houses the administration, business office, alumni relations, and classrooms. Throughout various times in its history, it has also housed the campus auditorium, gymnasium, chapel, and library. It is named in honor of Hugh Roy Cullen and his wife.

Mood-Bridwell Hall, originally a men's dormitory, was completed in 1908 and currently houses classrooms, faculty offices, a computer lab, the Debbie Ellis Writing Center, and an indoor atrium. Mood-Bridwell is included in the Cullen Building's listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

The A. Frank Smith Library Center opened in 1939 as the Cody Memorial Library and was built as part of a WPA project. It was expanded in 1966 and again in 1989, receiving the new name as a result of the second expansion. In addition to books and periodicals, the library houses a film and audio collection, 24-hour computer lab, maps, sheet music, and special collections for Texas history and culture, John Tower, J. Frank Dobie, Jessie Daniel Ames, Herman Melville, Aaron Burr, Edward Blake, Thomas Bewick, and Australia.[20]

The Lois Perkins Chapel was built in 1950 and includes an Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ. Stained glass windows along the east and west sides depict Reformation leaders and Methodist leaders with seals for the educational institutions they were affiliated with.

The McCombs Campus Center opened in 1998, replacing the Bishops' Memorial Student Union Building and University Commons. It includes dining facilities, the campus bookstore, ballrooms, and student organization offices. It is named for billionaire entrepreneur and Southwestern alum Red McCombs.

The Fayez Sarofim School of Fine Arts is housed in the Alma Thomas Fine Arts Building, originally built in 1956 on the former property of the Texas rancher John Wesley Snyder, a Southwestern University benefactor.[21] The Fine Arts Building (FAB) has been renovated multiple times, most recently in 1998 and 2008. The FAB houses the 700-seat Alma Thomas Theater, the smaller Jones Theater, the Caldwell-Carvey Foyer, numerous practice rooms, art studios, a black box theater, and an instrumental rehearsal hall.

The Wilhelmina Cullen Admission Center opened in 2009, moving the admissions office out of the Roy and Lillie Cullen Building. It is Southwestern's first "green" building and was designed to receive Gold LEED certification. Some of the building's features include a bamboo floor in the lobby area, skylights in the center of the building, solar-powered sink faucets and reflective roof shingles. Southwestern plans to turn the area in the original Cullen Building formerly occupied by the Admission Office into a museum. The Admissions Center was named after Wilhelmina Cullen, the daughter of Roy and Lillie Cullen.

Student activities and organizations[edit]

There are over 90 student organizations on campus. The school hosts chapters of 16 academic honor societies, including a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa and the founding chapter of the Alpha Chi honor society. The national co-ed service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega also has a chapter. Several groups on campus participate in social activism and awareness on campus and in the Austin area, including College Democrats, Students for Environmental Activism and Knowledge (SEAK), Latinos Unidos, EBONY, and Amnesty International. Religious groups on campus include the national Christian fraternity Kappa Upsilon Chi, Christian sorority Sigma Phi Lambda, Jewish Student Association, Muslim Student Organization, and Buddhist Meditation Group. Other groups include Habitat for Humanity, Model U.N., German Club, and Business Club.

Student government[edit]

Student government is primarily handled by the Student Congress, with each member elected to represent students living in residence halls, Greek houses, and at-large for students living off-campus. The Student Congress is headed by a president elected through popular vote. An independent organization, Student Foundation, serves as a liaison between students, faculty, alumni, and the university's administration. A panel of students and faculty maintain the university's honor code, replacing the Student Judiciary which previously adjudicated violations of the honor code.

Greek life[edit]

Southwestern hosts eight national social fraternities and sororities governed by the North-American Interfraternity Council (IFC) and the National Panhellenic Council (NPC).[22] All fraternities occupy houses on the western side of the campus. The sororities do not have dedicated housing, although they maintain chapter rooms in the Lord Caskey Center. Southwestern has a deferred rush allowing incoming students to become familiar with the campus before formal recruitment begins in the early spring. About 1/3 of the student life is involved in Greek life.[23]

IFC Fraternities/NPC Sororities[edit]

Organization Chapter Local Founding Date
Kappa Alpha Order Xi 1883
Kappa Sigma Iota 1886
Phi Delta Theta Texas Gamma 1886
Pi Kappa Alpha Alpha Omicron 1910
Organization Chapter Local Founding Date
Alpha Delta Pi Zeta 1907
Alpha Kappa Alpha Upsilon Alpha 2015
Alpha Xi Delta Theta Lambda 1992
Delta Delta Delta Theta Epsilon 1911
Zeta Tau Alpha Lambda 1906

Southwestern also has the Alpha Tau chapter of Kappa Delta Chi sorority. The Alpha Tau chapter is also a member of Southwestern’s umbrella organization the Coalition for Diversity and Social Justice.

Media[edit]

The Megaphone, established in 1907, is the official student newspaper of Southwestern University. Published online and biweekly in print, the newspaper focuses on the campus community, including sections on news, features, opinions/editorials, culture, and sports. Throughout its history, the Megaphone has changed formats several times, alternating between broadsheets and tabloid paper. The newspaper publishes an April Fool's Day edition every spring under the title The Megaphool.

Spyglass Literary Magazine is the student literary magazine. The magazine is the oldest publication on campus, established in 1882 as the Alamo and San Jacinto Monthly and renamed the Southwestern University Monthly in 1895, then the SU Literary Magazine, and finally The Spyglass in 2012. Currently published twice a year at the end of each semester, the magazine features student poetry, short stories, artwork, and photography.

SU Radio is an online radio station broadcasting music and student commentary in hour-long programming blocks.

Athletics[edit]

See also: Southwestern Pirates football

Southwestern is a member of the NCAA Division III Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC). Southwestern competes in 20 varsity sports, including football, basketball, cross country, track & field, golf, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis, lacrosse, men's baseball, women's volleyball and women's softball. Intramural sports on campus include handball, rock climbing, and ultimate frisbee. The school mascot is the pirate.[24]

The men's lacrosse team became a varsity sport in 2009 after offering lacrosse as a club sport for 25 years. The men's lacrosse team won the Lonestar Alliance Division II Championship for four consecutive years prior to becoming a varsity sport.[25] The women's team is currently non-varsity and is affiliated with the Texas Women's Lacrosse League, although the university plans to field a varsity team in 2014.[26] The women's team won a division championships in 2007.

In addition to lacrosse, Southwestern has a nationally ranked handball team that won the Division II National Collegiate Championship in 2007. In September 2016, Southwestern's volleyball team moved up to 3rd place in the AVCA coaches poll as well.[27]

Southwestern reinstated football in 2013 after a 62-year hiatus.[26] The university previously fielded football teams from 1908 to 1951, reaching national prominence during World War II when the university's participation in the Navy's V-12 College Training Program enlisted talented players from other schools.[28] Southwestern was a founding member of the Southwest Conference and won the Sun Bowl in 1944 and 1945.[29]

Southwestern University Women’s Soccer team won its first-ever SCAC Championship in 2019, defeating Trinity University on penalty kicks.

Notable people[edit]

Contributors[edit]

Southwestern has had many financial and non-financial supporters, but some stand out by the magnitude or timeliness of their contributions. During the Great Depression, a conditional gift from Southwestern alumna Louisa Carothers Wiess substantially increased the university's endowment and motivated the university to pay off all its debts. While serving in Congress, Lyndon Baines Johnson helped Southwestern acquire the Navy V-12 Program during World War II at a time when the university was struggling financially. Former student Red McCombs contributed financial support for the campus center and an apartment complex. The Brown Foundation, Cullen Foundation, and Mabee Foundation have contributed financial support for multiple construction projects.

Notable alumni[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ As of June 30, 2019. "U.S. and Canadian 2019 NTSE Participating Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year 2019 Endowment Market Value, and Percentage Change in Market Value from FY18 to FY19 (Revised)". National Association of College and University Business Officers and TIAA. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  2. ^ "Southwestern University". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  3. ^ NAICU – Member Directory Archived November 9, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Jones, William B. (2006). To Survive and Excel (PDF). Georgetown, TX: Southwestern University. pp. 59–75.
  5. ^ https://www.southwestern.edu/live/news/14172-southwestern-renames-residence-hall-in-honor-of
  6. ^ "Roy & Margaret Shilling Lecture Series". Archived from the original on February 9, 2013. Retrieved February 4, 2013.
  7. ^ "The Writer's Voice presents Michael Chabon". Southwestern.edu. November 4, 2002. Archived from the original on May 9, 2008. Retrieved October 22, 2008.
  8. ^ "The Writer's Voice". Southwestern.edu. Archived from the original on February 27, 2009. Retrieved October 22, 2008.
  9. ^ "Edward Burger Steps Down as Southwestern University President". www.southwestern.edu.
  10. ^ "Interim President Dale Knobel". www.southwestern.edu.
  11. ^ "Southwestern University: Academics". Retrieved October 23, 2009.
  12. ^ "Southwestern University: Departments". Retrieved October 23, 2009.
  13. ^ a b "Southwestern University Profile". Archived from the original on October 2, 2013. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
  14. ^ "Brown Symposium". Archived from the original on May 27, 2010. Retrieved December 5, 2009.
  15. ^ "Student Works Symposium". Archived from the original on April 20, 2010. Retrieved December 5, 2009.
  16. ^ "America's Top Colleges 2019". Forbes. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
  17. ^ "Best Colleges 2021: National Liberal Arts Colleges". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
  18. ^ "2020 Liberal Arts Rankings". Washington Monthly. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  19. ^ "Southwestern Included in New Edition of Influential College Guide". southwestern.edu (Press release).
  20. ^ "Special Collections in Smith Library Center". Archived from the original on May 27, 2010. Retrieved October 23, 2009.
  21. ^ "H. Allan Anderson of Lubbock, Texas, "John Wesley Snyder"". The Handbook of Texas. Retrieved April 27, 2011.
  22. ^ "Southwestern University: Student Life". southwestern.edu. Archived from the original on February 18, 2009.
  23. ^ http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/southwestern-university-3620
  24. ^ "Athletics at Southwestern". Retrieved October 23, 2009.
  25. ^ "Southwestern to offer lacrosse as a varsity sport". October 7, 2008. Retrieved October 24, 2009.
  26. ^ a b "Southwestern Announces Plans to Reinstate Its Football Program, Add Varsity Lacrosse for Women". Retrieved October 28, 2011.
  27. ^ "AVCA Division III Coaches Top 25 Week #4 Poll: September 29, 2015 - American Volleyball Coaches Association, LLC". Archived from the original on February 16, 2017.
  28. ^ "Texas Strong". Reading Eagle. September 5, 1943.
  29. ^ "Sun Bowl Team Appearances". Retrieved October 28, 2011.
  30. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "SU Historical Alumni Directory: 1844 – 1920". Archived from the original on May 27, 2010. Retrieved October 31, 2009.
  31. ^ Prayer group leader whose wife was murdered has Texas roots
  32. ^ "Stanley Hauerwas". Archived from the original on June 11, 2008. Retrieved December 11, 2009.
  33. ^ Walter Prescott Webb, Eldon Stephen Branda, The Handbook of Texas vol. 3 (1952), p. 482
  34. ^ "Jack's experiences in Spanish cultural and literary studies roused his passion for creative storytelling". Retrieved September 4, 2015.
  35. ^ "Careers in Music: Performance/Music Radio". Retrieved September 4, 2015.

Further reading[edit]

  • Jones, Ralph Wood (1973). Southwestern University 1840–1961. Austin: San Felipe Press.
  • Jones, William B (2006). To Survive and Excel: The Story of Southwestern University, 1840–2000. ISBN 0-9670912-4-1

External links[edit]

Coordinates: 30°38′10″N 97°39′53″W / 30.63600°N 97.66480°W / 30.63600; -97.66480

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