Kansas State University

Kansas State University, commonly shortened to K-State, is an institution of higher learning located in Manhattan, Kansas, in the United States. Kansas State is the oldest public university in the state of Kansas. K-State had a record high enrollment of 24,378 students for the Fall 2012 semester.

A branch campus is located in Salina, Kansas, housing the College of Technology and Aviation. Another branch campus, known as the Olathe Innovation Campus, is under construction in Olathe, Kansas. The Olathe facility is the academic research presence within the Kansas Bioscience Park, where graduate students participate in research bioenergy, animal health, plant science and food safety and security.

The university is classified as a research university with high research (RU/H) by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.

History
Kansas State University, originally named Kansas State Agricultural College, was founded on February 16, 1863, during the American Civil War, as a land-grant institution under the Morrill Act. The school was the first land-grant college created under the Morrill Act. K-State is the third-oldest school in the Big 12 Conference and the oldest public university in the state of Kansas.

The effort to establish the school began in 1861, the year that Kansas was admitted to the United States. One of the new state legislature's top priorities involved establishing a state university. That year, the delegation from Manhattan introduced a bill to convert Blue Mont Central College (a private college incorporated in Manhattan in 1858) into the state university. But the bill establishing the university in Manhattan was controversially vetoed by Governor Charles L. Robinson of Lawrence, and an attempt to override the veto in the Legislature failed by two votes. In 1862, another bill to make Manhattan the site of the state university failed by one vote. Finally, upon the third attempt on February 16, 1863, the state accepted Manhattan's offer to donate the Blue Mont College building and grounds and established the state's land-grant college at the site – the institution that would become Kansas State University.

When the college opened for its first session on September 2, 1863, it became only the second public institution of higher learning to admit women and men equally in the United States. Enrollment for the first session totaled 52 students: 26 men and 26 women.

The early years of the institution witnessed debate over whether the college should provide a focused agricultural education or a full liberal arts education. During this era, the tenor of the school shifted with the tenure of university presidents. For example, President John A. Anderson (1873–1879) favored a limited education and President George T. Fairchild (1879–1897) favored a classic liberal education. Fairchild was credited with saying, "Our college exists not so much to make men farmers as to make farmers men."

During this era, in 1873, Kansas State helped pioneer the academic teaching of home economics for women, becoming one of the first two colleges to offer the program of study. In 1874, the college also became the first in the United States to offer printing courses, which led to journalism courses being launched in 1910; thus, today's A.Q. Miller School of Journalism & Mass Communications, though no longer teaching printing, has the nation's longest continuously offered curriculum in mass communication.

In November 1928, the school was accredited by the Association of American Universities (AAU) as a school whose graduates were deemed capable of advanced graduate work. The name of the school was changed in 1931 to "Kansas State College of Agriculture and Applied Science." In 1959, the Kansas legislature changed the name again to "Kansas State University of Agriculture and Applied Science" to reflect a growing number of graduate programs, although as a practical and legal matter it has since been referred to as "Kansas State University." Milton S. Eisenhower served as president of the university from 1943 to 1950, and Dr. James McCain succeeded him, serving from 1950 to 1975. Several buildings, including residence halls and a student union, were added to the campus in the 1950s. The 1960s witnessed demonstrations against the Vietnam War, though fewer than at other college campuses. Enrollment was relatively high through most of the 1970s, but the university endured a downward spiral from approximately 1976 to 1986, when enrollment decreased to 17,570 and a number of faculty resigned. In 1986, Jon Wefald assumed the presidency of Kansas State University. During his tenure, enrollment and donations increased. On June 15, 2009, Kirk Schulz became the 13th president of Kansas State University. In March 2010 he announced his K-State 2025 plan. The initiative is designed to elevate K-State to a top 50 nationally recognized research university by 2025.

Campus
The university moved from the location of Blue Mont Central College to its present site in 1875. The original site is now occupied by Central National Bank of Manhattan, Kansas, and Founders Hill Apartments. Holtz Hall, built in 1876 is the oldest free-standing building on campus. Contrary to popular belief, the oldest building on campus is the original section of Seaton Hall which forms Seaton Court facing the courtyard of Hale Library and Eisenhower Hall. Previously name The Industrial Workshop, it is the oldest remaining structure on the Manhattan campus.

The signature building at Kansas State University, Anderson Hall, developed in three stages between 1877 and 1885. Anderson Hall, now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, has housed the university's administrative offices for more than a century.

The main campus of Kansas State University in Manhattan now covers 668 acre. Since 1986, Kansas State has added over 2 million square feet (186,000 m²) of buildings to the campus, including a new library, art museum and plant sciences building. Several of the buildings on campus were heavily damaged by an EF4 tornado on June 11, 2008. Damage estimates totaled more than $20 million. K-State paid a deductible of $5 million for their insurance to repair all damages.

Academic profile
Since 1986, Kansas State ranks first nationally among state universities in its total of Rhodes, Marshall, Truman, Goldwater, and Udall scholars with 124 recipients. The school is a member of the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools, and is home to the Kansas Beta chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society.

Kansas State University has 65 academic departments in nine colleges: agriculture; Architecture, planning and design; arts and sciences; business administration; education; engineering; human ecology; technology and aviation; and veterinary medicine. The graduate school offers nearly 100 master's degree programs and nearly 50 doctoral programs.

In 1991, the former Kansas Technical Institute in Salina, Kansas was merged with Kansas State University by an act of the Kansas legislature. The College of Technology and Aviation is located at the Salina campus, and is commonly referred to as K-State Salina.

K-State is also known for several distinguished lecture series: Landon Lecture, Lou Douglas Lecture, Huck Boyd Lecture, and Dorothy L. Thompson Civil Rights Lectures. In recent years, the Landon Lecture Series has had high profile speakers, including President George W. Bush, President Bill Clinton, Former Mexican President Vicente Fox and Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

K-State implemented an academic honor code in 1999. When students are admitted, it is implied that they will adhere to the Honor Pledge: "On my honor, as a student, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this academic work."

Research
The university has had a long-standing interest in agriculture, particularly native Great Plains plant and animal life. The Kansas State University Gardens is an on-campus horticulture display garden that serves as an educational resource and learning laboratory for K-State students and the public. The Konza Prairie is a native tallgrass prairie preserve located south of Manhattan, which is co-owned by The Nature Conservancy and Kansas State University and operated as a field research station by the department of biology. The university also owns an additional 18000 acre in cities across the state that it operates as Agricultural Experiment Stations in research centers in Hays, Garden City, Colby, and Parsons.

The university is home to several museums, including the Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art, the K-State Insect Zoo, the KSU Historic Costume and Textiles Museum, and the Chang, Chapman, and Kemper galleries, which feature faculty and student artwork. The university also offers an annual cycle of performance art at McCain Auditorium, including concerts, plays and dance.

In 2006, K-State dedicated the Biosecurity Research Institute. The BRI, in Pat Roberts Hall, is a safe and secure location in which scientists and their collaborators can study high-consequence pathogens. It was designed and constructed for biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) and biosafety level 3 agriculture (BSL-3Ag) research.

The availability of the BRI was part of what attracted the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility to K-State and Manhattan. The NBAF will feature about 500000 sqft of research and support space. Construction of the NBAF will cost an estimated $650 million and should be complete by 2016. It will stand just north of K-State's College of Veterinary Medicine and the BRI.

Following the NBAF decision, leaders at two additional federal facilities announced they are coming to K-State. The Arthropod-Borne Animal Disease Research Unit, or ABADRU, specializes in animal and plant diseases transmitted by insects. The lab relocated from Laramie, Wyo., to K-State in order to fully realize its research mandate. The Center of Excellence for Emerging and Zoonotic Animal Diseases, or CEEZAD, will research foreign animal, zoonotic and newly discovered pathogens that can have a consequential economic impact on U.S. agriculture, homeland security and human and animal health. It will be led by K-State's Dr. Juergen Richt.

Kansas State University offers the Landon Lecture Series for students, faculty and the community. The lecture series' name honors former Kansas governor and presidential candidate Alfred Landon.

The series has featured many prominent speakers –– primarily current or former political or government leaders. For example, on Jan. 23, 2006, U.S. President George W. Bush delivered the university's 143rd Landon Lecture at Bramlage Coliseum. On March 2, 2007, his predecessor, Bill Clinton, delivered the 149th Landon Lecture. Also, on September 23, 2008, former Mexican president Vicente Fox gave the 152nd Landon Lecture. Overall, six U.S. presidents and three foreign presidents have given Landon Lectures at K-State. There are approximately four speakers per year. In January 2011, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor spoke at the lecture.

The university's extensive list of research facilities includes the James R. Macdonald Laboratory for research in atomic, molecular and optical physics and the NASA Center for Gravitational Studies in Cellular and Developmental Biology. The excimer laser, which made LASIK eye surgery possible, is a technology developed by Kansas State researchers.

Other research facilities include:
 * Center for Complex Fluid Flows
 * Institute for Environmental Research
 * The National Gas Machinery Laboratory
 * TRIGA Mark II Nuclear Research Facility
 * Semiconductor Materials and Radiological Technologies (S.M.A.R.T.) Laboratory
 * Electronics Design Laboratory

Student life
K-State has 11 residence halls on campus: Boyd Hall, Ford Hall, Goodnow Hall, Haymaker Hall, Marlatt Hall, Moore Hall, West Hall, Putnam Hall, Van Zile Hall, The Living Community at Jardine, and Smurthwaite, as well as Jardine Apartments. Smurthwaite, Ford, and Boyd Halls are all female. Haymaker and Marlatt Halls were all-male residence halls until the fall semesters of 2002 and 2009 respectively, when they became co-educational. The residence halls are divided into three complexes: Derby, Kramer, and Strong.

Kansas State has more than 400 student organizations. The Student Governing Association is the largest organization of student leaders, composed of elected and appointed officials. The Student Governing Association follows the model of the U.S. government, with executive, legislative and judicial branches.

The Association of Residence Halls (KSUARH) is the second largest organization of student leaders working towards better the on-campus living experience for students living in the Residence Halls around campus. GSA is the Graduate Student Association, and members include K-State's graduate-level business students. GSC is the Graduate Student Council, open to graduate-level students of all disciplines. Kansas State University also offers Army ROTC (Reserve Officers' Training Corps) and Air Force ROTC programs.

Student media includes KSDB-FM The Wildcat 91.9 Student Radio, the Kansas State Collegian, the Royal Purple Yearbook, and the "Purple Power Hour," "Manhattan Matters," & "Wildcat Watch".

Alma Mater is the name of the official school song of Kansas State University. In 1888, when the University was still Kansas State Agricultural College, H.W. Jones submitted the song as part of a school-wide contest. It was originally a four-stanza song and, over the years, some lyrics have changed. The song is sung at most K-State sporting events by fans, students and alumni. Wildcat Victory and Wabash Cannonball are both commonly used as fight songs. Wildcat Victory is used by many high schools as their fight song.

Athletics


Kansas State's sports teams are called the Wildcats. They participate in the NCAA's Division I and the Big 12 Conference. The official school color is Royal Purple, making Kansas State one of very few schools (alongside Syracuse and Harvard) that have only one official color. White and silver are commonly used as complementary colors, with white mentioned with purple in the university's fight song "Wildcat Victory." The athletics logo is a stylized Wildcat head in profile usually featured in the school color.

Sports sponsored by the school include football, basketball, cross country and track, baseball, golf, tennis, rowing, equestrian and volleyball. The head football coach is Bill Snyder, the head men's basketball coach is Bruce Weber, the head women's basketball coach is Deb Patterson and the head baseball coach is Brad Hill.

Alumni
Beginning with the first graduating class in 1867, a number of Kansas State alums have gone on to distinguished careers. The Governor of Kansas and one U.S. Senator from Kansas are graduates of Kansas State University. Other graduates serve as the vice-president of Liberia, the president of the Georgia Institute of Technology, and the chief White House photographer. Kansas State alums have been enshrined in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame, served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and have earned Emmy Awards and Olympic gold medals.