Arkansas State University
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 © Arkansas State University |
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| Motto | Powering Minds |
|---|---|
| Established | 1909 |
| Type | Public |
| President | Les Wyatt |
| Staff | 500 |
| Undergraduates | 10,414 |
| Postgraduates | 1,276 |
| Location | Jonesboro, Arkansas, USA |
| Campus | Urban |
| Athletics | 16 teams |
| Colors | Scarlet and Black |
| Website | http://www.astate.edu/ |
 Logo is a trademark of Arkansas State University |
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Arkansas State University (A-State) is a public university and is the flagship campus of the Arkansas State University System, the state's second largest college system. It is located atop 800 acres on Crowley's Ridge at Jonesboro, Arkansas.
Contents |
[edit] Campuses
- Main campus, Jonesboro, Arkansas
- Arkansas State University Beebe and Arkansas State Technical Institute
- Arkansas State University Searcy, a technical campus of ASU-Beebe
- Arkansas State University Heber Springs, a technical campus of ASU-Beebe
- Arkansas State University Little Rock Air Force Base, a degree center of ASU-Beebe
- Arkansas State University Mountain Home
- Arkansas State University Newport
- Arkansas State University Technical Center, Marked Tree campus and Jonesboro campus
- Arkansas State University Paragould, an instructional site of the Jonesboro campus
[edit] History
ASU or A-State, as it is called today, was founded in Jonesboro in 1909 by the Arkansas Legislature as a regional agricultural training school. It began offering a two-year college program in 1918, then became First District Agricultural and Mechanical College in 1925. A four-year degree program was begun in 1930, then A & M College became Arkansas State College in 1933. The Arkansas Legislature elevated the college to university status and changed the name to Arkansas State University in 1967.
[edit] Degree Programs
Master's degree graduate programs were initiated in 1955, and ASU began offering its first doctoral degree, in educational leadership, in the fall of 1992. A second doctoral program, in environmental science, was begun in the fall of 1997, and the doctoral program in heritage studies began in the fall of 2001. The doctoral program in the biomedical sciences kicked off in fall 2005.
Today, the institution has more than 55,000 alumni. Programs at the specialist's, master's, bachelor's and associate's degree levels are available through the various colleges: Agriculture, Business, Communications, Education, Engineering, Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, Nursing and Health Professions, Sciences and Mathematics, and University College.
[edit] The ASU System
The ASU system includes campuses in Jonesboro (Craighead County), which offers degree programs through the doctoral level; Beebe (White County), Mountain Home (Baxter County), and Newport (Jackson County), where associate degree programs are offered; and at Heber Springs, Marked Tree, and Searcy. Arkansas State University-Beebe became part of the ASU system in 1955. It associated with White River Vo-Tech at Newport in 1992; that campus has attained stand-alone status and is now Arkansas State University-Newport. The Mountain Home campus officially became ASU-Mountain Home on July 1, 1995. Delta Technical Institute at Marked Tree merged with ASU and became Arkansas State University Technical Center on July 1, 2001. A new campus is being built for ASU-Heber Springs, which operates as a sister campus of ASU-Beebe. Foothills Technical Institute at Searcy was merged with ASU-Beebe on July 1, 2003, and is now ASU-Searcy, a technical institute of ASU-Beebe.
ASU offers bachelor's degree programs, master's degree programs and upper level courses through ASU degree centers at ASU-Beebe, ASU-Mountain Home, and three other cities -- Blytheville, Forrest City, and West Memphis -- where partnership agreements have been established in cooperation with the local community colleges. ASU also operates an instructional site at nearby Paragould in Greene County.
Enrollment Growth ASU has grown rapidly over the past 20 years. Current enrollment for the Jonesboro campus stands at about 11,000, and the system has an enrollment of greater than 17,000.
[edit] Athletics
Arkansas State is affiliated with the Sun Belt Conference in sports and maintains NCAA Division I programs in the major sports including football where A-State is a I-A program. The school's sports teams are nicknamed "Indians" in honor of the Osage Nation that inhabited the area until the 1800s. Due to the NCAA ruling of restricting the use of Native American names in postseason competition, A-State along with a number of other universities is scaling back use of their mascots and questioning continued use.[1][2]
As a member of the Southland Conference in 1970, Arkansas State was the NCAA small college football national champion. The Indians defeated Central Missouri State University in the Pecan Bowl, held in Arlington, Texas to win the national championship and complete an undefeated season, 11-0. During the 1980's, ASU was a powerhouse in NCAA Division I-AA, making four appearances in the playoffs, finishing second in 1986.
During the 2005 football season, Arkansas State finished the regular season as Sun Belt Conference champions with a record of 6 wins and 5 loses and was extended an invitation to the New Orleans Bowl. This was the school's first bowl game since the trip to the 1970 Pecan Bowl and subsequent national championship. The Indians were defeated by the University of Southern Mississippi in the game, which was played that year in the city of Lafayette, Louisiana due to the lingering effects of Hurricane Katrina.
[edit] Fight Song
On, on, on to Victory!
Brave team you're second to none
Let's make this game history
Along with the others you've won!
Fight! Fight! Fight!
With all your might
So that the world may see
That I-N-D-I-A-N-S means Victory!
[edit] Alma Mater
Our Alma Mater ASU Your hallowed halls shall ring With praise by daughter and noble son Who proudly stand and sing Mem'ries of your stirring glory And of youthful friends we knew The red and black shall ever wave On high for ASU
[edit] Alumni
Among the alumni of Arkansas State University are the following people:
- Larry P. Arnn- President, Hillsdale College
- Mike Beebe - Governor-elect of Arkansas
- Earl Bell - Olympic bronze medal pole vaulter and former world record holder
- Bill Bergey - NFL star linebacker
- Jeff Hartwig - US record holding pole vaulter
- Maurice Carthon - NFL/USFL player and NFL coach
- Thomas Hill - Olympic silver medalist in 110-meter hurdles
- Al Joyner - Olympic gold medalist in the triple jump
- Major General Bobby Porter - former commanding general of US Army's 82nd Airborne Division
- Major General James Simmons - Deputy Commanding General of Army's III Corps and Fort Hood, Texas
- Major General Eugene Stillions - former commanding general of Army's Fort Lee, Virginia
- Kellie Suttle - two time Olympic pole vaulter and silver medalist at 2001 World Indoor Championships and 1999 Pan American Games
- Debbye Turner - Miss America, 1990
[edit] Greek Life
Approximately 15% of ASU's students are members of one of the 21 Greek organizations located on the campus. Most other student organizations, including the Student Government Association, the Student Activities Board, and the Student Orientation Staff, are led and comprised mainly of Greek students. Many in these groups are dedicated to academics and community service. Also of interest, the cumulative Greek GPA is consistently higher than the overall average ASU GPA. The organizations also devote thousands of man-hours and dollars to local charities each year.
[edit] Sororities
- Alpha Gamma Delta 1948
- Alpha Kappa Alpha
- Alpha Omicron Pi 1949
- Chi Omega 1961
- Delta Sigma Theta
- Delta Zeta 1991
- Kappa Delta 1968
- Phi Mu 1951
- Sigma Gamma Rho
- Zeta Phi Beta
- Zeta Tau Alpha 1968 (closed since 1991)
[edit] Fraternities
- Alpha Gamma Rho 1969
- Alpha Phi Alpha
- Alpha Tau Omega 1968
- Kappa Alpha Order
- Kappa Alpha Psi
- Lambda Chi Alpha
- Phi Beta Sigma (suspended in 2006)
- Pi Kappa Alpha 1948
- Omega Psi Phi
- Sigma Chi
- Sigma Phi Epsilon (closed in 2001)
- Sigma Pi 1948 (first on campus)
- Tau Kappa Epsilon 1949
[edit] External links
- Arkansas State University
- Dean B. Ellis Library
- ASU Athletics
- ASU Museum
- KASU
- The Herald
- ASU-TV
- The Edge
- A-State Baptist Collegiate Ministry
| Sun Belt Conference |
|---|
| Arkansas–Little Rock • Arkansas State • Denver • Florida Atlantic • Florida International • Louisiana–Lafayette • Lousiana–Monroe • Middle Tennessee • New Orleans • North Texas • South Alabama • Troy • Western Kentucky |
| Arkansas State University System |
|---|
| Flagship & Related Sites: Jonesboro — Paragould • Marked Tree Secondary Campuses: Beebe — Heber Springs • Searcy • LRAFB • Arkansas State Technical Institute / Mountain Home / Newport |
