'Central Michigan University' (also known as 'CMU') is a
coeducational state university located in
Mount Pleasant in the
U.S. state of
Michigan. Nearly 28,000 students are enrolled, of which approximately 20,000 are undergraduates, making the university the fourth largest in Michigan. CMU also has off-campus sites located in 15 states and 10 countries. CMU offers students their choice of 27 degrees through eight academic divisions.
Academics
Central Michigan University offers degrees and programs at the
bachelor's,
master's, specialist's and
doctoral levels.
Undergraduate students can select from more than 3,000 classes in 150 programs, and
graduate students have the choice of more than 60 programs. The university offers degrees in 25 areas.
CMU has eight academic divisions:
★ The College of Business Administration
★ The College of Communication and Fine Arts
★ The College of Education and Human Services
★ The Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow College of Health Professions
★ The College of Humanities and Social and Behavioral Sciences
★ The College of Science and Technology
★ The College of Graduate Studies
★ ProfEd
★ The College of Chippewa Tribes
Academic work on campus is supported by the recently renovated
Charles V. Park Library which holds one million books and can seat up to 2,655 patrons at a time.
For many years CMU has offered an MBA program for selected employees of the
Defense Contract Audit Agency.
Athletics
The CMU Chippewas logo, current as of 2007.
The school's athletics programs are affiliated with the
NCAA Division I-A and compete in the
Mid-American Conference. The school colors are maroon and gold, and the school, and its students and alumni are referred to as ''Chippewas'' which is sometimes shortened to ''Chips''. This nickname is used with consent of the nearby
Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, who have a positive relationship with the university. The university was placed on the
NCAA's list of schools with "hostile and abusive" nicknames in August 2005, but appealed the decision, with the support of the
Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe. On
September 2,
2005 the university announced that their appeal of the decision had been upheld.
The school athletics logo has changed over time, once featuring an Indian spear, but is now a stylized block letter "C". Within the university this logo is often referred to as the "flying C" or the "running C", although it is actually called the "action C". The current version of the athletic trademark was first used in 1997. The "flying C" logo was designed by an IET Department undergraduate student in 1995.
CMU's football team won the second
NCAA Division II national championship in 1974 by defeating the
University of Delaware 54 to 14. The team was voted national champion in the Associated Press College Division poll. The Chips have also been national runner-up twice. In 1958 the men's swimming and diving team was runner-up to
North Central College at the second annual
NAIA national meet, which was held in Muncie, Ind. Central's baseball team was
NCAA Division II runner-up in 1971, having lost to
Florida Southern College 4 to 0 in the championship game. In 1994 and 2006, they won the MAC Championship in football. In 2006 against
Ohio and then defeated
Middle Tennessee State in the
Motor City Bowl.
History
Seeking to have better-trained teachers in the state, officials opened the 'Central Michigan Normal School' on
September 13,
1892. Thirty-one students met in a building located on Broadway in downtown Mt. Pleasant that day.
The school was renamed the 'Central State Teacher's College' in 1927. In 1941, it became the 'Central Michigan College of Education', and then the 'Central Michigan College' in 1955 before getting its present name in 1959.
Notable Alumni
★
Canyon Adams, author.
★
Phil Baroni,
UFC professional fighter.
★
Dan Bazuin,
NFL defensive end for the
Chicago Bears
★
Ray Bentley - former
NFL linebacker, primarily with the
Buffalo Bills; broadcaster currently working with
ESPN.
★
Larry Joe Campbell -
actor, currently co-starring on "According to Jim" on
ABC.
★ Jeff Caponigro - public relations executive and author.
★
Jeff Daniels, actor, "Terms of Endearment," "The Purple Rose of Cairo," "Something Wild," "Arachnophobia," "Gettysburg," " Dumb & Dumber," "Pleasantville," "Good Night and Good Luck."
★
Dick Enberg - Emmy-winning sports broadcaster,
CBS.
★
Terry Foster - Detroit News sports writer and co-host of daily radio show on
WXYT,
''The Sports Inferno''.
★
Danelle Gay -
Miss Michigan USA 2006.
★
Eric Ghiaciuc -
NFL Center for the
Cincinnati Bengals.
★
John Grogan -
''Philadelphia Inquirer'' columnist and author of best-selling memoir ''
Marley & Me''.
★
Brock Gutierrez - former
NFL player, primarily for the
Detroit Lions.
★ Roger Hitts, celebrity journalist
★
Gary Hogeboom - former
NFL quarterback for the
Dallas Cowboys
★
Tory Humphrey -
NFL Tight End for the
Green Bay Packers.
★
Cullen Jenkins -
NFL Defensive End for the
Green Bay Packers.
★
Chris Kaman -
NBA player currently with the
Los Angeles Clippers.
★ Lorrie Lynch - weekend Editor, columnist, ''
USA Today'' Magazine.
★
Dan Majerle - former
NBA player, primarily for the
Phoenix Suns.
★ Jim Myers, professional wrestler known by his ring name,
George "The Animal" Steele.
★
Terry O'Quinn - Actor with numerous roles including
Locke in the television show
''Lost''.
★
Carter Oosterhouse -
actor.
★ Rich Robinson, Emmy-winning television producer,
FOX,
Comedy Central.
★
Amy Roloff - Reality TV Star of ''
Little People, Big World''.
★
Dan Roundfield - former
NBA player, primarily with the
Atlanta Hawks
★
Peter Schoomaker - 35th Chief of Staff of the United States Army.
★
Bill Schwab - fine art photographer
★
Joe Staley,
NFL first-round draft pick of the
San Francisco 49ers (2007).
★
Tom Tresh - 1962
American League Rookie-of-the-Year, shortstop, primarily with the
New York Yankees.
★
Lem Tucker - Emmy-winning correspondent,
CBS News.
★
Curt Young - former
MLB pitcher, current pitching coach with the
Oakland Athletics.
★
Adam Kieft -
NFL Offensive Tackle for the
Cincinnati Bengals.
★
Drew Mormino -
NFL Offensive Lineman for the
Miami Dolphins.
Residence Life
Central Michigan University is home to 22 on-campus residence halls, arranged in four districts throughout the campus. In 2006, the 21st and 22nd residence halls on campus opened in what was currently the East complex.
★ North Residence Halls: Larzelere, Trout, Calkins, Robinson, Barnes
★ South Residence Halls: Beddow, Merrill, Thorpe, Sweeney
★ East Residence Halls: Saxe, Herrig, Woldt, Emmons, Celani, Fabiano
★ The Towers: Carey, Cobb, Troutman and Wheeler ("The Original Towers"), Campbell, Kesseler, Kulhavi ("The New Towers")
All residence halls except for the Towers, Barnes Hall, and Robinson Hall are two-bedroom suites designed for 4 or 5 persons. The Original Towers, nine-story high-rise residence halls designed primarily for freshmen, feature one-bedroom suites. The New Towers, as well as Fabiano and Celani, are designed primarily for upperclassmen, and are four-bedroom suites. Robinson Hall and the original section of Barnes are the only residence halls designed for double occupancy. Residents of both the New Towers and Robinson Hall pay an additional charge over the standard room and board rate.
Each district is connected to one of four Residential Restaurants. Only Barnes Hall, the oldest residence hall at CMU, is not directly connected to a residential restaurant. The original section of Barnes Hall is also the only part of any residence hall on campus that has community bathrooms.
Some residence halls are designated as official Residential Colleges, associated with a particular academic department, allowing students who choose to live there opportunities for study and collaboration with other students from similar programs.
★ Carey Hall-Business
★ Herrig Hall-Music
★ Emmons Hall-Health Professions
★ Woldt Hall-Science and Technology
★ Calkins Hall-Education
★ Larzelere and Trout Halls-Honors Program
★ Barnes Hall-Leadership Institute
Barnes Hall is also the traditional home of many of CMU's international students because it is the only hall that remains open during university breaks.
CMU offers both co-ed and single-gender residence halls. Sweeney Hall is for females only, Merrill Hall is for males only. Since the Fall 2005 semester, Calkins Hall, home of the Education residential college, is co-educational, after a long history of being females only. The other residence halls are either co-ed by floor or by room. Starting in the fall of 2007, Beddow and Thorpe Halls will become co-ed due to a decline in students requesting to live in single-gender residence halls.
Construction began on two more buildings, colloquially known as the "Woldt Towers", near the East Quad in the spring of 2005. The buildings will be somewhat similar in design to the New Towers, opened in 2003. On
December 1,
2005, one of the buildings was named The Ben and Marion Celani Residence hall to recognize the generosity of Detroit area businessman Thomas Celani and his wife Vicki. On
April 20,
2006, the remaining building was named the Fabiano Family Residence Hall, recognizing their contribution to the school. John S. Fabiano served on the board of trustees 1999-2004, and also owns the Fabiano Brothers Inc, an alcohol distribution company. These two new halls opened for the fall semester of 2006, along with a new dining commons to serve the residents of the six East Area halls.
Media
The campus' student-run newspaper is ''Central Michigan Life'', an award-winning paper published Monday, Wednesday and Friday during the academic year. There is also a
college radio station run by students,
FM 91.5
WMHW, as well as the student-run
college TV station MHTV. In 2005, a student-operated music label called
Moore Media Records (MMR) was established.
In addition, the university owns and operates
WCMU-TV, the region's
PBS station, and
WCMU-FM, the
NPR affiliate. Both stations serve most of Northern Michigan, including the eastern
Upper Peninsula, through a network of repeater stations.
Also established in 2003 is
White Pine Music, the recording label of the CMU School of Music.
Songs of CMU
Central Fight Song (Primary Fight Song)
Fight, Central, down the field,
Fight for victory!
Fight, fellows, never yield,
We're with you, oh varsity!
Rah! Rah! Rah!
Onward with banners bold, to our colors we'll be true
Fight for maroon and gold!
Down the field for CMU!
Varsity!
Victory!
CHIPPEWA, we're proud of our nickname!
Hear our song!
Loud and strong!
CENTRAL is going to win this game!
Come on and...
(Repeat first stanza)
''by Howard 'Howdy' Loomis, Class of '35''
Hail Chippewa! (Secondary Fight Song)
Hail to the Chippewa
All hail to the Chippewa!
The valiant men who wear maroon and gold
will fight, fight, fight, our honor to uphold!
Hail to the Chippewa
All hail to the Chippewa!
We salute you warriors brave and true,
Win or lose, we're proud of you!
''by Norman C. Dietz''
Greek Life
Social fraternaties on CMU's campus are
Chi Eta Pi,
Sigma Chi,
Sigma Alpha Epsilon,
Alpha Chi Rho,
Phi Sigma Phi,
Phi Mu Alpha,
Lambda Chi Alpha,
Phi Kappa Tau,
Sigma Pi,
Delta Chi,
Phi Sigma Kappa,
Pi Kappa Phi,
Beta Theta Pi,
Sigma Tau Gamma,
Alpha Sigma Phi,
Sigma Lambda Beta,and
Alpha Sigma Sigma,.
Social sororities are
Alpha Sigma Alpha,
Delta Phi Epsilon,
Sigma Sigma Sigma,
Phi Sigma Sigma,
Zeta Tau Alpha,
Alpha Gamma Delta,
Sigma Kappa,
Phi Mu,
Delta Zeta,
Alpha Sigma Tau and
Alpha Chi Omega.
The majority of Greek houses are located in the student neighborhood north of campus. Main Street is home to many of these houses and has traditionally been a staple on the CMU social life. The few remaining houses are located south of campus on Deerfield Road.
The CMU Promise
In July 2005, CMU made state headlines by offering the "CMU Promise", a program that raised tuition rates by nineteen percent for incoming freshmen, but guaranteed these rates would be frozen for "up to" the next five years. The program was implemented as a response to shrinking state funding streams. Modeled after a program at
Western Illinois University, the tuition guarantee is the first of its kind in Michigan. The university kept its commitment to the promise in 2006, as tuition rates for all undergraduate students between their second and fifth years were kept constant. However, tuition rates for incoming freshmen increased by nearly 18% to an in-state figure of $251 per credit hour, a rate that will remain constant until summer of 2011.
Central Michigan Life Report;
July 13,
2006: http://www.cm-life.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2006/07/13/44b6c63ba916c
See also
★
Central Michigan Chippewas
★
Central Michigan Chippewas men's basketball
★
Central Michigan Chippewas football
External links
★
Official website
★
CMU Athletics website
★
Campus Map
★
Central Michigan Life, CMU's campus newspaper (published three times weekly August-May, weekly during the summer)
★
Central Michigan University Public Broadcasting
★
USNews College Review
★
The CentralWord (TCW) CMU's Student Message Board
★
University Libraries
★
White Pine Music, the recording label of the
School of Music of Central Michigan University
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