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Northwestern University

"Northwestern University" redirects here. For other uses, see Northwestern University (disambiguation).
Northwestern University
Motto: Quaecumque sunt vera (Latin)
Motto in English: Whatsoever things are true (Philippians 4:8 KJV)
Established: 1851
Type: Private
Endowment: US $6.503 billion[1][2]
President: Henry S. Bienen
Provost: Daniel I. Linzer
Faculty: 2,925[3]
Students: 18,028[4]
Undergraduates: 8,284[4]
Location: Flag of the United States Evanston and Chicago, IL, U.S.
Colors: Purple and White[5]            
Mascot: Willie the Wildcat
Athletics: NCAA Division I, Big Ten
Wildcats
Affiliations: Association of American Universities, COFHE
Website: www.northwestern.edu

Northwestern University (NU) is a non-sectarian private research university located in Evanston, Illinois and downtown Chicago, Illinois, United States. Northwestern's main campus is a 240-acre (97 ha) parcel in Evanston, along the shore of Lake Michigan. Selected campuses of Northwestern's professional schools such as the School of Law, the Feinberg School of Medicine, and parts of the Kellogg School of Management are located in the Streeterville neighborhood of downtown Chicago.

Northwestern was founded in 1851 to serve the people of the Northwest Territory. A 379-acre (153 ha) tract of farmland along Lake Michigan 12 miles (19 km) north of Chicago was chosen as the new Evanston campus. The university is organized into eleven schools and colleges and in 2007, enrolled 8,284 undergraduate and 9,744 graduate and professional students and granted 2,089 bachelor's degrees and 3,543 graduate and professional degrees.[4] Northwestern employs 2,925 full-time faculty members and had $284 million in research expenditures in 2007.[3]

The Northwestern Wildcats compete in 19 intercollegiate sports in the NCAA's Division I Big Ten Conference.

Contents

History

Main article: History of Northwestern University
The Arch at Northwestern's Evanston campus

Northwestern was founded in 1851 by Methodists from Chicago (including John Evans, after whom Evanston is named), and opened in Evanston in 1855 with two faculty members and ten students. The school’s nine founders, all of whom were Methodists (three of them ministers), knelt in prayer and worship before launching their first organizational meeting.[6] The University's name, Northwestern, came from its founders' desire to serve citizens of the states that occupied the area of the former Northwest Territory: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota. The original Evanston campus in 1855 consisted of only one building, a temporary structure called "Old College." University Hall, the first permanent building, was constructed in 1869. Northwestern built a campus in Chicago for its graduate schools of law, medicine, and business in the 1920s.

The phrase on Northwestern's seal is Quaecumque sunt vera -- in Latin, "Whatsoever things are true" from Philippians 4:8. Also on Northwestern's seal is a Greek phrase inscribed on the pages of an open book: ho logos pleres charitos kai aletheias, which translates as "The Word... full of grace and truth." This phrase comes from the Gospel of John 1:14: "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we behold His glory, and the glory was of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." Both the Latin and Greek phrases express the values of the University's founders, and recall Northwestern's Methodist heritage.

Northwestern's founding charter granted the school a permanent exemption from paying property taxes. For this reason, Northwestern has often endured a difficult relationship with Evanston's government. Tensions have arisen regarding building codes, law enforcement, and politics. Recently, factions of Evanston's government have attempted to divide Northwestern's campus into several different wards, in order to reduce students' voting power.

In 1873, the Evanston College for Ladies merged with Northwestern, and Frances Willard, who later gained fame as a suffragist, became the school's first dean of women. Northwestern first became co-educational in 1869 at the insistence of Dean Erastus Haven, and the first female student graduated in 1874. [7]

Purple became Northwestern's official school color in 1892[8], replacing black and gold; a university committee thought that too many other universities used those colors. Today, Northwestern only has one official color, royal purple. However, tradition has firmly established white as a de facto if not de jure official color.[9] As a result, the University's Alma Mater mentions white in conjunction with purple ("Hail to purple, hail to white"), and both are listed in the university guidelines.[5]

University Hall, the second building constructed on the campus, and the oldest building still standing.

During the 1930s, Northwestern nearly merged with its academic rival, the University of Chicago.[10] In 1933, Northwestern President Walter Scott and Chicago President Robert Hutchins concluded that in order to secure the future of both universities, it was in the best interest of both to merge as the Universities of Chicago, with Northwestern's Evanston campus serving undergraduates, Northwestern's Chicago campus serving professionals, and Chicago's Hyde Park campus serving postgraduates. What Scott and Hutchins initially envisioned as the preeminent university in the world was eventually extinguished by Northwestern's board of trustees, a result that Hutchins called "one of the lost opportunities of American education." [10]

Northwestern hosted the first-ever NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship game in 1939. It took place in the original Patten Gymnasium, which was later demolished and relocated farther north in order to make room for the Technological Institute. In 1948, prominent anthropologist Melville J. Herskovits founded the Program of African Studies at Northwestern, the first center of its kind at an American academic institution. In May 1978, the first Unabomber attack occurred at Northwestern University. The following year, the second Unabomber attack also occurred at Northwestern.

In 1999, Northwestern student journalists uncovered information that exonerated Illinois death row inmate Anthony Porter two days before his scheduled execution. Since, the Medill Innocence Project has exonerated nine more innocent men.[11] On January 11, 2003, in a speech at Northwestern School of Law's Lincoln Hall, Governor of Illinois George Ryan announced that he would commute the sentences of more than 150 death row inmates. Ryan said, "it is fitting that we are gathered here today at Northwestern University with the students, teachers, lawyers and investigators who first shed light on the sorrowful conditions of Illinois’ death penalty system."[12]

Campuses

See also: List of Northwestern University buildings

Evanston

Northwestern Lakefill with Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Background

Northwestern's Evanston campus, home to the undergraduate program, graduate school, and business school, runs north-south in between Lake Michigan and Sheridan Road from Clark Street to Central Street. The north side of campus is home to the campus' fraternity quads, the Henry Crown Sports Pavilion and other athletic facilities, the Technological Institute, Dearborn Observatory, and other science-related buildings including Ryan Hall, and the Ford Motor Company Engineering Design Center. The south side of campus is home to the University's humanities buildings, music buildings (such as Pick-Staiger Concert Hall), art buildings (such as the Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art), and sorority quads. This division in building location, along with the fact that the south end of campus is closer to the downtown center of Evanston, creates a cultural difference between the students typically found on either end of the campus. In the 1960s, the University expanded its campus boundaries by constructing a lakefill in Lake Michigan. The additional 84 acres (340,000 m2) are now home to the Northwestern University Library, Norris University Center, and Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, among other facilities.

The Chicago Transit Authority's elevated train running through Evanston is called the Purple Line, taking its name from Northwestern's school color. The Foster and Davis stations are within walking distance of the southern end of the campus, while the Noyes station is close to the northern end of the campus. The Central station is close to Ryan Field, Northwestern's football stadium. Northwestern's professional schools and hospital in downtown Chicago are about four blocks east of the Chicago station on the CTA Red Line. The Chicago Transit Authority and Pace Suburban Bus Service have several bus routes that run through both campuses. The Evanston Davis Street Metra station serves the Northwestern campus in downtown Evanston as well, and the Evanston Central Street Metra station is near Ryan Field.

Chicago

The Montgomery Ward Building at the Feinberg School of Medicine—America's first academic skyscraper. [13]

Northwestern's Chicago campus is located in the city's Streeterville neighborhood, with close proximity to landmarks such as the John Hancock Center and Michigan Avenue. The Chicago campus is home to the medical school and hospital, the law school, the part-time business school, and the School of Continuing Studies, which offers evening and weekend courses for working adults. Its Ward Building was the first academic skyscraper in the country.

Qatar

In fall 2008, Northwestern a opened campus in Education City, Doha, Qatar joining five other American universities: Carnegie Mellon University, Cornell University, Georgetown University, Texas A&M University, and Virginia Commonwealth University.[14] The Medill School of Journalism and School of Communication offer bachelors degrees in journalism and communication respectively without matriculants ever attending the American campus.[15] The Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development provided funding for construction and administrative costs as well as support to hire 50 to 60 faculty and staff, some of whom will rotate between the Evanston and Qatar campuses.[16][17]

Organization and administration

Northwestern is owned and governed by a privately-appointed board of trustees. The current board, with 70 members and chaired by Patrick G. Ryan, delegates its power to an elected President to serve as the chief executive officer of the university.[18] Northwestern has had fifteen presidents in its history (excluding interim presidents) and the current president, Henry Bienen, has served in the office since January 1995. President Bienen announced his intention to retire effective August 31, 2009 and Morton O. Schapiro will assume the role on September 1, 2009.[19][20] The president currently has an immediate staff of 21 vice presidents, directors, and other assistants for administrative, financial, faculty, and student matters.[21] The Provost, Daniel I. Linzer since September 2007, serves under the President as the chief academic officer of the university and is the office to which the deans of every academic school, leaders of cross-disciplinary units, and chairs of the 17 standing faculty committees report.[22]

The University Senate is comprised of all full-time faculty and makes recommendations on matters of educational policy, recommends candidates for honorary degrees, and can elect special committees such as the 22-member General Faculty Committee which serves as a liaison between the faculty and administration.[23][24] The Associated Student Government and Graduate Student Association are likewise the elected, representative liaison bodies for undergraduate and graduate students respectively to the university administration.[25][26]

Northwestern University is composed of 11 schools and colleges. The faculty for each school consists of the university president, provost, the dean of the school, and the instructional faculty. Faculty are responsible for teaching, research, advising students, and serving on committees. The admission requirements, degree requirements, course of study, disciplinary and degree recommendations are determined by the voting members of each school's faculty (assistant professor and above).[24]

In 2007, Northwestern's endowment increased by 26.5% to $6.503 billion, making it the 11th-largest endowment of all American universities.[2] In the eleven year period between 1997 and 2007, the endowment grew by an average rate of 13.4%.[27] $187.9 million is gifts and other voluntary support were made to Northwestern in 2006–2007.[28] In 2007, the university sold its royalty interest in the pain relief drug Lyrica (developed at Northwestern by Professor Richard Bruce Silverman) for $700 million, the largest royalty sale in history,[29] and the proceeds placed in the endowment to support financial aid, research, and construction.[1]

Undergraduate and Graduate Programs Graduate and Professional
Evanston Campus Evanston Campus

Chicago Campus
Chicago Campus
  • School of Continuing Studies (1933)

The Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary (1853) is also located on the Evanston campus, though it is only affiliated with the university.

Academics

U.S. University Rankings
ARWU World[30] 29th
ARWU National[31] 22nd
ARWU Natural Science & Math[32] 30th
ARWU Engineering & CS[33] 20th
ARWU Life Sciences[34] 51st
ARWU Clinical Medicine[35] 39th
ARWU Social Sciences[36] 13th
CMUP[37] 23rd
THES World[38] 33rd
USNWR National University[39] 12th
USNWR Business[40] 4th
USNWR Law[41] 9th
USNWR Medical (research) [42] 20th
USNWR Medical (primary care) [43] 44th
USNWR Engineering[44] 21st
USNWR Education[45] 7th
Forbes[46] 11th
FSPI[47] 19th

Northwestern is a large, highly residential research university.[48] Accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools and the respective national professional organizations for chemistry, psychology, business, education, journalism, music, engineering, law, and medicine,[49] the university offers over 130 undergraduate programs and 70 graduate and professional programs.[50][51] NU granted 2,089 bachelors degrees, 2,665 masters degrees, 462 doctoral degrees, and 416 professional degrees in 2006–2007.[4]

The four year, full-time undergraduate program comprises the majority of enrollments at the university and emphasizes instruction in the "arts & sciences/professions."[48] There is no required common core curriculum;[citation needed] individual degree requirements are set by the faculty of each school.[24] Northwestern's full-time undergraduate and graduate programs operate on an approximately 10 week academic quarter system with the primary three academic quarters beginning in late September and ending in early June.[52] Although undergraduates are required to complete at least 12 quarters on campus to graduate, Northwestern offers honors, accelerated, and joint degree programs in medicine, science, mathematics, engineering, and journalism.[53] The comprehensive doctoral graduate program has high coexistence with undergraduate programs.[48]

Undergraduates with grade point averages in the highest 3 percent of each graduating class are awarded degrees summa cum laude, the next 5 percent magna cum laude, and the next 8 percent cum laude.[54] Northwestern also has chapters of academic honor societies such as Phi Beta Kappa, Eta Kappa Nu, Tau Beta Pi, and Lambda Phi Eta.[54] Since 1951, Northwestern has awarded 520 honorary degrees to distinguished individuals.[55][56]

Student body

Northwestern enrolled 8,284 undergraduate, 8,249 graduate, and 1,495 professional students in the 2006–2007 academic year.[4] The undergraduate population is 51.6% female and represents 50 states and 50 countries.[4][57] Admissions are characterized as "more selective, lower transfer-in".[48] There were 21,930 applications for the undergraduate Class of 2011 (entering 2007): 5,872 were admitted (26.8%), 1,981 enrolled (33.7%), and 96.3% rematriculated as sophomores.[58] The interquartile range on the SAT was 2010–2270 and 85% ranked in the top ten percent of their high school class.[58] 86% of students graduated after four years and 93% after six years.[4]

Demographics of student body[59][60]
Undergraduate Graduate & Professional U.S. Census
African American 6.0% 4.0% 12.1%
Asian American 16.6% 9.9% 4.3%
White American 59.2% 46.0% 65.8%
Hispanic American 6.7% 3.1% 14.5%
Native American 0.1% 0.2% 0.9%
International student 5.0% 20.0% N/A

Undergraduate tuition for the 2008–2009 school year was $37,125.[61] Northwestern awards financial aid solely on the basis of need through loans, work-study, grants, and scholarships.[61][62] $213.8 million was offered in financial aid across the university's undergraduate and graduate programs, including $81 million from university funds, federal and state aid, and outside sources awarded to 3,380 undergraduates in 2007–2008.[61][62] Beginning in fall 2008, Northwestern replaced loans with grants for students with the greatest financial need, although only 9% of students qualify for Pell Grants.[63][64] 46% of Northwestern undergraduates graduate with student debt and the average debt is $18,393.[64]

Among the six undergraduate schools, 51.2% of undergraduate students are enrolled in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, 17.2% in the McCormick School of Engineering, 14.7% in the School of Communication, 8.4% in the Medill School of Journalism, 5.0% in the Bienen School of Music, and 3.4% in the School of Education.[65] The five most commonly awarded degrees are in economics, journalism, communication studies, psychology, and political science.[66] While professional students are affiliated with their respective schools, the Graduate School rather than home schools is responsible for enrolling and administering the full-time graduate students pursuing advanced academic degrees.[67][68] With 2,075 students enrolled in science, engineering, and health fields,[69] the largest graduate programs by enrollment include chemistry, integrated biology, material sciences, electrical engineering and computer science, neuroscience, and economics.[70] The Kellogg School of Management, School of Law, and Feinberg School of Medicine are the three largest professional programs by enrollment.[65]

Libraries and museums

The neo-Brutalist architecture of the University Library

The Northwestern library system is comprised of four libraries on the Evanston campus including the central University Library, three on the Chicago campus, and two affiliated with the Garrett-Evangelical and Seabury-Western seminaries respectively.[71] The library contains over 4.6 million volumes, 4.5 million microforms, and 45,000 periodicals making it (by volume) the 30th-largest university library in North America and the 10th-largest library among private universities.[71][72] Library expenditures totaled $26.3 million in 2006 and over 100,000 volumes were added in the same year.[72] Notable collections in the library system include the Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies, one of the largest Africana collections in the world,[73] an extensive collection of early edition printed music and manuscripts as well as late-modern works, and an art collection noted for its 19th and 20th-century Western art and architecture periodicals.[74] The library system participates with twelve other universities in digitizing its collections as a part of the Google Book Search project.[74] The Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art is a major art museum within Chicagoland and contains over 4,000 works in its permanent collection in addition to dedicating a third of its space to temporary and traveling exhibits as a kunsthalle.[75]

Faculty and research

Main article: List of Northwestern University faculty
Ford Design Center

Northwestern was elected to the Association of American Universities in 1917 and remains a research university with "very high" research activity.[48][76] Northwestern manages research and development budgets that totaled $420.0 million in 2006, 34th among all universities and 13th among private universities in the United States.[77][78] $250.0 originated from the federal government, $12.2 million from industry, $5.1 million from state and local governments, $44.5 million from other sources, and $108.2 million from Northwestern's own institutional funds, the third most among private universities nationwide.[77] Northwestern dedicates 839,000 square feet (77,900 m2) to science and engineering research space, predominately in the medical and biological sciences.[79] Northwestern spent $29.8 million on research in non-science and engineering fields like management, education, law, communication, and journalism in 2006, 12th most among all American universities.[80] Northwestern researchers disclosed 184 inventions, filed 158 patents applications, received 32 patents, started 9 companies, and generated $776 million in license income in 2008, although the latter is distorted by the $700 million sale of Lyrica to Pfizer, the largest royalty sale in history.[81][29]

The university employs 2,925 full-time faculty members and approximately 5,600 staff members among its eleven schools,[3] including 26 members of the National Academy of Sciences,[82] 74 members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences,[83] 21 members of the National Academy of Engineering,[84] and 6 members of the Institute of Medicine.[85] Notable current faculty include sexual psychologist J. Michael Bailey;[86] Holocaust denier Arthur Butz;[87] former-Weatherman Bernardine Rae Dohrn;[88] ethnographer Gary Alan Fine; Kyoto Prize-winning philosopher Jurgen Habermas;[89] Templeton Prize-winner Charles Taylor;[90] Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Garry Wills;[91] and MacArthur Fellowship recipients Stuart Dybek, Aleksandar Hemon, Jennifer Richeson, and Mary Zimmerman. Notable former faculty include artist Ed Paschke,[92] writer Charles Newman,[93] Nobel Laureate chemist John Pople,[94] and military sociologist and "don't ask, don't tell" author Charles Moskos.[95]

NU is home to the Northwestern Institute for Complex Systems, Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center, Materials Research Center, Institute for Policy Research, International Institute for Nanotechnology, Center for Catalysis and Surface Science, Buffet Center for International and Comparative Studies, and the Argonne/Northwestern Solar Energy Research Center.[96]

Campus life

Traditions

 This article is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this section to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (December 2008)
The Rock in front of University Hall

Northwestern University student traditions include:

Media

The Daily Northwestern is the main student newspaper at Northwestern. It is published on weekdays during the academic year. Established in 1881, it is run entirely by undergraduates, many of whom are students at the Medill School of Journalism. The Daily is widely considered one of the best college newspapers in the country, a frequent winner of the Columbia Scholastic Press Association and the coveted Associated Collegiate Press Pacemaker award. Although it serves the Northwestern community, the Daily is not affiliated with the university and is supported entirely by advertisers. It is owned by the Students Publishing Company. Current circulation is in excess of 7,500 as The Daily Northwestern is the only daily publication for both Northwestern University and the city of Evanston.

WNUR (89.3 FM) is a 7200 watt radio station that broadcasts to Chicago and its northern suburbs. It is the largest student-run radio station in the country. In 2003, WNUR was named the #1 college radio station in the country by Spin magazine. WNUR has also been recognized as a top US station by The Wire and is often cited as one of the major centers for the nascent indie music movement during the early 1990s. However, music is not the only part of WNUR's programming. Students broadcast Northwestern's varsity athletics (football, men's and women's basketball, baseball, softball, and women's lacrosse) live, produce news updates on weekdays, and discuss politics, current events, and literature.

The Northwestern News Network, commonly known as NNN, is the student television news and sports operation at Northwestern. It broadcasts news and sports programming three days of the week during the academic year on NU Channel 1, online at nnntv.org and weeknights at 10 p.m. on Evanston cable access channel 6.

North by Northwestern is a student-run online publication dedicated to campus life. It recently won first place in its region for Best All-Around Independent Online Student Publication from the Society of Professional Journalists.

Other prominent student publications include the The Northwestern Chronicle, Northwestern's monthly alternative newspaper; Northwestern Business Review, a business magazine; Helicon and Prompt, literary magazines; schmooze, a magazine for Jewish college students around the country; STITCH, a fashion and photography magazine; Blackboard, published by black student alliance For Members Only; Mustardseed, a Christian publication; NUde Magazine, which focuses on student culture and experiencing Chicago; and The Protest, part of the Peace Project umbrella organization.

Performing arts

Student theater enjoys a highly visible presence on campus. Two annual productions are especially notable: the Waa-Mu[100] show, and the Dolphin show. Waa-Mu is an original musical, written and produced almost entirely by students. The Dolphin Show is the nation's largest student produced musical. Children's theater is represented on campus by Griffin’s Tale and the recently formed Purple Crayon Players. Also notable is the Jewish Theatre Ensemble (JTE), which produces shows with either explicit or implicit Jewish themes. In addition, Northwestern boasts the largest student-theatre community in the nation. Its umbrella organization -- the Student Theatre Coalition, or StuCo -- organizes the 9 fully-functioning student theatre companies, plus some other performance groups. One of these student theatre companies, Arts Alliance, is the biggest non-profit student arts organization in the country. Students produce over sixty independent productions each year. Many Northwestern alumni have used these productions as stepping stones to successful television and film careers. Chicago's Lookingglass Theatre was founded by several alumni, including David Schwimmer, and began in the Great Room in Jones Residential College.

Northwestern also has a variety of improv groups. The improv and sketch comedy group Mee-Ow created by Paul Warshauer and Josh Lazar lists Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Ana Gasteyer, Dermot Mulroney, Seth Meyers, John Cameron Mitchell, and Kristen Schaal among its alumni. The Titanic Players are the oldest long-form improv group in the country. Mee-Ow, Titanic, and Out da Box, a multicultural comedy show, along with Northwestern's theatre department, have brought nation-wide attention to Northwestern's improv comedy training and performance.[citation needed]

There are ten a cappella groups and a variety of dance companies on campus. The dance companies include Fusion Dance Company, a Hip-Hop Dance Crew; Graffiti Dancers, a dance group that focuses on jazz and modern; and Boomshaka, Northwestern's premiere drum and dance ensemble, combining body rhythm, drumming, and dance. Radio drama featuring student voice actors is a staple of WNUR's programming.

Service

Many Northwestern students are also heavily involved in community service. Annual events include Dance Marathon, a 30-hour event that raised over $708,000 for charity in 2007. [101] In recognition for their efforts, the Dance Marathon 2007 organizers were awarded the Outstanding Youth in Philanthropy Award by the Chicago Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. Another annual event, Project Pumpkin, is a Halloween celebration hosted by Northwestern Community Development Corps (NCDC), where over 800 local children are invited to campus for an afternoon of games and candy. NCDC connects hundreds of NU student volunteers to over 20 volunteer sites in Evanston and Chicago communities throughout the year. Many students have assisted with the Special Olympics and have taken alternative spring break trips to hundreds of service sites across the United States. Northwestern students also participate in the Freshman Urban Program - a special program for students interested in community service.

Housing

See also: List of Northwestern University residences

Northwestern has diverse student housing options, including both regular residence halls and specially-themed "Residential Colleges." Some residential colleges include Jones Residential College, dedicated to the arts, multi-themed Willard Residential College, multi-themed Shepard Residential College, science and engineering themed Slivka Residential College, and the Communications Residential College (CRC) for students interested in communications.

In fall 2007, 27% of students were affiliated with a fraternity or a sorority.[102]Traditionally, Northwestern has had the highest percentage of students involved in Greek life among Big Ten universities.[citation needed]

Athletics

Main article: Northwestern Wildcats
2005 NCAA Women's Lacrosse Championship game between the Virginia Cavaliers and Northwestern Wildcats

Northwestern is a charter member of the Big Ten Conference and the only private institution in the conference. Currently, Northwestern fields 19 intercollegiate athletic teams (8 men's and 11 women's) in addition to numerous club sports.[3] The football team plays at Ryan Field (formerly known as Dyche Stadium); the basketball and volleyball teams play at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

Northwestern's athletic teams are nicknamed the Wildcats. Before 1924, they were known as "The Purple" and unofficially as "The Fighting Methodists." The name Wildcats was bestowed upon the university in 1924 by Wallace Abbey, a writer for the Chicago Daily Tribune who wrote that even in a loss to the University of Chicago, "Football players had not come down from Evanston; wildcats would be a name better suited to [Coach Glenn] Thistletwaite's boys." [103] The name was so popular that university board members made "wildcats" the official nickname just months later. In 1972, the student body voted to change the official nickname from "Wildcats" to "Purple Haze" but the new name never stuck.[104]

The Northwestern Athletics' mascot is Willie the Wildcat. However, the team's first mascot was not Willie, but a live, caged bear cub from the Lincoln Park Zoo named Furpaw. In fall 1923, Furpaw was driven to the playing field to greet the fans before each game. After a losing season, the team decided that Furpaw was the harbinger of bad luck and banished him from campus. Willie made his debut ten years later in 1933 as a logo, but did not actually come to life until 1947, when members of the Alpha Delta fraternity dressed up as him during the Homecoming parade. The Northwestern University Marching Band (NUMB) performs at all home football and lead cheers in the student section and the alma mater at the end of the game.

Ryan Field, Northwestern's 49,000 seat football stadium

Northwestern's football team has a history of futility: its all-time record is 449-596-44 (0.412), the sole bowl game it has won out of seven invitations was the 1949 Rose Bowl,[105] it holds the all-time records for Division I-A losses,[106] points allowed,[citation needed] and negative point differential,[citation needed] as well as being on the losing end of the greatest comeback in Division I-A history.[107] Northwestern also set the record for the longest losing streak in Division I-A, 34 games, between 1979 and 1982.[108][109] However, the team has seen success in recent years, including trips to the 1996 Rose Bowl, 1997 Citrus Bowl, 2000 Alamo Bowl, 2003 Motor City Bowl, 2005 Sun Bowl, and 2008 Alamo Bowl. In 2004, Northwestern broke a 33-year losing streak (46 years at home) by defeating No. 7-ranked Ohio State 33-27.[110] Following the sudden death of football coach Randy Walker in 2006,[111] 31-year old and former All-American Northwestern linebacker Pat Fitzgerald assumed the position becoming the youngest Division I FBS coach at the time.[112][113]

The Northwestern women's soccer team gained significant notoriety in 2006 when pictures of an alleged hazing incident involving new team members were found on Facebook and posted on Badjocks.com.[114]

Current successful athletic programs include men's soccer, wrestling, men's swimming, men's golf, women's tennis, softball, fencing and women's lacrosse. The women's lacrosse team is the four-time NCAA national champion, and went undefeated in 2005. The men's basketball team is recognized by the Helms Athletic Foundation as the 1931 National Champion.

Alumni

Main article: List of Northwestern alumni

Northwestern totals approximately 190,000 alumni, including leaders in business, government, law, science, education, medicine, media, and the performing arts. Among Northwestern's notable alumni are U.S. Senator and presidential candidate George McGovern, Nobel Prize-winning economist George J. Stigler, and Nobel Prize-winning author Saul Bellow. U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice John Paul Stevens, former Supreme Court Justice and Ambassador to the United Nations Arthur Joseph Goldberg, and politician Adlai Stevenson are among the graduates of the Northwestern University School of Law. Many Northwestern alumni play or have played important roles in Chicago and Illinois, such as current Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, Chicago Bulls and Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, and theater director Mary Zimmerman. Northwestern alumni David J. Skorton and Graham Spanier currently serve as president of Cornell University and Penn State University, respectively. Rahm Emanuel, an American politician and White House Chief of Staff-designate, earned his Masters in Speech and Communication from Northwestern 1985.

Northwestern's film and theater programs have also produced a number of talented actors, actresses, and filmmakers. Alumni who have made their mark on film and television include Ann-Margret, Warren Beatty, David Schwimmer, Anne Dudek, Zach Braff, Marg Helgenberger, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jerry Springer, Megan Mullally, William Daniels, and Stephen Colbert. Alumni such as Stephanie D'Abruzzo, Heather Headley, Kristen Schaal, Lily Rabe, and Walter Kerr have seen prominence on Broadway. Amsterdam-based comedy theater Boom Chicago was founded by Northwestern alumni, and the school has become a training ground for future The Second City, I.O., ComedySportz, Mad TV and Saturday Night Live talent. Alumnus Tam Spiva wrote scripts for The Brady Bunch and Gentle Ben. In cities such as New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, the number of Northwestern alumni involved in theater, film, and television has lead to perception of there being a "Northwestern mafia".[115][116]

The Medill School of Journalism has produced notable journalists and political activists including 9 Pulitzer Prize laureates. National correspondents and reporters such as The New York Times's Elisabeth Bumiller and Vincent Laforet, USA Today's Gary Levin, NBC correspondent Kelly O'Donnell, CBS correspondent Richard Threlkeld, CNN correspondents Nicole Lapin and Joie Chen, and ESPN personalities Rachel Nichols, Michael Wilbon, Mike Greenberg, J. A. Adande, and Kevin Blackistone.

Northwestern alumni involved in music include Steve Albini, Thomas Tyra, Andrew Bird, Matt Muckey, M. Superlatif, Julie Liu, Jen Charowhas, and members of Arcade Fire, The Lawrence Arms, Chavez, Freddie Feldman, and OK Go. Lastly, many Northwestern alumni are involved in professional sports including Rick Sund (NBA), Billy McKinney (NBA), Mark Loretta (MLB), Joe Girardi (MLB), Luis Castillo (NFL), and three-time Olympic medalist Matt Grevers.

Rahm Emanuel, White House Chief of Staff, M.A. '85

George McGovern, 1972 Democratic Presidential nominee, Ph.D. '53

John Paul Stevens, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, J.D. '47

Stephen Colbert, The Colbert Report, B.A. '86

External links

Sister project Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Northwestern University


Notes and references

  1. ^ a b "2007 Financial Report". Northwestern University. Retrieved on 2009-01-03.
  2. ^ a b "2007 NACUBO Endowment Student" (PDF). National Association of College and University Business Officers (2007). Retrieved on 2009-01-04.
  3. ^ a b c d "Northwestern University Facts". Northwestern University. Retrieved on 2008-08-20.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g "Common Data Set - Enrollment and persistence". Northwestern University. Retrieved on 2008-09-18.
  5. ^ a b "Guidelines, Northwestern Identity System, Publications, Northwestern University". Retrieved on 2007-09-26.
  6. ^ "Keeping the Faith". Northwestern. Retrieved on 2007-07-20.
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