Join the

Africa Wiki
Challenge
May 25th to
30th June, 2024
Theme:
Educate Africa:
Nurturing
Minds for the
21st Century

Murray State University

Article Talk

This article needs additional citations for

verification. (August 2023) Learn more

This article reads like a press release or a

Learn
news article and may be largely more
based on
routine coverage. (April 2023)
This article is about the university in Kentucky. For
the community college in Oklahoma, see Murray
State College.

Murray State University (MSU) is a public

university in Murray, Kentucky, in the
Southern United States. In addition to the
main campus in Calloway County in
southwestern Kentucky, Murray State
operates extended campuses offering
upper-level and graduate courses in
Paducah, Hopkinsville, Madisonville, and
Henderson.

Murray State University

Former name Murray State Normal

School (1922–1926)
Murray State Normal
School and Teachers
College (1926–1930)
Murray State Teachers
College (1930–1948)
Murray State College
(1948–1966)

Type Public university

Established 1922; 102 years ago

Academic affiliations Space-grant

Endowment $100.2 million (2022)[1]

President Robert Jackson

Provost Tim Todd

Students 9,489 (Fall 2022)[2]

Undergraduates 7,756 (Fall 2022)[2]

Postgraduates 1,733 (Fall 2022)[2]

Location Murray, Kentucky,

United States
36°36′56″N
88°19′17″W

Campus 258.43 acres (main

campus)

Colors Navy blue and gold[3]

Nickname Racers

Sporting affiliations NCAA Division I – MVC

Mascot Racer One (live

mascot)
Dunker (costumed)

Website www.murraystate
.edu

History

Murray State University was founded after

the passage of Senate Bill 14 by the General
Assembly of the Commonwealth of
Kentucky, which created two normal schools
in the early 20th century to address the
growing demand for professional teachers.
One was to be located in the western part of
the state, and many cities and towns bid for
the new normal school. Rainey T. Wells
spoke on behalf of the city of Murray to
convince the Normal School Commission to
choose his city. On September 2, 1922,
Murray was chosen as the site of the
western normal school, while Morehead was
chosen for the eastern normal school. On
November 26, 1922, John Wesley Carr was
elected the first president of the Murray
State Normal School by the State Board of
Education. Believing it had the authority to
elect the president, the Normal School
Commission picked Rainey Wells as the first
president. On May 15, 1923, the Kentucky
Court of Appeals ruled for the State Board of
Education, and Carr became Murray's first
president.

Wrather West Kentucky Museum,

the first building on MSU's
campus

Murray State Normal School opened on

September 24, 1923.[4] In 1924, the first
building on Murray State's campus, the
Administrative Building, was constructed.[5]
Before this, all MSU classes had been held
on the first floor of what is now Murray
Middle School, located on Main Street.[6]
Designed by Joseph & Joseph in the
Collegiate Gothic style[7] the Administrative
Building, later known as Wrather Hall,
housed classrooms, a dining hall, offices,
and a chapel. The building was added to the
National Register of Historic Places in 1975,
and renovated soon after, finally being
renamed to Wrather West Kentucky
Museum, named for Murray State executive
vice-president Marvin O. Wrather.[5][7] All
students lived at home or boarded with local
families until the first dormitory, Wells Hall,
was constructed in 1925. Wilson Hall was
also completed under Carr's presidency,
with other structures in progress.

In 1926, Rainey T. Wells, recognized as the

founder of Murray State, became its second
president. Wells served from 1926 to 1932,
and during this time Lovett Auditorium, Carr
Health Building, and Pogue Library were all
completed. In 1926, the Normal School was
renamed Murray State Normal School and
Teachers College, with a four-year
curriculum, and the General Assembly
granted it authority to confer baccalaureate
degrees. In 1928, the college was accredited
by the Southern Association of Colleges and
Schools. In 1930, the name was changed to
Murray State Teachers College and it was
granted authority to offer liberal arts and
pre-professional courses. The name was
changed again in 1948 to Murray State
College, with the expansion of the programs
to include graduate-level courses, in 1966
the General Assembly authorized the Board
of Regents to change the name to Murray
State University.

The Shield

Campus

The Quad

Two students walk out of Pogue

Library near the statue of founder
Rainey T. Wells.

The oldest and most easily recognizable

buildings on the Murray State campus are
situated around a large, grassy, tree-lined
area on the south side of the campus. This
part of the campus, known as the Quad, is
bounded by 16th Street to the west, 15th
Street to the east, Lovett Auditorium to the
north, and Wilson Hall to the south.

In the southwest corner of the Quad is the

oldest building on campus, now known as
Wrather West Kentucky Museum. It was first
known as the Administration Building and
then as Wrather Hall, and housed
classrooms and offices, before it became a
museum. Ground for Wrather was broken on
October 15, 1923, and it has been in use
since 1924. The building was placed on the
National Register of Historic Places in 1975,
[5]
and features a large auditorium that is
frequently used for lectures and meetings.

Faculty Hall, Wells Hall, and the Business

Building line the western edge of the Quad.
The Lowry Center, Pogue Library, and the
Price Doyle Fine Arts Center line the eastern
side of the Quad. The 11-story Doyle Fine
Arts Center is the tallest building on campus,
housing numerous classrooms, practice
rooms, recital halls, the Robert E. Johnson
Theatre, Clara Eagle Art Gallery, WKMS-FM,
and television studios used for student work.

Sparks Hall

Directly south of the Quad is Sparks Hall.

The five-story, 39,000-square-foot (3,600
m2), Sparks Hall was completed in 1967 for
$1,308,514,[citation needed] and functions as
the main administrative building, housing the
offices of student financial aid, admissions
and registration, accounting and financial
services, vice president for administrative
services, Center for Continuing Education
and Academic Outreach, human resources
and university communications.

To the south of the Quadrangle, and directly

west of Sparks Hall is Oakhurst, the
residence of the university president.
Construction of the mansion, originally
known as Edgewood, began in 1917 and was
completed in 1918. The home was built by
Dr. and Mrs. Rainey T. Wells. The Board of
Regents purchased the home from Rainey T.
Wells in June 1936. It was remodeled that
year and renamed Oakhurst in preparation
for James H. Richmond's occupation of the
house.[8]

Central campus

The central portion of the Murray State

campus lines 15th Street between Chestnut
Street and Olive Boulevard. This portion of
15th Street was originally open to automobile
traffic but has since been closed and
converted into a pedestrian thoroughfare.
Along the west side of the pedestrian
pathway are the Martha Layne Collins Center
for Industry and Technology, Blackburn
Science Building, and Oakley Applied
Science Building. To the east of the
pedestrian pathway lies the Curris Center,
Carr Health Building and Cutchin Fieldhouse,
Waterfield Library, Mason Hall, and the front
facade of the now-demolished Ordway Hall.
Woods Hall, a former dormitory located
behind Waterfield Library, was razed in the
summer of 2019, and the space it occupied
will soon be replaced with a park.[9]

Ordway Hall was the most historic building in

the central portion of campus. It was
completed in 1931. Originally used as a
men's dormitory, 38,600-square-foot
Ordway Hall later housed event space and
several offices. Because of costly renovation
needs, Ordway was razed in 2013. The front
facade was retained as a monument to its
significance.[10][11]

Science campus

Alexander Hall, named for

former Murray State president
Kern Alexander

An aggressive building campaign on campus

has resulted in a westward expansion of the
main academic campus of Murray State. The
expansion began with a massive renovation
and expansion of what is now known as
Alexander Hall on the west side of 16th
Street near Calloway Avenue. The project
was the first to unveil a new architectural
style that would become consistent through
all renovation and new construction projects
on campus. Alexander Hall houses
classrooms and offices for the College of
Education. Construction continued with the
new state-of-the-art science complex for
biology and chemistry that is located just to
the southwest of Alexander Hall. The
massive new science complex was
constructed in phases, with the Biology
Building opening in 2004, and the rest of the
complex and centerpiece clock tower
reaching completion in March 2008. The
new clock tower was dedicated in 2007 as
the Jesse L. Jones Family Clock Tower. A
physics and engineering building was
completed in the summer of 2017.

Sports and recreation facilities

Roy Stewart Stadium

The majority of the university's sports and

recreation facilities are located on the
northernmost edge of the campus, along the
KY-121 Bypass. The most prominent
structure in the sports complex is Roy
Stewart Stadium. The stadium, the home
field to the Murray State Racers football
program, was completed in 1973 and named
for former Murray State football coach Roy
Stewart. It seats 16,800. The outdated
AstroTurf surface was replaced with
FieldTurf in 2007. Located on the second
floor of the seven-story press box and
seating structure is the Pat Spurgin Rifle
Range, home of the three-time NCAA
champion rifle squad. The 8,602-seat CFSB
Center was completed in 1998 to replace the
aging Racer Arena, which had been
outgrown by the men's and women's
basketball teams. Racer Arena remains in
use by the women's volleyball team.

On April 16, 2005, the new Susan E.

Bauernfeind Student Recreation and
Wellness Center was dedicated. The 73,000-
square-foot (6,800 m2) student recreation
center includes a swimming pool, two
racquetball courts, a walking/jogging track,
an aerobic studio, basketball courts, and free
weights and cardio workout machines. The
center is located just north of the residential
colleges, near Roy Stewart Stadium.

Residence halls

A building campaign is underway to replace

many of the older residence halls. A
replacement building for Clark College was
completed and ready for residents at the
beginning of the 2007 fall semester. Clark
Hall was the newest building, and the first
residence hall specifically designed around
the residential college concept and model. A
new four-story, 270-bed, 79,900-square foot
Richmond Hall was opened for James H.
Richmond Residential College in fall 2009.[12]
It has a similar concept and design as Clark
College. In the fall of 2009, the old Clark Hall
building was torn down.

Following the completion of the spring 2011

semester, the university began renovation to
Elizabeth Hall, which houses the Elizabeth
Residential College. The $7.2 million
renovation project closed the building for the
entire 2011–12 academic year as the highrise
was upgraded to meet Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA) standards. The
renovation also included new heating,
ventilation, and air-conditioning systems to
achieve Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design (LEED) silver status.
[13]
The renovated Elizabeth Hall reopened
on August 18, 2012.[14] Hester Hall is the
next highrise residence hall scheduled for
renovation; however, the timeline for that
project has not been announced.[15]

Academics

Murray State University offers eleven

associate programs, 64 bachelor programs,
42 master and specialist programs, and
three doctoral programs which are
administered through four academic
colleges, two schools, 30 departments, and
one joint program shared by the College of
Business and the College of Science,
Engineering, and Technology. The College of
Business is the largest at Murray State,
enrolling 23% of the undergraduate
students.

Murray State has been institutionally

accredited by the Southern Association of
Colleges and Schools, Commission on
Colleges, continuously since 1928. It is one
of eight schools in the state of Kentucky to
achieve AACSB accreditation of business
programs;[16] however, the school is not
AACSB-accredited in accounting programs.
[17]
Several other programs have achieved
specialized accreditation: primarily programs
in teaching, fine arts and nursing. As a
former normal school and teachers' college,
Murray State is best known for its NCATE-
accredited education programs. The Clinical
Psychology Master's program is accredited
by the Masters in Psychology and
Counseling Accreditation Council (MPCAC).
[18]
The university has also gained national
recognition for its fine arts programs. The
Department of Music has been a member of
the National Association of Schools of Music
since 1936.[19]

Rankings

For 29 years, Murray State University has

been recognized by U.S. News & World
Report's Best Colleges as one of the top
regional universities in the United States.
The 2019 rankings listed Murray State at 11th
place among the public regional universities
in the South and 24th overall among all
regional universities in the South. Murray
State has consistently been one of the top-
ranked public regional universities in
Kentucky in the Regional Universities-South
category, which consists of both private and
public schools. Murray State has also been
ranked by Forbes among America's Top
Colleges since 2008.[20][21][22]

2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014

U.S. News
& World
Report
Regional 24 35 28 26 24
Universities
- South
(Overall)

U.S. News
& World
Report
Regional
11 12 9 9 8
Universities
- South
(Public
Schools)

Forbes
America's
613 588
Top
Colleges

Tuition policies

International students

Campus life

Residential colleges

HC Franklin Residence Hall at Murray State University

As of fall 2012, Murray State had 2,831

students living on campus.[34] Murray State
was the first public university in the United
States to adopt a successful campus-wide
residential college program.[35] The
residential college structure, which took form
on the campus in 1996, is based on similar,
but much more established programs at the
Universities of Oxford and Cambridge in the
United Kingdom as well as Yale University,
Harvard College and Princeton University in
the United States.

The Murray State model does not include

some components of the classical residential
college model, such as dining halls and
libraries at each college. In the Murray State
model students do share central dining areas
and recreation areas. However, as the older
structures are being phased out, the
university is taking steps with the new
residential colleges to address many of
those needs.

Although the physical structures of all of

Murray State's residential colleges do not
match those of institutions such as Oxford or
Yale, the basic residential college concept
was successfully implemented. All faculty,
staff, and students, even those who live off-
campus, are assigned to one of the eight
residential colleges. Once assigned to a
residential college, a person remains a
member of that college throughout their time
at the university.

The eight colleges of Murray State

1. Clark College, named for Lee Clark, who

assisted Rainey T. Wells in founding the
university. Clark later served as the
superintendent of grounds and buildings.
The current Clark College opened in
August 2007 as the first new residence
hall built on campus since 1970. It is also
the first residence hall at Murray to be
specifically designed to support the
residential college concept.

2. Elizabeth College, named for Elizabeth

Harkless Woods, wife of fourth Murray
State President Ralph H. Woods

3. Hart College, named for George Hart, a

Board of Regents member and former
mayor of Murray

4. Hester College, named for Cleo Gillis

Hester, who served Murray State
University from 1927 to 1960, as registrar

5. Regents College, named in honor of the

outstanding citizens who have served on
Murray State University's Board of
Regents; completed in 1970

6. Richmond College, named for the third

president of the university, James H.
Richmond

7. Springer-Franklin College, named for O.B.

Springer, member of the Board of Regents
from 1950 to 1958 and 1960 to 1970, and
Hollis C. Franklin, who served on the
board from 1947 to 1956

8. White College, named for R.H. "Bob"

White, a Board of Regents member

Student Government Association

The Student Government Association (SGA)

is the officially organized body governing all
students and student organizations at
Murray State University. Its purpose is to
promote the welfare, growth, and
development of student life in an
environment of academic excellence, to
represent the students in all phases of
administrative effort, and to provide a means
of promoting cooperative efforts for the
general welfare of the university community.
The SGA is made up of four branches:
Senate, Campus Activities Board, Judicial
Board, and the Residential College
Association. The Senate is the main branch
of SGA, and it is the governing body with the
power to pass resolutions, bills, rules, and
regulations necessary for the general welfare
of the university, and to implement and
maintain any programs consistent with SGA
purposes. The president of SGA holds the
student seat on the Board of Regents.[36]

Greek life

Murray State is home to twenty-six chapters

of both social and professional Greek
organizations. The oldest social fraternity on
campus is Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia and the
oldest professional fraternity is Sigma Alpha
Iota (both relating to music) with the oldest
social sorority being Sigma Sigma Sigma. As
of the spring 2016 semester, 1,438 students
were officially reported to be involved with
Greek life, representing 19% of the
undergraduate student population.[37]

As of Fall 2019, 16% of undergraduate

students make up Murray State Greek Life.
The average chapter size for the Panhellenic
Council is 93; Interfraternity Council is 50;
and National Pan-Hellenic Council is 5. The
average Greek GPA is 3.20. (All statistics
come from the Murray State University
Office of Greek Life website.)[38]

Greek life has been banned on campus

several times in past decades, namely 2012
and 2018. The 2012 incidents involved Alpha
Gamma Rho and Alpha Tau Omega fraternity
houses.[39] The 2018 ban on Greek life and
social events followed the death of 19-year-
old Zach Wardrip.[40] In both cases, several
persons were hospitalized for alcohol
poisoning and ensuing violence. In 1998, a
fatal dormitory fire on campus was attributed
to GLOs.[41]

Traditions

Alma mater

The alma mater of Murray State University is

sung to the tune of "Annie Lisle" and has two
verses. A.B. Austin, one-time Dean of Men,
wrote the words in 1935. It is traditionally
sung at student orientation, convocation and
commencement ceremonies, athletic events,
and other special events on campus.

All-Campus Sing

All-Campus Sing is an annual event, first

held in 1958, that takes place each April in
which residential colleges, fraternities,
sororities, and other student organizations
compete in a choreographed song and
dance competition. The event is hosted by
the Iota Beta chapter of Sigma Alpha Iota
(the original organizer of the event), with
financial assistance from the MSU Alumni
Association and the Office of Student Affairs.
It is held on the steps of historic Lovett
Auditorium.[42][43]

Campus Lights

Campus Lights is the longest-running

student-produced and performed musical in
the South. The show was started in 1938 by
the Gamma Delta chapter of Phi Mu Alpha as
a fundraiser to pay the chapter's chartering
fees. Campus Lights is now produced by a
joint effort of the Gamma Delta chapter of
Phi Mu Alpha and the Iota Beta chapter of
Sigma Alpha Iota. All proceeds from the
show are given to the Department of Music
to fund scholarships.[44][45]

Racer One

In 1976, the tradition of having a

thoroughbred run around the track after
every MSU football touchdown began. The
name of that first racehorse was Violet
Cactus. She died in 1984 and was buried at
Roy Stewart Stadium, near the area where
the current Racer One begins its run around
the football field after a Racer touchdown.
She is the only mascot to be interred inside
the walls of the stadium. Since 1985, each
horse that has circled the football field after
touchdowns has been known as Racer One.
Several horses have filled the role of Racer
One since 1985, and the position is currently
held by a horse named Vegas. Each fall,
sophomores and juniors with riding
experience can try out to serve as jockeys of
Racer One for the following football season.
The position is typically held by a student in
his or her senior year.[43][46]

Shoe Tree

The Shoe Tree in July 2021

Located in front of Pogue Library, Murray

State tradition dictates if a couple gets
married after meeting at Murray State, they
return to the Quad and each one nails one of
their shoes to the "Shoe Tree." Many of the
shoes include names and dates written on
them. If the couple has a baby, the baby's
shoes are sometimes also nailed to the tree.
The shoe tree tradition originated around
1965.[47] This tree (due to the high zinc
content from the nails) is a common target of
lightning and has caught fire in the past.
Previous incarnations of the Shoe Tree were
removed in 1999 and 2015 due to safety
reasons; the tradition continues through the
third tree.[47][48] The Shoe Tree was featured
in Danish pop band Lukas Graham's
September 2018 music video for their song
"Love Someone."[49]

Tent City

An annual tradition since 1989, Tent City is

an event that takes place before every
homecoming football game. At Tent City,
more than 50 tents are set up on the track at
Roy Stewart Stadium, representing
fraternities, sororities, student organizations,
and residential colleges. An average of 100
organizations participate each year.[50]
Students use this event as a chance to talk
to and meet with alumni to help raise money
for their activities throughout the school
year.

Athletics

Publications

Radio

Former Presidents of the

University

Notable alumni

References

External links

Last edited 24 hours ago by CB0628

Content is available under CC BY-SA 4.0 unless

otherwise noted.

Terms of Use • Privacy policy • Desktop