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Central Michigan University
| Established | 1892 |
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| School type | Public University |
| President | Michael Rao |
| Location | Mount Pleasant, MI, USA |
| Enrollment | 27,836 total 19,834 undergraduate, 8,002 graduate |
| Faculty | 644 |
| Mascot | Chippewas |
| Website | www.cmich.edu |
Central Michigan University (also known as CMU) is a state university located in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. Nearly 28,000 students are enrolled, of which approximately 20,000 are undergraduates.
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Central Michigan University offers programs and degrees 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 six academic colleges:
The school's athletics programs are affiliated with the NCAA 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 Tribe, who has 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 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.
Wanting teachers in the state to be better trained, officials opened the Central Michigan Normal School on September 13, 1892. 31 students met in one building 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 the present name in 1959.
Central Michigan University is home to 20 on-campus residence halls, arranged in four districts throughout the campus.
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, designed primarily for upperclassmen, are four-bedroom suites. Robinson Hall and the old section of Barnes are the only residence halls designed for double occupancy. Residence 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 older 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.
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. Beddow and Sweeney Halls are for females only, Merrill and Thorpe Halls for males only. For the first time in its history, Calkins Hall will be open to males in the fall of 2005, as it becomes the home of the Education residential college. The other residence halls are either co-ed by floor or by room.
Construction began on two more buildings, colloquially known as the "Woldt Towers" and currently going by the names "Maroon" and "Gold," 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.
The campus newspaper is Central Michigan Life. There is also a college radio station run by students, FM 91.5 WMHW. As well as the successful student-run college TV station MHTV.
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.
Come on and 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!
Rah! Rah!
Victory!
Rah! Rah!
Chippewas, we're proud of our nickname!
Hear our song!
Loud and strong!
Central is going to win this game!
(Repeat first stanza)
by 'Howdy' Loomis, Class of '35
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
Alma mater, hear us now
Ever more we praise thee
Hear us pledge our sacred vow
Ever to defend thee
Mighty mother, queen of earth eternal,
Precious emblem of our life supreme,
Ever symbolizing truth and knowledge,
In glorified esteem.
(Repeat first stanza)
by Ruth Mavis, Class of '27
lyrics from CMU Athletics Website
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 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.
| Mid-American Conference: EAST: Akron | Bowling Green | Buffalo | Kent State | Miami | Ohio | Temple (football only) WEST: Ball State | Central Michigan | Eastern Michigan | Northern Illinois | Toledo | Western Michigan |
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| Public universities in Michigan | ||
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| Central • Eastern • Ferris State • Grand Valley • Lake State • Michigan State Michigan Tech • Northern • Oakland • Saginaw Valley • U-M Ann Arbor U-M Dearborn • U-M Flint • Wayne State • Western |
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