Quinnipiac University

Infobox_University


name = Quinnipiac University
latin_name =
motto = "Challenging Students to Meet the Challenges of the Future." [http://www.highereducation.org/crosstalk/ct0106/voices0106-kirp.shtml]
established = 1929
type = Private
endowment = $223 million
president = John L. Lahey
city = Hamden
state = CT
country = USA
undergrad = 5,400
postgrad = 2,000
staff = 681 full time, 475 adjunct
campus = Suburban
colors = Blue and Gold
mascot = Boomer the Bobcat
website= [http://www.quinnipiac.edu/ www.quinnipiac.edu]
free_label = Athletics
free = NCAA Division I

Quinnipiac University is a private, nonsectarian, coeducational university located in Hamden, Connecticut, at the foot of Sleeping Giant State Park. The university grants undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees through its College of Arts and Sciences; School of Business; School of Communications; School of Health Sciences; School of Law; College of Professional Studies; and School of Education.

History

Quinnipiac University (pron-en|ˈkwɪn-ə-pi-æk), was founded in 1929 by Samuel W. Tator, a business professor and politician. Judge Phillip Troup, a Yale College graduate, and Tator's wife, Irmagarde Tator, a Mount Holyoke College graduate, also played major roles in the fledgling institution's founding and nurturing--the former became its first president until his death in 1939; the latter, its first bursar.

Quinnipiac was conceived in reaction to Northeastern University's abandonment of its New Haven, Connecticut program at the onset of "The Great Depression". Originally, Quinnipiac was located in New Haven and called Connecticut College of Commerce. On opening its doors in 1929, it enrolled under 200, and its first graduating class featured only eight students. At the time, it awarded only associate's degrees. In 1935, the college changed its name to Junior College of Commerce.

From 1943-1945, the college closed--nearly its entire student body was drafted into World War II. Upon re-opening, the college's enrollment nearly quadrupled--to approximately 800 students.

In 1951, the institution was renamed Quinnipiac College, in honor of the Quinnipiack Indian tribe that once inhabited Greater New Haven. That same year, Quinnipiac began to confer bachelor's degrees. In 1952, Quinnipiac expanded rapidly, both physically and in terms of curriculum--relocating to a larger campus in New Haven, and also assuming administrative control of Larson College, a private women's college.

In 1966, after having outgrown its campus in New Haven, Quinnipiac moved to its current campus in Hamden, Connecticut's Mount Carmel section, at the foot of Sleeping Giant Park. Quinnipiac's relatively uniform red-brick architecture results from much of it being built at (or around) that time. During the 1970s, Quinnipiac began to offer master's degrees in a variety of disciplines. Until the 1990s, Quinnipiac remained primarily a commuter college with only a regional reputation; however, that changed during the next decade. In 1995, the University of Bridgeport's law school migrated to Quinnipiac. That same year, the American Bar Association accredited Quinnipiac to award the Juris Doctor degree. The Quinnipiac School of Law Center was dedicated later that year as well. Also, during the mid-1990s, Quinnipiac's journalism and business programs, respectively, built state-of-the-art facilities and attracted nationally-known professors. Quinnipiac's Polling Institute was noted for excellence by several prominent journalistic outlets, and often cited during the 1998 and 2000 election campaigns.

On July 1, 2000, the school officially changed its name to Quinnipiac University--to reflect its relatively new breadth in academic offerings. That same year, Quinnipiac University received accreditation by AACSB.

Currently, Quinnipiac offers 51 undergraduate majors, 20 graduate concentrations, and a JD program. Its most esteemed programs are in business, journalism/communications, and health sciences. Quinnipiac's Polling Institute often garners the university national media attention.

To enhance Quinnipiac's journalism and communications programs, the university operates several media outlets, including a professionally-run, commercial radio station WQUN, founded by prominent journalist and Quinnipiac professor emeritus Lou Adler.) (It has become the dominant AM radio station originating from greater New Haven.) The university also operates a student-run FM radio station WQAQ, which concurrently streams on the Internet. A student-run television station, Q30, can be viewed only on campus. Also, a student-produced newspaper, "The Chronicle", established in 1929, publishes 2,500 copies every Wednesday.

Notably, Quinnipiac is home to one of the world's largest collections of art commemorating the Great Irish Famine. The collection is contained in the Lender Family Special Collection room located in the Arnold Bernhard library.

Currently, Quinnipiac is developing two new campuses. One, called "York Hill", is separated from the Quinnipiac's Mt. Carmel campus by Hamden's busy Whitney Avenue. It features the state-of-the-art, $52 million TD Banknorth Center sports complex. By 2012, York Hill will also feature a student union and undergraduate dormitories. It is going to be a "green" campus, featuring the use of renewable energy and enviornmentally-friendly resources. Quinnipiac is also developing a "comprehensive" graduate campus on 100-acre parcel in North Haven, Connecticut. [http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x3363.xml] Graduate programs will relocate there after renovations to the site's buildings, formerly owned by Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, are completed. On the North Haven campus' refurbishment, Quinnipiac will rent space to Blue Cross Blue Shield, so as to encourage interchange between the company and Quinnipiac's already highly-ranked physician's assistant program.

Admissions

For the undergraduate class of 2011, Quinnipiac admitted 5,669 of the 12,049 applicants who applied (47%). 1,350 (24%) of those admitted enrolled. 62% of the class is female; 38% is male. 90% of the Quinnipiac's class of 2011 ranked in the top half of their high school class; 55% ranked in the top quarter; 22% ranked in the top tenth. Most students hail from from the American Northeast: New York (29%), Connecticut (21%), New Jersey (19%), and Massachusetts (18%). One percent (1%) of the class of 2011 is international. 70% receive financial aid.

Generally, Quinnipiac's Office of Admissions seeks the following characteristics in undergraduate applicants: a 3.5/4.0 GPA and a combined SAT score of approximately 1850.

Quinnipiac Polling Institute

Quinnipiac's Polling Institute receives national recognition for its independent surveys of residents throughout the United States. It conducts public opinion polls on politics and public policy as a public service--and for academic research.

The poll has been cited by major news outlets throughout North America and Europe, including The Washington Post [ [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/31/AR2006103100231.html Polls: Menendez Leads Kean in N.J. Race - washingtonpost.com ] ] , FOX News [ [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,208906,00.html FOXNews.com - Poll: Lieberman Leads Challenger Lamont in Connecticut Senate Race - Voting | Vote | 2006 Elections ] ] , USA Today [ [http://blogs.usatoday.com/onpolitics/2007/05/giuliani_still_.html Quinnipiac Poll: Giuliani still leads GOP hopefuls, but by much less - On Politics - USATODAY.com ] ] , The New York Times [ [http://www.nytimes.com/cq/2007/07/13/cq_3078.html Poll Tests ‘New York-New York-New York’ Race in Ohio - New York Times ] ] , CNN [http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/06/20/bloomberg.ap/index.html] , and Reuters [ [http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN2631671720080626?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews Obama leads in four battleground states: poll | Reuters ] ] .

tudent journalism controversy

Quinnipiac has been at the center of controversy over the university's control over student publications and students' speech. The conflict has drawn national attention.

The problems began in the Fall 2007 semester, when junior Jason Braff, then editor of the "Quinnipiac Chronicle", the official newspaper of the school, openly criticized a university policy that forbade the "Chronicle" from publishing news online before the content was published in the weekly print edition. Braff wrote an editorial about the policy and also gave an interview to Republican-American criticizing it.

Manuel Carreiro, Quinnipiac's vice president and dean of students, then sent a letter to Braff in November, telling him that his public disagreement with school policies "will seriously place your position and organization at risk with the univeristy." Braff received an $8,000 annual stipend for his position, and the university said that its employees have more of a responsibility than other students to uphold policies. But Lynn Bushnell, QU's vice president for public affairs, denied threatening to fire Braff for disagreeing with school policies.

Braff and the "Chronicle" staff were also openly critical of a public relations policy requiring all news media inquiries and questions (including those from the "Chronicle") for administrators to be sent, via e-mail, to the university's public relations department. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/02/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/02editorct.html] ]

Quinnipiac officials agreed to discuss the policies with students, and eventually decided that making the "Chronicle" independent from the university would be the best idea. The school set forth a plan of action, which included the university appointing editors for the 2008-2009 academic year. Angry with this plan, Braff and other staff agreed to leave the "Chronicle" at the end of the spring 2008 semester, and all applicants for the editor positions withdrew their applications.

Former "Chronicle" staffers came back in Fall 2008 with "Quad News", an independent newspaper with only a website and no print edition. Plans are to incorporate "Quad News" as its own business venture run on advertising revenue.

"Quad News" immediately faced opposition from the university. Staffers learned in September that university officials had instructed all varsity coaches, staff and athletes not to speak to "Quad News" reporters.

Shortly after, officials threatened to shut down the university's chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, claiming that they violated school policy by using their meetings as a cover for "Quad News" meetings. The "Quad News" staff used SPJ two meetings to meet, but only after the university took away "Quad News" meeting reservation, citing the fact that the organization was not a university-recognized club. "Quad News" promptly stopped their meetings with SPJ. [ [http://www.usnews.com/blogs/paper-trail/2008/09/22/the-quinnipiac-student-journalism-showdown.html] ]

The move prompted a public letter from national SPJ leaders, expressing concern over QU's actions.

Meanwhile, the "Chronicle" is staffed almost completely by underclass students, with some editors even being freshmen. Both staffs recognize the other publication as legitimate and have wished each other luck in their friendly competition. [ [http://www.splc.org/newsflash.asp?id=1810] ]

Greek life

Quinnipiac University has 2 fraternities and 3 sororities.

Fraternities:
Tau Kappa Epsilon, and Sigma Phi Epsilon

Sororities:
Alpha Chi Omega, Kappa Alpha Theta, and Phi Sigma Sigma

Noteworthy alumni

*Murray Lender: Lender's Bagels
*William C. Weldon: Chairman and CEO of Johnson & Johnson
*Turk Wendell: Former Major League Baseball pitcher
*Paula Meronek: Former cast member of MTV's "The Real World: Key West"
*Patricia Farrell: Senior vice president at Aetna, Inc.
*John S. Ginnetti: Restaurateur in New Haven, Connecticut (owner of the acclaimed 116Crown)

Accolades

*Featured in 2009 edition of "Best 296 Business Schools" by Princeton Review.
*U.S. News & World Report's 2009 America's Best Colleges issue has ranked Quinnipiac University FIRST among northern universities with master's degree programs as having made the most promising and innovative changes in academics, faculty, campus or facilities. [http://www.qu.edu/x2063.xml]
*U.S. News & World Report's 2009 America's Best Colleges issue has, for the thirteenth consecutive year, named Quinnipiac as one of the best universities in the country. [http://www.qu.edu/x2063.xml]
*Quinnipiac is featured in the 2009 edition of the Princeton Review guide "Best 368 Colleges." [http://www.princetonreview.com/college-rankings.aspx?uidbadge=%07]
*U.S. News & World Report’s 2008 America’s Best Colleges issue [http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/rankindex_brief.php] has, for the twelfth consecutive year, named Quinnipiac as one of the best universities in the country.
*2008 - U.S. News & World Report has ranked Quinnipiac 12th in the northern universities master’s region. [http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/usnews/edu/college/directory/brief/drglance_1402_brief.php]
*Featured in 2008 edition of "Best 290 Business Schools" by Princeton Review [http://princeton.localplacement.com/business-school-rankings.aspx] .
*Quinnipiac's School of Business [http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x192.xml] is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International. [http://www.aacsb.edu/General/InstLists.asp?lid=2]
*PC Magazine [http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2073580,00.asp] and the Princeton Review [http://www.princetonreview.com/college-rankings.aspx?uidbadge=%07] to rate Quinnipiac as number nine in 2007's Top 20 Wired Colleges.
*The School of Law [http://law.quinnipiac.edu/] was ranked 108 in the most recent U.S. News and World Report rankings [http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/grad/law/search] .

External links

* [http://www.quinnipiac.edu/ Official website]
* [http://www.quinnipiacbobcats.com/ Official Athletics website]