- McMurry University
-
This article is about the university in Abilene, Texas. For MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Illinois, see MacMurray College.
McMurry University 
Established 1923 Type Private University Endowment USD $52.0 million[1] President Dr. John H. Russell Undergraduates 1,430 Location Abilene, Texas, United States Campus Urban, 40 acres (.16 km²) Nickname War Hawks Affiliations United Methodist Website www.mcm.edu McMurry University, founded in 1923, is a private co-educational university in Abilene, Texas. It is a liberal arts school offering forty-one majors in the fields of fine arts, humanities, social and natural sciences, education, business, and religion, and nine pre-professional programs, including pre-engineering, nursing, dentistry, medicine, pharmacy, veterinary, and law. McMurry is affiliated with the United Methodist church.
McMurry has roughly 1,430 students. Methodist students comprise 27 percent of the student population. Ninety five percent of students are Texan. Minority groups make up approximately one-fourth of the student body. In the freshman class, 98 percent of students receive some financial aid. Fifty-three percent of students live on campus, and 75 percent of students are involved in at least one extracurricular activity.
More than 80 percent of the faculty have earned a doctorate or other terminal degree in their field. McMurry is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the Texas Education Agency, the University Senate of the United Methodist Church, the National League for Nursing, and the Texas State Board of Nurse Examiners.
McMurry has been recognized annually since 1996 by U.S. News & World Report for quality and value in the Southwest division of third tier schools. Recent graduates have gained admission to graduate and professional schools at nationally prominent institutions, including Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Duke, Vanderbilt, SMU, Baylor, and the University of Texas. McMurry's honors program offers academic scholarships ranging up to full-tuition for four years to outstanding students.
Contents
Indians mascot controversy
In late August 2005, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) handed down a decision calling for the eighteen universities with Native American mascots to change their names or obtain a waiver from their representative tribe for the use of the mascot name. The McMurry Indians were part of this list. The Indians nickname was chosen as a tribute to the University's first president, J.W. Hunt, who grew up on an Indian Reservation in the Indian Territory.
On May 18, 2006, the NCAA rejected McMurry's appeal to keep their nickname. The school has chosen to appeal the ruling, and indicated their intention to do so by the June 18, 2006 deadline. According to a press release, "the University’s appeal will be based on the arbitrariness of the NCAA’s decision-making process and the inconsistent results and messages that have come from the process." Other schools, such as Florida State University, have made successful appeals by garnering the endorsement of Indian tribes. Although McMurry has not actively sought an endorsement, representatives from the Kaw, Kiowa, and Comanche tribes have voiced their approval of McMurry's mascot.[2]
In October 2006, McMurry's Board of Trustees decided that the university would no longer use any names for its athletic teams. Citing the school's 83-year history of honoring Native Americans, the school announced that in spite of no longer using names to designate athletic teams, the school traditions created to honor Native Americans will continue.[3] The school's stadium has now been changed from Indian Stadium to Wilford Moore Stadium, as of Sunday May 13, 2007. Wilford Moore was the highest winning coach in McMurry football history.[4] on March 11, 2011 it was announced that McMurry University's athletic teams would be known as the War Hawks. The new mascot was chosen after a nearly year-long search to find a new mascot to replace the former Indian mascot, which had been taken away by the NCAA in 2006. The war hawk is meant to represent pride, courage and fierce competition for McMurry's athletic teams.
Athletics
McMurry's school colors are maroon and white. All teams play in the NCAA Division III American Southwest Conference. McMurry fields teams in 19 different intercollegiate sports. For the men, McMurry competes in baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, swimming, tennis and indoor and outdoor track and field. For the women, McMurry competes in basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, swimming, tennis, indoor and outdoor track and field and volleyball.
McMurry University is transitioning to play in the Division II. In July 2011, the school announced that it had been accepted as candidate for D-II membership and would join the Heartland Conference in the fall of 2012.[5] This move will strengthen McMurry's cross-town rivalry with Abilene Christian University, a member of the D-II Lone Star Conference.
Notable alumni
- former head football coach for Baylor University, and executive director for the American Football Coaches Association[6]. Member of College Football Hall of Fame
- attorney for Jane Roe (Norma McCorvey) in Roe v. Wade[7] and the first woman elected to the Texas House of Representatives
- Chuck Fallon
- president of Burger King's North America division, Bloomberg Business Week[8]
- Larry Conlee
- COO, Engineering and Manufacturing at Research In Motion[9]
- Jerry Campbell
- President, Claremont School of Theology [10]
Notable faculty
- Virgil Bottom
- Faculty from 1958 to 1973. Pioneer in quartz crystal research and science advisor to President Eisenhower. Several of his students would later become leaders in Hewlett-Packard, Motorola, and Quartzdyne.
- historian and archeologist, founder of the McMurry History Department and the West Texas Historical Association; later, first director of the Museum of Texas Tech University in Lubbock
- Author of women's history and literature.
- Donald S. Frazier
- Author and historian of the Civil War in the Trans-Mississippi and Texas history. A highly acclaimed educational entrepreneur, he started the McWhiney Foundation and became active in historic preservation and publishing including work with Frontier Texas, The Buffalo Gap Historic Village, The Texas Frontier Heritage and Cultural Center, and State House Press.
- Stephen L. Hardin
- Historian and author of Texas history, member of the Texas Institute of Letters, Fellow of the Texas State Historical Association.
- C. Jeffery Kinlaw
- Philosopher and noted scholar of German Idealism.
- John-Eric Swenson
- Psychologist and former Chair of the Board of the Christian Association for Psychological Studies.
References
- ^ As of June 30, 2009. "U.S. and Canadian Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year 2009 Endowment Market Value and Percentage Change in Endowment Market Value from FY 2008 to FY 2009" (PDF). 2009 NACUBO-Commonfund Study of Endowments. National Association of College and University Business Officers. http://www.nacubo.org/Documents/research/2009_NCSE_Public_Tables_Endowment_Market_Values.pdf. Retrieved February 24, 2010.
- ^ Russell, John H. Ph.D.. "Alumni Update". mcm.edu. http://www.mcm.edu/newsite/web/univ_relations/NCAAletter.htm. Retrieved 2006-09-07.
- ^ Russell, John H. Ph.D.. "McMurry Board Announces Decision". mcm.edu. http://www.mcm.edu/newsite/web/univ_relations/NCAA.htm. Retrieved 2006-10-18.
- ^ "McMurry renames football and track stadium to Wilford Moore Stadium". mcm.edu. http://www.mcm.edu/athletics/051307.html. Retrieved 2007-05-13.[dead link]
- ^ NCAA accepts McMurry's application to transition to Division II - www.mcmurrysports.com - July 12, 2011
- ^ "Grant Teaff To Receive Stagg Award". Baylor Football. 2005-09-21. http://baylorbears.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/092105aaa.html. Retrieved 2006-09-07.
- ^ "Early Years". The Weddington Center. Archived from the original on 2006-03-19. http://web.archive.org/web/20060319084436/http://www.weddingtoncenter.com/earlyyears.html. Retrieved 2006-09-07.
- ^ http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=11778674&ticker=BKC:US
- ^ http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=1504276&ticker=RIMM:US
- ^ http://www.cst.edu/academics/faculty/profile/jerry-campbell
External links
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Heartland Conference University of Arkansas – Fort Smith • Dallas Baptist • McMurry University (2012) • Newman University • Oklahoma Panhandle State • St. Edward's • St. Mary's (TX) • Texas A&M International University • University of Texas of the Permian Basin
Categories:- Universities and colleges affiliated with the United Methodist Church
- McMurry University
- Educational institutions established in 1923
- Universities and colleges in Texas
- Council of Independent Colleges
- National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities
- Education in Taylor County, Texas
- Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
- Education in Abilene, Texas
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