Marshall University
Encyclopedia
Marshall University is a coeducation
al public
research university in Huntington, West Virginia
, United States
founded in 1837, and named after John Marshall
, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States
.
The university is composed of eight undergraduate colleges and schools: the College of Liberal Arts (COLA), the College of Fine Arts (COFA), the College of Education and Human Services (COEHS), the College of Information Technology and Engineering (CITE), the Elizabeth McDowell Lewis College of Business (LCOB), the College of Science (COS), the College of Health Professions (COHP), and the W. Page Pitt School of Journalism and Mass Communications (SOJMC). The University is also home to the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine
, a regional center for cancer research which has a national reputation for its programs in rural health care delivery, and the general Graduate College and the Graduate College of Education and Professional Development. The forensic science graduate program
is one of a small number of post-graduate-level academic programs in the United States accredited by the American Academy of Forensic Sciences
and considered by many to be an acceptable Forensic Science program in the United States. The Elizabeth McDowell Lewis College of Business has achieved AACSB accreditation.
Marshall University has a non-residential branch campus, focused on graduate education, in South Charleston
, the Marshall University - South Charleston Campus, which also offers classes throughout the southern half of the state, including at the Erma Byrd Higher Education Center
in Beckley
. It also offers undergraduate courses, under three "centers", the Southern Mountain Center, operating on the campuses of the Southern West Virginia Community College
in Logan
and Williamson
and at the YMCA
in Gilbert
; the Mid-Ohio Valley Center in Point Pleasant
and the Teays Valley Center in Hurricane
. Marshall University also operates the Robert C. Byrd Institute, with operations on both the Huntington and South Charleston campuses, as well as in Fairmont, West Virginia
, and Rocket Center, West Virginia
. The goal of the Institute is the transfer of technology from the academic departments to private industry to support job development in the region.
by residents of Guyandotte and the surrounding area. The landmark Old Main
, which now serves as the primary administrative building for the university, was built on land known as Maple Grove, at the time the home of the Mount Hebron Church in what was then the state of Virginia
. John Laidley
, a local attorney
, hosted the meeting which led to the founding of Marshall Academy, which was named after Laidley's friend, the eminent John Marshall
who had served as the fourth Chief Justice of the United States
from January 1801 to July 1835.
On March 30, 1838, the institution was formally dedicated by the Virginia General Assembly
as Marshall Academy, however this institution was not a college level institution as that was understood at that time. In 1858, the Virginia General Assembly
changed the name to Marshall College. but this change still did not reflect its status as a true college. The Civil War closed the often financially-challenged school for much of the 1860s.
On June 20, 1863, Cabell County, Virginia
, was one of the 50 counties
separated from Virginia at the height of the American Civil War
to form the State of West Virginia
, and the college fell within the new state of. In 1867, the West Virginia Legislature
resurrected the institution as a teacher training facility and renamed it State Normal School of Marshall College. This began the history of the college as a state supported institution at the collegiate level.
changed the title of the head from "principal" to "president" and allowed the creation of new college-level departments. At that time, enrollment surpassed 1,000 students. Thirteen years after that, the school began offering four-year Bachelor Degrees for the first time in 1920.
In 1937, the college suffered through a devastating flooding by the Ohio River
. Numerous structures, such as Northcott Hall and the James E. Morrow Library were extensively flooded. Much of Huntington was also heavily damaged, and as a result, a floodwall was constructed around much of the town to prevent future occurrences.
The West Virginia Board of Education
authorized Marshall College in 1938 to offer the master's degree in six programs: chemistry
, education
, history
, political science
, psychology
, and sociology
, as the institution underwent another expansion. In that year the school was accredited as a "university level institution"; however, the renaming of the school would remain a contentious political issue for decades to come. Further expansion accelerated after World War II.
In 1960, John F. Kennedy
spoke at the college during his cross-country campaign for the presidency.
On March 2, 1961, Marshall College became Marshall University as the West Virginia Legislature approved university status for the institution and the legislation was signed by Governor W. W. Barron. The student newspaper, The Parthenon, prepared two front pages for the day, depending on the outcome of the legislature's vote. Also in 1961, WMUL-FM
began operations as the first public radio station in West Virginia. The station, which began in the Science Building at 10 watt
s of power, now broadcasts from the Communications Building with 1,150 watts.
In 1969, the university's athletic program, facing a number of scandals, fired both its football
and basketball coaches and was suspended from the Mid-American Conference
and from the National Collegiate Athletic Association
. The university rebuilt its athletic program back to respectability, and in 1977, the university joined the Southern Conference
.
football
team, along with coaches and fans, was returning home to Huntington from Kinston
, North Carolina. The team had just lost a game 17–14 against the East Carolina University
Pirates
at Ficklen Stadium in Greenville, North Carolina
. The chartered Southern Airways Flight 932 crashed on approach to the Tri-State Airport
after clipping trees just west of the runway and impacting nose-first into a hollow. All seventy-five people on board were killed, including 37 players and 5 coaches. 13 players who were not on the plane survived, along with the members of the freshman football team, who were not eligible to play varsity under the rules of that time and were not on the plane.
The team was rebuilt with Jack Lengyel
as the new head coach. The leaders of the "Young Thundering Herd" (to which the team officially changed its name for the 1971 season) were the few players who didn't make the trip due to injury or disciplinary action. There were 15 sophomores on the team from the previous year's freshman team, and the bulk of the team was composed of freshmen players who were allowed to play on the varsity squad due to the National Collegiate Athletic Association
, college football's
governing body, waiving a rule prohibiting it. Three years later, it would waive the rule for all schools. Rounding out the squad were players from other Marshall sports programs. They would win only two games that year. Their first win was an emotional 15–13 victory against Xavier University
in the home opener. Their second win, in their homecoming game, was against a better, ranked team: the Bowling Green State University
Falcons
.
The plaza at the center of the school has a fountain dedicated to the seventy-five victims. The water does not flow from November 14 until the first day of spring football practice the following year. The tragedy and its aftermath were the subject of several documentaries, including the award-winning Marshall University: Ashes to Glory
. The tragedy and the rebuilding efforts were dramatized in the 2006 Warner Brothers feature, We Are Marshall
which opened in Huntington
a week before its national release date. Many scenes in the movie were filmed on the campus and throughout Huntington.
and Logan
campuses of Marshall University were combined by the West Virginia Legislature to form Southern West Virginia Community College
(now Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College).
In 1977 the university founded its School of Medicine, the first professional school and the first doctoral program. Over the next 20 years the school would add doctoral programs in many fields. Twenty years later, in 1997, the West Virginia Graduate College became the graduate college of Marshall University. Its campus is located in South Charleston, West Virginia
. In 1998, the John Deaver Drinko Library opened on campus. The center includes a 24-hour study center and a coffee shop, and has both wired and wireless networking throughout the building. John Deaver Drinko graduated from the university in 1942.
In 1997, Marshall merged with the University of West Virginia College of Graduate Studies (COGS), with the latter being renamed Marshall University Graduate College. In 2010 the university was authorized to begin offering undergraduate classes in South Charleston and renamed the facility Marshall University - South Charleston Campus.
Marshall's enrollment was 16,500 in 2004. In addition to the main campus in Huntington and the branch campus in South Charleston, West Virginia
, the school maintains undergraduate centers in Gilbert
, Point Pleasant
, and Hurricane, West Virginia
. In 1989, Marshall was governed by the University of West Virginia
Board of Trustees, but this ended in 2000.
In July 2005, Dr. Stephen J. Kopp
took over as Marshall University's president and Dr. Gayle Ormiston serves as the Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs. The eight college deans are Dr. David J. Pittenger (COLA), Mr. Don Van Horn (COFA), Dr. Robert Bookwalter (Interim) (COEHS), Betsy Dulin, JD (CITE), Dr. Chong Kim (LCOB), Dr. Chuck Somerville (COS), Dr. Michael Prewitt (COHP), and Dr. Corley Dennison (SOJMC). Dr. Charles McKown is the Dean of the School of Medicine.
economists in the nation. Dr. Jean Edward Smith
, known for his works Grant and John Marshall: Definer of a Nation, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize
in biography. The Higher Education for Learning Problems
(H.E.L.P.) program founded by Dr. Barbara Guyer assists students with learning disabilities and related disorders complete their college education.
Marshall offers two prestigious and academically rigorous scholarship programs: the John Marshall Scholars
and the Society of Yeager Scholars
program.
The University maintains major involvement in the arts for the cultural benefit of the surrounding Appalachian region. The Joan C. Edwards Performing Arts center is a state-of-the-art, 530-seat facility for studies in the fields of music, art, and theatre. The Jomie Jazz Center is a $2.6 million facility that houses the University's study program in jazz
.
In April 2007, the Marshall's Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine was ranked fifth in the nation in producing family physicians, according to the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.
In 2005, Marshall alum and Chicago Tribune
reporter Julia Keller
won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing
. CNN
White House
correspondent Joe Johns
also is a Marshall alum.
In 2009, Marshall's Forensic Science Graduate Program ranked #1 in the nation based upon scores on the Forensic Science Assessment Test (FSAT), which is a qualifying test offered by the American Board of Criminalistics.
The school's general engineering program was closed in 1970, but was reborn with a graduate program in 1993, and a general engineering undergraduate program in 2006. MU also allows students to complete the first two years of a specific engineering degree and then transfer to one of the two campuses of West Virginia University. MU has a goal of developing specific engineering programs of its own.
MU has granted the Master's degree since 1938. Building on the School of Medicine, the school began granting other doctoral degrees in 1994. Previously students would complete work at Marshall, but the degrees would be awarded by West Virginia University. MU now offers a PhD in Biomedical Sciences, an EdD in two specialites, and first professional doctortes in Nurse Anesthesia, Psychology, and Physical Therapy.
The university has announced plans to develop a Pharmacy School, starting in 2012, with first class graduating in 2016.
Marshall's sports teams are known as the Thundering Herd. The school colors are kelly green and white. Marshall participates in NCAA
Division I (FBS for football
) as a member of Conference USA
. The name Thundering Herd came from a Zane Gray novel released in 1925, and a silent movie of the same two years later. Marshall teams were originally known as the Indians, and the green-white colors came in 1903, replacing black and blue. The Herald-Dispatch
sports editor Carl "Duke" Ridgley tagged the team with the Thundering Herd name, but many other nicknames were suggested over the next thirty years, including Boogercats, Big Green, Green Gobblers, Rams, Judges and others. In 1965, students, alums and faculty settled on Thundering Herd in a vote, and Big Green was given to the athletic department's fund-raising wing.
Sports at the school include women's softball
, swimming
& diving
, tennis
, volleyball
, and track & field; men's football
, baseball
; and teams for both genders in basketball
cross country
, golf
, and soccer. Marshall also fields club teams, not affiliated with the MU Athletic Department, in rugby union
for both women and men, and a men's lacrosse
team.
From 1964 to 1983, Marshall's football program suffered a dismal streak of losing seasons and was suspended by the Mid-American Conference
in 1969 for 144 alleged recruiting violations in 1968–69 in football and basketball. While the NCAA issued a one-year probation, the MAC would not take the program back as late as 1972. This was exacerbated by the 1970 plane crash that killed nearly all of the team's coaches and players. Marshall had the worst record of any major college playing football in the 1970s, winning only 23 games and losing 83 over that ten-year period. Marshall joined the Southern Conference for all sports in 1977, but football was 0–26–1 in the first five years. MU's only non-loss came on a 59-yard field goal with no time left by freshman Barry Childers at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, N.C., for a 13–13 tie. In 1981, Marshall won its first SC game by beating Appalachian State in Boone, N.C., 17–14, and the celebration included a 30-mile police escort and a crowd estimated at 3,000 met the team when they unloaded at Gullickson Hall on the MU campus.
Beginning in 1984, Marshall football experienced a remarkable turnaround as Stan Parrish's first team nailed down a 6–5 mark with a 31–28 win at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, Tenn., inside the Memorial Center or "Mini-Dome," the Buccaneers 12,000-seat indoor football facility. The Thundering Herd posted 21 straight winning seasons, winning the SC in 1988, 1994 and 1996, before going 4–7 in 2005 under first-year head coach Mark Snyder, a former Herd All-American defensive back and native of nearby South Point, Ohio, who played for the Herd in 1987 after leading the Ironton (Ohio) Tigers to the state championship game as a quarterback.
Despite past conference titles and five appearances in the NCAA Tournament, men's basketball at the university was in a state of mediocrity since advancing to the NIT in 1988. Marshall finished as runner-up in its final Southern Conference tournament in 1997, losing on a last second shot by UT-Chattanooga, and made one trip to the Mid-American Conference semi-finals in 2000 before falling to Miami, Ohio. Recently, however, the basketball team has found success since the 2007 hiring of Donnie Jones. Jones led the Herd to the postseason in 2010 in the CollegeInsider.com tournament. Jones left for UCF in the offseason, and Tom Herrion took charge of the team, and in 2011 landed in the College Basketball Invitational.
Marshall's biggest rivalries out of conference are with Ohio University
, Miami University
and West Virginia University
, while East Carolina University
and University of Central Florida
have been the biggest rivals in Conference USA so far. Tulane University
and the Herd baseball team now seem to be bitter rivals as MU was 3–1–1 against the Green Wave in 2008, winning its first game ever back in April in New Orleans. Marshall returned to the "Big Easy" in May and knocked Tulane out of the C-USA Tournament on the Green Wave home field, Turchin Stadium, in the C-USA Tournament, 10–5 and 8–7. Yeager stole a league-record five bases against TU in the opening win, while Jeff Rowley scored the winning run in game two on a wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth.
California
Florida
Georgia
Maryland
New York
Coeducation
Mixed-sex education, also known as coeducation or co-education, is the integrated education of male and female persons in the same institution. It is the opposite of single-sex education...
al public
Public university
A public university is a university that is predominantly funded by public means through a national or subnational government, as opposed to private universities. A national university may or may not be considered a public university, depending on regions...
research university in Huntington, West Virginia
Huntington, West Virginia
Huntington is a city in Cabell and Wayne counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia, along the Ohio River. Most of the city is in Cabell County, for which it is the county seat. A small portion of the city, mainly the neighborhood of Westmoreland, is in Wayne County. Its population was 49,138 at...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
founded in 1837, and named after John Marshall
John Marshall
John Marshall was the Chief Justice of the United States whose court opinions helped lay the basis for American constitutional law and made the Supreme Court of the United States a coequal branch of government along with the legislative and executive branches...
, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States
Chief Justice of the United States
The Chief Justice of the United States is the head of the United States federal court system and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Chief Justice is one of nine Supreme Court justices; the other eight are the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States...
.
The university is composed of eight undergraduate colleges and schools: the College of Liberal Arts (COLA), the College of Fine Arts (COFA), the College of Education and Human Services (COEHS), the College of Information Technology and Engineering (CITE), the Elizabeth McDowell Lewis College of Business (LCOB), the College of Science (COS), the College of Health Professions (COHP), and the W. Page Pitt School of Journalism and Mass Communications (SOJMC). The University is also home to the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine
Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine
The Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine is the medical school at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. It is one of three medical schools in the state....
, a regional center for cancer research which has a national reputation for its programs in rural health care delivery, and the general Graduate College and the Graduate College of Education and Professional Development. The forensic science graduate program
Marshall University Forensic Science Graduate Program
The Forensic Science Graduate Program at Marshall University is a two-year academic program leading to a master of science degree in forensic science. The program is accredited by the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, and the only one in the U.S...
is one of a small number of post-graduate-level academic programs in the United States accredited by the American Academy of Forensic Sciences
American Academy of Forensic Sciences
The American Academy of Forensic Sciences is a professional society for people in all areas of forensics.For over sixty years, the AAFS has served a distinguished and diverse membership. Its nearly 6,000 members are divided into eleven sections spanning the forensic enterprise...
and considered by many to be an acceptable Forensic Science program in the United States. The Elizabeth McDowell Lewis College of Business has achieved AACSB accreditation.
Marshall University has a non-residential branch campus, focused on graduate education, in South Charleston
South Charleston, West Virginia
South Charleston is a city in Kanawha County, West Virginia, U.S. The population was 13,450 at the 2010 census. South Charleston was established in 1906, but not incorporated until 1919 by special charter enacted by the West Virginia Legislature...
, the Marshall University - South Charleston Campus, which also offers classes throughout the southern half of the state, including at the Erma Byrd Higher Education Center
Erma Byrd Higher Education Center
The Erma Byrd Higher Education Center is a joint venture extension campus of several colleges in West Virginia. It is located just of Interstate 64 near Beckley, West Virginia...
in Beckley
Beckley, West Virginia
Beckley is a city in Raleigh County, West Virginia, United States, which was founded on April 4, 1838. The 2008 population was estimated to be 16,832 by the U.S. Census Bureau. Early in its history, the town was known as Beckleyville and Raleigh Court House...
. It also offers undergraduate courses, under three "centers", the Southern Mountain Center, operating on the campuses of the Southern West Virginia Community College
Southern West Virginia Community College
Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College is a community college in southwestern West Virginia, United States.-History:...
in Logan
Logan, West Virginia
Logan is a city in Logan County, West Virginia, United States, along the Guyandotte River. The population was 1,779 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Logan County.-History:...
and Williamson
Williamson, West Virginia
Williamson is a city in Mingo County, West Virginia, USA, along the Tug Fork River. The population was 3,414 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Mingo County, and is the county's largest and most populous city. Williamson is home to Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College...
and at the YMCA
YMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...
in Gilbert
Gilbert, West Virginia
Gilbert is a town in Mingo County, West Virginia, United States, along the Guyandotte River. The population was 417 at the 2000 census. Gilbert was incorporated in 1918 and named for Gilbert Creek, which derives its name from the name of an early traveler in the area who was killed by Native...
; the Mid-Ohio Valley Center in Point Pleasant
Point Pleasant, West Virginia
Point Pleasant is a city in Mason County, West Virginia, United States, at the confluence of the Ohio and Kanawha rivers. The population was 4,637 at the 2000 census...
and the Teays Valley Center in Hurricane
Hurricane, West Virginia
Hurricane is a city in Putnam County, West Virginia, in the United States. The population was 6,284 at the 2010 census.-History:Hurricane was named after Hurricane Creek, which was, in turn, named after a group of trees at the mouth of the river bent in one direction...
. Marshall University also operates the Robert C. Byrd Institute, with operations on both the Huntington and South Charleston campuses, as well as in Fairmont, West Virginia
Fairmont, West Virginia
Fairmont is a city in Marion County, West Virginia, United States. Nicknamed "The Friendly City". The population was 18,704 at the 2010 census...
, and Rocket Center, West Virginia
Rocket Center, West Virginia
Rocket Center, West Virginia is the site of a government installation known as Allegany Ballistics Laboratory, part of the Naval Sea Systems Command which is currently operated by Alliant Techsystems. Rocket Center shares a ZIP Code with Keyser but is located north along the North Branch Potomac...
. The goal of the Institute is the transfer of technology from the academic departments to private industry to support job development in the region.
History
Marshall University was founded in 1837 as a private subscription schoolSecondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
by residents of Guyandotte and the surrounding area. The landmark Old Main
Old Main (Marshall University)
Old Main is a collection of five buildings joined together at central campus of Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia . It is located at the junction of Hal Greer Boulevard and Fourth Avenue...
, which now serves as the primary administrative building for the university, was built on land known as Maple Grove, at the time the home of the Mount Hebron Church in what was then the state of Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. John Laidley
John Laidley
John Laidley was a prominent Virginia lawyer and politician who was one of the founders of Marshall University in 1837. The part of Virginia where Marshall University is located is now part of West Virginia.-References:...
, a local attorney
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
, hosted the meeting which led to the founding of Marshall Academy, which was named after Laidley's friend, the eminent John Marshall
John Marshall
John Marshall was the Chief Justice of the United States whose court opinions helped lay the basis for American constitutional law and made the Supreme Court of the United States a coequal branch of government along with the legislative and executive branches...
who had served as the fourth Chief Justice of the United States
Chief Justice of the United States
The Chief Justice of the United States is the head of the United States federal court system and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Chief Justice is one of nine Supreme Court justices; the other eight are the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States...
from January 1801 to July 1835.
On March 30, 1838, the institution was formally dedicated by the Virginia General Assembly
Virginia General Assembly
The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the oldest legislative body in the Western Hemisphere, established on July 30, 1619. The General Assembly is a bicameral body consisting of a lower house, the Virginia House of Delegates, with 100 members,...
as Marshall Academy, however this institution was not a college level institution as that was understood at that time. In 1858, the Virginia General Assembly
Virginia General Assembly
The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the oldest legislative body in the Western Hemisphere, established on July 30, 1619. The General Assembly is a bicameral body consisting of a lower house, the Virginia House of Delegates, with 100 members,...
changed the name to Marshall College. but this change still did not reflect its status as a true college. The Civil War closed the often financially-challenged school for much of the 1860s.
On June 20, 1863, Cabell County, Virginia
Cabell County, West Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 96,784 people, 41,180 households, and 25,490 families residing in the county. The population density was 344 people per square mile . There were 45,615 housing units at an average density of 162 per square mile...
, was one of the 50 counties
Lost counties, cities, and towns of Virginia
Lost counties, cities, and towns of Virginia are those that existed within the English Colony of Virginia or, after statehood, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and no longer retain the same form within its boundaries. The settlements, towns, and administrative units discussed here ceased to exist in a...
separated from Virginia at the height of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
to form the State of West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
, and the college fell within the new state of. In 1867, the West Virginia Legislature
West Virginia Legislature
The West Virginia Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of West Virginia. A bicameral legislative body, the Legislature is split between the upper Senate and the lower House of Delegates. It was established under Article VI of the West Virginia Constitution following the state's...
resurrected the institution as a teacher training facility and renamed it State Normal School of Marshall College. This began the history of the college as a state supported institution at the collegiate level.
20th century
With the exception of the Old Main building, expansion of the facilities and the college itself did not begin until 1907, when the Board of Regents of West VirginiaWest Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
changed the title of the head from "principal" to "president" and allowed the creation of new college-level departments. At that time, enrollment surpassed 1,000 students. Thirteen years after that, the school began offering four-year Bachelor Degrees for the first time in 1920.
In 1937, the college suffered through a devastating flooding by the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
. Numerous structures, such as Northcott Hall and the James E. Morrow Library were extensively flooded. Much of Huntington was also heavily damaged, and as a result, a floodwall was constructed around much of the town to prevent future occurrences.
The West Virginia Board of Education
Board of education
A board of education or a school board or school committee is the title of the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or higher administrative level....
authorized Marshall College in 1938 to offer the master's degree in six programs: chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
, education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
, history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
, political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
, psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
, and sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
, as the institution underwent another expansion. In that year the school was accredited as a "university level institution"; however, the renaming of the school would remain a contentious political issue for decades to come. Further expansion accelerated after World War II.
In 1960, John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
spoke at the college during his cross-country campaign for the presidency.
On March 2, 1961, Marshall College became Marshall University as the West Virginia Legislature approved university status for the institution and the legislation was signed by Governor W. W. Barron. The student newspaper, The Parthenon, prepared two front pages for the day, depending on the outcome of the legislature's vote. Also in 1961, WMUL-FM
WMUL
WMUL is a Variety formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Huntington, West Virginia, serving Metro Huntington. WMUL is owned and operated by Marshall University.-Sports Programming:...
began operations as the first public radio station in West Virginia. The station, which began in the Science Building at 10 watt
Watt
The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
s of power, now broadcasts from the Communications Building with 1,150 watts.
In 1969, the university's athletic program, facing a number of scandals, fired both its football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
and basketball coaches and was suspended from the Mid-American Conference
Mid-American Conference
The Mid-American Conference is a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I college athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twelve full member schools are in Ohio and Michigan, with single members...
and from the National Collegiate Athletic Association
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
. The university rebuilt its athletic program back to respectability, and in 1977, the university joined the Southern Conference
Southern Conference
The Southern Conference is a Division I college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision . Member institutions are located in the states of Alabama, Georgia, North...
.
1970 Football team airplane crash
On the evening of November 14, 1970, the Thundering HerdMarshall Thundering Herd
The Marshall Thundering Herd are the intercollegiate athletic teams that collectively represent the Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. Thundering Herd athletic teams compete in Conference USA, which are members of the NCAA Division I...
football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
team, along with coaches and fans, was returning home to Huntington from Kinston
Kinston, North Carolina
Kinston is a city in Lenoir County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 23,688 at the 2000 census. The population was estimated at 22,360 in 2008. It has been the county seat of Lenoir County since its formation in 1791 . Kinston is located in North Carolina's Inner Banks...
, North Carolina. The team had just lost a game 17–14 against the East Carolina University
East Carolina University
East Carolina University is a public, coeducational, engaged doctoral/research university located in Greenville, North Carolina, United States. Named East Carolina University by statute and commonly known as ECU or East Carolina, the university is the largest institution of higher learning in...
Pirates
East Carolina Pirates football
The East Carolina Pirates is a college football team that represents East Carolina University . The team is currently a member of the Conference USA, which is a Division I Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association .The Pirates have won seven conference championships and...
at Ficklen Stadium in Greenville, North Carolina
Greenville, North Carolina
Greenville is the county seat of Pitt County and principal city of the Greenville, North Carolina metropolitan area. Greenville is the health, entertainment, and educational hub of North Carolina's Tidewater and Coastal Plain and in 2008 was listed as the Tenth Largest City in North Carolina...
. The chartered Southern Airways Flight 932 crashed on approach to the Tri-State Airport
Tri-State Airport
Tri-State Airport , also known as Milton J. Ferguson Field, is a public-use airport in Wayne County, West Virginia, United States. The airport is located three nautical miles south of the central business district of Huntington, West Virginia, near the cities of Ceredo and Kenova...
after clipping trees just west of the runway and impacting nose-first into a hollow. All seventy-five people on board were killed, including 37 players and 5 coaches. 13 players who were not on the plane survived, along with the members of the freshman football team, who were not eligible to play varsity under the rules of that time and were not on the plane.
The team was rebuilt with Jack Lengyel
Jack Lengyel
Jack Lengyel is a software executive and former American football coach, lacrosse coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at the College of Wooster from 1966 to 1970 and at Marshall University from 1971 until 1974, compiling a career college football...
as the new head coach. The leaders of the "Young Thundering Herd" (to which the team officially changed its name for the 1971 season) were the few players who didn't make the trip due to injury or disciplinary action. There were 15 sophomores on the team from the previous year's freshman team, and the bulk of the team was composed of freshmen players who were allowed to play on the varsity squad due to the National Collegiate Athletic Association
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
, college football's
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
governing body, waiving a rule prohibiting it. Three years later, it would waive the rule for all schools. Rounding out the squad were players from other Marshall sports programs. They would win only two games that year. Their first win was an emotional 15–13 victory against Xavier University
Xavier University (Cincinnati)
Xavier University is a co-educational Jesuit university in the United States located in Cincinnati, Ohio. The University is the sixth-oldest Catholic university in the nation and has an undergraduate enrollment of about 4,000 students and graduate enrollment of 2,600 students. Xavier is primarily...
in the home opener. Their second win, in their homecoming game, was against a better, ranked team: the Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green State University, often referred to as Bowling Green or BGSU, is a public, coeducational research university located in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States. The institution was granted a charter in 1910 by the State of Ohio as part of the Lowry Bill, which also established Kent State...
Falcons
Bowling Green Falcons football
The Bowling Green Falcons football team is the interscholastic football team at Bowling Green State University. Bowling Green competes as a member of the Mid-American Conference in the East Division. The Falcons have won ten conference championships....
.
The plaza at the center of the school has a fountain dedicated to the seventy-five victims. The water does not flow from November 14 until the first day of spring football practice the following year. The tragedy and its aftermath were the subject of several documentaries, including the award-winning Marshall University: Ashes to Glory
Marshall University: Ashes to Glory
Marshall University: Ashes to Glory is a 2000 documentary about the November 14, 1970 Marshall University plane crash that killed 75 people , and the efforts of new head coach Jack Lengyel and the coaching staff Marshall University: Ashes to Glory is a 2000 documentary about the November 14, 1970...
. The tragedy and the rebuilding efforts were dramatized in the 2006 Warner Brothers feature, We Are Marshall
We Are Marshall
We Are Marshall is a 2006 American drama film directed by Joseph McGinty Nichol about the aftermath of the 1970 plane crash that killed 37 football players on the Marshall University Thundering Herd football team as well as five coaches, two athletic trainers, the athletic director, 25 boosters and...
which opened in Huntington
Huntington, West Virginia
Huntington is a city in Cabell and Wayne counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia, along the Ohio River. Most of the city is in Cabell County, for which it is the county seat. A small portion of the city, mainly the neighborhood of Westmoreland, is in Wayne County. Its population was 49,138 at...
a week before its national release date. Many scenes in the movie were filmed on the campus and throughout Huntington.
From 1970
In 1971 the WilliamsonWilliamson, West Virginia
Williamson is a city in Mingo County, West Virginia, USA, along the Tug Fork River. The population was 3,414 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Mingo County, and is the county's largest and most populous city. Williamson is home to Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College...
and Logan
Logan, West Virginia
Logan is a city in Logan County, West Virginia, United States, along the Guyandotte River. The population was 1,779 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Logan County.-History:...
campuses of Marshall University were combined by the West Virginia Legislature to form Southern West Virginia Community College
Southern West Virginia Community College
Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College is a community college in southwestern West Virginia, United States.-History:...
(now Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College).
In 1977 the university founded its School of Medicine, the first professional school and the first doctoral program. Over the next 20 years the school would add doctoral programs in many fields. Twenty years later, in 1997, the West Virginia Graduate College became the graduate college of Marshall University. Its campus is located in South Charleston, West Virginia
South Charleston, West Virginia
South Charleston is a city in Kanawha County, West Virginia, U.S. The population was 13,450 at the 2010 census. South Charleston was established in 1906, but not incorporated until 1919 by special charter enacted by the West Virginia Legislature...
. In 1998, the John Deaver Drinko Library opened on campus. The center includes a 24-hour study center and a coffee shop, and has both wired and wireless networking throughout the building. John Deaver Drinko graduated from the university in 1942.
In 1997, Marshall merged with the University of West Virginia College of Graduate Studies (COGS), with the latter being renamed Marshall University Graduate College. In 2010 the university was authorized to begin offering undergraduate classes in South Charleston and renamed the facility Marshall University - South Charleston Campus.
Marshall's enrollment was 16,500 in 2004. In addition to the main campus in Huntington and the branch campus in South Charleston, West Virginia
South Charleston, West Virginia
South Charleston is a city in Kanawha County, West Virginia, U.S. The population was 13,450 at the 2010 census. South Charleston was established in 1906, but not incorporated until 1919 by special charter enacted by the West Virginia Legislature...
, the school maintains undergraduate centers in Gilbert
Gilbert, West Virginia
Gilbert is a town in Mingo County, West Virginia, United States, along the Guyandotte River. The population was 417 at the 2000 census. Gilbert was incorporated in 1918 and named for Gilbert Creek, which derives its name from the name of an early traveler in the area who was killed by Native...
, Point Pleasant
Point Pleasant, West Virginia
Point Pleasant is a city in Mason County, West Virginia, United States, at the confluence of the Ohio and Kanawha rivers. The population was 4,637 at the 2000 census...
, and Hurricane, West Virginia
Hurricane, West Virginia
Hurricane is a city in Putnam County, West Virginia, in the United States. The population was 6,284 at the 2010 census.-History:Hurricane was named after Hurricane Creek, which was, in turn, named after a group of trees at the mouth of the river bent in one direction...
. In 1989, Marshall was governed by the University of West Virginia
University of West Virginia
The University of West Virginia was an educational authority formed by the West Virginia Legislature on July 1, 1989, to oversee the operation of the state's graduate and doctoral degree-granting institutions. It was abolished on June 30, 2000...
Board of Trustees, but this ended in 2000.
In July 2005, Dr. Stephen J. Kopp
Stephen J. Kopp
Stephen J. Kopp, Ph.D. is president of Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. Kopp assumed the presidency on July 1, 2005, taking over from interim president Michael J. Farrell.-External links:***...
took over as Marshall University's president and Dr. Gayle Ormiston serves as the Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs. The eight college deans are Dr. David J. Pittenger (COLA), Mr. Don Van Horn (COFA), Dr. Robert Bookwalter (Interim) (COEHS), Betsy Dulin, JD (CITE), Dr. Chong Kim (LCOB), Dr. Chuck Somerville (COS), Dr. Michael Prewitt (COHP), and Dr. Corley Dennison (SOJMC). Dr. Charles McKown is the Dean of the School of Medicine.
21st century
Several new facilities have been recently completed all around the Huntington campus. These buildings include two new first-year student residence halls, a health and recreation center, an engineering lab facility, softball field, and an artificial turf practice field that is open to the public. The Marshall University Foundation Hall, home of the Erickson Alumni Center, is the most recent building to be completed on campus.Academics
The scholarship and achievements of Marshall's faculty are also bringing more attention to the University. Dr. Jackie Agesa and Dr. Richard Agesa are among the top 20 blackAfrican American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
economists in the nation. Dr. Jean Edward Smith
Jean Edward Smith
Jean Edward Smith, Ph.D is professor at Marshall University and biographer. Currently he is the John Marshall Professor of Political Science at Marshall University and professor emeritus at the University of Toronto after having served as professor of political economy there for thirty-five years...
, known for his works Grant and John Marshall: Definer of a Nation, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
in biography. The Higher Education for Learning Problems
Learning disability
Learning disability is a classification including several disorders in which a person has difficulty learning in a typical manner, usually caused by an unknown factor or factors...
(H.E.L.P.) program founded by Dr. Barbara Guyer assists students with learning disabilities and related disorders complete their college education.
Marshall offers two prestigious and academically rigorous scholarship programs: the John Marshall Scholars
John Marshall Scholars
The John Marshall Scholars Program is an academic scholarship program that covers a majority of the cost of education for member students at Marshall University...
and the Society of Yeager Scholars
Society of Yeager Scholars
The Society of Yeager Scholars is the name of the highest academic scholarship offered at Marshall University, named in honor of Chuck Yeager, the first recorded pilot to break the sound barrier.-General information:...
program.
The University maintains major involvement in the arts for the cultural benefit of the surrounding Appalachian region. The Joan C. Edwards Performing Arts center is a state-of-the-art, 530-seat facility for studies in the fields of music, art, and theatre. The Jomie Jazz Center is a $2.6 million facility that houses the University's study program in jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
.
In April 2007, the Marshall's Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine was ranked fifth in the nation in producing family physicians, according to the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.
In 2005, Marshall alum and Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
reporter Julia Keller
Julia Keller
Julia Keller is an American writer. She won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing for her account of the deadly April 2004 Utica, Illinois tornado outbreak, which was published in the Chicago Tribune, where Keller works as cultural critic...
won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing
Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing
The Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing has been awarded since 1979 for a distinguished example of feature writing giving prime consideration to high literary quality and originality. The Pulitzer Committee issues an official citation explaining the reasons for the award.-List of winners and their...
. CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
correspondent Joe Johns
Joe Johns
Joe Johns is a CNN correspondent based in the Washington, D.C. bureau. He previously worked as an NBC News Capitol Hill Correspondent for TODAY and other NBC programs. He also worked as an anchor for WSAZ-TV in 1980....
also is a Marshall alum.
In 2009, Marshall's Forensic Science Graduate Program ranked #1 in the nation based upon scores on the Forensic Science Assessment Test (FSAT), which is a qualifying test offered by the American Board of Criminalistics.
The school's general engineering program was closed in 1970, but was reborn with a graduate program in 1993, and a general engineering undergraduate program in 2006. MU also allows students to complete the first two years of a specific engineering degree and then transfer to one of the two campuses of West Virginia University. MU has a goal of developing specific engineering programs of its own.
MU has granted the Master's degree since 1938. Building on the School of Medicine, the school began granting other doctoral degrees in 1994. Previously students would complete work at Marshall, but the degrees would be awarded by West Virginia University. MU now offers a PhD in Biomedical Sciences, an EdD in two specialites, and first professional doctortes in Nurse Anesthesia, Psychology, and Physical Therapy.
The university has announced plans to develop a Pharmacy School, starting in 2012, with first class graduating in 2016.
Athletics
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
Division I (FBS for football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
) as a member of Conference USA
Conference USA
Conference USA, officially abbreviated C-USA, is a college athletic conference whose member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports...
. The name Thundering Herd came from a Zane Gray novel released in 1925, and a silent movie of the same two years later. Marshall teams were originally known as the Indians, and the green-white colors came in 1903, replacing black and blue. The Herald-Dispatch
The Herald-Dispatch
The Herald-Dispatch is a daily newspaper serving Huntington, West Virginia, and neighboring communities in southern Ohio and eastern Kentucky. It is currently a subsidiary of Champion Publishing, Inc., based in Huntington....
sports editor Carl "Duke" Ridgley tagged the team with the Thundering Herd name, but many other nicknames were suggested over the next thirty years, including Boogercats, Big Green, Green Gobblers, Rams, Judges and others. In 1965, students, alums and faculty settled on Thundering Herd in a vote, and Big Green was given to the athletic department's fund-raising wing.
Sports at the school include women's softball
Softball
Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
, swimming
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
& diving
Diving
Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, sometimes while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.Diving is one...
, tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
, volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
, and track & field; men's football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
, baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
; and teams for both genders in basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
cross country
Cross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
, golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
, and soccer. Marshall also fields club teams, not affiliated with the MU Athletic Department, in rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
for both women and men, and a men's lacrosse
Lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...
team.
From 1964 to 1983, Marshall's football program suffered a dismal streak of losing seasons and was suspended by the Mid-American Conference
Mid-American Conference
The Mid-American Conference is a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I college athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twelve full member schools are in Ohio and Michigan, with single members...
in 1969 for 144 alleged recruiting violations in 1968–69 in football and basketball. While the NCAA issued a one-year probation, the MAC would not take the program back as late as 1972. This was exacerbated by the 1970 plane crash that killed nearly all of the team's coaches and players. Marshall had the worst record of any major college playing football in the 1970s, winning only 23 games and losing 83 over that ten-year period. Marshall joined the Southern Conference for all sports in 1977, but football was 0–26–1 in the first five years. MU's only non-loss came on a 59-yard field goal with no time left by freshman Barry Childers at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, N.C., for a 13–13 tie. In 1981, Marshall won its first SC game by beating Appalachian State in Boone, N.C., 17–14, and the celebration included a 30-mile police escort and a crowd estimated at 3,000 met the team when they unloaded at Gullickson Hall on the MU campus.
Beginning in 1984, Marshall football experienced a remarkable turnaround as Stan Parrish's first team nailed down a 6–5 mark with a 31–28 win at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, Tenn., inside the Memorial Center or "Mini-Dome," the Buccaneers 12,000-seat indoor football facility. The Thundering Herd posted 21 straight winning seasons, winning the SC in 1988, 1994 and 1996, before going 4–7 in 2005 under first-year head coach Mark Snyder, a former Herd All-American defensive back and native of nearby South Point, Ohio, who played for the Herd in 1987 after leading the Ironton (Ohio) Tigers to the state championship game as a quarterback.
Marshall's biggest rivalries out of conference are with Ohio University
Ohio Bobcats
Ohio University features 16 varsity sports teams called the Bobcats. The Bobcats compete in the Mid-American Conference in all sports. The Bobcats were a charter member of the Mid-American Conference in 1946 and are the only team still in the conference from the original 5 team league that...
, Miami University
Miami RedHawks
Miami University, in Oxford, Ohio, features 18 different varsity level sports teams for men and women, all of which are known as the Miami RedHawks...
and West Virginia University
West Virginia Mountaineers
The West Virginia Mountaineers are the athletic teams of West Virginia University. The school is a member of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I and the Big East Conference. On July 1, 2012 the Mountaineers will switch conferences, moving from the Big East to the Big 12, becoming...
, while East Carolina University
East Carolina University
East Carolina University is a public, coeducational, engaged doctoral/research university located in Greenville, North Carolina, United States. Named East Carolina University by statute and commonly known as ECU or East Carolina, the university is the largest institution of higher learning in...
and University of Central Florida
University of Central Florida
The University of Central Florida, commonly referred to as UCF, is a metropolitan public research university located in Orlando, Florida, United States...
have been the biggest rivals in Conference USA so far. Tulane University
Tulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
and the Herd baseball team now seem to be bitter rivals as MU was 3–1–1 against the Green Wave in 2008, winning its first game ever back in April in New Orleans. Marshall returned to the "Big Easy" in May and knocked Tulane out of the C-USA Tournament on the Green Wave home field, Turchin Stadium, in the C-USA Tournament, 10–5 and 8–7. Yeager stole a league-record five bases against TU in the opening win, while Jeff Rowley scored the winning run in game two on a wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth.
Residence halls
There are eight residence halls, all of which are located on the main campus.| Name | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Buskirk Hall | Central campus | All female dormitory. |
| Hodges Hall (currently used for office space) | Central campus | Male and female dormitory. |
| Twin Towers East | Central campus | Male and female dormitory. |
| Twin Towers West | Central campus | Male and female dormitory. |
| Holderby Hall | Central campus | Male and female dormitory. |
| Laidley Hall (closed after 2007–2008 school year) | Central campus | Male and female dormitory. |
| Marshall Commons Marshall Commons (Marshall University) Marshall Commons is a collection of dormitories, as well as a dining facility, on the south-central campus of Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia, USA. Completed in the fall of 2003, Marshall Commons consists of Gibson, Wellman, Haymaker, and Willis Residence Halls, along with Harless... |
Central campus | Male and female dormitories. |
| Freshman North & South Residence Halls | Central campus | Male, female and co-ed dormitory. Freshmen only. |
Alumni clubs
The Marshall University Alumni Association has more than 35,000 alumni. This is a list of the nationwide alumni clubs.California
- Southern California Club
Florida
- Central Florida Club
- Jacksonville, Florida Club
- Palm Beach, Florida Club
- Sarasota/Bradenton Club
- South Florida Club
- Southwest Florida Club
- Tampa/St. Petersburg Club
Georgia
- Atlanta, GeorgiaGeorgia (U.S. state)Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
Club
Maryland
- Baltimore, MarylandMarylandMaryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
Club
New York
- New York City Game Watching Club
See also
- List of Marshall University people
- Buildings at Marshall UniversityBuildings at Marshall UniversityMarshall University in Huntington, West Virginia is home to many notable structures, including two residential high-rises.- Timeline :- Notes :* Holderby Hall was originally named South Hall and was only four stories . Constructed in the 1960s, it was expanded and renamed.* Prichard Hall was...
- Robert C. Byrd Institute
- Education in West VirginiaEducation in West VirginiaFormal public school Education in West Virginia falls under the auspices of the West Virginia Department of Education. Each county in West Virginia constitutes a school district.-West Virginia Board of Education:...