Washburn University
Encyclopedia
Washburn University is a co-educational, public
institution of higher learning in Topeka
, Kansas
, USA. It offers undergraduate and graduate
programs, as well as professional programs in law
and business
. Washburn has 550 faculty members, who teach more than 6,400 undergraduate students and nearly 1,000 graduate students. The university's assets include a $152 million endowment
.
. Washburn University is governed by a nine-member Board of Regents. Three, who must be residents of the state of Kansas, are appointed by the Governor. Three residents of the City of Topeka, one from each of the state senatorial districts, are appointed by the Mayor. One is the Mayor or a member of the governing body of the city designated by the Mayor. The Shawnee County Commission appoints one member, who must be a resident of Shawnee County but not of the City of Topeka. The Kansas Board of Regents
annually selects one of its members to serve on the Washburn Board. Members of the Board (with the exception of the Kansas Board of Regents' appointee) serve staggered four-year terms.
issued by the State of Kansas and the General Association of Congregational Ministers and Churches of Kansas on land donated by abolitionist John Ritchie
. The school was renamed Washburn College in 1868 after Ichabod Washburn
pledged $25,000 to the school. Washburn was a church deacon, abolitionist and industrialist who resided in Worcester
, Massachusetts
.
Washburn University’s mascot, The Ichabods, honors the school’s early benefactor, Ichabod Washburn
. The original design of the studious-looking, tailcoat-clad figure was created in 1938 by Bradbury Thompson
(B.A. ‘34), who became an internationally acclaimed graphic artist.
In 1913 the medical department of Washburn College closed. Previously the Kansas Medical School it had become infamous on December 10, 1895, when it was discovered that some of the bodies used for anatomical study had been stolen from local cemeteries. As the news was being printed (eventually across the country) the governor called out state troops to protect the school in fear of a riot. Three of the doctors, including the Dean of the school, and a janitor/student from the school were arrested as well as one man not a member of the school. Charges against the doctors were discharged, the janitor was convicted but had his conviction reversed on appeal and the final man was convicted but later pardoned.
During World War II
, Washburn Municipal University was one of 131 colleges and universities nationally that took part in the V-12 Navy College Training Program
which offered students a path to a Navy commission.
Formerly a municipal university
, the university's primary funding was moved from city property tax to county sales tax sources in 1999, with the school retaining status as a municipal subdivision of the state.
Washburn is governed by its own nine-member Board of Regents.
On June 8, 1966, only a few days after classes were dismissed for the summer, much of the campus was demolished by a tornado, and completely denuded of trees. Three months before the tornado struck, the Washburn Board of Trustees had reinsured every building on campus for the maximum amount. A week after the tornado struck, summer classes began at Topeka West High School. By the fall of 1966, Stoffer Hall was repaired and trailers were in place. It took years to reconstruct the campus, with students attending classes in trailers well into the early 1970s.
and professional education through more than 200 certificate, associate, baccalaureate, master’s and juris doctor programs through the College of Arts and Sciences and the Schools of Law, Business, Nursing and Applied Studies. The university is home to several honor and recognition societies. The most prestigious societies are the Sagamore Society
for men and NONOSO for women.
of $100M+ ranks it near the top among Master's degree institutions in endowment per student.
, Dennis Moore
, Kim Phillips and Bill Kurtis
.
The men's athletic teams use The Ichabods nickname; the school's women's teams are known as Lady Blues. Washburn is a member of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association and the National Collegiate Athletic Association
Division II.
Public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individuals, and the public is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the Öffentlichkeit or public sphere. The concept of a public has also been defined in political science,...
institution of higher learning in Topeka
Topeka, Kansas
Topeka |Kansa]]: Tó Pee Kuh) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is situated along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was...
, Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
, USA. It offers undergraduate and graduate
Graduate school
A graduate school is a school that awards advanced academic degrees with the general requirement that students must have earned a previous undergraduate degree...
programs, as well as professional programs in law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
and business
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
. Washburn has 550 faculty members, who teach more than 6,400 undergraduate students and nearly 1,000 graduate students. The university's assets include a $152 million endowment
Financial endowment
A financial endowment is a transfer of money or property donated to an institution. The total value of an institution's investments is often referred to as the institution's endowment and is typically organized as a public charity, private foundation, or trust....
.
President and the Board
The president of Washburn University is Dr. Jerry Farley, who has served as president since 1997 and taken an active approach in improving academics and student lifeStudent life
Student life may refer to:* The everyday life of a student* A synonym for Student Affairs* Student Life , student newspaper of Washington University in St. Louis...
. Washburn University is governed by a nine-member Board of Regents. Three, who must be residents of the state of Kansas, are appointed by the Governor. Three residents of the City of Topeka, one from each of the state senatorial districts, are appointed by the Mayor. One is the Mayor or a member of the governing body of the city designated by the Mayor. The Shawnee County Commission appoints one member, who must be a resident of Shawnee County but not of the City of Topeka. The Kansas Board of Regents
Kansas Board of Regents
The Kansas Board of Regents is a body consisting of nine members which governs six state universities in the U.S. state of Kansas. In addition to these six universities, it also supervises and coordinates nineteen community colleges, five technical colleges, six technical schools and a municipal...
annually selects one of its members to serve on the Washburn Board. Members of the Board (with the exception of the Kansas Board of Regents' appointee) serve staggered four-year terms.
History
Washburn University was established in February 1865 as Lincoln College by a charterCharter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified...
issued by the State of Kansas and the General Association of Congregational Ministers and Churches of Kansas on land donated by abolitionist John Ritchie
John Ritchie (abolitionist)
John Ritchie was an abolitionist who moved from Franklin, Indiana to Topeka, Kansas Territory, in early spring of 1855 in search of cheap land and to help Kansas enter the country as a "free" state....
. The school was renamed Washburn College in 1868 after Ichabod Washburn
Ichabod Washburn
Ichabod Washburn was a church deacon and industrialist from Worcester County, Massachusetts, USA. His financial endowments led to the naming of Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas and the foundation of Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Massachusetts.Washburn became an apprentice in...
pledged $25,000 to the school. Washburn was a church deacon, abolitionist and industrialist who resided in Worcester
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester is a city and the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population is 181,045, making it the second largest city in New England after Boston....
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
.
Washburn University’s mascot, The Ichabods, honors the school’s early benefactor, Ichabod Washburn
Ichabod Washburn
Ichabod Washburn was a church deacon and industrialist from Worcester County, Massachusetts, USA. His financial endowments led to the naming of Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas and the foundation of Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Massachusetts.Washburn became an apprentice in...
. The original design of the studious-looking, tailcoat-clad figure was created in 1938 by Bradbury Thompson
Bradbury Thompson
Bradbury Thompson was an influential American graphic designer and art director of the twentieth century.-Life and work:Communication Arts said of Bradbury "When it came to the blending of photography, typography and color, nobody did it better than Bradbury Thompson.....
(B.A. ‘34), who became an internationally acclaimed graphic artist.
In 1913 the medical department of Washburn College closed. Previously the Kansas Medical School it had become infamous on December 10, 1895, when it was discovered that some of the bodies used for anatomical study had been stolen from local cemeteries. As the news was being printed (eventually across the country) the governor called out state troops to protect the school in fear of a riot. Three of the doctors, including the Dean of the school, and a janitor/student from the school were arrested as well as one man not a member of the school. Charges against the doctors were discharged, the janitor was convicted but had his conviction reversed on appeal and the final man was convicted but later pardoned.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Washburn Municipal University was one of 131 colleges and universities nationally that took part in the V-12 Navy College Training Program
V-12 Navy College Training Program
The V-12 Navy College Training Program was designed to supplement the force of commissioned officers in the United States Navy during World War II...
which offered students a path to a Navy commission.
Formerly a municipal university
Municipal college
A municipal college is a city-supported institution of higher learning.The oldest municipal college in the United States is the College of Charleston located in historic Charleston, South Carolina. The College of Charleston is also the thirteenth oldest institution of higher education in the country...
, the university's primary funding was moved from city property tax to county sales tax sources in 1999, with the school retaining status as a municipal subdivision of the state.
Washburn is governed by its own nine-member Board of Regents.
On June 8, 1966, only a few days after classes were dismissed for the summer, much of the campus was demolished by a tornado, and completely denuded of trees. Three months before the tornado struck, the Washburn Board of Trustees had reinsured every building on campus for the maximum amount. A week after the tornado struck, summer classes began at Topeka West High School. By the fall of 1966, Stoffer Hall was repaired and trailers were in place. It took years to reconstruct the campus, with students attending classes in trailers well into the early 1970s.
Academics
WU provides broadly-based liberal artsLiberal arts
The term liberal arts refers to those subjects which in classical antiquity were considered essential for a free citizen to study. Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic were the core liberal arts. In medieval times these subjects were extended to include mathematics, geometry, music and astronomy...
and professional education through more than 200 certificate, associate, baccalaureate, master’s and juris doctor programs through the College of Arts and Sciences and the Schools of Law, Business, Nursing and Applied Studies. The university is home to several honor and recognition societies. The most prestigious societies are the Sagamore Society
Sagamore Honor Society
The Sagamore Society is the most exclusive honor society for men at Washburn University. Sagamore is not as controversial or as secretive as Yale's Skull and Bones but its members are known to include a governor, a member of Congress, two Army generals, and several judges, doctors and corporate...
for men and NONOSO for women.
Rankings
Washburn University is consistently ranked among Midwestern universities as an independent public institution, rated 7th in the Midwest among public Master's level universities in 2010 by U.S. News and World Report. The University's endowmentFinancial endowment
A financial endowment is a transfer of money or property donated to an institution. The total value of an institution's investments is often referred to as the institution's endowment and is typically organized as a public charity, private foundation, or trust....
of $100M+ ranks it near the top among Master's degree institutions in endowment per student.
Law School
Formed in 1903 the Washburn School of Law was one of the first in the country to have and a legal clinic where students are able to actively practice the legal profession. Today, it is in the minority of law schools to employ a full time faculty for its law clinic. The Washburn School of Law had the highest pass rate of the Kansas State Bar Exam of any law school in the state of Kansas. The Washburn Law Library houses over 380,000 volumes and is the largest in the state. It has been ranked as one of the top 20 law school libraries in the country. Notable alumni include Bob DoleBob Dole
Robert Joseph "Bob" Dole is an American attorney and politician. Dole represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996, was Gerald Ford's Vice Presidential running mate in the 1976 presidential election, and was Senate Majority Leader from 1985 to 1987 and in 1995 and 1996...
, Dennis Moore
Dennis Moore
Dennis Moore is a former U.S. Representative for , serving from 1999 until 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party...
, Kim Phillips and Bill Kurtis
Bill Kurtis
Bill Kurtis is an American television journalist, producer, narrator, and news anchor. He is also the current host of A&E crime and news documentary shows, including Investigative Reports, American Justice, and Cold Case Files...
.
Athletics
- For more information see Washburn IchabodsWashburn IchabodsWashburn University men's athletic teams are known as the Ichabods and the women's teams are called the Lady Blues...
The men's athletic teams use The Ichabods nickname; the school's women's teams are known as Lady Blues. Washburn is a member of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association and 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...
Division II.
Campus attractions
- KTWUKTWUKTWU, on digital channel 11, is a Public Broadcasting Service Public television station in Topeka, Kansas. The station is operated by Washburn University and provides public television service to eastern Kansas...
, the first public television station in Kansas. KTWU is a non-commercial, public television station authorized by the Federal Communications Commission, Washington, D.C. and licensed to Washburn University. KTWU commenced telecasting Oct. 21, 1965. - Mulvane Art Museum opened in 1924. The museum's permanent collection, though international in scope, emphasizes the work of artists of Kansas and the Midwest.
- Crane Observatory houses an 1898 Warner & Swasey refracting telescope.