Standing Proudly on the Hill

A Brief History ofWichita State University

Alma Mater

Our alma mater Wichita,Stands proudly on the hill.Our sons and daughters bow to thee,Our hearts with praise we fill.Chorus:Then, hail our Alma Mater!Hail, Thee, grand and true,Long wave the yellow and the black,O Wichita, Here's to you!Around our lives are memoriesThat tenderly entwine,And thru the midst of the rolling years,Of thee we build a shrine.ChorusThy call to all that life holds dearIs a clear and shining guide.With love and truth and loyaltyAnd may they e'er abide.Chorus

“College Hill”

Original vision: Three colleges along the ridge east of downtown.

Wichita Ladies College/Congregational Female College (“Vassar of the West”)

Central University

Wichita University

Fairmount College1895-1926• Founded by Rev. Joseph

Homer Parker• Congregational Church• Trees shipped in from

New England

• “Old Main” burned in 1929

WSU’s Oldest Building• Fiske Hall, built 1904• Originally a dorm• Served as a TB hospital• Now home to the

departments of History and Philosophy

Football at WSU 1905:• Fairmount Wheatshockers

won the first-ever night game west of the Mississippi

• Played under Coleman lanterns

• Later that year, the team instigated the first forward pass in collegiate football

Municipal University of Wichita1926-1964• Financial difficulties

prompted a movement for the City to purchase the college.

• MUW was the first in a new era of city institutions of higher education in the American west.

• Enrollment:• 1926: 569• 1964: 7,000 (even then,

1/3rd were part time)• Lots of new buildings post-

WWII

Wichita State University1964-PresentJoined the Kansas Board of Regents System“University of Kansas—Wichita” was resisted

1965: Final Four basketball appearance

1970: Football plane crash1986: Football closed due to

finances1989: College World Series

champions

Oct. 2, 1970Football Plane Crash

31 players, administrators and supporters died in Colorado.

What in the World is a WuShock?