Northwest Missouri State University is a

public university A public university or public college is a university or college that is in owned by the state or receives significant public funds through a national or subnational government, as opposed to a private university. Whether a national universit ...

in Maryville, Missouri. It has an enrollment of about 8,505 students. Founded in 1905 as a teachers college, its campus is based on the design for

Forest Park A forest park is a park whose main theme is its forest of trees. Forest parks are found both in the mountains and in the urban environment. Examples Chile * Forest Park, Santiago China *Gongqing Forest Park, Shanghai * Mufushan National Fores ...

at the 1904

St. Louis World's Fair The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the St. Louis World's Fair, was an international exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from April 30 to December 1, 1904. Local, state, and federal funds totaling $15 milli ...

and is the official

Missouri State Arboretum The Missouri State Arboretum is on the campus of Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Missouri and contains more than 111 species of trees. Northwest has long billed itself as the "most beautiful state university campus" in the st ...

. The school is governed by a state-appointed Board of Regents and headed by Interim President Clarence Green. The Northwest Bearcats compete in the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

(Division II) and

Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) is a List of NCAA conferences, college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the NCAA Division II, Division II level, headquartered ...

for men's and women's sports. NWMSU_Campus_Map

History

Founding

In 1905, the Missouri Legislature created five districts in the state to establish

normal school A normal school or normal college is an institution created to Teacher education, train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high s ...

s, comprising a state teacher college network. Maryville won the competition for the Northwest district with an offer to donate (on coincidentally the northwest corner of town) and $58,000 on the site of a Methodist Seminary. The other districts in the network were to be at

Kirksville Kirksville is the county seat and most populous city in Adair County, Missouri. Located in Benton Township, Adair County, Missouri, Benton Township, its population was 17,530 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Kirksville is home to ...

(Northeast – now Truman State), Cape Girardeau (Southeast),

Springfield Springfield may refer to: * Springfield (toponym), the place name in general Places and locations Australia * Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast) * Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council) * Springfield, Queenslan ...

(Southwest – now Missouri State), and Warrensburg (Central – now Central Missouri). The original mission of the school, initially known as the Fifth District Normal School, was to teach elementary school teachers. Classes began on June 13, 1906, with a lab school teaching Maryville's children (that was eventually named the

Horace Mann Horace Mann (May 4, 1796August 2, 1859) was an American educational reformer, slavery abolitionist and Whig politician known for his commitment to promoting public education. In 1848, after public service as Secretary of the Massachusetts Sta ...

school) in kindergarten through third grade. The school was later expanded to a full-fledged high school before dropping back to its current configuration of kindergarten through sixth grade. Nwmsu-bell

In 1919 the school was renamed Northwest Missouri State Teacher's College, and with that came the ability to grant baccalaureate degrees. In 1949 the name was shrunk to Northwest Missouri State College by the Board of Regents.

World War II

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Northwest Missouri State University was one of 131 colleges and universities nationally that took part in the

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. Between July 1, 1943, and June 30, 1946, more than 125,000 participants were enrolled in 131 colleg ...

, which offered students a path to a Navy commission.

Rivalry with Missouri Western

In 1969, Missouri Governor

Warren Hearnes Warren Eastman Hearnes (July 24, 1923 – August 16, 2009) was an American politician who served as the 46th governor of Missouri from 1965 to 1973. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first officeholder eligible to serve two consecutiv ...

pushed for switching St. Joseph Junior College from a two-year school into a four-year state college. At approximately the same time, authorities decided against a plan to continue routing Interstate 29 north of St. Joseph along

U.S. Route 71 U.S. Route 71 or U.S. Highway 71 (US 71) is a major north–south United States highway that extends for over 1500 miles (2500 km) in the central United States. This original 1926 route has remained largely unchanged by encroaching Interstat ...

through Maryville and Clarinda, Iowa, instead picking a route to

Council Bluffs, Iowa Council Bluffs is a city in and the county seat of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States. The city is the most populous in Southwest Iowa, and is the third largest and a primary city of the Omaha–Council Bluffs ...

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

along the sparsely populated Missouri River bottoms. Opening a new four-year state school within of Maryville (along with a delay in widening

to Maryville) was perceived in Maryville as an attempt to kill the school and the town with which it is intertwined. Those fears came to the forefront in 1988 when Shalia Aery, commissioner of higher education under Governor John Ashcroft, announced a plan to close the school. The plan was ultimately withdrawn.

Northwest Missouri State University

On August 14, 1972, Northwest was elevated to university status so that it could offer master's degrees. Its name changed to Northwest Missouri State University. The university currently holds four Missouri Quality Awards, granted in 1997, 2001, 2005, and 2008. Northwest is the only educational institution to receive multiple Missouri Quality Awards. Nwmsu-president

In 1987, Northwest unveiled its Electronic Campus Program, the first such program among public U.S. colleges.

Missouri State Arboretum

The campus design was inspired by the

design for the 1904

, which evolved into the campus for

Washington University Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

. In 1993 the state legislature designated Northwest the official Missouri State Arboretum.

Presidents

* Frank Deerwester (1906–1907) *

Homer Martien Cook Homer Martien Cook (1869–1948) was president of Northwest Missouri State University. He was born in La Grange, Missouri. At LaGrange College he received a bachelor's degree in 1890, a master's degree in 1904 from the University of Chicago and ...

(1907–1909) *

Henry Kirby Taylor Henry Kirby Taylor (August 10, 1858 – January 21, 1934) was president of Kentucky Wesleyan College, Northwest Missouri State University and the University of Texas at Arlington. Early life Taylor was born in Vanceburg, Kentucky. Kentucky Wes ...

(1909–1913) *

Ira Richardson Ira Richardson (1871 – October 6, 1958) was a president of Northwest Missouri State University and founding president of Adams State College. Early life Richardson was a native of northern Missouri and received a degree from Central Method ...

(1913–1921) *

Uel W. Lamkin Uel Walter Lamkin (January 18, 1877 – September 16, 1956) was president of Northwest Missouri State University from 1921 to 1945. Lamkin was born in California, Missouri. He attended the private Clinton, Missouri Academy run by his father. ...

(1921–1945) * J.W. Jones (1945–1964) *

Robert P. Foster Robert Porter Foster (May 24, 1917 – March 10, 2008) was president of Northwest Missouri State University from 1964 to 1977. During his tenure Northwest's enrollment increased from 500 to 6,500. Early life Foster was born in Warrensburg, Missour ...

(1964–1977) *

B.D. Owens Bobbie Deen Owens (also known as B. D. Owens) (born January 17, 1935) was a university president, serving as head of the University of Tampa, Northwest Missouri State University and St. Matthew's University. Early life Owens is a 1959 graduate of ...

(1977–1984) * Dean L. Hubbard (1984–2009) * John Jasinski (2009–Present)

Administration building

Design

The defining landmark of the campus is the Administration Building, very similar to

Brookings Hall Brookings Hall is a Collegiate Gothic landmark on the campus of Washington University in St. Louis. The building, first named "University Hall", was built between 1900 and 1902 and served as the administrative center for the 1904 World's Fair. T ...

in St. Louis. Brookings Hall served as the Administration Building of the

1904 St. Louis World's Fair The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the St. Louis World's Fair, was an international exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from April 30 to December 1, 1904. Local, state, and federal funds totaling $15 milli ...

. The master St. Louis design was created by

Cope & Stewardson Cope and Stewardson (1885–1912) was a Philadelphia architecture firm founded by Walter Cope and John Stewardson, and best known for its Collegiate Gothic building and campus designs. Cope and Stewardson established the firm in 1885, and were jo ...

, famed for designing schools throughout the country based on the Oxford University style. (includes photographs) It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010. The

Collegiate Gothic Collegiate Gothic is an architectural style subgenre of Gothic Revival architecture, popular in the late-19th and early-20th centuries for college and high school buildings in the United States and Canada, and to a certain extent Europ ...

structure with its central tower keep design evokes

Tattershall Castle Tattershall Castle is a castle in Tattershall, Lincolnshire, England, about 12 miles (19 km) north east of Sleaford. Since 1925 it has been in the care of the National Trust. History Tattershall Castle has its origins in either a sto ...

and lords over the campus with the motto, "And the truth shall make you free," engraved in stone. Because of this design, the term "Tower" is used frequently throughout campus and is the name of the school yearbook. Work on the building began in 1906 and continued on and off until classes began in it on October 3, 1910. The architect of record for the Maryville building is John H. Felt. On March 15, 1919, a tornado ripped the roof off its auditorium and blew out most of its windows.

1979 fire

On July 24, 1979, a fire destroyed 60 percent of the building on the central and west wing as well as the north wing housing the auditorium and Little Theater. Many thought the building was going to be razed, However the east wing survived with relatively little damage. A $13.8 million capital program repaired most of the building and made extensive changes to the campus layout. The building ceased to serve as classroom space, with the exception of 3rd floor, which houses the Family and Consumer Sciences Department. The theater and music departments moved out of the building to what is now the Ron Houston Center for the Performing Arts, located southeast of Bearcat Stadium. The north wing of the Administration Building was torn down and sealed, although the outline of the wing is still visible against the bricks on the north. The former Wells Library (now Wells Hall) was turned into a classroom area and home for the National Public Radio affiliate radio station KXCV-FM and the library was moved to its current location in the new B.D. Owens Library. All the academic files were burned and lost with no backups prior to the fire.

Athletics

Northwest was a founding member of the

in 1912 and has remained in the conference ever since. From its founding until 1937 it competed in the Amateur Athletic Union. From 1937 to 1957 it competed in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. In 1957 it joined NCAA Division II. Northwest has appeared in ten Division II football title games (winning six) since 1998. The men's basketball team appeared in an AAU title game in 1930. The men's basketball team won the Division II title for the 2016–17 season and 2018-19 season. The Bearcats have won six NCAA Division II football national championships (1998, 1999, 2009, 2013, 2015, and 2016) and finished four times as runner-up (2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008). The Northwest Bearcats cheerleading squad have won three (2010, 2012, and 2013) Universal Cheerleaders Association Division II National Champions. The Northwest Bearcat Men's Basketball team has won four national championships (2017, 2019, 2021, 2022) in the span of five tournaments. With the 2016 football championship and the 2017 basketball championship, Northwest became the first Division II program to win titles football and men’s basketball in the same school year. The titles were the first by a Division I or II program since the Division I

Florida Gators The Florida Gators are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni and its sports fans are often collectively referred to as t ...

in 2006-07.

Student organizations

Student organizations encompass activities and interests that include Academic (such as an

Association for Computing Machinery The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) is a US-based international learned society for computing. It was founded in 1947 and is the world's largest scientific and educational computing society. The ACM is a non-profit professional member ...

chapter), Greek fraternities and sororities, Political (such as the

College Republicans College Republicans are college and university students who support the Republican Party of the United States. Many members belong to the organization College Republican National Committee (CRNC), College Republicans United (CRU), or various in ...

or the Young Democrats), Honorary (such as the

Blue Key Blue Key Honor Society is an American national honor society for college upperclassmen. Blue Key has over 50 chartered collegiate chapters within the United States. History Blue Key Honor Society was founded as Blue Key National Honor Frater ...

Honor Society and Mortar Board), Multicultural (with groups such as the Alliance of Black Collegians, the Asian Student Association, the Hispanic American Leadership Organization, and the Indian Student Association), Performing (such as the American Choral Directors Association), Religious (such as Campus Crusade for Christ), Residential Life (with student governing bodies for the residential halls), Sports (with clubs for cheerleading, fencing, rugby, soccer, wrestling and equestrian sports), and dozens more. Sororities at the university include * Alpha Delta Pi, * Alpha Sigma Alpha, *

Delta Sigma Theta Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. () is a historically African American sorority. The organization was founded by college-educated women dedicated to public service with an emphasis on programs that assist the African American community. Delta ...

, * Phi Mu, * Sigma Alpha, * Sigma Kappa, * Sigma Sigma Sigma and * Zeta Phi Beta. (

Alpha Omicron Pi Alpha Omicron Pi (, AOII, Alpha O) is an international women's fraternity founded on January 2, 1897, at Barnard College on the campus of Columbia University in New York City. The main archive URL iThe Baird's Manual Online Archive homepage "AOI ...

and Delta Zeta are no longer on the Northwest campus.) There are 8 IFC fraternities. * Sigma Tau Gamma-1927 * Phi Sigma Kappa-1938 * Tau Kappa Epsilon-1954 *

Alpha Kappa Lambda Alpha Kappa Lambda (), commonly known as AKL or Alpha Kapp, is an American collegiate social fraternity founded at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1914. Today, it operates approximately 30 active chapters and has approximately 28,000 li ...

-1963 * Delta Sigma Phi-1968 * Sigma Phi Epsilon-1980 *

Alpha Phi Alpha Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. () is the oldest intercollegiate historically African American fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the 1905–1906 school year at Cornell University but later evolved int ...

-1988 *

Alpha Gamma Rho Alpha Gamma Rho (), commonly known as AGR, is a social/professional, agriculture fraternity in the United States, currently with 71 collegiate chapters. Founding The fraternity considers the Morrill Act of 1862 to be the instrument of its incepti ...

-1990 ( Phi Lambda Chi-late 1950s, Kappa Sigma-1996 and

Phi Delta Theta Phi Delta Theta (), commonly known as Phi Delt, is an international secret and social fraternity founded at Miami University in 1848 and headquartered in Oxford, Ohio. Phi Delta Theta, along with Beta Theta Pi and Sigma Chi form the Miami Triad ...

-2003 Delta Chi-2015 are no longer on the Northwest campus.)

Notable alumni

Among Northwest's alumni are Jean Bartik, one of the original programmers for the ENIAC computer and a member of the Women in Technology International

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

Politicians

* Jason R. Brown – Republican leader in the Missouri House of Representatives *

Pat Danner Patsy Ann "Pat" Danner (born January 13, 1934, Louisville, Kentucky) is an American politician. She formerly represented the Missouri's 6th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives as a Democrat. Education and backgr ...

– former U.S. representative from Missouri *

Steve King Steven Arnold King (born May 28, 1949) is an American far-right politician and businessman who served as a U.S. representative from Iowa from 2003 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he represented Iowa's 5th congressional district u ...

– U.S. representative from Iowa's 4th congressional district. *

Bill Siebert Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

– former member of the Texas House of Representatives from San Antonio *

Mike Thomson Mike Thomson (born April 8, 1946) is a Republican former member of the Missouri House of Representatives. Thomson represented the 1st District, encompassing all or portions of Atchison, Holt, Nodaway, and Worth counties in northwest Missouri. ...

– Republican member of the Missouri House of Representatives * Kim Reynolds – Governor of Iowa * Allen Andrews - Republican member of the Missouri House of Representatives

Athletes

* Trevor Hudgins Point Guard for Houston Rockets * Baron Corbin Former NFL offensive lineman, professional wrestler * Brandon Dixon – former NFL cornerback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, drafted in the 6th round of the 2014 Draft by the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

. *

Brian Dixon Brian Dixon may refer to: * Brian Dixon (Australian footballer) (born 1936), Australian rules footballer and politician * Brian A. Dixon (born 1980), American author * Brian Dixon (American football) (born 1990), American football player * Brian Dix ...

– former NFL cornerback for the New Orleans Saints, signed as an undrafted free agent in 2014. * Adam Dorrel – 3x National Champion winning coach, 4x MIAA champion coach, and 3x AFCA NCAA DII Coach of the Year *

Duck Dowell Robert Loren "Duck" Dowell (August 14, 1912 – November 27, 2003) was an American professional basketball player for the Akron Firestone Non-Skids in the United States' National Basketball League during the 1937–38 season. After an All-Ameri ...

– former NBL player and coach. He was also a college football coach * Charles Finley – former college basketball coach *

Tommy Frevert Thomas Frevert (born November 24, 1986) is an American football placekicker who is currently a free agent. He played college football at Northwest Missouri State. He has been a member of the Kansas City Renegades, Oklahoma Defenders, Salina Bomb ...

– former AFL placekicker *

Todd Frohwirth Todd Gerard Frohwirth (September 28, 1962 – March 26, 2017) was an American professional baseball right-handed relief pitcher. He played for all or part of nine seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, Baltimore Ori ...

– former Major league baseball player * Tom Funk – former Major league baseball player * Gary Gaetti – former Major league baseball player * Steve Gillispie – baseball college coach * Chris Greisen – former NFL quarterback *

Harold Hull Harold Milton Hull (May 16, 1920 – May 5, 1988) was an American professional basketball player. He played in the National Basketball League for the Akron Goodyear Wingfoots during the 1941–42 season and averaged 1.2 points per game. After his ...

– former NBL player *

Joe Hurst "Jumping" Joe Hurst (born East Saint Louis, Illinois), is a retired professional basketball player. In 1982, Hurst earned a sporting scholarship with Northwest Missouri State University. In five years, he played more than 200 games, and was all-c ...

– former NBL player *

Hal Hutcheson Harold Thomas Hutcheson (May 16, 1920 – September 17, 1991) was an American professional basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete w ...

– former NBL player * Ben McCollum – college basketball coach * Jack McCracken – AAU basketball player from the 1930s and 1940s who in 1962 was enshrined into the

Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pre ...

. * Tony Miles – former Canadian Football League wide receiver; school's all-time leader in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns * Ryland Milner – former college basketball and football coach * Xavier Omon – former NFL running back and 2008 6th round draft pick of the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

* Justin Pitts – professional basketball player * Jamaica Rector – former NFL wide receiver *

Ivan Schottel Ivan Estill Schottel (October 11, 1921 – August 21, 2000) was an American football player and coach. He played professionally as an end and defensive back with the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL) in 1946 and 1948. Schottel ...

– former NFL player and college football coach *

Mike Shane Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and documenta ...

– professional wrestler * Todd Shane – professional wrestler * Wilbur Stalcup – former college basketball coach * Mel Tjeerdsma – Northwest's 3x national champion winning coach, 12x MIAA champion coach, 4x AFCA NCAA DII Coach of the Year, Liberty Mutual DII Coach of the Year, most winning DII post-season coach with 22 victories, Athletic Director. *

Dave Tollefson David Timothy Tollefson (born May 19, 1981) is a former American football defensive end and outside linebacker. He was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the seventh round, with the 253rd pick of the 2006 NFL Draft. He played college footbal ...

– former NFL defensive end * Seth Wand – former NFL offensive lineman

References

External links

*
Northwest Missouri State Athletics website
* {{authority control 1905 establishments in Missouri Buildings and structures in Nodaway County, Missouri Education in Nodaway County, Missouri Educational institutions established in 1905 National Register of Historic Places in Nodaway County, Missouri Public universities and colleges in Missouri University and college buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Missouri