Midwestern State University (MSU Texas) is a
public liberal arts university in
Wichita Falls, Texas
Wichita Falls ( ) is a city in and the seat of government of Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is the principal city of the Wichita Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Archer, Clay, and Wichita counties. According ...
. In 2020 it had 5,141 undergraduate students. It is the state's only public institution focused on the
liberal arts.
History
Founded in 1922 as Wichita Falls Junior College, it was renamed Hardin Junior College in 1937 when it moved to its present location off Taft Boulevard. In 1946, a senior division was added and it was renamed Hardin College. In January 1950, the name changed to Midwestern University, with the junior college division remaining Hardin Junior College. In March 1948, the university became a member of the Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. In January 1959, the university added a graduate school which received full approval from the State Board of Education in August of that year.
A further change in the school's status came September 1, 1961, when by action of the 56th session of the
Texas State Legislature
The Texas Legislature is the state legislature of the US state of Texas. It is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The state legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin. It is a powerful arm ...
, Midwestern University became part of the Texas Colleges and Universities System and the junior college division was dissolved. In 1975, the Texas Legislature changed the name to Midwestern State University.
From its beginnings as a municipal junior college housed in a high school building, Midwestern has become a state university whose campus of 255 acres and 70 buildings offers a wide variety of academic programs in liberal and fine arts, mathematics, sciences, business, and applied sciences.
On March 9, 2015, the university announced that Suzanne Shipley was selected to become its next president, following Jesse Rogers' retirement after 48 years of service to the school.
On December 13, 2016, the university broke ground on a new campus in
Flower Mound, Texas
Flower Mound is an incorporated town located in Denton and Tarrant counties in the U.S. state of Texas. Located northwest of Dallas and northeast of Fort Worth adjacent to Grapevine Lake, the town derives its name from a prominent mound locat ...
. The two-story facility shares space with
North Central Texas College
North Central Texas College (NCTC) is a public community college in Gainesville, Texas. It serves Cooke County, Denton County, and Montague County, Texas.
History
As with many of the early community colleges, NCTC began as an extension of t ...
and opened in June 2018.
The Robert and Carol Gunn College of Health Sciences and Human Services officially opened up their new building, Centennial Hall, on September 6, 2019.
On August 6, 2020, the
Texas Tech University System
The Texas Tech University System is a state university system in Texas consisting of five universities in the state of Texas, of which three are general-academic universities, Texas Tech University, Angelo State University and Midwestern State Un ...
and Midwestern State University agreed to a memorandum of understanding to begin the process of MSU Texas becoming the fifth university to join the system. The process was completed on September 1, 2021, when HB 1522 went into effect.
Academics
Midwestern State University is organized into seven colleges with 16 undergraduate programs offering 43 majors and 30 minors, and 9 graduate programs offering 28 majors and 15 minors.
MSU is the only university in Texas with membership in the
Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges and was the first public university in Texas to establish a core curriculum. The university is also a member of the
Association of American Colleges and Universities and the
Association for Core Texts and Courses.
Dalquest Desert Research Station
The Dalquest Desert Research Station is located on 3,000 acres of West Texas soil north of the
Big Bend Ranch State Park. The land was a gift from the late Dr. Walter W. Dalquest, a professor at MSU, and his wife, Rose, on the condition that it be used for scientific research by biologists and geologists. Today, the site is used by professors, students, naturalists, scientists, and educators.
Athletics
Midwestern State fields 13 intercollegiate
NCAA Division II athletic teams. MSU is a member of the
Lone Star Conference (LSC). The school mascot is the mustang.
The basketball and volleyball teams play at
D.L. Ligon Coliseum. The football team plays at
Memorial Stadium (Wichita Falls)
Memorial Stadium is an American football and soccer stadium in Wichita Falls, Texas located on Southwest Parkway at Barnett Road. It is owned and operated by the Wichita Falls Independent School District.
History
Built in 1970, the stadium can s ...
. The soccer teams play at the MSU Soccer Field. The softball team plays at Mustangs Park. The tennis teams play at the MSU Tennis Center.
Student life
The university's campus covers with over 50 buildings uniformly built of red brick with tiled roofs and arched facades.
Students can be members of 14 nationally affiliated
fraternities and sororities. Sororities on campus include
Kappa Delta Chi
Kappa Delta Chi Sorority, Inc. (), also known as K-D Chi (pronounced Kay-Dee-Kie) is a Greek letter, intercollegiate Latina founded sorority in the United States. KDChi is a 501(c)(7) organization that prides itself on graduating all of its membe ...
,
Sigma Kappa,
Chi Omega
Chi Omega (, also known as ChiO) is a women's fraternity and a member of the National Panhellenic Conference, the umbrella organization of 26 women's fraternities.
Chi Omega has 181 active collegiate chapters and approximately 240 alumnae chapte ...
,
Gamma Phi Beta,
Alpha Phi
Alpha Phi International Women's Fraternity (, also known as APhi) is an international sorority with 172 active chapters and over 250,000 initiated members.
Founded at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York on September 18, 1872, it is the f ...
,
Kappa Delta Chi
Kappa Delta Chi Sorority, Inc. (), also known as K-D Chi (pronounced Kay-Dee-Kie) is a Greek letter, intercollegiate Latina founded sorority in the United States. KDChi is a 501(c)(7) organization that prides itself on graduating all of its membe ...
,
Alpha Kappa Alpha
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. () is the first intercollegiate List of African-American fraternities, historically African American Fraternities and sororities, sorority. The sorority was founded on January 15, 1908, at the Historically black ...
,
Delta Sigma Theta, and
Sigma Lambda Alpha. Fraternities are
Tau Kappa Epsilon,
Sigma Nu
Sigma Nu () is an undergraduate college fraternity founded at the Virginia Military Institute on January 1, 1869. The fraternity was founded by James Frank Hopkins, Greenfield Quarles and James McIlvaine Riley shortly after Hopkins witnessed ...
,
Sigma Alpha Epsilon,
Omega Delta Phi
Omega Delta Phi Fraternity, Inc. (), also known as O-D-Phi is a multicultural fraternity that was founded on November 25, 1987, at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. Its seven founders known as the "Men of Vision" to fraternity members want ...
,
Kappa Sigma, and
Kappa Alpha Order.
More than 100 other student organizations are on campus, such as the Association for Computing Machinery, the
Fellowship of Christian Athletes, several musical organizations, and sports clubs such as MSU Rugby.
The campus has a newspaper, ''The Wichitan'', and a student-run television channel and production studio, M&G Media. The campus newspaper and production studio are housed in the Mass Communication wing of the Fain Fine Arts Center.
Housing and dining services
Midwestern State has four residence halls; Legacy Hall, McCullough-Trigg Hall, Killingsworth Hall, and Pierce Hall (the latter of which is currently vacated for construction). It also has two apartments; Sundance Courts and Sunwatcher Village.
Dining services went through a major remodel in 2016, adding new storefronts. Dining halls include the Mesquite Dining Hall and Maverick's Corner. New storefronts in the Clark Student Center include
Chick-fil-A
Chick-fil-A ( , a play on the American English pronunciation of " filet") is an American fast food restaurant chain which is the country's largest which specializes in chicken sandwiches. Headquartered in College Park, Georgia, Chick-fil-A oper ...
&
ACE Sushi.
Einstein Bros. Bagels is located in the Dillard College of Business Administration. A cafe called Campus Coffee was opened at the Bridwell Activities Center (built in 2021 and completed in 2022) in 2022.
Notable alumni
Arts and entertainment
*
Phil McGraw
Phillip Calvin McGraw (born September 1, 1950), better known as Dr. Phil, is an American television personality and author best known for hosting the talk show '' Dr. Phil''. He holds a doctorate in clinical psychology, though he ceased rene ...
—
Dr. Phil
Phillip Calvin McGraw (born September 1, 1950), better known as Dr. Phil, is an American television personality and author best known for hosting the talk show '' Dr. Phil''. He holds a doctorate in clinical psychology, though he ceased rene ...
, television host
*
Jaret Reddick
Jaret Ray Reddick is an American musician, singer, songwriter, composer, podcaster and actor, best known as the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Bowling for Soup. As a voice actor, Reddick is known for his work ...
— original founder and lead vocalist/guitarist of the popular punk band
Bowling for Soup
Bowling for Soup (abbreviated as BFS) is an American rock band formed in Wichita Falls, Texas, in 1994. The band consists of Jaret Reddick (lead vocals, guitar), Chris Burney (guitar, backing vocals), Gary Wiseman (drums, percussion, backing voc ...
*
JoAnne Worley — ''
Laugh In
''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' (often simply referred to as ''Laugh-In'') is an American sketch comedy television program that ran for 140 episodes from January 22, 1968, to March 12, 1973, on the NBC television network, hosted by comedians Dan ...
'' and many other TV comedy shows
Athletics
*
Marqui Christian — NFL safety
*
Eric Dawson
Eric Lamont Dawson (born July 7, 1984) is an American professional basketball player, who last played for the Cariduros de Fajardo of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN). He played college basketball for McLennan CC and Midwestern State.
Co ...
— professional basketball player
*
Chad DeGrenier — AFL player
*
Cotton Fitzsimmons
Lowell Gibbs "Cotton" Fitzsimmons (October 7, 1931 – July 24, 2004) was an American college and NBA basketball coach. A native of Bowling Green, Missouri, he attended and played basketball at Hannibal-LaGrange Junior College in Hannibal, Mi ...
- American college and NBA basketball coach
*
Jinh Yu Frey
Jinh Hie Yu Frey (born May 20, 1985) is a Korean-American mixed martial artist and currently competes in the strawweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). She is the former Invicta FC Atomweight Champion
Background
Frey was ...
— professional
Mixed Martial Artist, current
Invicta FC
Invicta Fighting Championships, also known as Invicta FC, is an American professional mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion dedicated to Women's mixed martial arts that was founded in 2012 by Janet Martin and Shannon Knapp. The promotion is current ...
Atomweight Champion
*
Bryan Gilmore — NFL wide receiver
*
Andrea Hannos — professional cyclist
*
Dudley Meredith — NFL defensive end
*
Tony Pesznecker — professional soccer player
*
Will Pettis
Will Pettis (born December 11, 1977) is a former wide receiver and defensive back in the Arena Football League for the Dallas Desperados and Dallas Vigilantes. He was a four-time member of the AFL's All-Ironman team, a three-time member of the Al ...
—
Arena Football Hall of Fame
The Arena Football Hall of Fame is the official Hall of Fame of the Arena Football League (AFL). The inaugural class was announced in 1998 and the Hall was not formally organized until 2011. Prior to 2011, there were four classes: 1998–200 ...
player
*
Dominic Rhodes
Dominic Dondrell Rhodes (born January 17, 1979) is a former American football running back. He played college football at Midwestern State and was signed by the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent in 2001.
Rhodes was also a member of ...
— NFL running back
*
Amini Silatolu
Aminiasi Fonua Silatolu (born September 16, 1988) is a former American football offensive guard. Of Tongan descent, Silatolu attended and played college football for Midwestern State University from 2010 to 2011. He was selected by the Carolina ...
— NFL offensive tackle
*
Chad Smith — professional soccer player (Charlotte Eagles (USL))
*
Ray Gene Smith — NFL safety
*
Gary Suiter — NBA center
*
Craig Sutherland — professional soccer player
*
Andy Tanner
Andy Tanner (born May 16, 1988) is an American football wide receiver who is currently a free agent. He was originally signed by the Saints as an undrafted free agent in 2010. He played college football at Midwestern State.
Professional career ...
— professional football player
*
Bryce Taylor — professional soccer player
*
J. J. Unga — NFL offensive guard
*
Randy Waldrum
Randy Marlon Waldrum (born September 25, 1956) is an American former professional soccer player, the current head coach of University of Pittsburgh Panthers women's soccer team and is the current head coach of the Nigeria women's national team ...
— women's head soccer coach of the
Houston Dash
The Houston Dash is a professional Women's association football, women's soccer team based in Houston, Texas. It joined the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in the 2014 National Women's Soccer League season, 2014 season, and is affiliated w ...
(2014-2017)
*
Daniel Woolard — Professional soccer player for
D.C. United
D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four S ...
Business and nonprofit
*
Albert Buckman Wharton III
Albert Buckman Wharton III (a.k.a. Bucky Wharton) is an American rancher.
Early life
Albert Buckman Wharton III grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico.Gary CartwrightShowdown at Waggoner Ranch ''Texas Monthly'', January 2004 He is the son of Albert ...
— former owner of the
Waggoner Ranch
The Waggoner Ranch is a historic north Texas ranch located 13 miles south of Vernon, Texas. The land was used primarily to raise crops, beef cattle and horses as well as for oil production. It was notable for being the largest ranch within one fen ...
Government
*
Lanham Lyne
Fritz Lanham Lyne, Jr. (born June 20, 1955), is a businessman from Wichita Falls, Texas, who was from 2011 to 2013 a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 69 in Wichita and Archer counties in North Texas. From ...
— mayor of Wichita Falls, Texas, 2005–2010; state representative, District 69, (2011-2013)
*
Andy King Andrew or Andy King may refer to:
* Andrew King (astrophysicist) (born 1947), British astrophysicist
* Andrew King (architect), Canadian architect and cross-disciplinary artist
*Andrew King (mayor) (born 1960 or 1961), former mayor of Hamilton, New ...
— council member for the 12th District of the
New York City Council (2012–present)
*
Dan Kubiak
Daniel James Kubiak (March 19, 1938 – August 30, 1998) was an educator and businessman from Rockdale, Texas, who served as a Democratic member of the Texas House of Representatives from 1969 to 1983 and again from 1991 until his death in off ...
—
state representative
A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system.
Two federations literally use the term "state legislature":
* The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United S ...
from
Rockdale, (1969–1983 and 1991–1998)
*
Mark Boulware — U.S. ambassador to Mauritania (2007–2010)
*
Walter Wilson Jenkins — American political figure and longtime top aide to U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson
Journalism and literature
*
John Edwards Williams — American writer
*
Beck Weathers
Seaborn Beck Weathers (born December 16, 1946) is an American pathologist from Texas. He survived the 1996 Mount Everest disaster, which was covered in Jon Krakauer's book ''Into Thin Air'' (1997), its film adaptation '' Into Thin Air: Death on Eve ...
— motivational speaker and a mountain climber involved in the
1996 Everest disaster
The 1996 Mount Everest disaster occurred on 10–11 May 1996 when eight climbers caught in a blizzard died on Mount Everest while attempting to descend from the summit. Over the entire season, 12 people died trying to reach the summit, making it ...
Religion
*
Stephen McNallen
Stephen Anthony McNallen (born October 15, 1948) is an American proponent of Heathenry, a modern Pagan new religious movement, and a white nationalist activist. He founded the Asatru Folk Assembly (AFA), which he led from 1994 until 2016, hav ...
— American white supremacist and proponent of Heathenry
Science and education
*Dr. Mark Puder — professor of surgery, Harvard Medical School
*
Mark Rippetoe — author, strength-training coach
*
Dr. Michael K. Obeng, celebrity plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills, CA
*Dr. David Hunter - Texas Rangers, Team Physician
Notable faculty lecturers and staff
*
John Tower
John Goodwin Tower (September 29, 1925 – April 5, 1991) was an American politician, serving as a Republican United States Senator from Texas from 1961 to 1985. He was the first Republican Senator elected from Texas since Reconstruction. Towe ...
—
United States Senator
*
Larry McMurtry — American novelist
*Nathan Jun — American political philosopher
Controversies
*Since 2018 several incidents of racially-motivated vandalism and harassment have been reported at Midwestern State University. The university administration has been repeatedly criticized by students of color for its handling of such incidents, as well as for its perceived indifference to issues facing racial minorities more generally.
*In 2018 the Midwestern State University faced widespread criticism from students in response to the administration's perceived indifference to sexual harassment and violence on campus. A university administrator reportedly made a rape joke at a campus forum intended to discuss the issue.
*In 2019 a Midwestern State University graduate student was publicly outed as a white supremacist. The university was roundly criticized for its handling of the ensuing controversy.
*In 2020 Midwestern State University was widely and publicly criticized for its response to a right-wing harassment campaign that had been directed against former philosophy professor Nathan Jun in response t
controversial Facebook posts The following year the university was again criticized for allegedly forcing Jun to resign his tenured position by denying him a requested disability accommodation. The allegation prompted an open letter of protest that was eventually signed by more than 500 faculty members.
References
External links
*
Midwestern State Athletics website*
{{authority control
Public universities and colleges in Texas
Liberal arts colleges in Texas
Universities and colleges accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
Education in Wichita Falls, Texas
Buildings and structures in Wichita Falls, Texas
1922 establishments in Texas
Educational institutions established in 1922
Public liberal arts colleges in the United States
Texas Tech University System