The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh (UW Oshkosh or UW Osh) 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
Oshkosh, Wisconsin
Oshkosh is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, of which it is the county seat. The city had a population of 66,816 in 2020, making it the ninth-largest city in Wisconsin. It is also adjacent to the Town of Oshkosh.
History
Oshkosh was ...
. It is part of the
University of Wisconsin System and offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs to nearly 14,000 students each year.
History
In 1871 Oshkosh State Normal School, a teacher-training school was established. It became the first school of this type in the nation to have a kindergarten; Professor Rose C. Swart introduced practice teaching in 1872. Tuition was originally free to all who declared their intention to teach in Wisconsin public schools.
In 1916, fire destroyed the main campus building; Dempsey Hall replaced it in 1918. The institution changed its name to Oshkosh State Teachers College in 1927 and Wisconsin State College-Oshkosh in 1951. Graduate school was added in 1963. In 1971, the institution merged into the University of Wisconsin System, becoming the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh. Led by Chancellor Andrew J. Leavitt, UW Oshkosh serves the region as the third-largest
university in Wisconsin with an annual on- and off-campus enrollment of nearly 14,000. The university has pledged a campus goal of being carbon-neutral by 2030.
In 2018, the University of Wisconsin System dissolved the
University of Wisconsin Colleges The University of Wisconsin Colleges, established in 1971 was a unit of the University of Wisconsin System composed of 13 local two-year campuses and one online campus, University of Wisconsin Colleges Online. These campuses offered a liberal arts ...
, and their campuses became affiliated with area universities in the system. University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh now operates satellite campuses in
Fond du Lac, Wisconsin
Fond du Lac () is a city in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 44,678 at the 2020 census. The city forms the core of the United States Census Bureau's Fond du Lac United States metrop ...
as
University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh, Fond du Lac Campus (formerly UW-Fond du Lac) and
Menasha, Wisconsin
Menasha () is a city in Calumet and Winnebago counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 18,268 at the 2020 census. Of this, 15,144 were in Winnebago County, and 2,209 were in Calumet County. The city is located mostly in Win ...
as
University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh, Fox Cities Campus (formerly UW-Fox Valley).
Recognition
UW Oshkosh is the second-largest purchaser of renewable energy in Wisconsin, and ranks 23rd among U.S. colleges and universities in renewable energy use.
The UW Oshkosh Model United Nations program has won over 30 Outstanding Delegation awards at the National Model United Nations.
Student life
Athletics
Since 2003 the men's club volleyball team has finished in the top five every year except 2008 at the
National Intramural Recreational Sports Association
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, c ...
(NIRSA) championships. In 2005, the team finished second, and first in 2006, 2007 and 2011. The small Division 3 team won back to back to back NCVF Division 1 men's club volleyball national championships in 2014, 2015 and 2016.
The baseball program appeared in 5
Division III
In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below.
Association football
*Belgian Thir ...
championship games between 1985 and 1994. There have been eight Titans players to play in
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
:
Jim Magnuson, Dan Neumeier,
Jim Gantner
James Elmer Gantner (born January 5, 1953) is a former Major League Baseball player who spent his entire career with the Milwaukee Brewers (1976–92).
Background
Gantner grew up in Eden, Wisconsin, and attended Campbellsport High School in nearb ...
, Dorian "Doe" Boyland,
Gary Varsho
Gary Andrew Varsho (born June 20, 1961) is an American former professional baseball outfielder, manager, and coach, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds, and Philadelphia Philli ...
,
Terry Jorgensen,
Jarrod Washburn
Jarrod Michael Washburn (born August 13, 1974) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Seattle Mariners, and Detroit Tigers over the course of a 12–year Major League Baseball (MLB) ca ...
, and
Jack Taschner
Jack Gerard Taschner (born April 21, 1978) is a former left-handed Major League Baseball relief pitcher. He played for the San Francisco Giants, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Los Angeles Dodgers. In his major league career (2005†...
.
In 2012, the UW Oshkosh Titans football team advanced to the NCAA Division III Semi-finals before falling to St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. The Titans finished with a 13-1 (7-0 WIAC) record and ranked as the #4 team by d3football.com. In 2015, the Titans were again undefeated in the WIAC regular season and advanced to the NCAA Division III Quarter-finals before losing to WIAC rival UW-Whitewater. The Titans were 2016 national runners-up, losing to the
University of Mary Hardin–Baylor
The University of Mary Hardin–Baylor (UMHB) is a private Christian university in Belton, Texas. UMHB was chartered by the Republic of Texas in 1845 as Baylor Female College, the female department of what is now Baylor University. It has since ...
in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl, the
NCAA Division III Championship game. In 2017 the Titans were again undefeated and were the #1-seeded team in the Division III NCAA tournament. They were defeated in the semi-final game in Oshkosh by eventual national champions, the
University of Mount Union
The University of Mount Union is a private university in Alliance, Ohio. Founded in 1846, the university was affiliated with the Methodist Church until the spring of 2019. In the fall of 2020, Mount Union had an enrollment of 1,958 undergraduat ...
.
The men's basketball program was in the
NAIA Men's Basketball Championships
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics men's basketball national championship has been held annually since 1937 (with the exception of 1944 and 2020). The tournament was established by James Naismith to crown a national champion for ...
in 1960, 1963, 1967, and 1968; and the
NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament
The NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament (officially styled as "Championship" instead of "Tournament") is a tournament to determine the NCAA Division III national champion. It has been held annually from 1975 to 2019 & since 2022, but no ...
s in 1996–1998, and 2002–2003. In 2019, the men's team won the
Division III National Championship.
The women's basketball program played in the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship every year from 1990 to 1992, and again from 1994 to 2000. In 1995, they reached the Final Four, and the following year (1996), won the National Championship.
The women's gymnastics program won the
AIAW Championship for Division III in 1980, the
NAIA national women's gymnastics championship
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, NAIA sponsored a women's gymnastics championship between 1981 and 1988 when it was discontinued. The rise of Division III gymnastics thru the NCAA made the need for the NAIA organization less ...
in 1986, and National Collegiate Gymnastics Association championships in 1989 and 2007.
The men's gymnastics program won
NAIA gymnastics championships under Titans Hall of Fame coach Ken Allen in 1973, 1974, and then 5 straight years from 1978 to 1982. In addition, they won the
NCAA Men's Gymnastics championship
The NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championships are a gymnastics competition held each year to determine the best men's college gymnastics team. All schools compete in one National Collegiate division because only 13 schools sponsor NCAA men's gymnastics ...
in Division II in 1980, 1981, and 1982, before the two divisions were merged in 1984.
The women's track and field team has won the Division III outdoor championship in 1990, 1991, 1995, 1996, 2004, 2006, 2007, and 2011. They won the Division III indoor championship in 1994, 1996, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2011, and 2013. The Titans finished as runners-up in the 1989, 1992, 1999, 2005, 2009, 2010 and 2012 at the Division III outdoor championships, and finished as runners-up in the 1990, 1991, 1992, 2002, 2010 and 2012 at the Division III indoor championships.
The women's cross country team won the NCAA Division III Championship in 1987, 1988, 1991, and 1996, and were runners-up in 1989, 1990, and 1995.
The men's track and field team won both the Division III Indoor and Outdoor Championships in 2009 and were runners-up in the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field meet in 1999, 2001, 2003 and 2013.
The men's cross country team won the NCAA Division III Championship in 1988, 1989, 1990, and 2002.
The women's softball program went to the World Series in 1988. They also made NCAA tournament appearances in 2007 and 2008 coming up one game short of the World Series after losing the regional championship game to conference rival Wisconsin-Eau Claire. The Titans returned to the NCAA tournament in 2017, losing to Trine University in the NCAA Division III Super-Regional round.
The main on-campus sports facility is
Kolf Sports Center
The Kolf Sports Center is a 5,800-seat multi-purpose arena at the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. It was named for Robert Kolf, the university's head track coach from 1931 to 1959.
History
Kolf Sports center was conside ...
, which contains facilities for basketball, indoor track, volleyball, gymnastics, and wrestling. Other events held there include commencement ceremonies, concerts, and regional conventions. Albee Hall and Pool host swimming and diving events.
Titan Stadium (the football/soccer/outdoor track venue), Tiedemann Field at Alumni Stadium (baseball), and the UW-Oshkosh Softball Park are located across the
Fox River, 1.3 miles from campus. In 2005, a multimillion-dollar renovation was completed with support of the Oshkosh community. In 2017, a new, state-of-the-art synthetic surface was laid for the football/soccer field. The best attended sporting events at Titan Stadium are for the two Oshkosh public high school football teams that use it as their home field.
Greek life
Fraternities (as of Spring 2017) and Sororities (as of Spring 2017)
;Fraternities
*
Beta Theta Pi
Beta Theta Pi (), commonly known as Beta, is a North American social fraternity that was founded in 1839 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. One of North America's oldest fraternities, as of 2022 it consists of 144 active chapters in the Unite ...
- chapter founded 1991
*
Delta Chi
Delta Chi () is an international Greek letter collegiate social fraternity formed on October 13, 1890, at Cornell University, initially as a professional fraternity for law students. On April 30, 1922, Delta Chi became a general membership soc ...
- chapter founded 1969, re-founded 2013
*
Delta Sigma Phi
Delta Sigma Phi (), commonly known as Delta Sig or D Sig, is a fraternity established in 1899 at The City College of New York (CCNY). It was the first fraternity to be founded on the basis of religious and ethnic acceptance. It is also one of th ...
- chapter founded 1965
*
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 ...
- chapter founded 2006
*
Phi Beta Sigma - chapter founded 1984
*
Sigma Pi - chapter founded 1985
;Sororities
*
Alpha Xi Delta
Alpha Xi Delta (, often referred to as A-''"Zee"''-D ) is a women's fraternity founded on April 17, 1893. Baird's Manual is also available online hereThe Baird's Manual Online Archive homepage at Lombard College in Galesburg, Illinois, United Stat ...
- chapter founded 1965
*
Gamma Alpha Omega
Gamma Alpha Omega () is a Latina-founded Greek letter intercollegiate sorority, established in 1993 on the campus of Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. The sorority has 28 collegiate chapters and 13 alumnae chapters.
History
Gamma Alph ...
- chapter founded 1999
*
Gamma Phi Beta
Gamma Phi Beta (, also known as GPhi or Gamma Phi) is an international college sorority. It was founded in Syracuse University in 1874, and was the first of the Greek organizations to call itself a sorority. The main archive URL iThe Baird's Man ...
- chapter founded 1966, re-founded 1980
*
Zeta Tau Alpha
Zeta Tau Alpha (known as or Zeta) is an international Fraternities and sororities in North America, women's fraternity founded on October 15, 1898 at the State Female Normal School (now Longwood University) in Farmville, Virginia. Its Internatio ...
- chapter founded 1997
*
Sigma Sigma Sigma
Sigma Sigma Sigma (), also known as Tri Sigma, is a national American women's sorority.
Sigma Sigma Sigma is a member of the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC), an umbrella organization encompassing 26 national sororities or women's fraterni ...
- chapter founded 1987
Among campus dormant chapters,
Phi Sigma Kappa
Phi Sigma Kappa (), colloquially known as Phi Sig or PSK, is a men's social and academic fraternity with approximately 74 active chapters and provisional chapters in North America. Most of its first two dozen chapters were granted to schools in ...
was present since 1925, first as the ''Periclean Club,'' which in 1965 renamed itself as a chapter of
Phi Sigma Epsilon
Phi Sigma Epsilon () was a North American social fraternity that operated for 75 years (February 20, 1910 – August 14, 1985) until its merger with the Phi Sigma Kappa () fraternity. In 1985, the majority of Phi Sigma Epsilon chapters participat ...
, closing with most other groups in the late 1970s. Its national merged with the larger and older Phi Sigma Kappa in 1985, and its alumni remain active today.
From this downturn, fraternities and sororities began to re-emerge in the mid-1980s, according to the Fraternity & Sorority Life office.
Student media
The school's newspaper is the award-winning ''Advance-Titan'', a weekly publication produced by students. It was founded in 1894 by students and faculty.
The school's radio station,
WRST-FM
WRST-FM (90.3 FM) licensed to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, is the student managed radio station located at the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh.
History
WRST started programming on April 20, 1966 at 6pm. Originally located at 88.1FM with 10 watts of ...
90.3, is located in the Arts & Communications building. The call letters stand for "Radio Station of the Titans." The station carries
Wisconsin Public Radio
Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) is a network of 34 public radio stations in the state of Wisconsin. WPR's network is divided into two distinct analog services, the ''Ideas Network'' and the '' NPR News & Music Network,'' as well as the ''All Classic ...
and student programming.
Historic places
Four locations on the campus have been listed on
Registered Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
.
Oshkosh State Normal School Historic District
Three buildings on the original campus comprise this historic district. Dempsey Hall serves as the administration center of the campus. Harrington Hall hosts geology classes. Swart Hall, completed in 1928, is used by the mathematics, social work, and sociology departments and houses the Center for Economic Education. It was originally used as a lab school where student teachers taught kindergarten through ninth grade students.
HarringtonUWOshkosh.jpg, Harrington Hall
SwartHallUWOshkosh.jpg, Swart Hall
Oviatt House
Moses Hooper moved to Oshkosh in 1863, and started construction of the house in 1882. It was located at the north edge of the Wisconsin State Normal School at Oshkosh. It cost approximately $20,000 to build. Hooper moved into his new residence on October 31, 1883. The structure had modern amenities including hot water, heat, and running water. The interior was painted by local painters Frank Waldo and Gustav Behncke. The house was sold on September 20, 1900, to Dr. Charles W. Oviatt, a surgeon who paid $18,000 for the property. After Oviatt's death in 1912, his heirs sold the house and grounds to the State Normal School Regents in 1913 with the agreement that the heirs could live in the house until June 1914.
[History of the Oviatt House]
; University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh; Retrieved October 26, 2007
The house was first used by the school as a women's dormitory, the first on campus. Because the dormitory operated at a loss, school president Polk discontinued the venture in 1932. After considering dismantling the building, Polk started renting the house from the school in 1934. The following three presidents of the school also resided in the house, ending with President Penson in 1989. The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Foundation moved its office in the house the following year.
The
Oviatt House
The Oviatt House is located in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
History
The house was designed by Waters and built in 1883 for Moses Hooper. Hooper was an Oshkosh attorney who represented Kimberly-Clark among others, and was such an authority on riparian ri ...
was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
Thomas R. Wall Residence
The
Thomas R. Wall Residence is a
Colonial Revival
The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture.
The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the archit ...
style house located on campus. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 7, 1984.
The Thomas R. Wall Residence was built between 1898 and 1900 by the prominent local architect
William Waters.
In 1947, the residence was purchased by the university and has been used in various functions. It is currently used as the Multi-Cultural Education Center, which it has done so since 1972.
William E. Pollock Residence
William E. Pollock managed
OshKosh B'Gosh
OshKosh B'gosh is an American children's apparel company founded in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. It is a subsidiary of Carter's.
The company was founded in 1895 as the Grove Manufacturing Company by Frank E. Grove, J. Howard Jenkins, and James Clark. Gr ...
. He had Fluor Brothers construction company build the house in 1920 for $19,000. The yard included a three-car garage, garden, and fishing pond. Pollock lived in the house from 1920 until 1937. He sold the house on a land contract, but the house was returned to him after the contract was unfulfilled. Pollock then donated the house to the Oshkosh State Teachers College in 1943.
[History of the Pollock House]
; University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh; Retrieved October 29, 2007
The college turned the residence into a women's
dormitory
A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm) is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people such as boarding school, high school, college or university s ...
which could house up to 32 co-eds. In the 1960s it was used as an honors dormitory until closing in 1967. From 1967 until 1970 it housed the College of Nursing offices. When the College of Nursing was relocated to a new building, the structure was taken over by the Alumni Association, who have occupied it since 1970. It is occasionally used for special functions.
Notable visitors have included President
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...
,
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
ambassador
Jeane Kirkpatrick
Jeane Duane Kirkpatrick (née Jordan; November 19, 1926December 7, 2006) was an American diplomat and political scientist who played a major role in the foreign policy of the Ronald Reagan administration. An ardent anticommunist, she was a lo ...
, and
Edward Albee.
The house is designed as a
Mediterranean Revival
Mediterranean Revival is an architectural style introduced in the United States, Canada, and certain other countries in the 19th century. It incorporated references from Spanish Renaissance, Spanish Colonial, Italian Renaissance, French Colonia ...
style house with Italian and Spanish motif. The entrance has an ornate semi-circular
wrought iron
Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag Inclusion (mineral), inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a ...
door leading into a large
foyer
A lobby is a room in a building used for entry from the outside. Sometimes referred to as a foyer, reception area or an entrance hall, it is often a large room or complex of rooms (in a theatre, opera house, concert hall, showroom, cinema, etc. ...
. The front entry hall opens into a large living room and a smaller
parlor
A parlour (or parlor) is a reception room or public space. In medieval Christian Europe, the "outer parlour" was the room where the monks or nuns conducted business with those outside the monastery and the "inner parlour" was used for necessar ...
. A formal staircase rises to an open landing and to a study. The second story bedrooms are used as offices for Alumni and Foundation staff. The rear consists of a formal dining room, kitchen, and pantry. The building has three chimneys capped with
campanile
A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tower ...
s that resemble Italian bell towers. The residence's exterior is framed by concrete planters and topped by a wrought iron balcony outside of the second-story French windows. The roof is low-pitched red-barrel tile.
Polloc House Sign.jpg, Sign on the Exterior of the William E. Pollock Residence
Notable alumni and faculty
Helen Farnsworth Mears.jpg, Helen Farnsworth Mears
Helen Farnsworth Mears (; December 21, 1872 – February 17, 1916) was an American sculptor.
Early years
Mears was born December 21, 1872, in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, daughter of John Hall Mears and Elizabeth Farnsworth Mears (pen names "Nellie Wild ...
, American sculptor
P. C. Hodgell 20060824.jpg, P. C. Hodgell
Patricia "Pat" Christine Hodgell (born March 16, 1951) is an American fantasy writer and former academic. Hodgell taught in the English Department at University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh, but retired in 2006 to pursue a full-time writing career. She ...
, fantasy writer, artist and current UW Oshkosh lecturer
See also
*''
Board of Regents of State Colleges v. Roth
''Board of Regents of State Colleges v. Roth'', 408 U.S. 564 (1972), was a case decided by the United States Supreme Court concerning alleged discrimination against a nontenured teacher at Wisconsin State University-Oshkosh.
David Roth was hire ...
''
References
External links
*
UW Oshkosh Athletics website
{{DEFAULTSORT:University Of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...
Oshkosh
Buildings and structures in Oshkosh, Wisconsin
Wisconsin-Oshkosh, University of
University and college buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin
Tourist attractions in Winnebago County, Wisconsin
1871 establishments in Wisconsin
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin
National Register of Historic Places in Winnebago County, Wisconsin