Trine University

Trine University is a private university in Angola, Indiana. It was founded in 1884 and offers degrees in the arts and sciences, business, education, and engineering. Trine University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.

History

Trine was founded in 1884 as Tri-State Normal College and retained the reference to the "tri-state" area for more than 120 years because of its location in Indiana and proximity to Michigan and Ohio. In 1906, the school was renamed Tri-State College, and in 1975 Tri-State University.

The school served its regional population, first as a teachers and engineering school with flexible evening and weekend courses and then broadening into a multidisciplinary institution with an expansion of daytime classes, an athletics program and more robust student life offerings. On June 1, 1963, Tri-State succeeded in achieving its initial regional accreditation. It has remained an accredited institution since that time, most recently extending its Level V accreditation until the next (2026) evaluation visit. Further, the Ketner School of Business was reaffirmed by the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) on February 26, 2019.School growt
catalogued by the school's website
Accessed 28 Oct 2020.

In 2002 the school joined the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA), and, coinciding with the opening of the $650,000 Ketner Sports Complex, in Tri-State attained NCAA Division III provisional membership.

Already with over 100 years of teaching engineering courses, in 2005 the university graduated its first class of Master of Science in Engineering Technology students.

In 2008, the school's name was changed to the Trine University, in honor of alumnus Dr. Ralph Trine and his wife Sheri. The dropping of the "tri-state" identifier reflected a desire to brand the school as a nationally competitive private university, not to be mistaken for state-funded or associated with businesses or organizations nationwide also using the term "tri-state". During the 1990s, the university opened several satellite campuses throughout northern and central Indiana.

Campus

Trine's main campus covers 450 acres (1.8 km²) in Angola, Indiana. Programs in the university's College of Health Professions are housed at Trine's education centers in Fort Wayne. There also are education centers in Detroit, Michigan and Phoenix, Arizona.

Affiliations

Trine is a member of Midwestern Undergraduate Private Engineering Colleges (MUPEC) and accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCACS).

Academics

Trine offers associate's degrees, bachelor's degrees, master's degrees and a doctorate in more than 50 fields of study (39 traditional undergraduate degrees) and has a 17:1 student-to-faculty ratio. It launched a Master of Physician Assistant Studies degree in fall 2018 and is continuing to expand its health sciences programs, launching an online RN-to-BSN in 2020, a Master of Science in Nursing in fall 2021, and a Master of Science in Speech Language Pathology in fall 2022.

Student life

More than 2,000 students live on the main campus which hosts approximately 100 varied campus groups from professional or major-specific clubs, recreational sports, religiously affiliated groups, and an array of hobby or interest clubs.

Greek life

Fraternities and sororities have been a visible presence on the Trine campus for 100 years. The campus hosts ten honor societies that recognize scholastic achievement, complimenting 13 active undergraduate social fraternities and sororities. Local societies had been predominant during the earlier, non-accredited era of campus growth, but beginning in 1947, national fraternities and then sororities colonized and now make up the majority of chapters. Tri-State's first men's social fraternity, Sigma Mu Sigma formed in 1921, and its first women's social sorority, Sigma Alpha Gamma (local) formed in 1926. As of 2018, 26% of male and 19% of female undergraduates are involved in these groups. Chapters are listed in order of date established, with active groups in bold and inactive groups in ''italics''.

Fraternities on the campus include:

Active Fraternities
* – Alpha Sigma Phi, 1935 (FFC, formerly NIC)
* – Tau Kappa Epsilon, 1947–1948, 1989 (NIC) Trine University's first chapter was originally the founding chapter of Sigma Mu Sigma fraternity, established on March 25, 1921, which over a decade spread to nine campuses. It was originally limited to Master Masons. With conditions worsening in the Great Depression, its small national organization voted in the Fall of 1934 to merge with , but the Tri-State ''Alpha chapter'' remained independent, likely due to non-accreditation. In 1936 it became the ''Psi chapter'' of Alpha Lambda Tau. That small non-NIC national would ''itself'' merge into in 1947 in ''another'' merger. Following this, the NIC demanded that revoke the charter for the group at Tri-State if they wanted to remain in the NIC because Tri-State College was still non-accredited. Hence, revoked the charter of its ''Beta-Epsilon chapter'' at its next Conclave. The chapter then affiliated with Kappa Sigma Kappa in 1952. When small Kappa Sigma Kappa merged into Theta Xi in 1962, likewise a NIC fraternity, the chapter was again ineligible for the merger due to the accreditation status of Tri-State University. So the chapter petitioned Kappa Sigma and became a chapter of ''that'' fraternity in 1966, enduring until the accreditation turmoil had passed. This is the short history of the Trine University Kappa Sigma chapter. Decades after Tri-State University became accredited, established a new chapter on the campus in 1989. The new chapter retained the ''Beta-Epsilon chapter'' designation and honors the founding date of the original chapter, even though that original campus group is now a chapter of Kappa Sigma.
* – Sigma Phi Delta, 1947 engineering professional (formerly PFA)
* – Kappa Sigma, 1966 (formerly NIC)
* – Phi Kappa Theta, 1966 (NIC) Note, the Baird's Manual Online Archive shows this chapter as forming in 1943 out of a prior local called Alpha Gamma Omega, but the dates appear in error. Perhaps the local was dormant for a time, and then revived? The Phi Kap website clearly says its ''Indiana Alpha Gamma chapter'' was installed .
* Acacia, 1967–1979, 2012 (NIC)
* – Sigma Phi Epsilon, 1968 (formerly NIC)
* – Delta Chi, 1969 (NIC)
''Fraternities whose names changed''

:: ''Square M Club (local), 1921-1921, became (see )''
:: – '' Sigma Mu Sigma, 1921–1936, 1940–1952, 1962–1966, became , , , and Acacia''
:: ''Four-Eleven Gang (local), 1922–1927, became (see )'' Fro
's ''Trine chapter'' history
accessed 9 Jan 2021.
:: – ''Beta Phi Sigma (local), 1922–1932, became ''
:: – ''Phi Lambda Tau (local), 1925–1929, became (see )'' Noted in th
1956 ''Modulus'' yearbook
the Trine chapter of emerged out of an original local, then , then , and finally becoming .
:: – ''Phi Sigma Chi, 1927–1934, 1936–1949, became , reverted to , became (see )''
:: – ''Lambda Phi Epsilon (local), 1927–1929, became (see )''
:: – ''Gamma Eta Alpha (local), 1927–1931, became ''
:: – '' Phi Lambda Alpha, 1929–1931, became ''
:: – ''Beta Phi Theta, 1929–1969, became ''
:: ''Catholic Club (local), 1929–1940, became (see )''
:: – ''Alpha Delta Alpha, 1930–1934, became (see )''
:: – ''Sigma Delta Rho, 1934–1936, reverted to , became (see )''
:: – '' Alpha Kappa Pi, 1935–1946, became ''
:: – ''Alpha Lambda Tau, 1936–1947, became ''
:: ''Kadimah Society, 1936–1948, became (see , then )''
:: – ''Alpha Gamma Omega (local), 1940–1965, became ''
:: – ''Theta Mu Phi, 1948–1950, became (see )''
:: – ''Tau Kappa Lambda (local), 1949–1952, became ''
:: – '' Alpha Gamma Upsilon, 1949–1968, became ''
:: – '' Beta Sigma Tau, 1950–1960, became '' Beta Sigma Tau merged with Pi Lambda Phi in late 1960. The Trine chapter did not follow the merger and reverted into a local called Beta Sigma Chi, which then joined in 1966 as a merger into an existing chapter or revival according to the Baird's Manual Online Archive. However, records indicate a re-chartering in 1989, with no detail on the absorption of in the two decades prior.
:: – '' Kappa Sigma Kappa, 1952–1962, reverted to ''
:: – ''Beta Sigma Chi, 1960–1966?, revived ''
:: – ''Tau Sigma (local), 1970–1981, became (see Triangle)''
:: – ''Nu Pi (local), 1981–1989, became Triangle''
''Dormant Fraternities''

:: – ''Phi Iota Alpha, 1931–1933? ( NALFO and NIC), dormant''
:: – ''Delta Kappa Phi (local), 1932-193x, dormant''
:: – '' Sigma Delta Rho, 1934–1935 (NIC), dormant''
:: ''Triangle, 1989–2008 (NIC), dormant''

Sororities on the campus include:

Active sororities
* – Kappa Sigma Alpha (local), 1991
* – Gamma Phi Epsilon (local), 1995
* – Phi Sigma (local), 1996
* – Alpha Sigma Tau, 2008 (NPC)
* – Theta Phi Alpha, 2012 (NPC)
''Sororities whose names changed''

:: – ''Phi Sigma Sigma, 1992–1996 (NPC), became ''
:: – ''Alpha Omega Epsilon (local), 1999–2002, 2004–2006, became '' The Baird's Manual is also available online
The Baird's Manual Online Archive homepage

:: – ''Zeta Theta Epsilon (local), 1998–2012, became '' Noted b

accessed 17 Mar 2021.
''Dormant sororities''

:: – ''Sigma Alpha Gamma (local), 1926-193x, dormant''
:: – ''Kappa Tau Sigma (local), 1954-19xx, dormant''
:: – ''Omega Kappa (local), 1960?–19xx, dormant''
:: – ''Sigma Kappa, 1977–1983 (NPC), dormant''
:: – ''Zeta Eta Theta (local), 1982-19xx, dormant''
:: – ''Lambda Rho Mu (local), 19xx-19xx, dormant''
:: – ''Alpha Theta Pi (local), 2005-20xx, dormant''
:: – '' Kappa Beta Gamma, 2011–2016, dormant''

Honor and professional fraternities

Trine University hosts a number of honor societies. These include:

* – Chi Epsilon, 1973, honor, civil and environmental engineering
* – Pi Tau Sigma, 1972, honor, mechanical engineering
* – Tau Beta Pi, 1975, honor, engineering
* – Eta Kappa Nu, 1975, honor, electrical engineering
* – Delta Mu Delta, 1977, honor, business
* – Omega Chi Epsilon, 1980, honor, chemical engineering

* – Beta Beta Beta, 1980, honor, biological sciences
* – Pi Sigma Alpha, 1981, honor, political sciences
* – Phi Eta Sigma, 1983, honor, first-year academic achievement
* – Sigma Tau Delta, 19xx, honor, English
* Order of Omega, 2008, honor, Greek Life leadership
* – Lambda Alpha Epsilon, 20xx, honor, criminal justice

The school also features a Christian Campus House ministry.

Athletics

The Trine athletic teams are called the Thunder. The university is a member of the Division III level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) since the 2004–05 academic year. The Thunder previously competed as an NCAA D-III Independent during the 2003–04 school year; in the Wolverine–Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 1992–93 to 2002–03; and in the NAIA's Mid-Central College Conference (MCCC; now currently known as the Crossroads League since the 2012–13 school year) from 1959–60 to 1980–81.

Trine competes in 25 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, tennis, track & field, volleyball, and wrestling; while women's sports include acrobatics & tumbling, basketball, cross country, golf, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball, tennis, track & field, triathlon, volleyball, and wrestling.

Ice hockey

Trine added men's and women's hockey as varsity sports in the fall of 2017.

Men's volleyball

Men's volleyball, which had last played at the varsity level in 2002, returned to full varsity status for the 2019 season (2018–19 school year) and plays in the Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League.

Facilities

Trine's Zollner Golf Course hosted the 2012 NCAA Division III Women's Golf National Championships.

Notable alumni

* Ralph Ketner – co-founder of Food Town, later to become Food Lion, a 1,300-store supermarket chain in the mid-Atlantic and southeast United States.
* Isabelle French – President of the Society of Women Engineers from 1964 to 1966.
* Gustavo Rojas Pinilla – the 19th President of Colombia from June 1953 to May 1957. An Army general, he mounted a successful coup d'état against incumbent President Laureano Gómez Castro (1889–1965), imposing martial law and establishing a dictatorship-style government in Colombia. Rojas enacted legislation that gave women equal rights to vote. He introduced television and constructed several hospitals, universities, and the National Astronomic Observatory.
* Rupa Shanmugam – President and COO of SoPark Corporation in New York.
* Eric Watt – Gagliardi Trophy winner (Division III football's most prestigious individual award).
* Adam Shiltz – All-MIAA Conference First Team Pitcher 2008.
* Brett Halliday – Author famous for his Mike Shayne mystery series.
* Joe Schroeder – Part of the USA men's rugby 7s team at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
* John J. McKetta – American chemical engineer known for his research on more efficient ways to create energy and the thermodynamic properties of hydrocarbons.

References

External links

*

Official athletics website

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Private universities and colleges in Indiana
Educational institutions established in 1884
Education in Fort Wayne, Indiana
Education in Steuben County, Indiana
Education in St. Joseph County, Indiana
Education in Lake County, Indiana
Education in Maricopa County, Arizona
Buildings and structures in Steuben County, Indiana
Merrillville, Indiana
1884 establishments in Indiana