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| Oakland University | |
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| Motto: | Seguir virtute e canoscenza (Italian) |
| Motto in English: | Seek virtue and knowledge |
| Established: | 1957 |
| Type: | Public |
| Endowment: | $31,264,092 |
| President: | Gary Russi |
| Students: | 18,169 (Fall 2008) |
| Undergraduates: | approx. 14,000 |
| Postgraduates: | approx. 4,000 |
| Location: | Rochester, Michigan, United States |
| Campus: | Suburban |
| Colors: | Black, Gold |
| Mascot: | Golden Grizzlies (formerly Pioneers) |
| Website: | http://www.oakland.edu |
Oakland University is a public university located between Auburn Hills, Michigan and Rochester Hills, Michigan, but whose official college town is neighboring Rochester, Michigan.123 It is the only major research university in Oakland County, from which OU derives its name. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has classified OU as a Doctoral/Research University-Intensive.
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History
Oakland University was created in 1957 when Matilda Dodge Wilson, widow of automobile magnate John Francis Dodge, and her second husband Alfred Wilson donated their 1,500-acre (6.1 km2) estate to Michigan State University, including Meadow Brook Hall, Sunset Terrace and all the estate's other buildings and collections, along with $2 million. Originally known as Michigan State University-Oakland, the university enrolled its first students in 1959 and was renamed Oakland University in 1963. The university has been officially independent since 1970.
As of Fall 2008, more than 18,000 students were enrolled at OU. The current president of the university is Dr. Gary Russi, who replaced Dr. Sandra Packard on an interim basis in 1995, and was appointed president by the Board of Trustees in 1996.
Motto
Oakland University's motto is Seguir virtute e canoscenza ("Seek virtue and knowledge"). It is a quotation from Dante's Inferno, Canto XXVI, 1. 120. These are the final words of Ulysses' speech to his men urging them to sail on and on in pursuit of knowledge and experience of the world—even beyond the pillars of Hercules, traditionally the frontier and limit of legitimate exploration.
This is the three-line stanza:
Considerate la vostra semenza / Fatti non foste a viver come bruti / Ma per seguir virtute e canoscenza.
Consider your birth [or "origin"] / You were not made to live like brutes / But to follow courage and knowledge [or "virtue and wisdom," or "fortitude and learning"].
Academics
Oakland University offers more than 120 baccalaureate degree programs and approximately 100 professional certificate and graduate degree programs (M.A., M.S., and Ph.D.).
The main academic units of the university are the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Business Administration, the School of Health & Human Services, the School of Engineering and Computer Science, the School of Health Sciences, and the School of Nursing. Additionally, OU's Honors College provides highly motivated and gifted students an intellectually stimulating community. The university also offers numerous opportunities for study abroad.
As part of its research mission, OU also supports a number of major research centers and institutes, including the Center for Biomedical Research, the Center for Robotics and Advanced Automation, the Fastening and Joining Research Institute, the Human Systems Initiative, and the renowned Eye Research Institute. Additionally, OU's Smart Zone Business Incubator (OU INC) provides entrepreneurial resources and expertise to support and foster new technology-based and life science businesses.
In the Spring of 2007 the university announced plans to establish a Medical School on the OU campus in partnership with William Beaumont Hospital. The Medical School, which will be the fourth in the state of Michigan to offer the M.D. degree, is slated to open in 2010. The founding Dean of the Medical School is Robert Folberg.
Graduate programs
Oakland University offers 100 graduate degrees and certificate programs. A full slate of day, evening, and weekend classes is designed to fit students' busy schedules. http://www.oakland.edu/gograd
OU has established partnerships with Fortune 500 companies, municipalities, school systems, health care organizations and more. Graduate students work side-by-side with faculty and industry leaders to research practical answers to complex problems. Internship and co-op possibilities also put classroom theory into practice.
Graduate students have access to free career counseling and other services to help them succeed.
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Doctoral degrees Education specialist degree Graduate certificates Post-Master certificates |
Teaching endorsements Master's Degrees |
Research institutes and centers
OU is home to major research institutes and centers addressing a broad range of interests and industries including: biomedical, public affairs, technology, engineering, education, international studies and more.
- Center for Applied Research in Musical Understanding
- Center for Biomedical Research
- Center for Creative and Collaborative Computing
- Center for Robotics and Advanced Automation
- Eye Research Institute
- Fastening and Joining Research Institute
- OU Center for Autism Research, Education and Support
- Pawley Learning Institute
- Product Development and Manufacturing Center
- Public Affairs Research Laboratory
Culture and the arts
Oakland University offers a wide variety of cultural and artistic attractions, drawing more than 350,000 visitors to OU's campus each year.
The historic heart of campus is Meadow Brook Hall, a 110-room Tudor revival style mansion that was completed in the 1920s as the centerpiece of the estate of OU founder Matilda Dodge Wilson. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Meadow Brook Hall is often referred to as one of America's "castles" and is currently the fourth largest historic house museum in the United States. The mansion houses a particularly impressive collection of art and furniture, including paintings by Rembrandt, Anthony van Dyck, Rosa Bonheur, Gilbert Stuart, Joshua Reynolds, John Constable, and Thomas Gainsborough, as well as sculpture by Antoine-Louis Barye, Frederic Remington, Cyrus Edwin Dallin, and Herbert Haseltine. In addition to hosting important university functions and serving as a research, scholarship, and teaching resource for OU students and faculty, Meadow Brook Hall and its grounds are also the site of the annual Meadow Brook Concours d'Elegance, one of the largest and most prestigious collector car shows in the world.
OU is also the home of the Meadow Brook Music Festival, which consists of an expansive outdoor pavilion, lawn seating, and concession and restaurant facilities, accommodating up to 8,000 in attendance. Meadow Brook Music Festival is the official summer home of the renowned Detroit Symphony Orchestra, in addition to being one of the top concert venues in Michigan. It is currently managed by Palace Sports and Entertainment, which owns the Detroit Pistons, the Detroit Shock, and the nearby Palace of Auburn Hills, and which also officially manages sponsorships and promotions for OU's athletic teams, the Oakland Golden Grizzlies.
Meadow Brook Theatre, which was founded at OU in 1967, is currently the largest non-profit professional theater in Michigan, presenting a wide variety of award-winning productions throughout the year and serving as an important resource for the OU community and the entire region. Additionally, the Oakland University Art Gallery, which was formerly known as the Meadow Brook Art Gallery, presents at least six different exhibitions each academic year, in addition to hosting a variety of lectures, performances, and symposia.
Campus and community
Oakland University is located in Rochester, Michigan. University and city officials signed a partnership agreement in 2003 to officially recognize the relationship between Rochester and OU. Rochester was recently named 39th in the CNN/Money Magazine list of the Top 100 American cities in which to live.
OU's campus, which encompasses 1,500 acres (6.1 km2), is scenic and offers extensive trails and biking paths, in addition to two nationally-ranked golf courses. On-campus students can choose to live in a variety of residence halls, student townhomes, and university apartments. The residence halls include Fitzgerald House, Hill House, Hamlin Hall, Van Wagoner House, and the East and West Towers of Vandenberg Hall. Residential learning communities on OU's campus include Scholars Tower and the Residential Honors College community. There are 8 additional buildings that make up the Matthews Court student townhomes and 6 major Tudor-style buildings housing the new University Student Apartments, which were completed in 2002.
The campus also offers impressive recreational facilities for intramural sports and for OU's 16 NCAA Division I athletic teams, including the lighted Upper Athletic Fields, the indoor Sports Dome, well-maintained fields for varsity baseball, softball, and soccer, and the campus Recreation Center, which houses OU's state-of-the-art natatorium, as well as basketball, handball, track, and weight-training facilities and, most notably, the Athletics Center O'Rena, a 4,000-seat field house that is the home court for OU basketball and volleyball.
OU's student union, the Oakland Center, underwent an extensive renovation and expansion in 2003. The Oakland Center houses the offices of student organizations, a large food court with a variety of restaurant options, the student bookstore, a cafe, a pool hall and gaming center, as well as the offices of the university radio station, WXOU (88.3 FM). OU also has its own television station (OU TV). Campus life is further enhanced by more than 140 registered student organizations, ranging from cultural and religious groups to Greek organizations. Fraternities represented at OU include Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Sigma Pi, Theta Chi, Tau Kappa Epsilon, and Alpha Phi Alpha. Sororities include Alpha Delta Pi, Alpha Sigma Tau, Gamma Phi Beta, Phi Sigma Sigma, Delta Sigma Theta, and Sigma Gamma Rho. The so-called Cottage District of campus, which consists of homes originally built for workers employed at the old Meadow Brook Estate, now contains fraternity and sorority houses. Several fraternities and sororities also have off-campus houses nearby. Additionally, the university owns an adjoining tract of land to the east of the main university campus, which was developed into a neighborhood in which many OU faculty currently live.
Athletics
A notable song commonly played and sung at various events such as commencement, convocation, and athletic games is the Oakland University fight song.
Alumni
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Arts and entertainment
Sports and media
Government and politics
Law
Business
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Education
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References
- ^ Directions to OU
- ^ Oakland University - Campus Map
- ^ "OU Timeline - OU History". "1958: Matilda Wilson demands that the university's address match Meadow Brook Hall's Rochester address, even though the main campus lies in Pontiac Township (now Auburn Hills). She prevails by reminding U.S. Postmaster General Arthur Summerfield that she had been a generous contributor to his Republican administration."
External links
- Official website
- Oakland Police Department
- Graduate Programs
- Official athletics website
- Campus map
- OU Hockey website
- Oakland Campus Radio Station website
- OU Lacrosse Website
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