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Southwest Minnesota State University
Established	1963
Type	Public
President	Dr. David Danahar
Faculty	148
Students	3,700
Location	Marshall, Minnesota, USA
Address	1501 State St. Marshall, MN 56258
Telephone	1-800-642-0684
Campus	Rural, 216 acre
Colors	Brown and Gold
Nickname	Mustangs
Affiliations	MnSCU
Website	www.southwestmsu.edu

Southwest Minnesota State University is a public, four-year university that is part of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System. It is located in Marshall, Minnesota, a city of 13,000 people. The school has a full-time enrollment of approximately 3,500 students and employs 148 faculty members. It is divided into two major colleges, the College of Arts, Letters, and Sciences, and the College of Business, Education, and Professional Studies. SMSU is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.

U.S. News and World Report has designated Southwest Minnesota State University as the #1 college in its category nine times.^[1]

The school athletic teams are the Mustangs. Their colors are the prairie colors of brown and gold. There are no fraternities or sororities.

Contents 1 History 2 Academics 3 Campus 4 Athletics 5 References 6 External links

Southwest Minnesota State University was founded in 1963 as Southwest Minnesota State College. It admitted its first class of students in 1967. The college became Southwest State University in 1975, and adopted its current name in 2003.^[2]

The University went through a severe enrollment crisis in the Seventies. During the fall quarter of 1976, on-campus enrollment dropped to an all-time low of 1,624 students.^[3] This led to faculty retrenchment and concerns about the viability of the university.

In December of 2001, a fire destroyed the Student Center, which originally featured an underground living area and a glass dome. The concrete framework for the dome was incorporated into the new student and conference center, and is still visible in the food court area. This building was completed in 2005.

The student newspaper was originally called The Impact. The name was changed to The Reader in 1974, and then back to The Impact in 1980.^[4] In 2003 the name was changed again to The Spur to be more consistent with the Mustang theme and to spur students into action.

In 2005, SMSU developed the first bachelors degree culinology program in the nation to be approved by the Research Chefs Association.^[5]

Southwest Minnesota State University provides undergraduate education in the liberal arts and professional studies for the following areas: Accounting, Agribusiness Management, Anthropology, Art, Biology, Business Administration, Chemistry, Computer Science, Criminal Justice, Culinology, Economics, Education, English, Environmental Science, Foreign Languages, Global Studies, History, Hotel and Restaurant Administration, Humanities, Indigenous Nations and Dakota Studies, Interdisciplinary Studies, Justice Administration, Marketing, Mathematics, Music, Philosophy, Physics, Political Science, Psychology, Rural and Regional Studies, Social Work, Sociology, Speech Communication, Theatre Arts, Wellness and Human Performance, and Women's Studies. The university also supports a Center for Rural and Regional Studies, and offers masters degrees in Business Management, Education, and Special Education. The most popular majors are Business Administration and Education.

Most of the SMSU campus was constructed between 1965 and 1973 according to a unified plan. The brick and concrete buildings are interconnected via tunnels and enclosed walkways, providing a continuous and controlled environment during both summer and winter. The residence halls, however, are not connected. There are many courtyards with gardens between the buildings. The campus is virtually barrier free, allowing easy access to students in wheelchairs.

The university's residence halls were named by the students during the late 1960s, and reflect various themes and values of the times, e.g. Aquarius, Casa Futura, and Kama Sutra. Armstrong Hall was named after astronaut, Neil Armstrong in honor of his trip to the moon in 1969. Manchester Hall was named after pop singer, Melissa Manchester after a concert she gave on campus.^[6]

The Mustangs compete in NCAA Division II. Programs for men include basketball, wheelchair basketball, baseball, football, and wrestling. The programs for women are basketball, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, and volleyball. The student booster club for basketball is the Mustang Maniacs. Their slogan is, "Our team loves us and our opponents fear us". An annual basketball tradition is Hawaiian Night, which usually coincides with the Winter Meltdown festival.

Intramural sports include badminton, basketball, football, ice hockey, racquetball, softball, tennis, and volleyball.

1. ^ Measures of Teacher Quality in Minnesota, Retrieved Jan 4, 2007
2. ^ Minnesota State Colleges and Universities News Release, Retrieved Jan 4, 2007
3. ^ Amato, J. A. (1991). A new college on the prairie: Southwest State University's first twenty-five years, 1967-1992. Longmont, CO: Crossings Press.
4. ^ Amato, J. A. (1991). A new college on the prairie: Southwest State University's first twenty-five years, 1967-1992. Longmont, CO: Crossings Press.
5. ^ State of the Nutra Industry, Retrieved Jan 4, 2007
6. ^ Amato, J. A. (1991). A new college on the prairie: Southwest State University's first twenty-five years, 1967-1992. Longmont, CO: Crossings Press.

• Southwest Minnesota State University
• SMSU Alumni Association
• Official Website of SMSU Athletics
• Campus newspaper, The Spur
• Center for Rural and Regional Studies

Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference
Bemidji State • Concordia Saint Paul • Mary • Minnesota Crookston • Minnesota State Moorhead • Northern State • Southwest Minnesota State • Upper Iowa • Wayne State • Winona State • Coming in 2008: Augustana • Minnesota-Duluth • Minnesota State Mankato • St. Cloud State