The University of Maryland, College Park (often referred to as The University of Maryland, UM, UMD, UMCP, or Maryland) is a public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C. Founded in 1856, the University of Maryland is the flagship institution of the University System of Maryland. With a fall 2010 enrollment of more than 37,000 students, Maryland is the largest university in the state and the largest in the Washington Metropolitan Area.[7][8] It is a member of the Association of American Universities and a founding member of the Atlantic Coast Conference athletic league. The University of Maryland's proximity to the nation's capital has resulted in strong research partnerships with the Federal government. Many members of the faculty receive research funding and institutional support from agencies such as the National Institutes of Health, the National Aeronauti! cs and Space Administration (NASA), the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Department of Homeland Security . As of fiscal year 2009, the University of Maryland, College Park's operating budget was projected to be approximately $1.531 billion.[9] For the same fiscal year, the University of Maryland received a total of $518 million in research funding, surpassing its 2008 mark by $117 million.[10] As of February 28th, 2011, the university's "Great Expectations" campaign had exceeded $800 million in private donations.[11] Contents 1 History 1.1 Early history 1.2 Civil War 1.3 The Great Fire of 1912 1.4 Modern history 1.4.1 21st Century 2 Academics 2.1 Profile 2.2 Programs 2.3 Faculty 2.4 Research 2.5 Admissions 2.6 Rankings 3 Campus 3.1 Description 3.2 Sustainability 4 Student life 4.1 Residential life 4.2 Dining 4.3 Transportation 4.4 The Diamondback 4.5 WMUC-FM 4.6 Greek life 5 Athletics 6 Testudo 7 Notable people 8 Filmography 9 References 10! External links [edit] History [edit] Early history On March 6! , 1856, the forerunner of today's University of Maryland was chartered as the Maryland Agricultural College (MAC). Two years later, Charles Benedict Calvert, a descendant of the Barons Baltimore and a future U.S. Congressman, purchased 420 acres (1.7 km2) of the Riverdale Plantation in College Park for $21,000. Calvert founded the school later that year with money earned by the sale of stock certificates. On October 5, 1859, the first 34 students entered the Maryland Agricultural College, including four of Charles Calvert's sons, George, Charles, William and Eugene. The keynote speaker on opening day was Joseph Henry, the first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.[12] Charles Benedict Calvert, founder In July 1862, the same month that the MAC awarded its first degrees, President Lincoln signed the Morrill Land Grant Act.[13] The legislation provided federal funds to schools that taught agriculture or engineering, or provided military training. Taking advantage of the oppor! tunity, the school became a land grant college in February 1864 after the Maryland legislature voted to approve the Morrill Act.[12] [edit] Civil War A few months after accepting the grant, the Maryland Agricultural College proved to be an important site in the Civil War. In April 1864, General Ambrose E. Burnside and 6,000 soldiers of the Union's Ninth Army Corps camped on the MAC campus. The troops were en route to reinforce General Ulysses S. Grant's forces in Virginia.[14] Later that summer, around 400 Confederate soldiers led by General Bradley T. Johnson stayed on the grounds while preparing to take part in a raid against Washington. In local legend, it is told that the soldiers were warmly welcomed by university President Henry Onderdonk, a Confederate sympathizer, and that the cavalrymen were thrown a party on the campus nicknamed "The Old South Ball." The next morning the soldiers rode off to cut the lines of communication between Washington and Baltimore.[15] Fina! ncial problems forced the increasingly desperate administrator! s to sel l off 200 acres (81 ha) of land, and the continuing decline in student enrollment sent the Maryland Agricultural College into bankruptcy. For the next two years the campus was used as a boys preparatory school.[12] Morrill Hall, built in 1898, is the oldest academic building on campus. Following the Civil War, the Maryland legislature pulled the college out of bankruptcy, and in February 1866 assumed half ownership of the school. The college thus became in part a state institution. George Washington Custis Lee, son of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, was appointed president of the college by the Board of Trustees, but due to public outcry declined the position. By October 1867, the school reopened with 11 students. In the next six years, enrollment continued to grow, and the school's debt was finally paid off. Twenty years later, the school's reputation as a research institution began, as the federally funded Agricultural Experiment Station was established there. Duri! ng the same period, a number of state laws granted the college regulatory powers in several areas—including controlling farm disease, inspecting feed, establishing a state weather bureau and geological survey, and housing the board of forestry.[12] In 1888, the college began its first official intercollegiate baseball games against rivals St. John's College and the United States Naval Academy. Baseball, however, had been played at the college for decades before the first "official" games were recorded. The first fraternity at Maryland, Phi Sigma Kappa, was established in 1897, and Morrill Hall (the oldest instructional building still in use on campus) was built the following year.[12] [edit] The Great Fire of 1912 The campus ablaze during the 1912 fire The remains of the administration building. Plaque showcasing the original layout of campus before the Great Fire. On November 29, 1912, around 10:30 p.m., a fire, probably due to faulty electric wiring, broke out in the at! tic of the newest administration building, where a Thanksgivin! g dance was being held. The approximately eighty students on the premises evacuated themselves safely, and then formed a makeshift bucket brigade. The fire departments summoned from nearby Hyattsville and Washington, D.C. arrived too late. Fanned by a strong southwest wind, the fire destroyed the barracks where the students were housed, all the school's records, and most of the academic buildings, leaving only Morrill Hall untouched. The loss was estimated at $250,000 (about $5.5 million in 2007 U.S. dollars) despite no injuries or fatalities. The devastation was so great that many never expected the university to reopen. University President Richard Silvester resigned, brokenhearted.[12] However, the students refused to give up. All but two returned to the university after the break and insisted on classes continuing as usual. Students were housed by families in neighboring towns who were compensated by the university until housing could be rebuilt, although a new administration bu! ilding was not built until the 1940s.[12] A large brick and concrete compass inlaid in the ground designates the former center of campus as it existed in 1912. Lines engraved in the compass point to each building that was destroyed in the Thanksgiving Day fire. The only building not marked on the compass is Morrill Hall, which was spared by the blaze. The intersection of the lines on the compass are known as "The Point of Failure" and a plaque nearby warns students of the danger that if you step on this point you will not graduate in four years. [edit] Modern history The University of Maryland campus as it appeared in 1938 before the dramatic expansion engineered by President Byrd The state took complete control of the school in 1916, and consequently the institution was renamed Maryland State College. Also that year, the first female students enrolled at the school. On April 9, 1920, the college merged with the established professional schools in Baltimore to form the Univ! ersity of Maryland. The graduate school on the College Park ca! mpus awa rded its first Ph.D. degrees, and the University's enrollment reached 500 students in the same year. In 1925 the University was accredited by the Association of American Universities.[12] By the time the first black students enrolled at the University in 1951, enrollment had grown to nearly 10,000 students—4,000 of whom were women. In 1957 President Wilson H. Elkins made a push to increase academic standards at the University. His efforts resulted in the creation of one of the first Academic Probation Plans. The first year the plan went into effect, 1,550 students (18% of the total student body) faced expulsion. Since then, academic standards at the school have steadily risen. Recognizing the improvement in academics, Phi Beta Kappa established a chapter at the university in 1964. In 1969, the university was elected to the Association of American Universities. The school continued to grow, and by the fall of 1985 reached an enrollment of 38,679.[12] Like many colleges duri! ng the Vietnam War, the university was the site of student protests and had curfews enforced by the National Guard.[16] Memorial Chapel. In a massive 1988 restructuring of the state higher education system, the school was designated as the flagship campus of the newly formed University System of Maryland and was formally named University of Maryland, College Park. However, in 1997 the Maryland General Assembly passed legislation allowing the University of Maryland, College Park to be known simply as the University of Maryland, recognizing the campus' role as the flagship institution of the University System of Maryland.[17] The other University System of Maryland institutions with the name "University of Maryland" are not satellite campuses of the University of Maryland, College Park, and a
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