Troy University

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Troy University
Established: 1887
Type: Public
Endowment: $20,500,000 [1]
Chancellor: Dr. Jack Hawkins, Jr.
Students: 27,104
Undergraduates: 17,840
Postgraduates: 8,365
Location: Troy, AL, USA
Campus: rural
Colors: Cardinal, black, and silver
Nickname: Trojans
Website: http://www.troy.edu
Troy Worldwide Logo
Troy Worldwide Logo

Troy University is a public university located in Troy, Alabama and founded in 1887, as "Troy Normal School". The main campus enrollment is approximately 6,300 students. The campus itself consists of 36 major buildings on 460 acres (1.9 km²) plus the adjacent Troy University Arboretum. The Troy University system consists of 60 sites in 17 U.S. states and 11 other countries.[1]

On April 16, 2004, the Board of Trustees voted to change the name of the institution from Troy State University to Troy University. The transition to the new name was completed in August 2005 concurrent with the merger of all the associated satellite campuses into a single, unified system and administration. Trustees say they believe the name change will allow the university system to reflect its quality, funding sources and global mission better.

The name change is the fifth in the school's history. When created by the Alabama Legislature on February 26, 1887, it was officially named the Troy State Normal School. The school was located in downtown Troy until moving to the present location in 1930. In 1929, the name was changed to Troy State Teachers College and it subsequently conferred its first baccalaureate degree in 1931. In 1957, the legislature voted both to change the name to Troy State College and to allow it to begin a master's degree program. The name was changed once again in 1967 to Troy State University.

The Troy University System includes three other campuses in the state of Alabama in Dothan, Montgomery, and Phenix City. The university also has a very large off-campus/distance learning program and offers many courses in conjunction with the United States Armed Forces.

The Princeton Review recognizes Troy University as "One of the Best in the Southeast". It can boast the 63rd best graduate school, and is ranked among the top in many other categories. Troy University is one of the only schools in the country that offers a masters level degree in Health Care Administration and a Masters in Human Resource Management. Troy's broadcast journalism program has a sterling reputation and the university's student-led television news broadcast took home the Southeast's top spot at the most recent 2007/2008 awards banquet at the University of Mississippi. In 2008, Troy University was ranked as the 25th best university in the United States for international students by the Institute of International Education. Troy University is home to the state of Alabama's first and only bachelor of science degree program in deaf-interpreting. Troy's learning center in Atlanta, Georgia, offers one of the only certification programs in polygraph science in the country. Graduates of Troy's nursing program consistently have the highest pass rates on the state of Alabama nursing boards. In December 2007, the Alabama Commission on Higher Education gave Troy University the approval to begin the university's first doctoral program; the Doctorate in Nursing Practice.

The Troy University Montgomery campus located in downtown Montgomery is home to the award-winning Rosa Parks Library and Museum.

Troy University is home to the first Confucius Institute in the state of Alabama. The Confucius Institute will begin full operations in June 2008 on the main campus in Troy.

As of May 2008, Troy University is in the early stages of a comprehensive capital campaign called "Building Beyond Boundaries" that will target massive fundraising efforts across all areas of the university.


Contents

[edit] Athletics

Main article: Troy Trojans

Troy University football began playing in the NCAA's Division I-A in 2001, became a football only member of the Sun Belt Conference in 2004, and joined that conference for all other sports in 2005. In 2001, Troy defeated Mississippi State University at Scott Field in Starkville, Mississippi, by a count of 21-9 to notch the Trojans' first victory over a BCS level program. The Trojans began their 2004 campaign with a win over Marshall, and then garnered the program's largest win one game later as the Trojans defeated then #17 ranked Missouri, 24-14, in front of a Movie Gallery Veterans Stadium record crowd. The Trojan football team made its first bowl game appearance in the Silicon Valley Football Classic on December 30, 2004 that same season, but lost to Northern Illinois, 34-21. In 2006, Troy won the Sun Belt Conference after defeating Middle Tennessee in dramatic fashion toward the end of the 2006 season. As the 2006 Sun Belt Conference champions, Troy played in the New Orleans Bowl on December 22, 2006 against Rice University, routing the Owls of Conference USA by a score of 41-17. The New Orleans Bowl victory was Troy's first bowl victory in two tries. The 2007 team finished the season with an 8-4 record and a share of the Sun Belt Conference title. The highlight of the 2007 season was a 41-23 victory over the Oklahoma State University Cowboys in a nationally televised contest at Movie Gallery Veterans Stadium.

Troy football head coach Larry Blakeney is entering his 18th season as head coach. He has led the program to three Southland Football League titles and two Sun Belt Conference titles, as well as guided the Trojans to seven FCS playoff appearances and two FBS bowl games. Blakeney boasts an overall record of 136-67-1 as head coach at Troy. Blakeney is the winningest coach in the Troy University history and he is the 4th winningest collegiate coach all-time in the state of Alabama, only behind greats Paul "Bear" Bryant, Cleve Abbott, and Ralph "Shug" Jordan. Blakeney is just one of two coaches to ever take a football program from Division II to I-A (the other is UCF’s Gene McDowell).

Troy's only perfect regular season record in football came at the conclusion of the 1995 season as the Trojans finished 11-0 and were crowned champions of the Southland Football League heading into the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs.

The Troy football program currently has 12 players playing professional football, with 9 of them in the NFL, 2 in the CFL, and 1 in the AFL.

Troy won the NAIA national football championship in 1968 and the NCAA Division II national football championship in 1984 and 1987.

The Troy University men's basketball team, under the direction of head coach Don Maestri, participated in the 2003 NCAA Division One tournament. The Trojans fell to the Xavier University Musketeers and all-American center David West in Nashville, Tennessee, by a score of 71-59. The Trojans were the champions of the Atlantic Sun Conference in 2003 and defeated the University of Central Florida for the conference tournament championship in Atlanta, Georgia. The Trojans were led by Ben Fletcher and Rob Lewin in 2003. In 2004, the Trojans participated in the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) in Buffalo, New York, against Niagara University. On January 12, 1992, Troy defeated DeVry University of Atlanta by the score of 258-141, in what is the highest scoring game in college basketball history. Head coach Don Maestri is the winningest coach in Troy University history and he has won numerous conference coach-of-the-year awards during his tenure at Troy University. On June 7, 2008, Maestri will be inducted into the Wiregrass Sports Hall of Fame at a ceremony in Dothan, Alabama.

In 1997, the Troy University women's basketball team, under the direction of head coach Jerry Hester, won the Mid Continent Conference (now the Summit League) tournament championship in Buffalo, New York, and received an automatic berth to the NCAA Division One tournament where the Trojans traveled to Charlottesville, Virginia, and fell in the first round to the University of Virginia by a score of 96-74.

The Troy University baseball team won two Division II national championships in 1986 and 1987 under the leadership of legendary baseball coach, Chase Riddle. One of Troy's most significant victories in baseball came in April 1998 when the Trojans knocked off the #3 nationally ranked University of Alabama Crimson Tide by a score of 8-4 at Riddle-Pace Field on the Troy campus. In 2006, Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year, Bobby Pierce led the Trojans to an overall record of 47-16. The Men of Troy wrapped up the 2006 Sun Belt Conference regular season championship with a thrilling victory over the MTSU Blue Raiders. The following week, the Trojans went on to dominate the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. They won a spot in the Tuscaloosa Regional in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The Trojans defeated the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles twice, but were eliminated by the Alabama Crimson Tide in the championship game. Following the season, Jared Keel, Mike Felix, and Tom King were selected in the Major League draft.

Troy University has one of the top collegiate rodeo programs east of the Mississippi River. The program's governing body is the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association. In 2007, Troy calf roper Ben Mayworth, won the calf roping national championship at the National Finals College Rodeo in Casper, Wyoming. The rodeo program's home facility is the Pike County Cattlemen's Arena in Troy where it hosts a three-day rodeo each October that features college rodeo programs from throughout the southern region of the United States.

Prior to becoming a member of NCAA Division One athletics in 1993, Troy University was a member of the Gulf South Conference of the NCAA Division II ranks. Troy's primary rivals were Jacksonville State University, Livingston University (now the University of West Alabama), and the University of North Alabama. Troy and Jacksonville State had in fact a very bitter rivalry that transcended all sports, particularly football and men's basketball. Since Troy University moved to Division I-A participation in football and because the two universities no longer share the same conference affiliation, this once heated rivalry has cooled significantly.

Troy University's director of athletics is Steve Dennis, an alumnus of the University of Georgia and who was a standout defensive back for legendary head coach Vince Dooley.

Troy University's athletics nickname was the Red Wave until the early 1970's when the student body voted to change the name to Trojans.

[edit] Student Life

There are currently nine sororities at Troy University. Alpha Kappa Alpha, Delta Sigma Theta, Zeta Phi Beta, and Sigma Gamma Rho from the National Pan-Hellenic Council. Chi Omega, Alpha Delta Pi, Phi Mu, Kappa Delta, and Alpha Gamma Delta make up the NPC.

There are currently eight fraternal organizations on campus: Alpha Tau Omega, Delta Chi, Lambda Chi Alpha, Tau Kappa Epsilon, FarmHouse, Pi Kappa Phi, Sigma Chi, and the newly reinstated Sigma Alpha Epsilon.

Alpha Phi Alpha, Kappa Alpha Psi, Omega Psi Phi, and Phi Beta Sigma make up the National Pan-Hellenic Council fraternities at Troy University.

There are also five fraternities and sororities that function under the supervision of the John M Long school of music: Phi Mu Alpha, Kappa Kappa Psi, Sigma Alpha Iota, Tau Beta Sigma, and Phi Boota roota.

The university is also home to numerous religious campus organizations such as the Wesley Foundation, Baptist Campus Ministries, and the Christian Student Center (Church of Christ), all of which have stand-alone physical facilities on the Troy campus.

[edit] The Tropolitan

The school newspaper, the Tropolitan (commonly referred to as "The Trop"), is located on the bottom floor of Wallace Hall. It is a weekly publication, written and produced entirely by students. The Palladium, is located in adjacent offices in the same building.

Also located in Wallace Hall is Troy University Television, also referred to as TrojanVision. Troy University Television is unique in that it broadcasts two live entirely student produced newscasts at noon and five o'clock daily, one of the few universities in the area to do so.

[edit] The "Sound of the South" Marching Band

Main article: Sound of the South Marching Band
Troy University Fight Song
Here's to the school we love
We are Trojans, one and all
We will always cheer for victory,
And you'll never let us fall
GO! GO! GO!
Cheers to T-R-O-Y
We are with you all the way
So get out there team
And FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT
And win today

Music is an integral part of Troy University. The university boasts 29 faculty in the School of Music, over 200 undergraduate music majors, and fields a variety of music ensembles including a Symphonic Band, two Concert Bands, two Jazz Bands, a Trumpet Ensemble, Pep Band, Brass Quintet, and more.

The Sound of the South plays halftime shows at all Troy home football games and many of the away games. The band is noted for traveling as much as the football team, some recent trips were University of Nebraska, University of Miami, University of Arkansas, Mississippi State University, University of Florida, University of Georgia, and Florida State University. The Sound has been featured at numerous bowl games, including the Peach Bowl, the Senior Bowl, the Blue-Gray Football Classic, the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, and has also been featured in halftime performances for the Atlanta Falcons, Miami Dolphins, New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Over the past two years, the band has performed for over 450,000 fans.

The band has recorded for the Warner Brothers Marching Band Promotional Compact Disc since 1998, which is distributed to over 38,000 bands. This is thanks in part to current director of bands Ralph Ford who has composed and arranged over 130 pieces of music for symphonic band, concert band, jazz band, and marching band[2].

[edit] Trojan Oaks Golf Course

Main article: Trojans Oaks Golf Course

Troy University maintains a 9-hole championship golf course on the campus for use by the general public, golf team, and students. Students are given a discount on Tuesday and Wednesday to encourage teenage and young adult participation in the sport.

The Trojan Oaks is 3,211 yards from the longest tee. The par for the course is 36 with a course rating is 35.5 and a slope rating of 125 [3]. The course was built and opened in 1977 under the supervision of Chancellor Ralph Wyatt Adams. The greens and fairways are both Bermuda Grass. [4]

[edit] Campus Features

[edit] Notable Alumni

  • Wendy Koford, 1994, TROY-Dothan campus graduate, VP of Finance/CFO of Florida Credit Union
  • Mike Turk, former All-American football player, quarterback for the 1987 NCAA Division II national champions, and current head football coach at Huntingdon College
  • Troy King, current attorney general for the state of Alabama
  • Dr. William Novick, internationally known pediatric cardiac surgeon
  • John Harrison, current state superintendent of banking for the state of Alabama and current member of the Troy University board of trustees
  • Ted Sullivan, 2008/2009 Top 100 Irish-American business leaders in Irish-America Magazine
  • Tiffany Goss, country music singer/songwriter in Nashville, TN
  • Ambre Lake, actress/model and winning contestant on VH1's Rock of Love in April 2008
  • Jason Wright, former Trojan punter and now member of Troy media relations staff

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Troy University Quick Facts"
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