University of New Hampshire

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The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a public university in the University System of New Hampshire. The university's main campus is located in Durham, NH and has one college in Manchester, the University of New Hampshire at Manchester. As of the Fall 2004 semester, the university had 13,213 undergraduate students and 2,407 graduate students enrolled in more than 100 majors.

History

In 1866, the university was first incorporated as the New Hampshire College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts in Hanover, New Hampshire, in association with Dartmouth College. Durham resident Benjamin Thompson left his farm and assets to the state for the establishment an agricultural college. On January 30, 1890, Benjamin Thompson died and his will became public. On March 5, 1891, Gov. Hiram Americus Tuttle signed an act accepting the conditions of Thompson's will. On April 10, 1891, Gov. Tuttle signed a bill authorizing the college's move to Durham, New Hampshire.

Excited about the pending move to Durham, the Class of 1892 held commencement exercises in an unfinished barn on the Durham campus. On April 18, 1892, the Board of Trustees voted to "authorize the faculty to make all the arrangements for the packing and removal of college property at Hanover to Durham." In fall of 1893, classes began in Durham with 51 freshmen and 13 upperclassmen, and graduate study was established. In 1923, Gov. Fred Herbert Brown signed a bill changing the name of the college to University of New Hampshire, despite pressure by state agriculture interests that had defeated a similar proposal in 1911.

Academics

UNH is composed of six colleges and the Graduate School, offering a variety of study for students. These are the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences (CEPS), College of Liberal Arts (COLA), College of Life Sciences and Agriculture (COLSA), School of Health and Human Services (SHHS), Whittemore School of Business and Economics (WSBE), and UNH at Manchester. The Thompson School of Applied Science, first established in 1895 and now a division of COLSA, provides seven different associate degrees in applied science.

The coastal proximity of the university affords excellent programs in Marine biology and Oceanography. Facilities include the Jackson Estuarine Laboratory at Adam's Point in Durham, and the Shoals Marine Laboratory at Appledore Island on the Isles of Shoals.

The University also organizes an annual summer abroad program at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge at Cambridge University, which is restricted to American students with exceptional academic qualifications.

Activities

The University has approximately 100 student organizations grouped by: academics & careers, community service, poltical & world affairs, arts & entertainment, culture & language, fraternities & sororities, hall councils, honor socities, leisure & recreation, media & publications, religious, special interest, student activism. Of those groups there are 15 undergraduate groups which receive Student Activity Fee funds to help subsidize the services they provide; such as the Campus Activity Board, The Granite yearbook, SCAN TV, SCOPE, Student Senate, The New Hampshire, and WUNH.

Athletics

The school's athletic teams are known as the Wildcats, and they compete in the NCAA Division I level. They are members of the America East Conference for most sports; the Division I-AA Atlantic Ten Conference for football; and Hockey East, also Division I. The athletic teams' colors are blue and white.

Attractions

• The Jesse Hepler Lilac Arboretum
• UNH Dairy Bar (Ice cream made and served by UNH students in historic train depot)

References

• UNH Archives - "An Act Providing For The Removal Of The New Hampshire College of Agriculture And The Mechanic Arts From Hanover To Durham"
• UNH Archives - "An Act To Accept The Provisions Of The Thompson Will"
• "New Hampshire College: The State School in Hanover"
• UNH Archives - Significant Events in the History of UNH

External links

• Official Web site