Northwest Missouri State University (NW Missouri) is a public university in Maryville, Missouri, United States. It has an enrollment of 9,152 students. Founded in 1905 as a teachers college, its campus is based on the design for Forest Park at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair and is the official Missouri State Arboretum. The school is governed by a state-appointed Board of Regents and headed by President Lance Tatum.

The Northwest Bearcats compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (Division II) and Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association for men's and women's sports.

thumb|Map of Northwest Campus

History

Founding

thumb|left|History of Northwest Missouri State College, Bell Tower exhibit

In 1905, the Missouri Legislature created five districts in the state to establish normal schools, comprising a state teacher college network.

Maryville won the competition for the Northwest district with an offer to donate (on coincidentally the northwest corner of town) and $58,000 on the site of a Methodist Seminary. The other districts in the network were to be at Kirksville (Northeast – now Truman State), Cape Girardeau (Southeast), Springfield (Southwest – now Missouri State), and Warrensburg (Central – now Central Missouri).

The original mission of the school, initially known as the Fifth District Normal School, was to teach elementary school teachers. Classes began on June 13, 1906, with a lab school teaching Maryville's children (that was eventually named the Horace Mann school) in kindergarten through third grade. The school was later expanded to a full-fledged high school before dropping back to its current configuration of kindergarten through sixth grade.

thumb|right|Class of 1948 bell

In 1919 the school was renamed Northwest Missouri State Teacher's College, and with that came the ability to grant baccalaureate degrees. In 1949 the name was shrunk to Northwest Missouri State College by the Board of Regents.

World War II

During World War II, Northwest Missouri State University was one of 131 colleges and universities nationally that took part in the V-12 Navy College Training Program, which offered students a path to a Navy commission.

Rivalry with Missouri Western

In 1969, Missouri governor Warren Hearnes pushed for switching St. Joseph Junior College from a two-year school into a four-year state college, which became Missouri Western State University. At approximately the same time, authorities decided against a plan to continue routing Interstate 29 north of St. Joseph alongside U.S. Route 71 through Maryville and on to Clarinda, Iowa, instead picking a route to the Omaha–Council Bluffs metropolitan area along the sparsely populated Missouri River bottoms.

Opening a new four-year state school within of Maryville (along with a delay in widening U.S. Route 71 to Maryville) was perceived in Maryville as an attempt to kill the school and the town with which it is intertwined. Those fears came to the forefront in 1988 when Shalia Aery, commissioner of higher education under Governor John Ashcroft, announced a plan to close the school. The plan was ultimately withdrawn.

Northwest Missouri State University

On August 14, 1972, Northwest was elevated to university status so that it could offer master's degrees. Its name changed to Northwest Missouri State University.

thumb|left|The President's home is the [[Thomas Gaunt House, which is on the National Register of Historic Places.]]

In 1987, Northwest unveiled its Electronic Campus Program, the first such program among public U.S. colleges.

Missouri State Arboretum

thumb|right|The Administration Building rises above the Missouri State Arboretum

The campus design was inspired by the Forest Park design for the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, which evolved into the campus for Washington University in St. Louis. In 1993 the state legislature designated Northwest the official Missouri State Arboretum.

Presidents

  • Frank Deerwester (1906–1907)
  • Homer Martien Cook (1907–1909)
  • Henry Kirby Taylor (1909–1913)
  • Ira Richardson (1913–1921)
  • Uel W. Lamkin (1921–1945)
  • J. W. Jones (1945–1964)
  • Robert P. Foster (1964–1977)
  • B. D. Owens (1977–1984)
  • Dean L. Hubbard (1984–2009)
  • John Jasinski (2009–2022)
  • Clarence Green (interim, 2022-2023)
  • Lance Tatum (2023-Present)

Administration Building

Design

The defining landmark of the campus is the Administration Building, similar to Brookings Hall at Washington University in St. Louis. Brookings Hall served as the Administration Building of the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. The master St. Louis design was created by Cope & Stewardson, famed for designing schools throughout the country based on the Oxford University style. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010. The Northwest Bearcats cheerleading squad have won three (2010, 2012, and 2013) Universal Cheerleaders Association Division II National Champions. The Northwest Bearcat Men's Basketball team has won four national championships (2017, 2019, 2021, 2022) in the span of five tournaments. With the 2016 football championship and the 2017 basketball championship, Northwest became the first Division II program to win titles in football and men’s basketball in the same school year. The titles were also the first by a Division I or II program since the Division I Florida Gators in 2006-07.

Student life

{| class="wikitable floatright sortable collapsible"; text-align:right; font-size:80%;"

|+ style="font-size:90%" |Undergraduate demographics as of Fall 2023

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! Race and ethnicity

! colspan="2" data-sort-type=number |Total

|-

| White

|align=right|

|-

| Hispanic

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| Black

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|-

| International student

|align=right|

|-

| Two or more races

|align=right|

|-

| Unknown

|align=right|

|-

| Asian

|align=right|

|-

! colspan="4" data-sort-type=number |Economic diversity

|-

| Low-income

|align=right|

|-

| Affluent

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|}

Student organizations encompass activities and interests that include

Academic (such as an Association for Computing Machinery chapter),

Greek fraternities and sororities,

Political (such as the College Republicans or the Young Democrats),

Honorary (such as the Blue Key Honor Society and Mortar Board),

Multicultural (with groups such as the Alliance of Black Collegians, the Asian Student Association, the Hispanic American Leadership Organization, and the Indian Student Association),

Performing (such as the American Choral Directors Association),

Religious (such as Campus Crusade for Christ),

Residential Life (with student governing bodies for the residential halls),

Sports (with clubs for cheerleading, fencing, rugby, soccer, wrestling and equestrian sports),

and dozens more.

There are several sororities and fraternities at the university.

Student newspaper

The Northwest Missourian is the university's bi-weekly student newspaper.

Notable alumni

thumb|right|Bearcat Stadium

thumb|right|International Walk

Computer Science

  • Jean Bartik – programmer

Politicians

  • Jason R. Brown – Republican leader in the Missouri House of Representatives
  • Pat Danner – former U.S. representative from Missouri
  • Steve King – U.S. representative from Iowa's 4th congressional district
  • Mike Thomson – Republican member of the Missouri House of Representatives
  • Kim Reynolds – Governor of Iowa
  • Allen Andrews - Republican member of the Missouri House of Representatives

Athletes

  • Trevor Hudgins – professional basketball player
  • Baron Corbin – football player, professional wrestler
  • Brandon Dixon – football player
  • Brian Dixon – football player
  • Adam Dorrel – coach
  • Duck Dowell – former NBL player and coach
  • Charles Finley – former college basketball coach
  • Tommy Frevert – former AFL placekicker
  • Todd Frohwirth – former Major league baseball player
  • Tom Funk – former Major league baseball player
  • Gary Gaetti – former Major league baseball player
  • Steve Gillispie – baseball college coach
  • Chris Greisen – football player
  • Harold Hull – former NBL player
  • Joe Hurst – former NBL player
  • Hal Hutcheson – former NBL player
  • Ben McCollum – college basketball coach
  • Jack McCracken – AAU basketball player from the 1930s and 1940s who in 1962 was enshrined into the Basketball Hall of Fame.
  • Tony Miles – former Canadian Football League wide receiver; school's all-time leader in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns
  • Ryland Milner – former college basketball and football coach
  • Xavier Omon – former NFL running back and 2008 6th round draft pick of the Buffalo Bills
  • Justin Pitts – professional basketball player
  • Jamaica Rector – former NFL wide receiver
  • Jhon Rebatta Lam – professional soccer player
  • Ivan Schottel – former NFL player and college football coach
  • Mike Shane – professional wrestler
  • Todd Shane – professional wrestler
  • Wilbur Stalcup – former college basketball coach
  • Mel Tjeerdsma – coach
  • Dave Tollefson – former NFL defensive end
  • Seth Wand – former NFL offensive lineman
  • Ryan Hawkins – basketball player

Notes

References

  • Athletics website