University of Maryland, College Park (College Park, Maryland)

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On March 6, 1856, the University of Maryland was chartered as the Maryland Agricultural College (MAC). Two years later, 420 acres (1.7 km²) of the Riverdale Plantation in College Park were purchased for $21,000 by a descendant of the Barons Baltimore and future U.S. Congressman, Charles Benedict Calvert. Calvert founded the school later that year with money earned by the sale of stock certificates. On October 6, 1859, the first 34 students entered the Maryland Agricultural College, including four of Charles Calvert's sons. The keynote speaker on opening day was Joseph Henry, the first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.

In July 1862, the same month that the MAC awarded its first degrees, President Lincoln signed the Morrill Land Grant Act. The legislation provided federal funds to schools that taught agriculture, engineering, or provided military training. Taking advantage of the opportunity, the school became a land grant college in February 1864 after the Maryland legislature voted to approve the Morrill Act.
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Civil War period

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. While encamped the troops tore down several hundred feet of fence for fire wood and attempted to set fire to a stone barn. The University later, unsuccessfully, attempted to sue the federal government for damages.

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. Warmly welcomed by university President Henry Onderdonk, a Confederate sympathizer, the cavalrymen were thrown a party on the campus. Nicknamed "The Old South Ball," legend tells of a lavish party that carried on late into the night. The next morning the soldiers rode off to cut the lines of communication between Washington and Baltimore. The stigma of "The Old South Ball" would linger much longer.

Financial problems forced the increasingly desperate administrators to sell off 200 acres of land, but 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.
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Postwar era

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 then 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 at the college 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 at the college. During the same period, a number of state laws granted the college regulatory powers in a number of areas—including controlling farm disease, inspecting feed, establishing a state weather bureau and geological survey, and housing the board of forestry.

Also 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.

In 1897 the first fraternity, Phi Sigma Kappa, was established on Maryland's campus, and Morrill Hall (the oldest instructional building still in use on campus) was built the following year.
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The Great Fire of 1912
The remains of the administration building after the flames finally died down.
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The remains of the administration building after the flames finally died down.

On November 29, 1912, around 10:30 p.m., a fire, probably due to faulty electric wiring, broke out in the attic of the newest administration building where a Thanksgiving dance was being held. The approximately eighty students on the premises evacuated themselves safely, and then formed a make shift 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 appraised at $250,000 (about $5 million in 2005 U.S. dollars) despite no injuries or fatalities. The devastation was so great that many never expected the university to reopen. The university President, Richard Silvester, resigned brokenhearted.

However, the students refused to give up. All but two students 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 dorms could be rebuilt, although a new administration building was not built until the 1940s.

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 eerily spared by the blaze. Prior to the establishment of the medical school at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, the medical school was located in College Park and Morrill Hall is actually where the cadavers were kept. Local campus legend contends that the spirits of the cadavers kept the building from being damaged.
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Recent history

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 October 25, 1924, Alpha Omicron Pi sorority was founded at the University of Maryland, it was the first sorority on campus. On April 9, 1920, the college merged with the preestablished professional schools in Baltimore to form the University of Maryland. The graduate school on the College Park campus awarded its first Ph.D. degrees, and the University's enrollment reached 500 students in the same year. In 1925 the University was granted accreditation by the Association of American Universities.

By the time the first African American students enrolled at the University in 1951, enrollment at the school 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.

On September 24, 2001, a tornado struck the College Park campus, killing two female students and causing $15 million in damage to 12 buildings.[1]

In 2005 emeritus professor of economics Thomas Schelling was awarded the Nobel Prize in economics for his contributions to game theory.
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Name and structural changes

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's role as the flagship institution of the University System of Maryland.

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 are not referred to as such. For the above historical reasons, the University of Maryland, Baltimore is also sometimes called "University of Maryland." This is not a significant point of confusion, as UMB is limited to graduate professional education.
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Famous Alumni

Main article: Category: University of Maryland, College Park alumni

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Campus legends
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Testudo
A diamondback terrapin.
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A diamondback terrapin.

In 1932, Curley Byrd proposed changing the school mascot to the Maryland diamondback terrapin, the state reptile. The first statue of Testudo cast in bronze was donated by the Class of 1933 and was displayed on U.S. Route 1 (Baltimore Ave.) in front of Ritchie Coliseum. However, the 300 pound mascot was subjected to many indignities by visiting college athletic teams.

One famous incident in 1947 involved students from Johns Hopkins University who stole the bronze statue of the mascot and returned to their campus in Baltimore. Maryland students went up to Baltimore from College Park to retrieve the statue and ended up besieging the dorm where the Johns Hopkins students had kept Testudo; over 200 riot police had to be called in.

In 1949, then university President Byrd was awoken by a phone call from a University of Virginia fraternity requesting that Testudo be removed from their lawn. Testudo was then later filled with 700 pounds of cement and fastened to his pedestal to ensure that the statue could not be stolen again in the future. However, students at rival schools still vandalized the statue and in the 1960s Testudo was moved from its location on Baltimore Avenue to a spot in front of McKeldin Library in the center of campus. The statue remains a good luck charm for students who rub his nose and leave him offerings during finals week.

In 1992 a twin statue of Testudo was placed at Byrd Stadium that the Maryland Terrapins football team touches for good luck as they pass by on their way onto the field. There is now also a statue of Testudo outside the Gossett Team House on the outskirts of Byrd Stadium. In 2002, another statue was placed in front of the school's new basketball arena, the Comcast Center; and in 2005, a fifth statue was erected in front of the new Riggs Alumni Center.

In 2006, fifty Testudo statues decorated by University students were placed throughout the region. Besides the campus and College Park, other areas where statues were placed included Silver Spring, Ocean City, Baltimore, Annapolis, Landover, and Washington, D.C.. [2]
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The Point of Failure

It is considered bad luck to step on the intersection of the lines that show the point in the center of all the buildings that burned during the Great Fire of 1912. Tradition holds that a student who steps on this point will never graduate (and that a prospective student who steps on the point will not be admitted). The point is marked in concrete with a plaque nearby warning freshmen of the dangers.
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Morrill Hall

The only building spared by the Great Fire of 1912, Morrill Hall has numerous ghost stories associated with it. Some mention the fact its basement was used to store cadavers for the medical students. Other stories might be attributed to ash that was accidentally released from the walls into the building several years ago when it was modernized to have central air conditioning.
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Marie Mount Hall

Included in unofficial campus tours as one of the stranger buildings on the College Park campus, Marie Mount Hall is supposedly haunted by the former Dean of Home Economics for whom the building was named. Employees working late during dark, stormy nights claim they heard piano playing, a skill Marie Mount was known for.
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The Biology/Psychology Building

Commonly referred to as the "Bio-Psych" building, the original building's interior is so strange (especially in the room-numbering pattern) that it is rumored to have been built in accordance to a psychology experiment. Supposedly it was fashioned by psychology professors to resemble a rat maze in order to confuse students.
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Research

On October 14, 2004, the university added 150 acres (607,000 m²) in an ambitious attempt to create the largest research park inside the Washington, D.C., Capital Beltway. "M Square" solidifies the university's goal of excellent undergraduate education coupled with breakthrough research. The current construction of a new Bioscience Research Building on campus will also be sure to bolster university research in life sciences and continue driving forward the state's already impressive biotechnology industry. Research has played a pivotal role in its exaltation among enumerated college ranks. According to U.S. News & World Report, Maryland has moved from being ranked 30th in 1998, to being ranked 18th in 2006 on USNWR's top public school list.
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Research Partnerships

The University of Maryland's unique location near Washington, D.C., has created strong research partnerships, especially with government agencies. Many of the faculty members have funding from federal agencies such as the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Department of Defense, and the National Security Agency. These relationships have created numerous research opportunities for the university including:

* taking the lead in the nationwide research initiative into the transmission and prevention of human and avian influenza
* creating a new research center to study the behavioral and social foundations of terrorism with funding from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security
* launching the joint NASA-University of Maryland Deep Impact spacecraft in early January 2005.

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The University of Maryland Libraries

The University of Maryland Libraries provide access to and assistance in the use of the scholarly information resources required to meet the education, research and service missions of the University.
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Athletics

Main article: University of Maryland athletics

Athletics logo containing the Terrapin mascot
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Athletics logo containing the Terrapin mascot
A sculpture of the University of Maryland mascot, Testudo, with a Kermit the Frog design, displayed inside Adele H. Stamp Student Union in College Park, Maryland.
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A sculpture of the University of Maryland mascot, Testudo, with a Kermit the Frog design, displayed inside Adele H. Stamp Student Union in College Park, Maryland.

The school's sports teams are called the Terrapins, and the mascot of the University (pictured right) is a diamondback terrapin named Testudo, which is Latin for "protective shell." The Terrapins sports teams participate in the NCAA's Division I-A, and the school is a founding member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. For years the school colors were black and gold. After World War One, new coach Clark Shaughnessy came to Maryland from Stanford, and brought a supply of that school's uniforms with him. Combining those colors with the old black and gold, the university's official colors were expanded to match those that appear on the Maryland State Flag: black, gold, red, and white.

The university's athletics program has enjoyed national prominence. Most recently, the Maryland women's basketball team won the 2006 Women's National Championship on 4 April, guided by Coach Brenda Frese, after beating Duke 78-75 in overtime. Previously, the men's football program won the 1953 national championship, and was a perennial bowl game invitee in the late 1970s and early 80s. Until Ralph Friedgen, a 1970 Maryland graduate, was hired as head coach in November 2000 they achieved little success for many years. Friedgen dramatically reversed the fortunes of Terrapin football in his first three seasons, leading the team to 31 wins, an appearance in the BCS Orange Bowl, commanding victories in the Peach Bowl and the Gator Bowl, consecutive top-3 finishes in conference, and the only outright ACC regular season title since Florida State's entry into the conference in 1992.

Men's basketball has traditionally been the most popular sport at Maryland and is under the guidance of another Maryland graduate, Gary Williams of the class of 1968. Williams, who returned to his alma mater in 1989 after successful stints at American University, Boston College, and Ohio State, inherited a once-successful program that was suffering the aftereffects of the death of Len Bias as well as NCAA rules infractions under Williams's predecessor. After several years of competing under recruiting sanctions related to these events, Williams has elevated the Terp program to the level of conference foes Duke and North Carolina. Williams led Maryland to eleven consecutive NCAA tournament appearances (1993–2004) and eight consecutive seasons with 20 or more wins (1996–2004). In addition, he has taken the Terps to the tournament's Regional Semifinals (Sweet Sixteen) seven times, to the Final Four twice, and led the school to its first NCAA title in men's basketball in 2002. With one of the youngest teams in the nation, Williams led his team to his first ACC Tournament title in 2004. With a win over the Virginia Cavaliers on February 7th, 2006, Gary Williams became Maryland's all-time leader in basketball wins with 349, beating the previous record of Lefty Driesell, who attended the record-breaking game.

Beyond these primary revenue sports, Maryland excels in other areas as well. Women's basketball began a resurgence in 2002, and has reached the NCAA Women's Basketball tournament for four consecutive years under Coach Brenda Frese. And Coach Sasho Cirovski has taken the men's soccer team to four Final Fours since 1998. In 2005, the squad claimed the NCAA College Cup National Championship with a 1-0 win over New Mexico. The field hockey team has made ten Final Four appearances (through 2005) and won the 1987, 1993, 1999, and 2005 national titles. The volleyball team won the ACC tournament in 2003 and qualified for their own NCAA tournament. In lacrosse, Maryland has been a consistent national leader. The women's lacrosse team has won a total of ten national championships since 1981, eight of which came under the direction of Cindy Timchal, including a run of seven straight (1995 through 2001). Additionally, the women's lacrosse team has been an NCAA finalist in eleven of the last fourteen years, and produced more All-Americans in the sport than any other school. The men's program is consistently ranked among the top 10 programs nationally.

"Fear the Turtle" is a commonly used slogan by fans.

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