georgia southern university

Georgia Southern University, established 1906, is a university located in Statesboro, Georgia, USA, and part of the University System of Georgia. It is the largest center of higher education in the southern half of Georgia. It has a residential campus of over 16,000 students, with every state and 80 nations represented in the student body.

History

The school which was to become Georgia Southern University was founded as a district agricultural school in 1906 as one of several agricultural and mechanical trades schools chartered by the Georgia General Assembly, the state legislature. During the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s the school expanded, offering a richer curriculum with an emphasis on education. It progressed from a two-year to a four-year teacher's college during those years. In 1959, Georgia Southern became a senior college within the University System of Georgia followed by receiving university status in 1990. In April of 2006, The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching officially announced that Georgia Southern changed classifications from its previous Masters I designation to the National Research University level. Despite this classification change, the University System of Georgia will continue to consider Georgia Southern a regional university for its organizational purposes and budget/tuition calculations. [1]

Sports

The Georgia Southern Eagles compete in baseball, basketball, ultimate, golf, tennis, volleyball, soccer, softball and track & field. The football team has won a record six NCAA Division I-AA national championships (1985, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1999 and 2000). The university also offers intramural teams for all varsity level sports, as well as others such as equestrian events, fencing, and judo. Georgia Southern's football team plays at Allen E. Paulson Stadium

Erk Russell and Football

In 1982, former University of Georgia Defensive Coordinator Erskine "Erk" Russell was hired to restart the football program at Georgia Southern College (as the college was called at the time), a program that had not competed in forty years. Three years after beginning the team, Coach Russell had won his first of three National Titles (1985, 1986, and 1989). Russell's bald head, coupled with the fact that he coached the Eagles, gave him the nickname "The Bald Eagle".

After the Eagles moved to Division I-AA in 1984, he fashioned a 70-14 (.825) mark. Russell averaged 10.4 wins per season. He entered the 1989 season as America's winningest coach, orchestrator of two national championships, 68 wins and 14 All-America selections -- all during a seven-year period. In the ensuing 105 days, Georgia Southern ascended to the top spot in the NCAA I-AA football poll and Russell smoked 15 victory cigars. The Eagles extended Division I's longest home win streak from 26 to 37 games, en route to gaining distinction as the only 15-0 college team of the twentieth century. Russell's final record at Georgia Southern, after his retirement in 1989, was 83-22-1 (.788). During the Mike Sewak Era, Russell unfortunately cut ties with GSU after his son Rusty was fired from the coaching staff. In 2006, with the hire of new Head Coach Brian Van Gorder, he was reunited with the program. He addressed the team the night before his shocking and sudden death on September 8, 2006. Georgia Southern University and thousands of friends, family, and fans gathered at Paulson Stadium to mourn the passing of Erk Russell, one of America’s most exciting and successful college football coaches. The cause of death was a stroke while pulling out of a gas station on the west side of Statesboro. He was 80.

Since Russell's departure, football has continued to be prominent at Georgia Southern, which now claims the most successful Division I-AA program ever. Head coach Tim Stowers succeeded Russell and won the 1990 national title, while Paul Johnson added two more in 1999 and 2000 with teams led by all-time Division I rushing leader Adrian Peterson. [2]

Student Activities

The university has a botanical garden at Bland Cottage, the Performing Arts Center where national acts as well as Georgia Southern student shows are performed, a college radio station (WVGS 91.9 The Buzz), and a daily college newspaper, The George-Anne Daily. The Recreation and Activities Center (the RAC) has an area for weight lifting, several basketball courts, an indoor track, two dance studios, equipment for yoga and pilates, several racquetball courts, and an indoor climbing wall.

Various departments within the university offer students the opportunity to participate in as well as enjoy events such as concerts, plays, and musicals. Several national organizations such as the ACM are represented by student chapters.

Greek Life

There are a number of Greek fraternities and sororities on campus. The first chartered national fraternity at Georgia Southern was Phi Mu Alpha, which colonized on the campus in 1953. The Southern Greek Housing Corporation, a 501(c)3 corporation, owns and operates the Greek housing community, which maintains property adjacent to the University. The corporation is managed by a board of directors, consisting of fraternity and sorority alumni.

Sororities

• Alpha Delta Pi 1968
• Phi Mu 1968
• Kappa Delta 1968
• Zeta Tau Alpha 1968
• Tau Beta Sigma 1986
• Alpha Omicron Pi 1988
• Kappa Kappa Gamma 1990 (closed 2005) recolonized 2006

Fraternities

• Alpha Tau Omega 1968
• Delta Chi 2002
• Delta Sigma Phi 2004
• Delta Tau Delta
• Kappa Alpha Order 1968
• Kappa Sigma 1968
• Pi Kappa Alpha 1993
• Pi Kappa Phi 1968
• Sigma Alpha Epsilon 1989
• Sigma Chi 1970
• Sigma Pi 1968
• Sigma Phi Epsilon 1993
• Tau Kappa Epsilon 1967
• Phi Mu Alpha 1953

There are also Greek academic honor societies on campus, such as Alpha Upsilon Alpha.

Location

The town of Statesboro is located inland from the east coast off of Interstate 16 between the cities of Macon (which is in central Georgia) and Savannah (located on the coast of Georgia at the mouth of the Savannah River). Statesboro is less than one hour's drive from Savannah, about two hours from Macon, and about three and a half hours from Atlanta.

Points of interest

• Georgia Southern Botanical Garden
• Georgia Southern Raptor Center

External links

• Georgia Southern University web site
• Georgia Southern Student Media (print publications)
• WVGS Statesboro 91.9 FM, Georgia Southern Radio
• Georgia Southern University Eagles athletics
• Board of Regents of The University System of Georgia web site
• Georgia particpants in the National Biological Information Infrastructure

Online Communities

• Fat Panda - Photo-based website showcasing Statesboro nightlife around the GSU campus.
• TSCsports.com - Sports news and forums covering Georgia Southern athletic teams and events.
• gsuconnection.com - Message boards for current/prospective students to discuss campus issues, apartment/roommate openings, professor reviews, and other student-centered topics.
• GSU Sports Blog - A website dedicated to an in-depth view of sports from an Eagle point of view

Sources

• "TSC Blues Review Interview with Erk Russell" Southern-Connection.com August 2002