Western Connecticut State University
Western Connecticut State University is a public university in Danbury, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1903 as a teacher's college and is part of the Connecticut State University System.
WCSU consists of four schools: the Ancell School of Business, the Macricostas School of Arts and Sciences, the School of Professional Studies, and the School of Visual and Performing Arts. The university offers 38 bachelor's and one associate degree programs, 15 master's degree programs, and two doctoral programs. WCSU is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education.
WCSU is home to the Jane Goodall Center for Excellence in Environmental Studies, which is the result of a partnership between WCSU and the Jane Goodall Institute. The university's Westside campus houses the Ives Concert Park, one of the premier performance venues in the area.
Western Connecticut State University is part of the Little East Conference and Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference in NCAA Division III. WCSU has 14 varsity sports
Students from New York and New Jersey residents pay in-state tuition; students from New England pay reduced rates because of WCSU's participation in the New England Board of Higher Education's Regional Student Program.
History
Founding and growth
Western Connecticut State University was established in 1903, as the "Danbury State Normal School", per an act by the Connecticut General Assembly. The school was founded as a normal school, designed to train school teachers, the fourth such school in Connecticut. Its initial campus was located on a tract of land totaling along White Street, donated by Alexander M. White. Classes began the following year, with an initial enrollment of 41 students. The costs of tuition and textbooks were covered by the state, although boarding costs were not. The school's first graduation was held in 1906. Within several years, the school began holding "demonstration sessions" at "model schools" located on its campus. The number of enrollments climbed to 362 students by 1912.The school changed its name twice in the 1930s: it became the "Danbury Unit of the Teachers College of Connecticut" in 1933 and then the "Danbury State Teachers College" in 1937.
The college was renamed "Danbury State College" in 1959, alongside the establishment of a four-year liberal arts degree program.
The school was renamed to "Western Connecticut State College" in 1967. In 1974, groundbreaking began on construction work for the college's Westside Campus. In 1979, the state withdrew funding for construction of the campus, leading to student protests. The Westside Campus' classroom building opened in 1982.
The school was finally renamed to "Western Connecticut State University" in 1983. In 2011, governance of the university was transferred to the Connecticut State Colleges & Universities system.
WXCI
In 1952, an extracurricular radio program called The Radio Workshop was organized, going by the call sign WDTC.In 1968, WCSU's radio station, WXCI, then going by the call sign WCST and broadcasting with AM transmission, was established.
In 1973 WCST was switched from AM to FM transmission, obtained an FCC license for FM transmission, was renamed WXCI, and went on air under that call sign.
In the early 1980s, WXCI became one of the first FM stations to focus on alternative rock. Throughout the 80s the station was instrumental in promoting the work of a number of contemporary bands and musicians. While the station is perhaps best known for popularizing the English band Duran Duran in the United States, it also helped to familiarize the American audience with other projects and musicians from Great Britain, such as Elvis Costello and Culture Club. It popularized among residents of the Northeastern U.S. the West Coast punk group Black Flag and the Georgia-based R.E.M., while also providing greater listenership to New York City's Talking Heads. Thurston Moore, a founding member of Sonic Youth, attended WCSU for a quarter during the fall of 1976, though he left afterward.
Jane Goodall Institute and environmental projects
In 1995, the Jane Goodall Center for Excellence in Environmental Studies was founded on campus. The center is a non-profit 501 organization dedicated to environmental stewardship and conservation, and wildlife education and research, being the result of a partnership between Western and the Jane Goodall Institute. Since the center's founding, its namesake, primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall, has visited Western on at least a dozen occasions to give lectures on the issue of ecology.The center has also hosted a number of seminars and public talks by other environmentalist speakers at the university: Notably, Smithsonian ethnobotanist Mark Plotkin and veteran ecologist Thomas Lovejoy spoke at the university in 1998, and in 2013 ocean conservationist Fabien Cousteau presented a public seminar on campus.
In 2005, Western was established by JGI as a "National Center for University Roots and Shoots"; this event resulted in the institution of the eponymous student environmental club, a chapter of the international Roots & Shoots, on campus. Roots & Shoots is a subsidiary organization of JGI, and its WCSU chapter is one of only several based in the United States. The club's office, located in the Midtown campus's White Hall, remained the first of its kind between 2005 and 2012; afterwards, the organization's international headquarters was established at JGI's head office in Washington, D.C.
Roots & Shoots serves as, according to the university and the JGC, "a regional and national office of excellence in training university students, faculty and administrators to develop programs for K–12 and college students in local, regional and global conservation."
Significant visitors and lectures
The university was visited by former President Bill Clinton in 2005 and by the 14th Dalai Lama in 2012.Structure
Schools
- Ancell School of Business
- Macricostas School of Arts and Sciences
- School of Visual and Performing Arts
- School of Professional Studies
- Division of Graduate Studies
Campus
A major improvement program was started in the mid-1990s to beautify the campus. Several parking lots became green space, and improvements were made to the landscaping.
In April 2013, startup of a newly installed fuel cell power unit for the Science Building on the university's Midtown Campus began. The PureCell System, provided by ClearEdge Power, supports the university to reap significant energy cost savings and enhanced electricity and heating efficiencies.
The Midtown Campus Science Building was the first state-funded building project to seek LEED Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The Visual and Performing Arts Center as well as Centennial Hall also obtained LEED certification. In 2014, WCSU installed four EV charging stations, two on each campus. These charging stations are available to both students and the public, free of charge. The university is a participant in EV Connecticut Electric Vehicle Charging Solutions program.
The "WestConn at Waterbury" program is located on the campus of Naugatuck Valley Community College in Waterbury, Connecticut. The program offers completion courses for a Bachelor of Business Administration in management or a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, as well as a Master of Health Administration.
Buildings
Midtown Campus
- University Hall
- White Hall
- Warner Hall
- Ruth A. Haas Library
- Berkshire Hall
- Science Building
- Old Main
- Higgins Hall
- Fairfield Hall
- Newbury Hall
- Litchfield Hall
- Student Center
- Brayvion Hall
- Alumni Hall
- Kathwari Honors House
Westside Campus
- Classroom Building
- Campus Center
- Visual and Performing Arts Center
- O'Neill Center
- Football Stadium
- Rugby Field
- Football Practice Field
- Softball Field
- Baseball Stadium
- Tennis Facilities
- Pinney Hall
- Centennial Hall
- Grasso Hall
- Observatory
- Ives Concert Park
Student body
Most WCSU students come from the Tri-State Area comprising Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey. Nearly all commuter students come from western Connecticut and Putnam, Dutchess, and Westchester counties in New York.
According to the university, students claiming Connecticut residency come from 99 of the state's 169 municipalities.
Women comprise 51.2% of the entering class, and members of historically underrepresented racial and ethnic groups comprise 44.2% of the entering class.
The student-to-faculty ratio as of Fall 2020 is 12 to 1.
Student life
Western Connecticut State University currently has over 75 student clubs and organizations.In 2008, the Western Marketing Association was renamed to the Marketing Club.
The Roger Sherman Debate Society participates in policy debate tournaments sanctioned by the Cross Examination Debate Association. The team competes in the North East Conference as well as the national circuit. WCSU is the only university in Connecticut that offers a policy debate team.