Temple University (Temple or TU) is a state-related-public doctoral university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by Baptist Minister Russell Conwell. In 1882, Conwell came to Pennsylvania to lead the Grace Baptist Church while he began tutoring working class citizens late at night to accommodate their work schedules. These students, later dubbed "night owls," were taught in the basement of Conwell's Baptist Temple, hence the origin of the university's name and mascot. By 1907, the institution revised its institutional status and was incorporated as a university.
As of 2016, more than 39,500 undergraduate, graduate, and professional students were enrolled in over 400 academic degree programs offered at seven campuses and sites in Pennsylvania, and international campuses in Rome, Tokyo, Singapore and London. Temple is among the nation's largest providers of professional education (law, medicine, podiatry, pharmacy, dentistry, and architecture), preparing the largest body of professional practitioners in Pennsylvania.
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History
Temple University was founded in 1884 by Russell Conwell, a Yale-educated Boston lawyer, orator, and ordained Baptist minister, who had served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Conwell came to Pennsylvania in 1882 to lead the Grace Baptist Church while he began tutoring working class citizens late at night to accommodate their work schedules. These students, later dubbed "night owls," were taught in the basement of Conwell's Baptist Temple, hence the origin of the university's name and mascot. The Grace Baptist Church quickly grew popular within the North Philadelphia area. A temporary board of trustees was created to handle the rapidly growing formalities associated with the church's programs. When the board conducted its first meeting they named Russell H. Conwell president of "The Temple College." Within the following months, Grace Baptist Church appointed a new board of trustees, printed official admissions files, and issued stock to raise funds for new teaching facilities. Regardless of whether they had the resources to support the school, Conwell's desire was "to give education to those who were unable to get it through the usual channels".
Philadelphia granted a charter in 1888 to establish "The Temple College of Philadelphia", but the city refused to grant authority to award academic degrees. By 1888, the enrollment of the college was nearly 600. It was in 1907 that Temple College revised its institutional status and incorporated as a university. Legal recognition as a university enhanced Temple in noticeable ways including its reputation, professional and graduate programs, overall enrollment, and financial support.
Over time, Temple expanded: Samaritan Hospital was founded, a Medical School was added, and Temple merged with the Philadelphia Dental College. After the merger, Temple officially reincorporated as Temple University on December 12, 1907.
On April 2, 1965, Lester B. Pearson, Prime Minister of Canada and recipient of the Nobel peace prize was awarded the Temple University World Peace Prize. During his acceptance speech Pearson criticised American bombing of Vietnam:
There are many factors which I am not in a position to weigh. But there does appear to be at least a possibility that a suspension of such air strikes against North Vietnam, at the right time, might provide the Hanoi [communist] authorities with an opportunity, if they wish to take it, to inject some flexibility into their policy without appearing to do so as the direct result of military pressure.
The speech infuriated President Lyndon B. Johnson who, the next day at Camp David, took Pearson out onto the terrace and began "laying into [Pearson] in no uncertain fashion". Pearson later apologized for the speech.
Today, Temple is a Pennsylvania state-related university, meaning the university receives state funds, subject to state appropriations, but is independently operated.
Campus
Temple University has seven campuses and sites across Pennsylvania, plus international campuses in Rome and Tokyo.
Pennsylvania campuses
Main campus
The main campus is in North Philadelphia, about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north of Center City. It occupies 105 acres (420,000 m2); an estimated 12,000 students live on or near it. Events for students and the public include concerts, performances, clubs, exhibits and lectures.
The campus has notable landmarks which have accrued over its history. The Alumni Circle is near the Founder's Garden on Liacouras Walk. The monument's structure is designed to reflect sound, particularly human voices. It was donated by the architecture class of 1989, is a common stop for tours of campus and a popular site visited by alumni.
The Founder's Garden is behind the Alumni Circle, off of Liacouras Walk. It is the burial place of Russell Conwell, founder and 38-year president of Temple. A former Yale student, Civil War captain, Boston lawyer, and Philadelphia minister, Conwell used the income from his famous "Acres of Diamonds" speech to fund Temple as a place where working-class Philadelphians might receive higher education. It has been estimated that Conwell, who died at 82, helped more than 100,000 men and women pursue higher education. A bust of Conwell marks his grave. Another green area on campus is the Johnny Ring Garden. It is located near the faculty staff dining 'Diamond Club', and celebrates Conwell and Johnny Ring.
The Bell Tower sits at 110 ft. tall in the center of the Main Campus between Paley Library and Beury Hall. The surrounding plaza and grassy area, the largest "green space" on the urban campus, are commonly called "the beach". The area is a meeting place and hangout location for students and their protests, promotions, speeches, political campaigning, and charity drives. It also hosts various official events such as Spring Fling.
Other campuses
Health Sciences Campus (HSC) is in North Philadelphia, spanning Broad Street from Allegheny to Venango streets. The campus is home to Temple University Hospital, a teaching hospital; Lewis Katz School of Medicine; School of Pharmacy; Maurice H. Kornberg School of Dentistry; and College of Public Health.
Podiatric Medicine Campus is at the corner of 8th and Race street. The Foot and Ankle Institute, TUSPM Shoe Museum and Temple University School of Podiatric Medicine can be found at this location.
Center City Campus is across the street from Philadelphia City Hall. TUCC offers undergraduate and graduate courses and degree programs, as well as certificate and training programs, with classes offered primarily during the evenings and on weekends.
Ambler Campus, originally a junior college, hosts 325 faculty and 4,600 students, offering bachelor's and master's degree programs on a 187-acre (757,000 m2) arboretum, 13 miles (21 km) from Temple's main campus. During the summer of 2009, the campus changed its name to the School of Environmental Design, due to its focus on Community and Regional Planning, Landscape Architecture, and Horticulture, and its specialization in environmental sustainability.
Fort Washington Campus opened in August 1997 in the Fort Washington Office Park as a graduate and professional education center and satellite location of Temple University Ambler. The campus offers graduate degrees in business, computer engineering, education, pharmacy and liberal arts. TUFW was designed to serve adult professional graduate students and the educational needs of businesses in the area.
Harrisburg Campus, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, offers a variety of graduate degree programs, certificate programs, and professional development opportunities. The school has specialties in social work, public health, education, community and regional planning, and play therapy. The campus offers an evening and weekend course schedule designed in particular for working adults.
International campuses
Temple University Japan
Temple University Japan is a branch campus in Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan. Temple University Japan is the oldest and largest campus of any foreign university in Japan, with about 1,000 students in degree programs. Forty percent of the undergraduate students are Japanese, 40% are from United States and 20% are from more than 50 other countries (as of Fall 2012). Non-degree enrollment is about 830 including Academic English and Continuing Education programs.
The campus offers ten undergraduate majors as well as M.S.Ed., Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics, EMBA and LL.M programs. It also offers semester and year-long study abroad programs for U.S. undergraduates and law students (the latter is the first American Bar Association-accredited study abroad program in Asia). In addition, Temple University Japan has non-degree English-language, continuing adult education, and corporate education programs.
After extended negotiations involving the U.S. and Japanese governments, Temple University Japan became the first recognized foreign university campus in Japan. As a result, its credits and degrees are recognized as being equivalent to those of Japanese universities and can sponsor visas for international students. Students are also given Japanese student identification cards and can obtain student discounts on train passes, mobile phone contracts, and other items.
Temple University Rome
The Temple Rome campus is in Rome, in the Temple's Villa Caproni, just north of Piazza del Popolo. The Villa Caproni offers living accommodations, shops and restaurants, and facilities for students. Its facilities include a 15,000-volume library - one of the largest English-language libraries in Rome, a computer center, academic classrooms, extensive art and architecture studios, an art gallery and student lounges. While studying in Rome, most students can also reside in the Residencia Candia, which is in the vicinity of the Vatican.
Residence Halls in Philadelphia
Students can live in several on-campus housing units: Morgan Hall, Johnson and Hardwick Residence Halls, Peabody Residence Hall, James S. White Residence Hall, 1940 Residence Hall, 1300 Residence Hall, and Temple Towers Residence Hall.
The Johnson and Hardwick Residence Halls are 11-floor high rise facilities that are used as the traditional residence halls on the Main Campus. The buildings house around 1,000 Temple students every year. The Louis J. Esposito Dining Center is on the ground level of the Johnson and Hardwick Halls near the north end of Main Campus. The cafeteria is commonly referred to as J&H after the residence halls. The Esposito Dining Center is just one of three major cafeterias on campus. Since 2006, the rooms and bathrooms in Johnson and Hardwick Residential Halls have been renovated. The final Johnson and Hardwick restorations were completed in 2010 with the final renovation of a lobby with new entry points, security stations, office space, and lounge space.
The Peabody Residence Hall is another traditionally styled dormitory on the Main Campus. In 2006, the building celebrated its 50th anniversary. Peabody Hall was originally designed as a women's residence hall with a campus cafeteria in the basement. The residence hall building structure has since undergone many renovations to better serve modern students including a study/conference room lounge, game room, computer lab, kitchen, new windows, and air conditioning. The Gertrude Peabody Residence Hall is also known to have been built on land that once occupied one of Russell Conwell's, Temple University's founder, original homes. In spring of 2017, Peabody Hall was announced to be unavailable as a housing option for students since its opening in 1957 in order to be evaluated to determine its future.
White Hall is a four-story complex that opened in the fall of 1993 and houses 558 newly admitted first-year students in two-person and four-person suites with private baths. It also includes two open-air courtyards, areas for TV viewing, exercising, and studying. White Hall is also home to four Living Learning Communities: Russell Conwell Center, Healthy Lifestyles, Deciding Student Wing, and Fox School of Business.
470 first- and second-year students live in 1940 Residence Hall, opened in the fall of 1999. Residents live in two-person and four-person suites with private baths. Residents of "1940" enjoy game-rooms, a TV lounge, a multipurpose room for programming, and many study and social areas. In addition, 1940 hosts two living learning communities (LLCs) Residential Organization for Community Service (ROCS) and Sustainability.
Opened in the fall of 2001, "1300" North and South accommodates up to 1044 newly admitted, returning, and transfer Main Campus students in suites on the first three floors and in apartments on the top two floors of the complex."1300" is also home to the Honors Living Learning Community and the Leadership Living Learning Community. Residents of "1300" enjoy a late night snack facility, TV lounge, a game room, and study and social areas. 1300 also contains several classrooms for Honors students.
A mixed-use residential, retail, and dining facility, the Mitchell and Hilarie Morgan Residence Hall and Dining Complex, opened in July 2013. On the corner of Broad Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue, steps from the Broad Street Subway Line, the site contains three buildings surrounding a large terrace, and is designed to house nearly 1,300 students. The tallest of the buildings is the 27-floor Morgan Hall North, which is situated on the North end of the site. It contains 24 floors of residential space for returning students (Sophomore, Junior, and Senior), a top floor event space, and retail space on the ground level (not yet occupied). Connected to Morgan Hall North is the Dining Hall building, which runs along Broad Street and provides students with 10 new dining options. Morgan Hall South is ten floors tall and houses first-year students, or freshmen. Both Morgan North and South are notable in that unlike other suite-style residence halls at Temple University, the rooms also include small kitchenettes with a cooktop, full fridge, and microwave. The suites include two bedrooms that share a common living area and private bathrooms. Both residence halls feature floor-to-ceiling windows covering the entire side of the building to provide views of the campus, Center City, and allow for extensive natural light to enter into all interior spaces of the building. The cost of the project was $216-million.
This six-story complex houses approximately 658 second year and transfer students and consists of two towers, East and West. This residence hall features two, three, four, six, and eight person bedroom apartments, all with private bathrooms and fully equipped kitchens. Bedroom furniture, desks and chairs, and living room furniture are provided. Residents at Temple Towers have the option of choosing to be on the meal plan. Temple Towers is also home to the Global Living Learning Communities Program.
The Triangle Apartment Complex was on the 1900 block of North Broad Street and the 1400 block of West Norris Street on the Main Campus. This unique facility composed of converted brownstones, with some units featuring loft bedrooms and spiral staircases. Each building housed approximately five units. No pets were permitted in this complex.
Podiatry Housing is a seven-story apartment building at 8th and Cherry Street in Center City Philadelphia. This complex is walking distance from a number of the city's finest shops and historical attractions.
Campus police
The Temple University Police department is the largest university police force in the United States, with 130 campus police officers, including supervisors and detectives. All are Pennsylvania-certified law enforcement officers; each receives state-mandated police recruit training at an accredited state police academy.
The police keep watch on campus with the help of more than 600 security cameras and more than a thousand 1000-watt metal halide lamps mounted on campus roofs to mimic daylight.
Temple has two mass notification systems for emergencies, TUalert and TUsiren.
Sustainability
The Office of Sustainability was established on July 1, 2008, as a central resource focusing on four key areas: operations, academics, research, and outreach and engagement.
The Ambler campus' "Ambler College", which is home to the Community and Regional Planning, Landscape Architecture, and Horticulture Departments, changed its name in 2009 to the School of Environmental Design. The campus is also home to the Center for Sustainable Communities, a Sustainability based research center.
Since 2008, the university has enacted policies that include purchasing from green vendors and conserving water and energy across campus; offered 46 undergraduate courses, 22 graduate courses and 12 General Education courses focusing on the environment and sustainability; set in place programs to administer grants and offer incentives for any research related to the environment or sustainability; and offered programs to help create a green culture, both at Temple and beyond.
Temple 20/20
In 2009, Temple announced Temple 20/20, a framework to guide development at its main campus. Among its goals, it will make Broad Street the center point of the university and include a new library for students and the community; a large new green space; a new science building and a high rise residence hall. Highlights and progress have been reported by Philadelphia media. The plan looks to expand Temple's structure of modernization exponentially, as well as improve the North Philadelphia community.
In accordance with the 20/20 plan, Temple wants to improve its most valuable piece of property, Broad Street. Improvements to Broad Street will include a new library, a signature building and more shopping and dining areas. Parking features will be expanded vertically with multi-level parking garages, instead of taking up valuable property space. Another renovation, completed in 2010, was the transformation of the Baptist Temple into a 36,000-square-foot (3,300 m2) performance and event center.
Under the plan, the 105-acre (0.42 km2) campus will remain the same size, with buildings growing vertically or going in place of current buildings. To make the campus more open to the surrounding community, iron fencing will be removed from the boundaries. The plan was designed to open up the campus; bringing students out onto Broad Street and contributing to the development of North Philadelphia and the city itself.
20/20 Projects
The Architecture building opened January 2012. The design incorporates an innovative glass curtain wall exterior "skin" that allows daylight to flood interior studios and classrooms while also providing dynamic views of the surrounding urban environment. The open plan of the structure enables collaboration within the design studios, supporting the experiential learning environment that is unique to design programs.
Mitchell and Hilarie Morgan Hall, a 27-story tower and ten-story mid-rise, opened September 2013. Mixed-use residence life facility contains student residences with 1,275 beds, laundry facilities, shared lobby areas, all-glass, two-story lounges with views of Center City; dining facilities; meeting rooms and event spaces; a major open landscape area; restaurant; coffee shop.
Pearson-McGonigle addition and renovations were completed during the summer of 2012. A major addition to and renovation of two existing athletic facilities to create one expanded facility. There are new and renovated training and support spaces for recreation services and NCAA Olympic Sports; Division One practice and training facilities for men's and women's basketball; five full basketball courts for students; rock climbing; juice bar; and new academic and advising space.
Science and Education Research Center was complete in spring of 2014. This new seven-story facility will support specialized research and instruction in technology-enhanced lecture halls, flexible classrooms, and research labs that are designed to enable collaboration and hands-on exploration in science and technology. New types of highly flexible wet and dry lab space for physics, materials science, chem-bio, computational science, and computer information sciences will enable new kinds of research to be conducted, and will provide research opportunities for undergraduates. The distinctive building exterior will be made of limestone panels and an energy-efficient glass curtain wall which uses daylight harvesting and exterior horizontal sunshades to reduce energy costs. The project will attain LEED Silver certification, and possibly LEED Gold certification due to the innovative design of the facility and the site.
Academics
Temple University is designated as an "R1" Research University (Very High Research Activity) by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and offers more than 400 degree programs at 17 schools and colleges and five professional schools, including programs in art, business, communications, education, engineering, liberal arts, music, science, and the health professions.
Schools and Colleges
Boyer College of Music and Dance
The Boyer College of Music and Dance is part of the Center for the Arts at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in close proximity to the city's historic cultural institutions, including the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Opera Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Ballet, Philadanco and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The Center for the Arts and the Boyer College belong to a thriving arts community that also consists of the Tyler School of Art and the Division of Theater, Film and Media Arts, providing myriad opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration among students, faculty and cultural partners. Dr. Robert T. Stroker is Dean and Vice Provost for the Arts at Temple University.
College of Engineering
The College of Engineering at Temple University includes four departments: Civil & Environmental Engineering, Electrical & Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Bioengineering. The college offers seven undergraduate programs (B.S.) and seven graduate programs (M.S., Ph.D.).
College of Liberal Arts
Temple University's Department of Criminal Justice, in the College of Liberal Arts, hosts one of the top graduate programs in criminal justice and criminology. U.S. News & World Report ranked the graduate department 11th in the U.S. in 2015. The department is also nationally and internationally known for its research, and has received more than $5 million in external funding for research. The Chronicle of Higher Education ranked it number 6 in the 2007 Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index.
College of Science and Technology
Temple University's College of Science and Technology houses the departments of Biology, Chemistry, Computer & Information Sciences, Earth & Environmental Science, Mathematics, and Physics. It is one of the largest schools or colleges of its kind in the Philadelphia region with more than 200 faculty and 4,000 undergraduate and graduate students. Michael L. Klein is the dean of the college and Laura H. Carnell Professor. Founded in 1998 from the science departments in what was then the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Science and Technology offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in all six departments as well as science with teaching bachelor's degrees through the TUteach program. CST's advanced Science Education and Research Center, which opened in 2014, is 247,000 square feet research center, home to 7 research center and institutes. The Center has 52 research labs and 16 teaching rooms, and cost $137 million.
Fox School of Business
Temple's Fox School of Business, founded in 1918, is one of the largest business schools in the country. The Fox School offers 13 undergraduate majors, 10 professional masters programs, two PhD programs, and the school has a variety of international partnerships.
Klein College of Media and Communication
Klein College of Media and Communication (formerly, the School of Media and Communication) is one of the largest and most comprehensive schools of media and communication in the country. The school has about 3,000 undergraduate and graduate students, nearly 20,000+ alumni, and more than 60 full-time faculty members.
The School of Media and Communication was renamed the Klein College of Media and Communication on March 29, 2017, in tribute to broadcasting pioneer Lew Klein. The naming honors Klein's career in television and his more than six decades of teaching service to Temple University, and recognizes a historic, multimillion-dollar gift to the school from Lew and Janet Klein.
KC offers undergraduate degrees in Advertising, Communication Studies, Journalism, Media Studies and Production, and Strategic Communication, along with master's degrees: Master of Journalism, Master of Arts in Media Studies and Production, and Master of Science in Communication Management.
Lewis Katz School of Medicine
The Lewis Katz School of Medicine (LKSOM), on the Health Science Campus of Temple University in Philadelphia, PA, is one of 7 schools of medicine in Pennsylvania conferring the doctor of medicine (M.D.) degree. It also confers the Ph.D. (doctor of philosophy) and M.S. (masters of science) degrees in biomedical sciences. It is reported to be one of the top 10 most applied to medical schools in the United States. In July 2014, Lewis Katz School of Medicine scientists were the first to remove HIV from human cells.
School of Pharmacy
The Temple University School of Pharmacy (TUSP), on the Health Science Campus of Temple University in Philadelphia, PA, is one of 6 schools of pharmacy in Pennsylvania conferring the doctor of pharmacy (Pharm.D.) degree. It also confers the Ph.D. (doctor of philosophy) and M.S. (masters of science) degrees in pharmaceutical sciences.
Tyler School of Art
The Tyler School of Art was originally in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania. The campus was donated by Stella Elkins Tyler in the 1930s to dedicate as an art school. That campus was closed and the school moved to the main campus in spring 2009. It is one of the leading art institutions that hosts comprehensive arts and design programs including but not limited to painting and drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, glass, photography, fiber and materials, jewelry and metals, architecture, computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing, and graphic design programs. Tyler's graduate programs are highly selective, maintaining their reputation for providing one of the finest programs in the nation.
International Study
- Temple University in Oviedo, Spain, which is based at the University of Oviedo offers a spring semester program and an existing summer program.
- Temple University London in London, UK is offered through the School of Media and Communication.
- Temple University in Singapore is offered through the Fox School of Business and the School of Sport, Tourism, and Hospitality Management.
- Temple operates other summer programs in London, Dublin, Leipzig, and Saint-Louis, Senegal.
Technology
In January 2006, the university opened the TECH Center, a 75,000 sq ft (7,000 m2) state-of-the-art technology facility with resources that cater to current learning styles. Designed with a variety of work spaces to enable students to work collaboratively or individually, the Tech Center is the largest of its kind in the nation. Temple also has computer- and distance-learning-equipped classrooms on various campuses. Some 85% of Temple's campus has wireless access. In 2004, the Princeton Review named Temple the fourth-most "connected campus" in the United States. Many professors at Temple use Blackboard, an online learning and scheduling system that electronically posts important class information such as homework, class cancellations, and announcements. Faculty and students can receive help with technology at Temple's Instructional Support Center. In 2003, Fox School of Business launched TUCAPTURE, an automated recording and webcasting system for classroom meetings. In 2006, PC Magazine named Temple as the 15th Most Wired College in America. In 2008, TUCAPTURE featured 40 classroom and mobile devices internationally and offers more than 900,000 minutes of classroom audio, visuals, video, and handwriting, delivered automatically via email, podcast, webcast, RSS, and Blackboard.
Rankings
In U.S. News & World Report's 2017 rankings, Temple is tied for 56th among U.S. public universities, tied for 118th among all national universities and ranked tied for 403rd globally. Temple undergraduate college is among the top colleges profiled in The Princeton Review's The Best 379 colleges (2015). Temple's Arts and Humanities faculty, Social Science and Management faculty, Life Science and Medicine faculty are ranked 182nd, 339th, 350th respectively in the world in 2014 by QS World University Rankings. Temple's Social Science faculty is also ranked 76-100 in the world in 2015 by ARWU. Temple is ranked 94th out of 643 US institutions in National Science Foundation's 2013 Higher education Research and Development Survey.
In 2015, Temple received $227.5 million in research funding, ranking it 93rd out of 905 institutions in the NSF's Higher Education Research and Development Survey.
Student life
As of 2013, about 14,000 students live on or around Temple's main campus. University officials have tried various things, including building facilities, to encourage students, faculty, and staff to live and work nearby.
Recreational facilities on and around main campus include the Student Center Annex, which has a movie theater, underground multi-purpose room, game room, computer lounge, and meeting and office space for student groups and organizations. Exercise facilities include the Independence Blue Cross Student Recreation Center (commonly referred to as IBC), which provides 59,000 square feet (5,500 m2) of fitness facilities; the Student Pavilion, a 4-court field house for volleyball, basketball, badminton, floor hockey, indoor soccer, tennis, golf, and more; and Pearson/McGonigle, TU Fitness, and the Geasey Field Complex. The Recreation Center is part of the Liacouras Center, which also includes the home court of the Temple basketball team and various entertainment venues.
Traditions
Cherry and White are the official school colors of Temple University. Temple was the first school in the nation to officially use cherry as one of its colors, and the only other current school uses the cherry and white combination: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. The only other large university that uses cherry is the University of New Mexico. Cherry is a common motif at Temple, from the Cherry Crusade fan club to the Cherry and White Directory. In 2008, Temple standardized the cherry color to be Pantone Matching System (PMS) 201.
The university's symbol, the Temple "T", was designed by Kristine Herrick at Temple's Tyler School of Art. It won a contest launched by President Peter J. Liacouras to celebrate the school's 100th anniversary, and was officially adopted in 1983. The Temple T is referenced in the fight song, T For Temple U.
T For Temple U is a cheer performed at many athletic events. The song was written in the 1980s by a member of the Temple University Diamond Marching Band. T For Temple U is accompanied by arm motions that create the shapes of the letters T and U. It is played at sporting events, pep rallies, and school celebrations. Temple's official fight song is "Fight, Temple, Fight!"
Temple adopted the owl as its mascot in 1888, the first school in the nation to choose the bird. The nocturnal hunter symbolized Temple's early mission: to be a night school for ambitious young people of limited means. Russell Conwell encouraged these students, saying, "The owl of the night makes the eagle of the day." In 1977, Temple introduced "Victor T. Owl," a costumed mascot. Victor T. was renamed Hooter in 1984, and has remained Temple's mascot at sports games and events since. Stella, Temple's live owl mascot, was born in 2010 in Washington. She arrived in Pennsylvania in 2011 and lives in the Elmwood Park Zoo in Norristown, Pennsylvania. Stella is one of two live owl mascots in Division 1 athletics, the other being Florida Atlantic University's Hera.
Fraternities and sororities
Temple has hosted fraternities and sororities for more than 100 years. As of 2013, 35 organizations are part of the Temple University Greek Association, while the Greek population has more than doubled in recent years to more than 1,200 undergraduates.
Student Organizations
Temple University has more than 350 student organizations for a variety of interests academic, professional, political and advocacy, service, religious, cultural and international, arts, entertainment, recreation and leisure, and media and publishing.
The Temple University Graduate Students' Association (TUGSA), which is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers and the AFL-CIO, is the only recognized graduate student employee union in Pennsylvania. Formed in 1997, TUGSA works to change employment, personal, and university living conditions for graduate students.
The Main Campus Program Board plans and executes events such as concerts, lectures, and student trips and helps organize University traditions such as Welcome Week and Homecoming events.
The Temple News is the editorially independent weekly newspaper of Temple University. It prints 8,000 copies to be distributed primarily on Temple's Main Campus every Tuesday. A staff of 25 plus more than 150 writers design, report and edit the 20-page paper. In November 2008, the paper's Web site, temple-news.com, received the National Online Pacemaker Award from the Associated Collegiate Press. The paper has also won the print counterpart, the National Pacemaker Award. In 2009, the paper's staff won eight Keystone Press Awards. Templar, Temple University's annual undergraduate yearbook, completed its 86th volume in 2010. From 2006 to 2008 academic years, the yearbook received a national first-place award from the American Scholastic Press Association. The 2009 Templar received a second-place ASPA award. WHIP is Temple University's student radio station. It started broadcasting using Carrier Current in the Student Center before moving its studios to the TECH center. Today WHIP broadcasts 24/7 through iHeartRadio, Clear Channel's streaming radio service.
Athletics
Temple University's sports teams are the Owls: a name born from Temple's early days when it was a night school. The sports teams all participate in the NCAA's Division I and the American Athletic Conference (The American). The Owls moved after spending the previous 31 years in the Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10). The field hockey and lacrosse teams are affiliate members of the Big East Conference. The Owls are also part of the Philadelphia Big 5, the Philadelphia-area basketball rivalry. Temple University was among the first institutions in the United States to sponsor extracurricular athletic activities for its students when both the football and basketball programs were inaugurated in 1894 under the direction of Coach Charles M. Williams. In 2013, Temple eliminated seven of its 24 sports programs, citing financial concerns.
Football
Temple's football program dates back to 1894 and currently plays Division I FBS football in the American Athletic Conference.
On December 17, 2012, Matt Rhule [pronounced rule] was named Temple's 26th head football coach. He had most recently served as the assistant offensive line coach with the New York Giants. Rhule was an assistant coach for the Owls for six seasons, ending in 2010-11 when the program went 9-4 and played in the fourth bowl game in school history, the Gildan New Mexico Bowl, where the Owls defeated Wyoming, 37-15 - Temple's first postseason victory since the 1979 Garden State Bowl. In 2015, they posted a school-record-tying 10 wins and 4 losses.
Temple won the 2016 American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game to secure its first conference championship since 1967. Following the victory, Rhule would leave the program to become the head coach at Baylor and was replaced at Temple by Florida defensive coordinator Geoff Collins
Men's basketball
The Temple Men's basketball program is ranked 6th in all-time NCAA wins with 1,849 starting the 2015-16 season. Only Kentucky, Kansas, North Carolina, Duke, and Syracuse have a higher total.
Temple is recognized as having won the first-ever National Collegiate basketball championship in 1938, under Coach James Usilton. That Owls team, which finished with a 23-2 record, won the inaugural National Invitation Tournament by routing Colorado 60-36 in the championship final. Because the NCAA Tournament was not held until the following year, Temple's NIT championship earned the Owls the first national college basketball title. During the 1950s, the Temple basketball team made two NCAA Final Four appearances (1956, 1958) under legendary Head Coach Harry Litwack. Litwack would be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame after concluding a 21-year coaching career that included 373 wins.
Head Coach John Chaney, who is also a Hall of Fame coach, won a total of 724 career games and took Temple to the NCAA tournament 17 times. His 1987-88 Owls team entered the NCAA tournament ranked #1 in the country, and he has reached the Elite Eight on five different occasions. He was consensus national coach of the year in 1988.
On April 10, 2006, University of Pennsylvania head coach and La Salle University alumnus Fran Dunphy was named the new Temple's Men's Head Basketball coach after Chaney's retirement in conclusion of the 2006 season. Dunphy had coached the Quakers for 17 straight seasons prior to the move. Dunphy and the Owls won three straight Atlantic-10 tournaments in 2008, 2009 and 2010, with the third marking a conference-leading ninth A-10 title. In the 2011-12 season, the Owls won the A-10 regular season title.
Heading into the 2015-16 season, the program owns a 116-year win-loss record of 1,849-1,024. The Owls' history also includes 48 postseason tournament appearances (31 NCAAs, 18 NITs), two Final Four appearances (1956 and 1958) under Harry "The Chief" Litwack, five regional finals in the last 22 years under John Chaney (1988, 1991, 1993, 1999 and 2001), NIT championships in 1938 and 1969, and two Naismith Basketball Association Hall of Fame Coaches in Litwack and Chaney. Temple is one of eight schools that have competed in the last six NCAA Tournaments, as of 2013.
Cherry Crusade
The Cherry Crusade is Temple University's student supporters section for Temple Athletics. The Cherry Crusade is notorious for their pride and passion at Temple sporting events. The Cherry Crusade helped break Temple's attendance record for football on September 5, 2015 when the Owls hosted Penn State University to open the 2015 football campaign.
Alumni and faculty
As of 2012, there were 260,000 living Temple alumni in all 50 states and 145 countries.
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