About Me
The University of Michigan was established in 1817 by the Michigan Territory legislature on 1,920 acres in Detroit, land ceded through the Treaty of Fort Meigs by the Chippewa, Ottawa, and Potawatomi peoples. Ann Arbor had set aside 40 acres that it hoped would become the site for a new state capital, but it subsequently offered this land to the university when Lansing was chosen as the state capital. The university land in Detroit was sold, and the university moved to Ann Arbor in 1837. The original 40 acres in Ann Arbor became part of the current Central Campus.During the 1970s, severe budget constraints hindered the university's physical development and academic standing. The 1980s saw a surge in funds devoted to research in the social and physical sciences. Meanwhile, the university's involvement in the anti-missile Strategic Defense Initiative and investments in South Africa caused controversy on campus. During the 1980s and 1990s, the university devoted substantial resources to renovating its massive hospital complex and improving the academic facilities on the North Campus. The university also emphasized the development of computer and information technology throughout the campus.In 2003, two lawsuits involving UM's affirmative action admissions policy reached the U.S. Supreme Court (Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger). President George W. Bush took the unusual step of publicly opposing the policy before the court issued a ruling. The eventual ruling was mixed but the University of Michigan won the most important ruling at issue in those historical cases; that race may be considered as a factor in university admissions in all public universities and by private universities that accept federal dollars for such things as research or financial aid. In the first case, the court upheld the Law School admissions policy, while in the second it ruled against the university's undergraduate admissions policy. In the early 2000s, UM also faced declining state funding due to state budget shortfalls. At the same time, the university attempted to maintain its high academic standing while keeping tuition costs affordable. There were also disputes between UM's administration and labor unions, notably with the Lecturers' Employees Organization (LEO) and the Graduate Employees Organization (GEO), the union representing graduate student employees. These conflicts led to a series of one-day walkouts by the unions and their supporters.The university has about 24,800 undergraduate and 14,900 graduate students in 600 academic programs, and each year about 5,400 new students are enrolled. Students come from all 50 U.S. states and more than 100 countries. According to the 2007 edition of USNEWS, nearly 90% of incoming students graduated in the top 10% of their high school class. 28% of the university's incoming class of 2006 earned a high school GPA of 4.0, while 52% earned a GPA of 3.9 or higher. The middle 50% of applicants report an SAT score of about 1900-2160, and an ACT score of 27-32. AP credit was granted to over 3000 freshmen. About 22% of newly-enrolled undergraduates and 25% of all undergraduates are members of ethnic minority groups.There are just over 5,000 faculty members, 73 of whom are members of the National Academy. The university consistently leads the nation in the number of Fulbright Scholars and has several Rhodes Scholars. In one recent rankings summary, more than 70% of UM's 200 major programs, departments, and schools were ranked in the top 10 nationally, and more than 90% of programs and departments were ranked in the top 20 nationally. UM was rated among the top 10 colleges in the U.S. in the annual rankings by the Washington Monthly in 2005, and ranked 24th overall in 2007 by U.S. News & World Report. The Newsweek/Kaplan 2007 Educational College Guide proclaimed UM one of the 25 "New Ivies," an emerging elite group of 25 schools that provide an education equal to the best of the Ivy League. Newsweek International's Worldwide TOP 100 2007 rankings rated UM 11th among worldwide global universities . Similarily the 2007 Edition of the Fiske Rankings rated UM 5 Stars - reserved for only those universities of the highest academic quality. The university is also one of sixty elected members of the Association of American Universities. UM's academic reputation has led to its inclusion on Richard Moll's list of Public Ivies.The University of Michigan's sports teams are called the Wolverines. They participate in the NCAA's Division I-A and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except ice hockey, which competes in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. In seven of the past ten years, UM has finished in the top five of the NACDA Director's Cup, a ranking compiled by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics to tabulate the success of universities in competitive sports. UM has finished in the top eleven of the Directors' Cup standings in each of the award's twelve seasons and has placed in the top six in each of the last eight seasons. The University of Michigan remains the only school in NCAA history to win at least one national championship in all four of these sports: football, basketball, ice hockey, and baseball. UM athletics has also won national championships in tennis, men's track and field, field hockey, swimming and diving, and women's softball.The UM football team won the first Rose Bowl game in 1902, and through the 2005 season surpasses all other NCAA teams in both total wins (849) and winning percentage (.7442). The program is the only team to have been ranked in the final Top 20 (1985-88) or Top 25 (1989-2004) poll every year from 1985 to 2004. The last year in which UM did not receive a bowl game invitation was 1974, which was also the last season in which Big 10 teams other than the champion were not eligible for bowls; UM's last losing season was in 1967. Since 1989, the Wolverines have won outright or shared seven Big Ten titles and won a national championship. UM football has won eleven national championships overall, the most recent in 1997, and has produced three Heisman Trophy winners including Tom Harmon, Desmond Howard and Charles Woodson.Michigan Stadium (incorrectly nicknamed "The Big House" by TV network sportscasters who found the official name "Michigan Stadium" too dowdy—there is no historical precedent for the nickname) is the largest college football-only stadium in the world, with an official capacity of more than 107,501 (the extra seat is permanently reserved for Fritz Crisler) though attendance—frequently over 111,000 spectators—often exceeds the official capacity. The NCAA's record-breaking attendance has become commonplace at Michigan Stadium, especially since the arrival of head coach Bo Schembechler (1969-1989). UM has fierce rivalries with many teams, including Michigan State and Notre Dame; however, its football rivalry with Ohio State is widely considered to be the fiercest in all of college athletics and has been referred to by ESPN as the greatest rivalry in American sports. Moreover, UM has an all time winning record in football against Notre Dame (19-14-1), Ohio State (57-40-6), and Michigan State (33-19-2).The men's ice hockey team, which plays at Yost Ice Arena, has won an NCAA record nine national championships. The men's basketball team, which plays at Crisler Arena, won the national championship in 1989. However, the men's basketball program became involved in a scandal involving payments from a booster during the 1990s. This led to the program's being placed on probation for a four-year period, with a ban on postseason play from 2002 to 2003. The program also voluntarily vacated victories from past seasons.The men's baseball team won national championships in 1953 and 1962 and has sent 138 players to the major leagues.Through the 2004 Summer Olympic Games, 178 UM students and coaches had participated in the Olympics, winning medals in every Summer Olympics except 1896, and winning gold medals in all but four Olympiads. UM students have won a total of 116 Olympic medals including 54 gold, 27 silver, and 35 bronze.
