Everything about Humboldt State University totally explained
|mascot =Lucky the Logger
|nickname =
Lumberjacks
|affiliations =
California State University
|website =
humboldt.edu
}}
Humboldt State University (HSU) is the northernmost campus of the
California State University system, located in
Arcata within
Humboldt County,
California,
USA. The main campus, nestled at the edge of a
coast redwood forest, is situated above Arcata on solid granite with commanding views of the
Humboldt Bay region and the
Pacific Ocean. Its location eight miles (13 km) north of
Eureka and north of
San Francisco on the
North Coast of
California is notable for its natural beauty.
History
Humboldt State Normal School was established as a
teacher's college on
June 16,
1913, by then-
California Governor Hiram Johnson. The cities of
Arcata and
Eureka competed with one another to host the new campus. It opened on
April 6,
1914 in the former Arcata Grammar School building with 78 students and 5 faculty. The school was put under the jurisdiction of the
California Department of Education, renamed Humboldt State Teacher's College and Junior College, and moved to its current location in 1921. In 1924, the Associated Students and the Alumni Association were organized and
The Foghorn, the first student newspaper, was published.
Bachelor's degrees began being offered in 1927. The school was renamed Humboldt State College in 1935 and the next year the
Lumberjack was adopted as its mascot. In 1937, the students opened a cooperative bookstore and soda fountain, which would exist for the next 40 years as the center of student life.
During
World War II, Founder's Hall, which is visible from
Humboldt Bay, was painted
camouflage so
Japanese submarines wouldn't use it as a navigational aid. An air observation post was also set up atop the art shop to watch for Japanese air strikes. The observation post was primarily staffed by wives of faculty members. The post was removed in 1953.
Graduate programs began being offered in 1947. The same year, KHSC, the first state college radio station in California, was established (later to become
KHSU). In 1960, the college joined the newly-formed California State College system. The junior college program, terminated at HSU in 1962, was re-established in 1964 at
College of the Redwoods (CR) south of
Eureka. Located only seventeen miles south of HSU, both institutions maintain a close working relationship, with many students transferring to HSU following graduation from CR.
Student activism on campus rose through the 1960s and early 1970s, peaking in a protest against the
Vietnam War with about 800 students (out of 3,600) participating on
October 15,
1969. This was followed by another protest with nearly 3,000 students who planned a strike after the
Cambodian Incursion. With similar events across the state, Governor
Reagan shut down the CSC system in May 1970 for the rest of the year. The 1970s also saw the rise of
feminist, cultural, and
LGBT groups, and though the Women's Center would be the only one to survive through the 1980s, most groups would reappear by the mid 1990s.
In
1967, the
Humboldt Film Festival started and it's now the oldest surviving student-run festival in the world.
In 1972, the college was renamed California State University, Humboldt, and was further renamed Humboldt State University two years later. Enrollment first reached 7,500 in 1974, a level at which it has remained. Through the 1980s,
mature students became a large part of Humboldt State's student body, and in 1986 40% of the students were over the age of 25.. The number has since decreased to 30%.
Academics
The university is divided into three colleges: the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences; the College of Natural Resources and Sciences; and the College of Professional Studies. There are 49 undergraduate majors and 85 minors. The two most popular majors are
Biology and Art, both with over 20 faculty members and extensive facilities on- and off-campus. There are several credential programs and twelve
Master's programs, of which
Natural Resources and
Social Work are the largest.
Humboldt State is one of only two universities in California to offer a major in
Botany, the other being
Cal Poly Pomona. Humboldt State is the only university in California to offer a degree in
Rangeland Resources and Wildland Soils. The
Native American Studies major and the
Oceanography major are also unique to the California State University system. The university offers unique minors including Multicultural Queer Studies,
Scuba Diving, and
Appropriate Technology.
The university's location on the
North Coast provides access to the
Pacific Ocean, lagoons, marshes, estuaries, and the Fred Telonicher Marine Laboratory, which provides opportunities for "hands-on" experiences and research for the sciences.
In 1998 Humboldt State University opened the HSU First Street Gallery in Old Town Eureka, expanding community access to the university’s cultural and fine arts programs. In 2007, the university further expanded its presence in Eureka with the opening of the HSU Humboldt Bay Aquatic Center, a $4.5 million aquatic facility on the bay in
Old Town Eureka. Future plans include a new HSU Bay and Estuarine Studies Center. This new facility will be closer to the
Coral Sea (now docked at
Woodley Island, Eureka), which is the only vessel in a US educational institution solely dedicated to undergraduate research. The new facility would be considerably larger than the other existing facility, the Fred Telonicher Marine Laboratory in Trinidad, twenty miles (32 km) north..
Statistics
- Average High School GPA: 3.13
- SAT Middle 50%: 450-570 Reading, 440-570 Math
- Colleges With a Conscience. HSU is one of the colleges profiled in The Princeton Review's book, Colleges with a Conscience: 81 Great Schools with Outstanding Community Involvement. The school was selected because of its record of having excellent service-learning programs and its blending of academics with community work.
First Tier of Western Universities (Top 15). In a Saludos Hispanos survey, the university merited this multicultural listing due to the fact that approximately 8% of the student body is Hispanic (only schools with at least 7% Hispanic students qualified). Factors that led to placement as number 9 of the top 15 schools in the West included reasonable tuition, both in and out of state, and the fact that HSU students record the highest passing scores among the 23-campus CSU system on the CBEST (the California Basic Educational Skills Test). The CBEST measures reading, mathematics skills and expository writing and is required of new teachers, administrators, counselors, psychologists and librarians.
Top 10 Counterculture Colleges. The High Times magazine placed HSU in the number eight slot for 2008. The magazine ranks the nation’s institutions of higher education from the cannabis community’s point of view. This year the guide placed an emphasis on campus activism and academic excellence. Editors of the magazine wrote, "Humboldt is consistently cited as being in the "Top 10%" of all US colleges and universities for academic quality."
Student life
Humboldt State's student population has stayed consistently around 7,500 for several decades. This is equal to approximately half of the population of Arcata, though students are dispersed all over the region. Eighteen percent of students live in the residence halls, usually new freshmen and transfer students. The university's student body's average age is 26, one of the highest in the country.
Many of Humboldt State's unique programs, such as the Campus Center for Appropriate Technology, Youth Educational Services, and Student Access Gallery, are student-initiated, student-directed, and student-employed programs. The university has one of the most active and strongest Associated Students in the California State University system, offering more services and programs than any other. One of HSU's largest clubs is the Humboldt Circus, and it's one of the better-known clubs in the community due to their regular performances and appearances at local events.
Humboldt State is well known for its environmental awareness and activism. Compost and recycling bins are more common on campus than trash cans and many events are encouraged to be zero waste. The Associated Students fund the Campus Recycling Program, the Campus Center for Appropriate Technology, and the Sustainable Living Arts and Music Festival (SLAM fest).
The location of HSU affords students the potential for outside activities in local parks and public lands, which include miles of accessible, undeveloped coastline. Rivers and streams, forests, and extraordinary terrain are just outside the classroom door.
Student Media
The Lumberjack is the weekly student-run newspaper of Humboldt State University and is funded through the sales of advertisements supplemented by the Instructionally Related Activities fee. It covers news relevant to the students and faculty of Humboldt State and major news relevant to the residents of Humboldt County. This includes coverage of university issues, protests, rallies, athletics, the local music scene, and sometimes, quirky events from the local police log. Stories of statewide significance, especially those that concern CSU students, are sometimes reported on as well. To be on the Lumberjack, students must enroll in JMC 327: The Newspaper Lab.
The Osprey is the university's student-run magazine, published twice annually. It has won first-place awards in major regional competitions, including the Society of Professional Journalists' "Mark of Excellence" Awards and the California Intercollegiate Press Association awards.
KRFH.NET 610 AM is a student-run radio station founded in 1990 by Dr. Gary Melton. KRFH's purpose is to provide broadcast experience to students while also approximating the structure of a commercial radio station. Students enroll in JMC 155 or JMC 355 in order to become DJs, committing to weekly shows of one to two hours respectively.
Marching Lumberjacks
The HSU Marching Lumberjacks (sometimes referred to as the "Banned") is the official student-run marching band of the university. It performs in the scatter band style often associated with ivy league schools, using humorous routines and scripts during its half-time field shows in Redwood Bowl.
The band plays at numerous campus and community events, marches in parades across California and Oregon, aids in student recruiting, and performs at home football and basketball games. Its traditional uniform consists of a yellow logger's hardhat, suspenders, a yellow t-shirt, green work pants, and boots.
The group was depicted marching into the Pacific Ocean in a photograph in the July 1993 National Geographic magazine. Members of the band were cast to portray a high school band in the 2001 feature film The Majestic with Jim Carrey, filmed in Ferndale, California.
Intercollegiate Athletics
NCAA on the Division II level and is a member of the California Collegiate Athletic Association. Humboldt State currently sponsors 12 intercollegiate sports programs —
men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s cross country, volleyball, football, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s track and field, softball and women’s rowing.
Recently the men’s basketball achieved its first-ever West Region title and advancement to the semifinals of the NCAA Division II for the first time in the program’s 81-year history. HSU's softball team has qualified for the NCAA post-season 17 times in the past 18 years, capturing the national championship in 1999. The women’s rowing program advanced both its Varsity 4 and Varsity 8 boats to the NCAA Championships in 2004, with the Varsity 4 earning the individual boat national title and the Varsity 8 placing second at nationals. Also, the Lumberjacks have produced national champions and All-Americans in cross country and track and field. In 1980, the school’s first year in Division II, the HSU men’s cross country team claimed a national title. A year later, cross country runner Mark Conover earned the individual crown and later represented the USA as a marathoner in the 1988 Summer Olympic Games.
People
Alumni
Evan Brewer — early key contributor to Napster
Raymond Carver — American short story writer and poet
Wes Chesbro — former State Senator, former Chairman of Senate Budget Committee (didn't graduate)
John Diaz — editorial page editor of San Francisco Chronicle
Trevor Dunn — Bassist for Mr. Bungle, Fantomas (band), etc.
Jack Fimple — former Major League Baseball catcher
Ken Fisher — billionaire CEO of Fisher Investments, long-time Forbes columnist, and author of books on investing
Harrell Fletcher — socially engaged interdisciplinary American artist(External Link)
Wendell Hayes — former NFL running back
Stephen Hillenburg — creator of Nickelodeon's SpongeBob SquarePants
John Kiffmeyer — the original drummer for the punk rock band Green Day
Sue Laris — editor and publisher of Los Angeles Downtown News
Mike Patton — singer; most famous as a member of Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, Fantomas and Tomahawk.(didn't graduate)
Roy Tennant — noted author and columnist about libraries
Martin Wong — American painter and ceramist(External Link)
Katie Wilder — All-American basketball player
Timo Cruz — basketball player; appeared in the movie Coach Carter.
Faculty
Stephen Fox — author and educator
Robert A. Gearheart (emeritus) — environmental engineer
Steven C. Hackett — economist
Samuel Oliner (emeritus) — Holocaust survivor and sociologist
Eric Rofes (deceased) — gay activist, feminist, educator, and author
Stephen C. Sillett — botanist
Jacob Varkey — cellular biologist
Tom Wood — basketball coach
Footnotes
Further Information
Get more info on 'Humboldt State University'.
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