University of North Texas
Encyclopedia
The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public institution of higher education and research in Denton
Denton, Texas
The city of Denton is the county seat of Denton County, Texas in the United States. Its population was 119,454 according to the 2010 U.S. Census, making it the eleventh largest city in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex...

. Founded in 1890, UNT is part of the University of North Texas System
University of North Texas System
The University of North Texas System consists of four educational institutions in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex area...

. As of the fall of 2010, the University of North Texas, Denton campus, had a certified enrollment of 36,067. Of the 77 senior colleges and universities in the state (38 public and 39 independent), the enrollment at University of North Texas Denton campus is fourth largest, behind The University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...

, and the University of Houston
University of Houston
The University of Houston is a state research university, and is the flagship institution of the University of Houston System. Founded in 1927, it is Texas's third-largest university with nearly 40,000 students. Its campus spans 667 acres in southeast Houston, and was known as University of...

.

Organizational structure

The university is composed of nine colleges, three schools, and one academy:

Academic highlights

Since the 1980s, North Texas has expanded its research in science and engineering. In 2006, the National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...

 ranked UNT Denton campus 122nd among 417 academic institutions for number of science and engineering doctorates awarded.

Research in the social sciences, humanities, professional fields, and other disciplines

Based on the number of non-science and engineering PhDs awarded at 2,722 national institutions of higher learning in the country, North Texas was ranked:
  • Top 50 for awarding 3,382 non-science and engineering PhDs from 1920 to 1999
  • Top 50 for awarding 551 non-science and engineering PhDs from 1995 to 1999
  • Top 50 for awarding 1,695 non-science and engineering PhDs to people who also earned their baccalaureate from the same Institution.


Of the 37 post-baccalaureate institutions in Texas surveyed by the National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...

, UNT ranked third in 2006, behind The University of Texas at Austin
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...

 and Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...

, for non science and engineering doctorates awarded.

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching classifies the University of North Texas as a "Research University" with "high research activity."

Visual Arts & Design

UNT's College of Visual Arts and Design — one of the eleven colleges and schools on the Denton campus — has the 10th largest enrollment of any art and design school accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design
National Association of Schools of Art and Design
The National Association of Schools of Art and Design , founded in 1944, is an accrediting organization of colleges, schools and universities in the United States. The organization establishes standards for graduate and undergraduate degrees. Member institutions complete periodic peer review...

, and has the second largest of any that awards doctorates.

College of Music

The University of North Texas College of Music
University of North Texas College of Music
The University of North Texas College of Music, based in Denton, is a comprehensive music school with the largest enrollment of any music institution accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music, and the oldest in the world offering a degree in jazz studies...

, organized by discipline in eight academic divisions, is a comprehensive music school with the largest enrollment of any music institution accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music
National Association of Schools of Music
The National Association of Schools of Music is an association of post-secondary music schools in the United States and the principal U.S. accreditor for higher education in music...

, and the first in the world offering a degree in jazz studies. The College of Music has been among the largest music institutions of higher learning in North America since the 1940s. North Texas has been a member of the National Association of Schools of Music
National Association of Schools of Music
The National Association of Schools of Music is an association of post-secondary music schools in the United States and the principal U.S. accreditor for higher education in music...

 for years. For at least four decades, approximately one-third of all North Texas music students have been enrolled at the graduate level.

Affiliations

A member of the Federation of North Texas Area Universities
Federation of North Texas Area Universities
The Federation of North Texas Area Universities is an educational consortium of institutions of higher education located around the north part of the State of Texas.-External links:*...

, North Texas offers various graduate degrees in coordination with nearby Texas Woman's University
Texas Woman's University
Texas Woman's University is a co-educational university in Denton, Texas, United States with two health science center branches in Dallas, Texas and Houston, Texas...

 and Texas A&M University-Commerce. The university is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools is one of the six regional accreditation organizations recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation...

.

Intercollegiate athletics

UNT's athletics programs, nicknamed the Mean Green
North Texas Mean Green
North Texas Mean Green is the team name used for both men's and women's intercollegiate athletic teams that play for the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas....

, compete in thirteen NCAA Division I-A sports and have been members of the Sun Belt Conference
Sun Belt Conference
The Sun Belt Conference is a college athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Its football teams participate in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision , the higher of two levels of Division I football competition . The Sun Belt has member institutions...

 since 2001.

History

The university was founded in 1890 by Joshua Crittenden Chilton as the Texas Normal College and Teachers' Training Institute and was originally housed in leased facilities above a hardware store. In 1893, overworked and facing poor health, Chilton turned the school over to John Jackson Crumley. Renamed North Texas Normal College, the school was once again turned over to Menter B. Terrill in 1894. By 1899 the school had been made a state institution by the Texas Legislature, becoming North Texas State Normal College under its fourth president, J.S. Kendall. In 1923, after president William H. Bruce's suggestion, the school underwent its fourth name change, becoming North Texas State Teachers' College. Under president Dr. W. Joseph McConnell, the college grew tremendously; the first master's degrees were awarded in 1936 and the school was given its own Board of Regents in 1949, changing its name once again to North Texas State College. President Dr. J.C. Matthews' tenure also saw important development. In 1961 the college became North Texas State University, and by 1964 was approved by the Texas Commission on Higher Education to begin several doctoral programs. In 1988, the university changed names one final time, becoming the University of North Texas.

Academics

The University contains 12 colleges and schools and offers 97 bachelors, 101 masters and 48 doctoral degree programs. The student-faculty ratio at UNT is 23:1, and 28.8 percent of its classes consist of fewer than 20 students. The most popular majors include Business, Management, Marketing, Communication, Journalism, English, Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, and Visual and Performing Arts. The University ranks in the U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report is an American news magazine published from Washington, D.C. Along with Time and Newsweek it was for many years a leading news weekly, focusing more than its counterparts on political, economic, health and education stories...

's top 100 programs in Clinical Psychology (99), Fine Arts (58), Library and Information Studies (17), Health Librarianship (3), School Library Media (11), Service for Children and Youth (13), Physician Assistants (38), Public Affairs (57), City Management and Urban Policy (9), and Rehabilitation Counseling (13).

UNT is well known for its College of Music
University of North Texas College of Music
The University of North Texas College of Music, based in Denton, is a comprehensive music school with the largest enrollment of any music institution accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music, and the oldest in the world offering a degree in jazz studies...

. The college was founded in 1890 as the Normal Conservatory of Music and is now recognized as one of the top five music schools in the country. Several of the university's colleges were founded in the last ten years, including the College of Information, the College of Engineering, and the Mayborn School of Journalism. UNT is also home to the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science
Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science
The Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science is a two-year residential early college entrance program serving approximately 380 Texans at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas...

, a two-year residential early college entrance program, and the Turkish Institute for Police Studies
Turkish Institute for Police Studies
The Turkish Institute for Police Studies has been functionally housed at the University of North Texas for over five years. The aim of TIPS is to combine the practical experience of the Turkish National Police in policing areas with the academic and theoretical foundation...

.

Other University rankings and ratings include:
  • Ranked 12th in a list of the Top 25 "Best Buys" for an online MBA by GetEducated.com
  • In the 2010 edition of US News & World Report's America’s Best Graduate Schools
  • The College of Education graduate programs are ranked 109th out of 278 institutions. It is placed 89th among the 100 public universities.
  • The Department of Family Medicine is ranked 17th in the country.
  • The Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine (TCOM) at the University of North Texas Health Science Center is placed in the Top 50, rated 20th in primary care among medical schools and 34th for the Physician Assistant program.


Residence halls

Students who live on campus at UNT have a variety of housing options. There are 13 halls and each hall offers different amenities and communities. All dorms have wired and wireless internet access available and are staffed by resident assistants.
  • Bruce Hall
  • Clark Hall
  • College Inn
  • Crumley Hall
  • Honors Hall
  • Kerr Hall
  • Legends Hall
  • Maple Hall
  • McConnell Hall
  • Mozart Square
  • Santa Fe Square
  • Traditions Hall
  • Victory Hall
  • West Hall

Real Communities

UNT’s Residence Life also offers the REAL Communities program, short for Residents Engaged in Academic Living. The REAL communities offer students the ability to live with other residents in their major, and allow them to interact with each other and participate in programs that are geared towards their major or discipline.
  • Jazz Studies – Bruce Hall
  • Art & Design – Kerr Hall
  • RTVF (Radio Television and Film) - Kerr Hall
  • Health & Wellness – Maple Hall
  • Health Professionals – Clark Hall
  • UNT Serves – Kerr Hall
  • Global Learning– Kerr Hall
  • Emerald Eagle Scholars Community – Maple Hall
  • Transfer Student Community – Traditions Hall
  • Journalism – Kerr Hall
  • Business – Kerr Hall
  • School of Merchandising and Hospitality Management – Kerr Hall
  • Exploring Majors- Kerr Hall
  • Engineering - Kerr Hall

Greek life

The UNT Greek community is made up of four councils and 39 fraternities and sororities. 5% of male students join fraternities and 4% of female students join sororities.

Mascot

UNT's mascot is the eagle
Eagle
Eagles are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera which are not necessarily closely related to each other. Most of the more than 60 species occur in Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just two species can be found in the United States and Canada, nine more in...

 and was adopted in 1922 in a student election over the dragon, the lion, and the cottontail rabbit. This selection is said to have reflected the student population's ideals of individual liberty and freedom of expression, values the UNT community continues to cherish. The costumed eagle character, Scrappy, appears at sporting and university events, though he didn't always go by that name; in 1974, students who felt "Scrappy" was too warlike dubbed the bird "Eppy," and he kept that name until 1995. Athletic teams are referred to as the "Mean Green." This name is usually associated with football star and 1969 graduate "Mean" Joe Greene
Joe Greene (American football)
Charles Edward Greene, known as “Mean Joe” Greene, is a former all-pro American football defensive tackle who played for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL. Throughout the early 1970s he was the one of most dominant defensive players in the National Football League...

, a legendary member of the famous Steel Curtain
Steel Curtain
The Steel Curtain was the nickname given to the front four of the famous defensive line of the American football team Pittsburgh Steelers during their 1970s dynasty years. This defense was the backbone of the Steelers dynasty, which won 4 Super Bowls...

 defense of the 1970s Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...

; however, accounts vary about the actual origins of "Mean Green."

In the spring of 2002, the school's chapter of the Albino Squirrel Preservation Society attempted to make the group's namesake the school's secondary mascot. The student body narrowly rejected the measure. In August 2006, the albino squirrel, believed to bring luck to students who spotted him before an exam, was killed by a red-tailed hawk. By May 2007, another albino squirrel had been born on campus.

UNT Fight Song

After winning a university sponsored contest, alumnus Francis Stroup wrote the school's fight song in 1939. Throughout the years, the song has changed its lyrics to reflect the name changes of the university.

Let's give a cheer for U of NT;

Cheer for the Green and White.

Victory's in store whatever the score,

Our team will ever fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!

Shoulder to shoulder we march along,

Striving for victory.

Playing the game for the honor and fame,

And the glory of UNT.

U ... N ... T ... Eagles!

UNT Eagles Fight, Fight, Fight!

Alma Mater

In 1919, Julia Smith
Julia Smith (composer)
Julia Frances Smith, PhD , was an American composer, pianist, and author on musicology.-Life and career:...

, member of the university's band (now called the Green Brigade
Green Brigade Marching Band
The Green Brigade Marching Band is the name of the marching band at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas. The University of North Texas is home to the largest school of music in the nation by enrollment and the marching band is one of the 40 ensembles on campus that students can...

), composed "Glory to the Green and White" which was adopted as the school's alma mater
Alma mater
Alma mater , pronounced ), was used in ancient Rome as a title for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele, and in Christianity for the Virgin Mary.-General term:...

 in 1922.

Singing glory to the green,

Singing glory to the white,

For we know our university is

striving for the right,

Down the corridor of years,

We'll forget the joys and tears,

But North Texas, North Texas,

We love!'

Traditions

  • The Spirit Bell is a 2,000-pound bell originally brought in from Michigan in 1891 to signal class changes and curfew. Members of the Talons spirit group later began running it up and down the field at football games; it was retired to the University Union in 1982 after it developed a crack. A 1,600-pound Spirit Bell is currently in use at games.
  • McConnell Tower, the clock tower atop the Hurley Administration Building at the center of campus, is bathed in green light for each victory by a UNT athletic team. It appears on the official class ring with two different times on its faces: 1:00 (for the One O'Clock Lab Band) and 7:00 (the 1892 curfew time for Texas Normal College and Teacher Training Institute students).
  • The eagle talon hand gesture is made by curling the thumb, index and middle fingers forward, leaving the ring finger and pinky closed against the palm.
  • A bonfire is built with thousands of pallets donated by Miller Brewing
    Miller Brewing
    The Miller Brewing Company is an American beer brewing company owned by the United Kingdom-based SABMiller. Its regional headquarters are located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and the company has brewing facilities in Albany, Georgia; Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin; Eden, North Carolina; Fort Worth, Texas;...

     of Denton and the local Peterbilt
    Peterbilt
    Peterbilt Motors Company is an American manufacturer of medium- and heavy-duty Class 5 through Class 8 trucks headquartered in Denton, Texas. Founded in 1939 Peterbilt operates manufacturing facilities in Denton, Texas , and Sainte-Thérèse, Quebec...

     plant. The pallets are stacked in a 40-foot by 40-foot footprint then stacked to a final height of 25 feet. It is assembled by members of the Talons spirit group the week before Homecoming and is lit on the Friday night of Homecoming week (when a burn ban is not in effect).
  • the Cannon, hand crafted from solid oak on the Denton campus, the 7/8th scale M1841 6 pound, smooth bore muzzleloader cannon has been used to signify scores by the Mean Green since Fall 1970. Since that time "Boomer the Cannon" has gone through three different phases of restoration by Talon alumni. The final was in the Fall of 2007 in which the final phase saw him fitted with a custom Limber to assist with transportation and equipment handling.
  • The Green Machine is a green 1931 Ford Model A Tudor Sedan and is driven by members of the Talons Cannon Crew at home football games and special events. This should not be confused with the Mean Green Machine, a large mechanical eagle trailed by remote panel in a truck, controlled by three physics students, that made Homecoming and other appearances between 1968 and 1976. The Green Machine is currently undergoing an overhaul by members of Talons Cannon Crew.
  • "In High Places", a 22-foot-tall bronze statue of a flying eagle created by Gerald Balciar, is a popular landmark and meeting place, and is often decorated in green for school spirit. It was dedicated during the university's centennial celebrations in 1990.

Media

  • KNTU
    KNTU
    KNTU is the campus radio station of the University of North Texas which was formerly known as North Texas State University at Denton, Texas. The signal of the station covers much of the Dallas and Fort Worth Metroplex of North Texas with a format of news and primarily Jazz music...

     (88.1 FM) is a university-owned student-run campus radio station
    Radio station
    Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...

     which plays primarily jazz.
  • The North Texas Daily
    North Texas Daily
    The North Texas Daily, also known as the NT Daily, is the student newspaper of the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas, published Tuesday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and weekly during the summer. The Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday papers are broadsheets...

     is a student newspaper published Tuesday-Friday during the fall and spring semesters and weekly during the summer.
  • North Texas Review is the UNT student-submitted, student-run literary journal.
  • NTTV
    NTTV
    ntTV is a Student television station and student organization at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas; ntTV is multicast locally on Charter Communications cable channel 22 and on Verizon FiOS channel 46...

    , UNT's 24-hour cable television
    Cable television
    Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...

     station featuring student-produced and student-centered programming.
  • The Aerie, student yearbook

Athletics

UNT competes at the Division I level and has been a member of the Sun Belt Conference
Sun Belt Conference
The Sun Belt Conference is a college athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Its football teams participate in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision , the higher of two levels of Division I football competition . The Sun Belt has member institutions...

 since 2001. In the SBC, Arkansas State, Troy, and Middle Tennessee are rivals for UNT. The school competes in the following varsity sports: Basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

, Cross Country
Cross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...

, Diving
Diving
Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, sometimes while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.Diving is one...

, Football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

, Golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

, Soccer
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

, Softball
Softball
Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...

, Swimming
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...

, Tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

, Track and Field
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...

 and Volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...

.

Additionally, UNT offers numerous athletic sports clubs, including the following:http://www.unt.edu/recsports/sportclubs/clubs.html aikido
Aikido
is a Japanese martial art developed by Morihei Ueshiba as a synthesis of his martial studies, philosophy, and religious beliefs. Aikido is often translated as "the Way of unifying life energy" or as "the Way of harmonious spirit." Ueshiba's goal was to create an art that practitioners could use to...

, baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

, billiards
Pocket billiards
Pool, also more formally known as pocket billiards or pool billiards , is the family of cue sports and games played on a pool table having six receptacles called pockets along the , into which balls are deposited as the main goal of play. Popular versions include eight-ball and nine-ball...

, bowling
Bowling
Bowling Bowling Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule...

, cycling
Cycling
Cycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, or for sport. Persons engaged in cycling are cyclists or bicyclists...

, fencing
Fencing
Fencing, which is also known as modern fencing to distinguish it from historical fencing, is a family of combat sports using bladed weapons.Fencing is one of four sports which have been featured at every one of the modern Olympic Games...

, ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

, inline hockey
Inline hockey
Inline hockey, often referred to as roller hockey in the United States, is a sport similar to ice hockey but played with inline skates. Like its parent sport, skaters on two teams use hockey sticks to direct a disk-shaped puck into the opponent's goal; however, various details of the game, such as...

, men's & women's lacrosse
Lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...

, racquetball
Racquetball
For other sports often called "paddleball", see Paddleball .Racquetball is a racquet sport played with a hollow rubber ball in an indoor or outdoor court...

, men's rugby
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

, men's soccer
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

, tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

, triathlon
Triathlon
A triathlon is a multi-sport event involving the completion of three continuous and sequential endurance events. While many variations of the sport exist, triathlon, in its most popular form, involves swimming, cycling, and running in immediate succession over various distances...

, men's & women's ultimate disc
Ultimate (sport)
Ultimate is a sport played with a 175 gram flying disc. The object of the game is to score points by passing the disc to a player in the opposing end zone, similar to an end zone in American football or rugby...

, wakeboarding
Wakeboarding
Wakeboarding is a surface water sport which involves riding a wakeboard over the surface of a body of water. It was developed from a combination of water skiing, snow boarding and surfing techniques....

.

Football

Founded in 1913, the Mean Green football team has won 24 conference championships, with the last four coming most recently in 2001-2004 in the Sun Belt Conference
Sun Belt Conference
The Sun Belt Conference is a college athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Its football teams participate in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision , the higher of two levels of Division I football competition . The Sun Belt has member institutions...

. The team has appeared in a total of 7 bowl games, winning 2, most recently the New Orleans Bowl
New Orleans Bowl
The New Orleans Bowl is a post-season college football bowl game certified by the NCAA that has been played annually at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana since 2001. The game was sponsored by Wyndham Hotels & Resorts from 2002 to 2004 and was officially called the Wyndham New...

 in 2002. Dan McCarney
Dan McCarney
-External links:* * * * *...

 is the current head coach.

From 1952 to 2010, home football games were played at Fouts Field
Fouts Field
Fouts Field is the former stadium of the University of North Texas, located in Denton, Texas, United States. It was primarily used for football, and was the home field of the University of North Texas Eagles, also known as the Mean Green from 1952-2010...

. In October 2008, students approved a new dedicated athletics fee to fund the construction of a new football stadium. The vote passed 2,829 (58%) YES to 2,038 (42%) NO. UNT played its first game in Apogee Stadium on September 10, 2011, losing 23-48 to the University of Houston.

Men's basketball

North Texas has recently experienced success under head coach Johnny Jones
Johnny Jones (coach)
Johnny Jones is the head men's basketball coach at the University of North Texas. He previously served as the interim head coach at the University of Memphis...

. During the 2006-2007 season, North Texas won its first ever Sun Belt Conference title and advanced for the first time since 1988 to the NCAA Tournament. Only three of the state's 20 Division I teams had more wins than North Texas’ 23 in 2006-07. The 2006-07 effort was the beginning of a four year stretch of 20+ win seasons. North Texas won the Sun Belt Conference title a second time during the 2009-10 season to advance to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in four years.

Since 1973, the team has played its home games in the UNT Coliseum.

Notable alumni and professors

Today, the University of North Texas has 175,000 living alumni; 100,000 residing in the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex
Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex
The Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington Metropolitan Statistical Area, a title designated by the U.S. Census as of 2003, encompasses 12 counties within the U.S. state of Texas. The area is divided into two metropolitan divisions: Dallas–Plano–Irving and Fort Worth–Arlington. Residents of the area...

.

A significant number of notable alumni have succeeded in music, including Roy Orbison
Roy Orbison
Roy Kelton Orbison was an American singer-songwriter, well known for his distinctive, powerful voice, complex compositions, and dark emotional ballads. Orbison grew up in Texas and began singing in a rockabilly/country & western band in high school until he was signed by Sun Records in Memphis...

, Meat Loaf
Meat Loaf
Michael Lee Aday , better known by his stage name, Meat Loaf, is an American hard rock musician and actor...

, Tom "Bones" Malone
Tom Malone (musician)
Tom "Bones" Malone is an American jazz musician. As his nickname implies, he specializes on the trombone, but also plays trumpet, tuba, tenor sax, baritone sax, flutes, piccolo, and other instruments....

 and "Blue Lou" Marini
Lou Marini
Lou Marini, Jr. is an American saxophonist, arranger and composer. He is noted for his work in the jazz, rock, blues and soul music traditions.-Early life and range of musical experience:...

 (both members of The Blues Brothers
The Blues Brothers
The Blues Brothers are an American blues and soul revivalist band founded in 1978 by comedy actors Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi as part of a musical sketch on Saturday Night Live...

 Band and the Saturday Night Live Band
Saturday Night Live Band
The Saturday Night Live Band is the house band of the NBC television program Saturday Night Live .-Noteworthy members:...

), Lecrae Moore ('02) Reach Records, Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...

-winners Don Henley
Don Henley
Donald Hugh "Don" Henley is an American singer, songwriter and drummer, best known as a founding member of the Eagles before launching a successful solo career. Henley was the drummer and lead vocalist for the Eagles from 1971–1980, when the band broke up...

, Norah Jones
Norah Jones
Norah Jones is an American singer-songwriter and occasional actress.In 2002, she launched her solo music career with the release of the commercially successful and critically acclaimed album Come Away With Me, which was certified a diamond album in 2002, selling over 20 million copies...

 and Pat Boone
Pat Boone
Charles Eugene "Pat" Boone is an American singer, actor and writer who has been a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He covered black artists' songs and sold more copies than his black counterparts...

. KDGE disc jockey Josh Venable attended the radio school here.

Notable former North Texas athletes include American Football League
American Football League
The American Football League was a major American Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when the established National Football League merged with it. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...

 MVP Abner Haynes
Abner Haynes
Abner Haynes is a former college and professional football player in the United States.Haynes is a graduate of North Texas State University where he and his then teammate Leon King integrated college football in the state of Texas in 1956...

, Pro Football Hall of Fame
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...

 member "Mean" Joe Greene
Joe Greene (American football)
Charles Edward Greene, known as “Mean Joe” Greene, is a former all-pro American football defensive tackle who played for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL. Throughout the early 1970s he was the one of most dominant defensive players in the National Football League...

, and PGA champion
PGA Championship
The PGA Championship is an annual golf tournament conducted by the PGA of America as part of the PGA Tour. It is one of the four major championships in men's professional golf, and is the golf season's final major, usually played in mid-August, customarily four weeks after The Open Championship...

 Don January
Don January
Donald Ray January is an American professional golfer.January was born in Plainview, Texas, and graduated from Sunset High School in Dallas...

. Professional wrestlers Stone Cold Steve Austin
Stone Cold Steve Austin
Steve Austin , better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American film and television actor and retired professional wrestler...

, David
David Von Erich
David Alan Adkisson was an American professional wrestler who competed as "The Yellow Rose of Texas" David Von Erich...

 and Kevin Von Erich
Kevin Von Erich
Kevin Ross Adkisson is a retired professional wrestler under the ring name Kevin Von Erich of the Von Erich Family. He is the last surviving son of wrestler Fritz Von Erich and had four brothers that wrestled, David, Kerry, Mike and Chris, as well as an older brother, Jack, Jr., who died in...

 are also alums of North Texas athletics, under the names of Steve Williams (football), David Adkisson (basketball) and Kevin Adkisson (football) respectively.

North Texas political alumni include Michael C. Burgess
Michael C. Burgess
Michael Clifton Burgess, is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2003, and a member of the Tea Party Caucus.-Early life, education, and early career:...

, current congressman for the 26th Texas district; Adel al-Jubeir
Adel al-Jubeir
Adel A. Al-Jubeir is the Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the United States, and a former foreign policy advisor to King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia. He is a well-known representative of the Saudi kingdom in the West, particularly the United States. Al-Jubeir presented his credentials to...

, Saudi ambassador to the United States and former adviser to the Royal Court of Saudi Arabia; former congressman Ray Roberts
Ray Roberts
Herbert Ray Roberts represented Texas's 4th congressional district from 1962 to 1981. Roberts was a Democrat.-Early life and education:...

 of the United States House of Representatives, Texas District 4 (and namesake of nearby Lake Ray Roberts
Lake Ray Roberts
Lake Ray Roberts is a reservoir located north of Denton, Texas, between the cities of Pilot Point, Texas and Sanger, Texas.. It was named after Ray Roberts in 1980....

); and Charlie Fern
Charlie Fern
Charlene "Charlie" Fern is an American speechwriter and journalist who served as First Lady Laura Bush's personal speechwriter for six years, first at the Texas Governor's Mansion, then at the White House, until 2002. Fern's speeches included the first Presidential radio address delivered by a U.S...

, former White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...

 speechwriter
Speechwriter
A speechwriter is a person who is hired to prepare and write speeches that will be delivered by another person. Speechwriters are used by many senior-level elected officials and executives in the government and private sectors.-Skills and training:...

 for First Lady
First Lady
First Lady or First Gentlemanis the unofficial title used in some countries for the spouse of an elected head of state.It is not normally used to refer to the spouse or partner of a prime minister; the husband or wife of the British Prime Minister is usually informally referred to as prime...

 Laura Bush
Laura Bush
Laura Lane Welch Bush is the wife of the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush. She was the First Lady of the United States from January 20, 2001, to January 20, 2009. She has held a love of books and reading since childhood and her life and education have reflected that interest...

, who worked as a reporter and editor on UNT's newspaper, the North Texas Daily
North Texas Daily
The North Texas Daily, also known as the NT Daily, is the student newspaper of the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas, published Tuesday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and weekly during the summer. The Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday papers are broadsheets...

.

Notable professors include former House of Representatives Majority Leader Dick Armey
Dick Armey
Richard Keith "Dick" Armey is a former U.S. Representative from Texas's and House Majority Leader . He was one of the engineers of the "Republican Revolution" of the 1990s, in which Republicans were elected to majorities of both houses of Congress for the first time in four decades. Armey was...

 and wind symphony conductor Eugene Corporon, who is considered an authority on wind/band music repertoire.

Other significant alumni include journalist and author Bill Moyers
Bill Moyers
Bill Moyers is an American journalist and public commentator. He served as White House Press Secretary in the United States President Lyndon B. Johnson Administration from 1965 to 1967. He worked as a news commentator on television for ten years. Moyers has had an extensive involvement with public...

, former 1971 Miss America
Miss America
The Miss America pageant is a long-standing competition which awards scholarships to young women from the 50 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands...

 Phyllis George
Phyllis George
Phyllis Ann George Brown is an American businesswoman, actress and a former sportscaster. She is a former Miss Texas and Miss America of 1971.- Early life :...

, Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...

-winning author Larry McMurtry
Larry McMurtry
Larry Jeff McMurtry is an American novelist, essayist, bookseller and screenwriter whose work is predominantly set in either the old West or in contemporary Texas...

, Phil McGraw
Phil McGraw
Phillip Calvin McGraw best known as Dr. Phil, is an American television personality, author, former psychologist, and the host of the television show Dr. Phil, which debuted in 2002...

 ('79) from the American television show Dr. Phil
Dr. Phil (TV series)
Dr. Phil is a reality/talk television show hosted by Phil McGraw. After McGraw's success with his segments on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Dr. Phil debuted on September 16, 2002...

 and Mark L. Pierson ('90) Chief of Staff at Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA that provides products, technologies, softwares, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises, including...

 Software and Solutions, International Lutheran Fellowship
International Lutheran Fellowship
The Lutheran Church-International is an American religious denomination. Its president from 1966 to 1998 was Pastor E. Edward Tornow of North Dakota. It is was formerly known as the International Lutheran Fellowship. Its president is Archbishop Robert W. Hotes....

 Archbishop Robert Hotes with Benedictine University
Benedictine University
Benedictine University is a private Catholic university located in Lisle, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois. The institution has retained close relations with the Benedictine Order. Originally named St. Procopius College and located in the Pilsen community of Chicago, the school was founded in 1887 by...

.
Eli Young Band

North Texas firsts

Since its founding the university has introduced several different programs and models into the American postsecondary system:
  • First in the U.S. to offer programs in aging studies, jazz
    Jazz
    Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

     studies, emergency administration and planning, oil and petroleum accounting, and business computer information systems
  • First bachelor's degree in electronic merchandising in the U.S.
  • First accredited counseling program in the U.S., which still ranks among the nation's best.
  • First school in the country to offer a degree in Mechanical and Energy Engineering.
  • First fully online master's program in applied anthropology.
  • First environmental ethics program in the country to offer the Ph.D., which is considered the best in the nation
  • First PhD program in art education in the U.S.
  • First patent for silicon-based ultra-sensitive chemical sensor for use in integrated circuit fabrication.
  • First online school library preparation program in the U.S.
  • First college in the South to integrate
    Desegregation
    Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups usually referring to races. This is most commonly used in reference to the United States. Desegregation was long a focus of the American Civil Rights Movement, both before and after the United States Supreme Court's decision in...

     African Americans (1952)

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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