The Freedom Bowl was an annual post-season college football bowl game played at Anaheim Stadium in Anaheim, California , from 1984 to 1994.
102-910: The bowl frequently invited a team from the Western Athletic Conference to compete against an at-large opponent, provided that the conference had enough bowl-eligible teams. After the 1994 season, the Freedom Bowl was discontinued as the WAC’s automatic bowl bids were reduced to one with the Holiday Bowl and Cotton Bowl Classic having choice of the conference champion. USC (1–1) Arizona State (1–0) UCLA (1–0) Arizona (0–1) Oregon (0–1) Utah (1–1) Colorado State (1–0) Fresno State (1–0) Air Force (0–1) San Diego State (0–1) Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference ( WAC )
204-651: A "football only" member) and Utah State operated as an independent D-IA program. At the same time, Louisiana Tech (LA Tech) ended its independent Div. I-A status and also accepted an invitation to join the WAC with Boise State. In 2005, Conference USA sought new members to replenish its ranks after losing members to the Big East , which had lost members to the ACC . Four WAC schools, former SWC schools Rice and SMU , as well as Tulsa and UTEP , joined Conference USA. In response,
306-682: A $ 50 million renewal grant. Rebranded in late 2015 as "CyVerse", the collaborative cloud-based data management platform is moving beyond life sciences to provide cloud-computing access across all scientific disciplines. In June 2011, the university announced it would assume full ownership of the Biosphere 2 scientific research facility in Oracle, Arizona . Biosphere 2 was constructed by private developers (funded mainly by Texas businessman and philanthropist Ed Bass ) with its first closed system experiment commencing in 1991. The university had been
408-561: A 12-member body. Eight volunteer members are appointed by the Governor to staggered eight-year terms; two students serve on the board for two-year appointments, with the first year being a nonvoting apprentice year. The Governor and the Superintendent of Public Instruction serve as voting ex-officio members. The ABOR provides "policy guidance" and oversight to the three major degree-granting universities, as provided for by Title 15 of
510-494: A far-flung league, travel costs became a concern. The presidents of Air Force, BYU, Colorado State, Utah, and Wyoming met in 1998 at Denver International Airport and agreed to split off to form a new league. The breakaway group invited old-line WAC schools New Mexico and San Diego State, and newcomer UNLV to join them in the new Mountain West Conference , which began competition in 1999. A USA Today article summed up
612-458: A football team at a later date. While the WAC originally announced that all new members would join on July 1, 2022, commissioner Jeff Hurd later said that the arrival of the Texas Four "was expedited" to July 1, 2021. The conference officially confirmed this on January 21, 2021, adding that the relaunch of football was moved forward to fall 2021. The conference also confirmed media reports that
714-508: A formal notification of concern from the university's accreditor. A university professor was murdered on campus in October 2022, allegedly by a former student. Following the crime, the university commissioned an independent investigation of campus safety. Following that investigation and one of their own that faulted the university for failing to act on warnings and protect the campus, the university's faculty senate voted " no confidence " in
816-509: A handful of these apartment complexes for student housing in recent years. Sixth Street typically defines the southern boundary, with single-family homes (many of which are rented out to students) south of this street. The Stevie Eller Dance Theater, opened in 2003 (across the Mall from McKale Center ) as a 28,600-square-foot (2,660 m ) dedicated performance venue for the UA's dance program, one of
918-671: A large research institution. It started in 1962 with an acceptance of seventy-five students and has grown to 5,508 in the academic year 2016–2017. It was renamed from the Honors College to the W.A. Franke Honors College in recognition of a $ 25 million gift commitment made by William A. "Bill" Franke . Arizona is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". The University of Arizona aims to reach $ 1 billion annually in research expenditures. The university achieved $ 954 million in FY2023, which places it among
1020-573: A later date. On the same day, news broke that the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley , a non-football playing WAC member, had committed to create an FCS football program by 2024. The program will most likely compete as part of the newly-reinstated WAC football conference. The WAC ultimately partnered with the ASUN Conference to reestablish its football league, with the Texas Four being joined by three incoming ASUN members for at least
1122-825: A non-football conference in 2023, when the WAC and the Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) merged their FCS football leagues as the United Athletic Conference . These institutions are the existing full members of the Western Athletic Conference: Members departing for the West Coast Conference in 2025 (Seattle) and the Mountain West Conference in 2026 (Grand Canyon). (Millions) These nine schools field programs in
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#17327720710371224-422: A non-football playing member of the conference, had committed to create an FCS football program by 2024. In addition, UTRGV will also launch women's swimming and diving for the same year. The launch of football was later put off to 2025; it has since been confirmed that UTRGV football will become part of the new ASUN–WAC Football Conference (see below). The WAC's planned reestablishment of a football conference at
1326-801: A press conference held at the NRG Center in Houston, Texas. The new members announced included four Southland Conference members from Texas in Abilene Christian University , Lamar University , Sam Houston State University , and Stephen F. Austin State University , which would soon be dubbed the "Texas Four", plus Southern Utah University from the Big Sky Conference . The conference also announced that it would most likely add another member that fielded
1428-550: A revamped Pac-8 Conference that replaced the scandal-plagued PCC, the remaining six schools formed the WAC. The Border and Skyline conferences, having each lost three of their stronger members, dissolved at the end of the 1961–62 season. The charter members of the WAC were Arizona , Arizona State , BYU , New Mexico , Utah , and Wyoming . New Mexico State and Utah State applied for charter membership and were turned down; they would eventually become WAC members 43 years later. The conference proved to be an almost perfect fit for
1530-565: A series of moves that shook the conference to its very core, beginning with Utah State and San Jose State accepting offers to join the MWC. Four similar announcements followed with UTSA and Louisiana Tech jumping to Conference USA , plus Texas State and UT Arlington heading to the Sun Belt Conference , all as of 2013–14. Boise State also canceled plans to rejoin the WAC, instead opting to place its non-football sports in
1632-595: A six-game schedule in 2023 before starting full round-robin conference play in 2024. Neither conference's announcement mentioned any plans to move to FBS. On April 17, 2023, the football league announced its permanent name of United Athletic Conference . In March 2024, however, UTRGV announced they also would be departing for the Southland for the 2024-25 academic year. Two months later, in May 2024, both Grand Canyon and Seattle announced they had accepted invitations to join
1734-468: A university ). Flooding on the Salt River delayed Tucson's legislators, and by they time they reached Prescott , back-room deals allocating the most desirable territorial institutions had been made. Tucson was largely disappointed with receiving what was viewed as an inferior prize. With no parties willing to provide land for the new institution, the citizens of Tucson prepared to return the money to
1836-539: A university. Reaching the planet's surface in May 2008, the mission's purpose was to improve knowledge of the Martian Arctic. The Arizona Radio Observatory , a part of Steward Observatory , operates the Submillimeter Telescope on Mount Graham . The National Science Foundation funded the iPlant Collaborative in 2008 with a $ 50 million grant. In 2013, iPlant Collaborative received
1938-585: Is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona , United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature , it was the first university in the Arizona Territory . The University of Arizona is one of three universities governed by the Arizona Board of Regents . As of Fall 2023 , the university enrolled 53,187 students in 19 separate colleges/schools, including
2040-651: Is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the Western United States with member institutions located in Arizona , California , Texas , Utah and Washington . Due to most of the conference's football -playing members leaving the WAC for other affiliations, the conference discontinued football as a sponsored sport after the 2012–13 season , left the NCAA's Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly known as Division I-A) and became one of
2142-434: Is currently known as FCS football to what is currently known as FBS football at the earliest practicable date." On December 20, the two conferences jointly announced that they would fully merge their football leagues effective in 2023 under the tentative name of "ASUN–WAC Football Conference". The initial membership will be the aforementioned nine programs, with UTRGV becoming the tenth in 2025. The new football league will play
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#17327720710372244-639: The Cassini spacecraft orbit around Saturn is larger than any other university globally. The U of A laboratory designed and operated the atmospheric radiation investigations and imaging on the probe. The UA operates the HiRISE camera, a part of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter . While using the HiRISE camera in 2011, UA alumnus Lujendra Ojha and his team discovered proof of liquid water on
2346-455: The ASUN Conference in July 2021; that league planned to add FCS football, but not until at least 2022. The entry of the three incoming ASUN members into the new football league was officially confirmed at a February 23, 2021, ASUN press conference. These schools joined the Texas Four in a round-robin schedule officially branded interchangeably as the "ASUN–WAC Challenge" and "WAC–ASUN Challenge";
2448-639: The Arizona Revised Statutes . Suresh Garimella was named the 23rd president of the U of A on August 9th, 2024. Previously, he was the president of the University of Vermont from 2019 to 2024. Garimella has also previously served as the Executive Vice President for Research and Partnerships, a Chief Global Affairs Officer, and was recognized as a Goodson Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University . Garimella replaced Robert C. Robbins , MD. He
2550-479: The Arizona State Museum buildings (one of them the 1927 main library) and Centennial Hall. Place's use of red brick set the tone for the red brick facades that are a basic part of nearly all UA buildings: almost every UA building has red brick as a major component of the design, or at the very least, a stylistic accent to harmonize it with the other campus buildings. In the early 1930s, Place updated
2652-856: The Arizona Wildcats (often shortened to "Cats"), the UA's intercollegiate athletic teams were members of the Pac-12 Conference of the NCAA . The university joined the Big 12 Conference on August 2, 2024. UA athletes have won national titles in several sports, most notably men's basketball, baseball, and softball. After the passage of the Morrill Land-Grant Act of 1862 , the push for a university in Arizona grew. The Arizona Territory's " Thieving Thirteenth " Legislature approved
2754-466: The Big 12 in 2012). The Big West announced that it would drop football after the 2000 season, but four of its football-playing members ( Boise State , Idaho , New Mexico State , and Utah State ) were unwilling to drop football. Boise State was invited to join the WAC and promptly departed the Big West, while New Mexico State and Idaho joined the Sun Belt Conference (NMSU as a full member, Idaho as
2856-494: The Big West Conference , before eventually deciding to simply remain in the MWC. These changes left the WAC's viability as a Division I football conference in grave doubt. The two remaining football-playing members, New Mexico State and Idaho, began making plans to compete in future seasons as FBS Independents ; they ultimately spent only the 2013 season as independents, rejoining their one-time football home of
2958-763: The CERN-LHC ATLAS Collaboration in 1994. Arizona has a strategic program to attract foreign scholars, in particular from China. According to the 2015–2016 Association of Research Libraries' "Spending by University Research Libraries" report, UA libraries are ranked as the 37th overall university library in North America (out of 114) for university investment. As of 2012 , the UA's library system contains over six million print volumes, 1.1 million electronic books, and 74,000 electronic journals. The Main Library, opened in 1976, serves as
3060-596: The Missouri Valley Conference . Also, two WAC members for men's sports at the time, Air Force and Hawaiʻi, brought their women's sports into the WAC. With the expansion, the WAC was divided into two divisions, the Mountain and the Pacific. To help in organizing schedules and travel for the far-flung league, the members were divided into four quadrants of four teams each, as follows: Quadrant one
3162-622: The University of Arizona College of Medicine - Tucson along with the University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix and the James E. Rogers College of Law . The university is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very High Research Activity". UA also is a member of the Association of American Universities . The University of Arizona is affiliated with two academic medical centers, Banner – University Medical Center Tucson and Banner – University Medical Center Phoenix . Known as
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3264-476: The University of Arizona School of Geography, Development and Environment set to be one of its "greenest" buildings on campus with features like a cutting edge air conditioning system and 55,000-gallon water-harvesting tank. Designed to resemble a slot canyon in the Sonoran Desert, the 150,000 sq. ft. building focuses on adaptation and reducing our carbon footprint. The Student Union Memorial Center, on
3366-439: The University of Texas at Brownsville ; the new institution, the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV), began operation for the 2015–16 school year. UTRGV inherited UTPA's athletic program and WAC membership. In January 2017, California Baptist University announced it would transition from NCAA Division II and join the WAC in 2018. In November 2017, Cal State Bakersfield announced it would accept an invitation to
3468-665: The WAC Championship Game , held at Sam Boyd Stadium (also known as the Silver Bowl) in the Las Vegas Valley . Increasingly, most of the older, pre-1996 members—particularly Air Force, BYU, Colorado State, Utah, and Wyoming—felt chagrin at this new arrangement. Additional concerns centered around finances, as the expanded league stretched approximately 3,900 miles (6,300 km) from Hawaii to Oklahoma and covered nine states and four time zones. With such
3570-467: The West Coast Conference and Pac-12 Conference , respectively; BYU joined the Big 12 Conference in 2023 while Utah followed in 2024. In 2000, the University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada) of the Big West joined as part of its plan to upgrade its athletic program. TCU left for Conference USA in 2001 (it would later leave C-USA to become the ninth member of the Mountain West in 2005, and joined
3672-819: The West Coast Conference , beginning in the 2025-26 academic year. However, in November 2024, Grand Canyon declined the invitation to join the West Coast Conference after receiving an invite to join the Mountain West Conference. GCU will join the Mountain West no later than July 1, 2026 The Western Athletic Conference currently sponsors championship competition in 9 men's and 10 women's NCAA-sanctioned sports. Nine other schools are currently associate members in four sports. The WAC sponsored football from its founding in 1962 through
3774-598: The "Texas Four" of Abilene Christian University , Lamar University , Sam Houston State University , and Stephen F. Austin State University , then members of the Southland Conference , along with Southern Utah University , currently of the Big Sky Conference . Originally, all schools were planned to join in July 2022, but the entry of the Texas Four was moved to July 2021 after the Southland expelled its departing members. The WAC also announced that it would most likely add another football-playing institution at
3876-474: The 2012 season. However, the defection of all but two football-playing schools to other conferences caused the conference to drop sponsorship after fifty-one years. On January 14, 2021, the WAC announced its intention to reinstate football as a conference-sponsored sport at the FCS level, as well as the addition of five new members to the conference in all sports, including football. The new members announced include
3978-497: The 2013–14 season, shortly after Idaho opted to return all of its non-football sports to the Big Sky Conference in 2014–15. The conference responded over the next two months by adding Grand Canyon University , Chicago State University , and the University of Texas-Pan American . Then, in February 2013, the WAC announced the University of Missouri–Kansas City would join in the summer of 2013 as well. These changes would put
4080-416: The 2014–2015 academic year, 68 freshman students were National Merit Scholars . UA students hail from all states in the U.S. While nearly 69% of students are from Arizona , nearly 11% are from California, and 8% are international. The University of Arizona W.A. Franke Honors College provides a program for over 4,500 students that creates a smaller community feel like that of a liberal arts college within
4182-410: The 2016 London Conference on Intelligence , where presentations on eugenics are given. Figueredo has also reviewed papers for Mankind Quarterly , a journal which has advocated for racial hierarchy. Figueredo has disavowed eugenics and racial inferiority. Since 1945 the university has published Arizona Quarterly , an academic literary journal . Arizona partnership with Universidad de Sonora
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4284-491: The 2018–19 academic year. Incoming students enrolled in a bachelor's degree program are automatically eligible for the Guaranteed Tuition Program and will not be subject to tuition increases for 8 continuous semesters (four years). The Guaranteed Tuition Program does not apply to rates for summer and winter sessions. The UA is considered a "selective" university by U.S. News & World Report . In
4386-515: The ASUN and WAC to 5 playoff-eligible football members, one short of the six required for an automatic playoff berth. This led the WAC and ASUN to renew their football partnership for the 2022 season. Both conferences would hold their own 2022 football seasons; on June 10, 2022, the WAC announced that the two leagues would determine the alliance's automatic qualifier by a process that was not announced at that time. ESPN reported on December 9, 2022, that
4488-476: The Big West and join its new conference in 2020. In January 2019, Dixie State University , now known as Utah Tech University, announced it would move its athletics to Division I and join the WAC in 2020. In June 2019, the University of Missouri–Kansas City announced it would leave the WAC to join the Summit League in 2020; this announcement came shortly before the rebranding of its athletic program as
4590-491: The FCS level has also been accompanied by speculation that the conference intends to eventually move its football league back up to FBS in the future, possibly by 2030. Later that same month, the WAC moved the start of their FCS sponsorship of football to Fall 2021, with media reports indicating that the University of Central Arkansas , Eastern Kentucky University , and Jacksonville State University would be added as football affiliates for 2021. The three schools were set to join
4692-536: The HiRISE camera, with Principal Investigator Alfred McEwen as the lead on the project. This NASA mission to Mars carrying the UA-designed camera is capturing the highest-resolution images of the planet ever seen. The journey of the orbiter was 300 million miles. In August 2007, the UA, under the charge of Peter Smith, led the Phoenix Mars Mission , the first mission completely controlled by
4794-630: The High Country Athletic Conference, a parallel organization to the WAC for women's athletics, in 1990 to unify both men's and women's athletics under one administrative structure. In 1996, the WAC expanded again, adding six schools to its ranks for a total of sixteen. Rice , TCU , and SMU joined the league from the Southwest Conference , which had disbanded. Big West Conference members San Jose State and UNLV were also admitted, as well as Tulsa from
4896-605: The Kansas City Roos. In September 2019, Tarleton State University of Division II announced that it would move to Division I and join the WAC in 2020. On January 14, 2021, the Western Athletic Conference announced its intention to reinstate football as a conference-sponsored sport at the FCS level, as well as the addition of five new members to the conference in all sports, including football, at
4998-763: The NCAA's eleven Division I non-football conferences. The WAC thus became the first Division I conference to drop football since the Big West in 2000. The WAC then added men's soccer. The WAC underwent a major expansion on July 1, 2021, with four schools joining. The conference reinstated football at that time, competing in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). One year later, on July 1, 2022, one FCS football school ( Lamar ) and one non-football school ( Chicago State ) left, and one FCS football school ( Southern Utah ) and one non-football school ( UT Arlington ) joined. The WAC again became
5100-557: The Southland Conference in 2023 roughly three months prior to UIW's announcement, on April 8, 2022; however, three months later, it was announced that the SLC and Lamar would be accelerating the rejoining process so that Lamar could return for the 2022 athletic season instead. Jacksonville State and Sam Houston both started FBS transitions in the 2022 season, rendering both ineligible for the FCS playoffs and also dropping both
5202-463: The Southland had expelled the Texas Four after they announced their departure. Southern Utah entered as scheduled in 2022. During the aforementioned press conference, Hurd also announced that the WAC would split into two divisions for all sports except football and men's and women's basketball. One division will consist of the six Texas schools (the Texas Four plus existing members Tarleton and UTRGV). Also on January 14, 2021, news broke that UTRGV,
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#17327720710375304-554: The Student Union Memorial Center (see below). The science and mathematics buildings tend to be clustered in the southwest quadrant; the intercollegiate athletics facilities to the southeast; the arts and humanities buildings to the northwest (with the dance department being a major exception as its main facilities are far to the east end of campus), with the engineering buildings in the north central area. The optical and space sciences buildings are clustered on
5406-460: The Sun Belt as football-only members in 2014 . In order to rebuild, as well as forestall further defections, the conference was forced to add two schools— Utah Valley University and CSU Bakersfield —which were invited in October 2012 to join the WAC in 2013–14, but this did not prevent two more members from leaving. Denver decided to take most of its athletic teams to The Summit League as of
5508-484: The Sun; Solar Probe Plus, a historic mission into the Sun's atmosphere for the first time; Rosetta's VIRTIS; WISE; and OSIRIS-REx, the first U.S. sample-return mission to a near-Earth asteroid, which launched on September 8, 2016. UA students have been selected as Truman , Rhodes , Goldwater , and Fulbright Scholars. According to The Chronicle of Higher Education , UA is among the top 25 producers of Fulbright awards in
5610-675: The Territorial Legislature until two gamblers and a saloon keeper decided to donate 40 acres to the Board of Regents. Construction of Old Main , the first building on campus, began on October 27, 1887, and classes met for the first time in 1891 with 32 students in Old Main, which is still in use today. Because there were no high schools in Arizona Territory, the university maintained separate preparatory classes for
5712-409: The U.S. UA is a member of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy , a consortium of institutions pursuing research in astronomy. The association operates observatories and telescopes , notably Kitt Peak National Observatory just outside Tucson. UA is a member of the Association of American Universities . Reaching Mars in March 2006, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter contained
5814-416: The UA in the 1950s and 1960s), Homer L. Shantz , Kendrick C. Babcock, and Rufus B. von KleinSmid . The University of Arizona offers bachelor's, master's, doctoral, and professional degrees. Grades are given on a strict 4-point scale with "A" worth 4, "B" worth 3, "C" worth 2, "D" worth 1 and "E" worth zero points. In 2023, The Center for World University Rankings ranked University of Arizona No. 95 in
5916-500: The USS Arizona , one of the two bells rescued from the ship after the attack on Pearl Harbor , has a permanent home in the clock tower of the Student Union Memorial Center. The bell arrived on campus in July 1946. The bell was rung seven times on the third Wednesday of every month at 12:07 pm – symbolic of the battleship's sinking on December 7, 1941 – to honor individuals at the UA, as well as after home football victories, over any team except other Arizona schools. In December 2020, it
6018-436: The University of Arizona announced it had purchased Ashford University from Zovio and renamed it The University of Arizona Global Campus . The purchase was heavily criticized, particularly by University of Arizona faculty members. As Ashford was being purchased by the University of Arizona, it was the subject of an investigation by the Attorney General of Massachusetts, a lawsuit from the Attorney General of California, and
6120-412: The University of Arizona in 1885 and selected the city of Tucson to receive the appropriation to build the university. Tucson hoped to receive the appropriation for the territory's mental hospital, which carried a $ 100,000 allocation instead of the $ 25,000 allotted to the territory's only university (Arizona State University was also chartered in 1885, but it was created as Arizona's normal school , and not
6222-436: The University of Arizona is $ 12,700 for full-time undergraduate residents and $ 37,200 for non-residents. As in other states, the cost of tuition has been rising due to the reduction in government support and large increase in administrative staff over teaching staff. Undergraduate students who enrolled in the UA's optional tuition guarantee program in 2014 will remain at $ 11,591 for residents and $ 30,745 for non-residents through
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#17327720710376324-463: The WAC added Idaho, New Mexico State, and Utah State—all former Big West schools which left the conference in 2000 along with Boise State when that conference dropped football. The three new schools were all land grant universities , bringing the conference total to five (Nevada and Hawaii). The decade of the 2010s began with a series of conference realignment moves that would have trickle-down effects throughout Division I football, and profoundly change
6426-479: The WAC and ASUN had agreed to form a new football-only conference that planned to start play in 2024. The initial membership would consist of Abilene Christian, Southern Utah, Stephen F. Austin, Tarleton, and Utah Tech from the WAC, plus Austin Peay , Central Arkansas , Eastern Kentucky , and North Alabama from the ASUN. UTRGV would become the 10th member upon its planned addition of football in 2025. The new football conference also reportedly plans to move "from what
6528-429: The WAC and ASUN initially planned to have 6 playoff-eligible teams in 2022, but each lost such a member with the start of FBS transitions by Jacksonville State and Sam Houston. The WAC has been speculated to move back up to FBS in the future following the reestablishment of the football conference at the FCS level. University of Arizona The University of Arizona ( Arizona , U of A , UArizona , or UA )
6630-441: The WAC for sports not sponsored by their primary conferences: The WAC has 34 former full members: Full members Full members (non-football) Other conference Other conference Associate members (non-football) The WAC formed out of a series of talks between Brigham Young University athletic director Eddie Kimball and other university administrators from 1958 to 1961 to form a new athletic conference that would better fit
6732-466: The WAC planned to add two additional football-playing members to begin competition in 2013. A further boost came when Boise State decided to join the Big East in football, and return to the WAC in most other sports, as of the 2013–14 academic year. So by the end of 2011, the WAC seemed to have weathered the latest round of conference changes, and once again reinvented itself for the future. But from this seemingly strong position, early 2012 brought forth
6834-472: The campus master plan, conceived by his architectural partner John Lyman in 1919 and modeled after the University of Virginia . The campus is roughly divided into quadrants. The north and south sides of campus are delineated by a grassy expanse called the Mall, which stretches from Old Main eastward to the campus' eastern border at Campbell Avenue (a major north–south arterial street). The west and east sides of campus are separated roughly by Highland Avenue and
6936-415: The conclusion of the 2005–06 academic term. Other past UA presidents include Manuel Pacheco (Likins' primary predecessor; the first person of Hispanic descent to lead the university and for whom the Integrated Learning Center is named), Henry Koffler (Pacheco's predecessor and the first UA alumnus to lead the university), John Schaefer, Richard Harvill (who presided over a period of dramatic growth for
7038-400: The conference's membership at eight members by 2014 with only one, New Mexico State, having been in the WAC just three years earlier. Due to losing the majority of its football-playing members, the WAC would stop sponsoring the sport after the 2012–13 season, thereby becoming a non-football conference. In 2013, the University of Texas System announced that Texas–Pan American would merge with
7140-447: The east side of campus near the sports stadiums and the (1976) main library. Speedway Boulevard, one of Tucson's primary east–west arterial streets, traditionally defined the northern boundary of campus but since the 1980s, several university buildings have been constructed directly on, and north of, this street, expanding into a neighborhood traditionally filled with apartment complexes and single-family homes. The university has purchased
7242-431: The fall 2021 season in what it calls the ASUN–WAC (or WAC–ASUN) Challenge. The Challenge was abbreviated as "AQ7", as the top finisher of the seven teams would be an automatic qualifier for the FCS postseason. The two conferences renewed their alliance for the 2022 season, although both leagues will conduct separate conference seasons and then choose the alliance's automatic qualifier by an as-yet-undetermined process. Both
7344-487: The first 23 years of operation. In 1924, during Cloyd Marvin 's tenure as president, the university was recognized by the Association of American Universities . Three professors were murdered at the school in a shooting in 2002. The perpetrator, who then shot himself, was a student who had failed out of the school. He mailed a 22 page letter to the Arizona Daily Star announcing his reasons, naming two of
7446-704: The killed professors in the letter; following the shooting, the Daily Star made the controversial decision to publish the letter. On April 17, 2020, the University of Arizona announced temporary pay cuts and furloughs to its 15,000 employees as its Tucson campus shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. All employees making up to $ 150,000 per year were furloughed, with the length determined by each employees' salary. For employees making more than $ 150,000 per year, pay cuts of 17% or 20% were instituted. Also in 2020,
7548-518: The library system's reference, periodical, and administrative center; most of the main collections are housed here. The Main Library is on the southeast quadrant of campus near McKale Center and Arizona Stadium . In 2002, the Integrated Learning Center (ILC) was completed as a $ 20 million, 100,000-square-foot (10,000 m ) computer facility intended for use by incoming students. The ILC features classrooms, auditoriums,
7650-527: The membership of the WAC. Boise State decided to move to the Mountain West Conference (MWC) for the 2011–12 season, and to replace departing BYU, the MWC also recruited WAC members Fresno State and Nevada for 2012–13. WAC commissioner Karl Benson courted several schools to replace those leaving, including the University of Montana , which declined, as well as the University of Denver , University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), and Texas State University-San Marcos , which all accepted effective 2012–13. But
7752-666: The most highly regarded university dance departments in the United States. Designed by Gould Evans, a Phoenix-based architectural firm, the theater was awarded the 2003 Citation Award from the American Institute of Architects , Arizona Chapter. The Computer Science department's webcam provides a live feed of the campus as seen from the top of the Gould-Simpson building (the tallest classroom building on campus at 10 stories). The Berger Memorial Fountain at
7854-451: The needs and situations of certain universities which were at the time members of the Border , Skyline , and Pacific Coast Conferences. Potential member universities who were represented at the meetings included BYU , Washington State , Oregon , Oregon State , Utah , New Mexico , Arizona , Arizona State , and Wyoming . While the three Washington and Oregon schools elected to stay in
7956-537: The north side of the Mall east of Old Main, was completely reconstructed between 2000 and 2003. It replaced a 270,000-square-foot (25,000 m ) structure originally opened in 1951 with additions during the 1960s and early 1970s. The building was designed to mirror the USS Arizona (BB-39). A variety of sculptures pepper the premises, decorating the air with the chimes of dog tags or the colors of refracted light in honor of those who have served. A bell housed on
8058-461: The official management partner of the facility for research purposes since 2007. In 2018 UA received funding from the Pioneer Fund , a non-profit institute which promotes scientific racism and eugenics . The funds were applied for by Aurelio Jose Figueredo , who directs the graduate program on human behavior and evolutionary psychology. Funds from the grant were used by Figueredo to attend
8160-472: The police violence. The students were protesting against UA involvement with companies supporting the " genocide and ethnic cleansing in Palestine " and called for divestment . The main campus' 179 buildings sit on 380 acres (1.5 km ) in central Tucson, about one mile (1.6 km) northeast of downtown. Roy Place , a prominent Tucson architect, designed many of the early buildings, including
8262-431: The president and many other leaders at the university. In 2023, the University of Arizona faced a financial crisis, allegedly "losing track of more than $ 240 million through accounting errors and flawed financial projections." Subsequent investigative reporting by The Arizona Republic linked much of the crisis to the university's purchase of Ashford University, accusing university administrators of knowing that Ashford
8364-457: The reasons behind the split. "With Hawaii and the Texas schools separated by about 3,900 miles and four time zones, travel costs were a tremendous burden for WAC teams. The costs, coupled with lagging revenue and a proposed realignment that would have separated rivals such as Colorado State and Air Force, created unrest among the eight defecting schools." BYU and Utah would later leave the MWC for
8466-506: The region were added to the WAC, and UMKC (now known for athletic purposes as Kansas City ) departed the conference in 2020 for its former home of the Summit League . This left Chicago State, which does not sponsor football, as the only WAC member east of Texas. Chicago State's departure rendered Seattle University as the only WAC member institution not geographically located in the southwestern United States. On November 5, 2021, it
8568-576: The resulting eastward shift of the conference's geographic center led Hawaii to reduce travel expenses by becoming a football-only member of the MWC and joining the California-based Big West Conference for all other sports. Further invitations were then issued by the WAC to Seattle University and the University of Texas at Arlington . These changes meant that the conference would have 10 members for 2012–13, seven of which sponsored football, and Benson announced that
8670-459: The separate WAC league table. On the same day as the WAC's initial announcement, Chicago State University announced it would leave the WAC in June 2022. Chicago State was originally added in 2013 along with the University of Missouri–Kansas City , originally with an intention for both institutions to serve as anchors for a midwestern-centered division for the conference. No other universities in
8772-591: The six schools from both a competitive and financial standpoint. Arizona and Arizona State, in particular, experienced success in baseball with Arizona garnering the 1963 College World Series (CWS) runner-up trophy and ASU winning the CWS in 1965, 1967, and 1969. Colorado State and Texas–El Paso (UTEP), at that time just renamed from Texas Western College, were accepted in September 1967 (joined in July 1968) to bring membership up to eight. With massive growth in
8874-516: The state of Arizona, the balance of WAC play in the 1970s became increasingly skewed in favor of the Arizona schools, who won or tied for all but two WAC football titles from 1969 onward. In the summer of 1978, the two schools left the WAC for the Pac-8, which became the Pac-10, and were replaced in the WAC by San Diego State and, one year later, Hawaii . The WAC further expanded by adding Air Force in
8976-416: The summer of 1980. A college football national championship won by Brigham Young in 1984 added to the WAC's reputation. This nine-team line-up of the WAC defined the conference for nearly 15 years. Fresno State expanded its athletic program in the early 1990s and was granted membership in 1992 as the nationwide trend against major college programs independent of conferences accelerated. The WAC merged with
9078-549: The surface of Mars—a discovery confirmed by NASA in 2015. UA receives more NASA grants annually than the next nine top NASA- Jet Propulsion Laboratory -funded universities combined. As of March 2016 , the UA's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory is actively involved in ten spacecraft missions: Cassini VIMS; Grail; the HiRISE camera orbiting Mars; the Juno mission orbiting Jupiter; Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO); Maven, which will explore Mars' upper atmosphere and interactions with
9180-406: The top 4% of public universities in the nation. Arizona is the fourth most awarded public university by NASA for research. The UA was awarded over $ 325 million for its Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (LPL) to lead NASA's 2007–08 mission to Mars to explore the Martian Arctic, and $ 800 million for its OSIRIS-REx mission, the first in U.S. history to sample an asteroid. The LPL's work in
9282-483: The two conferences proposed an amendment to NCAA bylaws that would allow their partnership (and presumably any others of its kind) to receive an immediate FCS playoff berth. Utah Tech (formerly Dixie State) and Tarleton are included in alliance members' schedules, but are not eligible for the FCS playoffs until completing their Division I transitions in 2024; at least for 2021, games involving those two schools did not count in alliance standings, although both were included in
9384-517: The university after 25 years of service as an educator and administrator, including nearly one year in the interim president role; Robert N. Shelton , who began his tenure in 2006 and resigned in the summer of 2011 to accept the presidency of the Fiesta Bowl , (a BCS college football tournament played annually in the Phoenix area). Shelton's predecessor, Peter Likins , vacated his post at
9486-521: The university campus are referred to as "ARIZ" in the Index Herbarium. The campus also boasts hundreds of olive trees many of which were planted by Prof. Robert H. Forbes. Many of these trees are over a hundred years old. The University of Arizona, like its sister institutions Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University , is governed by the Arizona Board of Regents or the ABOR,
9588-599: The west entrance of Old Main honors the UA students who died in World War I, and dates back to 1919. The University of Arizona generates renewable energy with solar panels (photo voltaic) that have been installed on campus buildings. In 2011, the Sustainable Endowments Institute gave the university a College Sustainability Report Card grade of "B." In 2015, the university opened the ENR2, housing
9690-487: The world and the 2017/18 QS World University Rankings ranked it 230th. In 2015, Design Intelligence ranked the College of Architecture, Planning, and Landscape Architecture's (CAPLA) undergraduate program in architecture 10th in the nation for all universities, public and private. The same publication ranked UA ranked 20th in overall undergraduate architecture programs. Tuition for both fall and spring semesters at
9792-608: The world and 48 in the U.S. U.S. News & World Report 2025 Best College Rankings ranked the University of Arizona in Tucson No. 52 in U.S. top public universities in a tie with University of Oregon and Brigham Young University. Arizona State University in Tempe was ranked No. 61. The Center for World University Rankings in 2017 ranked Arizona No. 52 in the world and 34 in the U.S. The 2018 Times Higher Education World University Rankings rated University of Arizona 161st in
9894-580: Was always part of the Pacific Division, and quadrant four was always part of the Mountain Division. Quadrant two was part of the Pacific Division for 1996 and 1997 before switching to the Mountain Division in 1998, while the reverse was true for quadrant three. The scheduled fourth year of the alignment was abandoned after eight schools left to form the Mountain West Conference. The division champions in football met from 1996 to 1998 in
9996-429: Was announced that at the request of the U.S. Navy, who still officially owns the bell, and in the interest of preservation of the historic artifact, that the bell would no longer be rung. Much of the main campus has been designated an arboretum . Plants from around the world are labeled along a self-guided plant walk. The Krutch Cactus Garden includes the tallest Boojum tree in the state of Arizona. Two herbaria on
10098-621: Was experiencing "a downward enrollment spiral that began years before [the purchase] and dismal graduation and retention rates". In April 2024, the UA chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine joined student protests across the USA against the war in Gaza , during what they called “ Israeli Apartheid Week”. The encampment was attacked and dispersed by police firing rubber bullets, tear gas and pepper balls. Bystanders and press were also hurt in
10200-434: Was named as the lone finalist to succeed as president after Robbins announced his plans to step down at the end of his current contract, or before if a suitable successor was identified, during an ABOR meeting on April 2nd, 2024. Notable past presidents of the university include: Ann Weaver Hart who was the university's first female president, serving from 2012 to 2017; interim president Eugene Sander , who retired from
10302-545: Was renewed in August 2017, focusing on a partnership in geology and physics. Arizona has been part of both theoretical and experimental research in particle and nuclear physics in the framework of the CERN program since 1987. The collaboration was initiated by the theoretician Peter A. Carruthers , head of the physics department, and Johann Rafelski who initiated the quark-gluon-plasma program at CERN. Arizona officially joined
10404-439: Was reported that New Mexico State and Sam Houston would be leaving the WAC for Conference USA in 2023. The WAC responded by adding Incarnate Word from the Southland Conference and UT Arlington from the Sun Belt Conference ; however, UIW later reversed course and decided to stay with the SLC only days before the 2022-23 athletic season officially began. Lamar also announced that it too would return to its former home of
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