Stetson University is a private, co-educational university in DeLand, Florida, United States, with secondary campuses in Celebration, Florida and St. Petersburg, Florida. It is one of the top four regional universities in the South according to the yearly US News and World Report college rankings.

Campus

Stetson's campus is situated right next to the historic downtown area of DeLand, Florida, about halfway between Orlando, Florida and Daytona Beach.

History

Stetson is Florida's first private university, founded in 1883 by Henry A. DeLand and called the DeLand Academy. John B. Stetson, whose name is also associated with the hats he manufactured, was a founding trustee of the university. In honor of his considerable gifts of effort and financial resources, the university was named after him in 1889.

In 1900, the law school was opened, making it the first law school in Florida. In 1960, Stetson became the first white college in Florida to admit a black student.

Organization

Today the university is located on 3 campuses:

DeLand (main) campus:

• School of Arts and Sciences
• School of Music
• School of Business
• Graduate College

There are over 60 undergraduate majors and minors offered on the main campus.

St. Petersburg Campus:

• College of Law

Celebration campus:

• Stetson Center at Celebration

Students

In 2004-05, there were 2,300 undergraduates and 400 graduate students enrolled at Stetson (not including the College of Law), from 44 states and over 47 foreign countries. 43% are male, 57% female.

Sports, clubs, and traditions

Stetson is a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference, Division I. There are varsity teams in crew, soccer, baseball (M), softball (W), basketball, golf, cross country, tennis, and volleyball (W).

Intramurals include the above sports as well as frisbee, water polo, swimming, bowling, flag football, table tennis, and other sports as determined by student interest.

There are 6 social sororities on campus: Alpha Chi Omega, Alpha Kappa Alpha, Alpha Xi Delta, Delta Delta Delta, Pi Beta Phi, and Zeta Tau Alpha . Also, 8 social fraternities: Alpha Phi Alpha, Alpha Tau Omega, Delta Sigma Phi, Lambda Chi Alpha, Phi Sigma Kappa, Pi Kappa Phi, Sigma Nu, and Sigma Phi Epsilon.

In addition to these, there are about 20 honorary organizations and over 100 other student organizations on campus.

Notable alumni

• Max Cleland, former U.S. Senator, head of U.S. Veterans' Administration
• George Winston, new age recording artist
• E. Clay Shaw, Jr., U.S. Representative
• Charles E. Merrill, co-founder of Merrill Lynch
• Kevin Nicholson, 2004 Olympian
• Lawrence R. Johnston , CEO, Albertsons
• Richard J. McKay , president and general manager, Atlanta Falcons

External links

• Stetson University (official site)
• Stetson University 2003-04 Fact Book (.pdf)