University of Denver

University of Denver

Former names	Colorado Seminary (1864-1880)
Motto	"Pro Scientia et Religione" ('For Science and Religion' or 'Knowledge and Spirit')
Type	Private
Established	1864
Affiliation	Nonsectarian; founded by Methodists
Academic affiliation	NAICU IAMSCU
Endowment	$607 million (March 2016)
Chancellor	Rebecca Chopp
Academic staff	1,259 (2009 Fall)
Administrative staff	1,628 (2009 Fall)
Students	11,797 (2015 Fall)
Undergraduates	5,758 (2015 Fall)
Postgraduates	6,039 (2015 Fall)
Location	Denver, Colorado, U.S.
Campus	Urban/Residential 125 acres (0.51 km2)
Colors	Crimson and Gold
Nickname	Pioneers
Sporting affiliations	NCAA Division I – The Summit
Website	www.du.edu

The University of Denver (DU) is a coeducational, four-year university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. DU enrolls approximately 5,600 undergraduate students and 6,100 graduate students. The 125-acre (0.51 km²) main campus is a designated arboretum and is located primarily in the University Neighborhood, about five miles (8 km) south of downtown Denver.

On March 3, 1864, John Evans, former Governor of the Colorado Territory, appointee of President Abraham Lincoln, founded the Colorado Seminary in order to help "civilize" the newly created (1858) city of Denver, which was then a mining camp. The seminary was founded as a Methodist institution and struggled in the early years of its existence. In 1880 it was renamed the University of Denver. Although doing business as the University of Denver, DU is still legally named Colorado Seminary. The first buildings of the university were located in downtown Denver in the 1860s and 1870s, but concerns that Denver's rough-and-tumble frontier town atmosphere was not conducive to education prompted a relocation to the current campus, built on the donated land of potato farmer Rufus Clark, some seven miles (11 km) south of the downtown core. The university grew and prospered alongside the city's growth, appealing primarily to a regional student body prior to World War II. After the war, the large surge in GI bill students pushed DU's enrollment to over 13,000 students, the largest the university has ever been, and helped to spread the university's reputation to a national audience.

The heart of the campus has a number of historic buildings. The longest-standing building is University Hall, built in the Romanesque Revival style which has served DU since 1890. The cornerstone to this building is exactly one mile above sea level. Just a few blocks off campus sits the historic Chamberlin Observatory, opened in 1894. Still a fully operational observatory, it is open to the public twice a week as well as one Saturday a month.