Western Connecticut State University

Western Connecticut State University

Type	Public State university
Established	1903
Endowment	$12.8 million
President	Dr. John B. Clark
Administrative staff	876 (223 full-time faculty, 308 part-time faculty)
Undergraduates	5,952
Postgraduates	510
Location	Danbury, Connecticut, USA 41°24′00″N 73°26′37″W / 41.399954°N 73.443584°W / 41.399954; -73.443584Coordinates: 41°24′00″N 73°26′37″W / 41.399954°N 73.443584°W / 41.399954; -73.443584
Campus	Urban, 398 acres (1.61 km2) on two campuses
Colors	Navy Blue and Rust Red
Athletics	NCAA Division III – Little East, ECAC
Sports	14 varsity teams
Nickname	Colonials
Mascot	Chuck the Colonial
Affiliations	Connecticut State University System
Website	www.wcsu.edu

Western Connecticut State University (also known as Western and WestConn or abbreviated to WCSU) is a public university located in Danbury, Connecticut. WCSU consists of four schools and one division: the Ancell School of Business (which includes the Justice & Law Administration program), the Macricostas School of Arts and Sciences, the School of Visual and Performing Arts, the School of Professional Studies and the Division of Graduate Studies. Founded in 1903, WCSU is part of the Connecticut State Colleges & Universities system, along with Eastern, Southern and Central Connecticut State universities, as well as a number of community colleges; between the four state universities, more than 34,000 students are enrolled.

WCSU is also home to the Jane Goodall Center for Excellence in Environmental Studies, which is the result of a partnership between WCSU and the Jane Goodall Institute (a private non profit organization that promotes research, education and wildlife conservation). The university’s Westside campus also houses the Ives Concert Park, one of the premier performance venues in the area.

Western started as a teachers' college, training the primary and secondary school educators for Connecticut's Fairfield County and surrounding areas. The school's name has changed over the years as it has focused on additional areas of study. First named the Danbury Normal School, in the 1950s it was called the Danbury State Teachers College. The college was renamed Danbury State College in 1959, then Western Connecticut State College in 1967, and finally, in 1983, Western Connecticut State University. In 2011, governance of the University was transferred to the Connecticut Board of Regents for Higher Education.

In 2012, the 14th Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso visited the university for two public talks. WCSU became home to the Center for Compassion, Creativity and Innovation, and is now officially one of two universities in the country to be recognized as a “University of Compassion” by the Compassion Action Network. The Sikyong (prime minister) of Tibet, Lobsang Sangay, also lectured at the university's midtown campus earlier that year.