Filmed on Tuesday, March 28, 2023, I drive around the campus of Indiana State University to see what's happening. It was spring break, so there was nobody around!
Indiana State University (ISU) is a public university in Terre Haute, Indiana. It was founded in 1865 and offers over 100 undergraduate majors and more than 75 graduate and professional programs.
Indiana State University was established by the Indiana General Assembly on December 20, 1865, as the Indiana State Normal School in Terre Haute.
Its location in Terre Haute was secured by a donation of $73,000 by Chauncey Rose. As the State Normal School, its core mission was to educate elementary and high school teachers. The school awarded its first baccalaureate degrees in 1908 and the first master's degrees in 1928.
In 1929, the Indiana State Normal School was renamed as the Indiana State Teachers College, and in 1961, it was renamed Indiana State College due to an expanding mission. In 1965, the Indiana General Assembly renamed the college as Indiana State University in recognition of increasing student population and expansion of degrees offered.
The Indiana State University main campus is located on the north side of Terre Haute's downtown business district and covers more than 200 acres in the heart of the city. The main campus comprises over 60 brick and limestone buildings, halls and laboratories.
Efforts to beautify the campus continue: a section of Seventh Street that runs by the university has been converted into a boulevard with flower beds and antique light posts; the old power plant was razed in 2002 and replaced with a modern facility; Stalker Hall reopened in fall 2005 after a complete renovation; Normal Hall, a Neo-Classic building erected in 1909, originally served as the library, was newly renovated in 2015.
In 2009, the university dedicated a more than 109,000-square-foot Student Recreation Center, financed via private funding and student fees, and the Bayh College of Education was relocated to the newly renovated, historic University Hall.
The Scott College of Business has relocated to the renovated former Terre Haute Federal Building, a classic Art Deco building built in 1933. In fall 2019, the Fine Arts Building was rededicated after a $15 million renovation begun in the summer of 2018.
The Hulman Center athletic arena is currently being renovated at an estimated cost of $50 million.
The school's athletic teams are known as the Sycamores. They participate in the Division I Missouri Valley Conference and NCAA FCS Missouri Valley Football Conference.
Athletically, it is known as the alma mater of basketball player Larry Bird; World Champion gymnast Kurt Thomas; and Olympic, World, and Pan-American Champion freestyle wrestler Bruce Baumgartner. Basketball coach John Wooden coached the Sycamores before accepting the head coaching position at UCLA.
ISU offers more than 100 programs in the Colleges of Arts & Sciences, Business, Education, Technology, and Health and Human Services. The College of Graduate and Professional Studies offers programs that lead to doctoral and master's degrees. Students can also pursue certificates in a concentrated area of study, enroll in professional development courses, and fulfill continuing education requirements. ISU also offers 20 bachelor's degrees, 22 master's degrees, and 7 doctoral degrees—in addition to many professional certifications—available through Indiana State Online.
The Sycamore Cup Tricycle Derby, a ten-lap race, was added to the growing list of homecoming events in 1963. Students rode children's tricycles around the "Quad." The winners were Reeve Hall for the women and Parsons Hall for the men.
The popularity of the race became such that students wanted to make the event more prestigious. Thus, in 1967 larger tricycles were customized using frames from Sting-Ray model bicycles. The race moved from the Quad to Marks Field adding more laps and introducing exchanges to make it more competitive. Riders then began conditioning exercises and practices.
Due to resurfacing of Marks Field in 1992, the race was moved to ISU's Driver Education Center at the Wabash Valley Fairgrounds located five miles south of campus.
Today, the race is held at Recreation East which was dedicated in Spring 2000 as the new home for Trike and Tandem races. #driving #travel #drivingtour
