Quinnipiac University is a private, nonsectarian, coeducational university located in Hamden, Connecticut, at the foot of Sleeping Giant State Park. The university grants undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees through its College of Arts and Sciences; School of Business; School of Communications; School of Health Sciences; School of Law; College of Professional Studies; and School of Education.
History
Quinnipiac University, pronounced (KWIN-uh-pee-ack), was founded in 1929 by Samuel W. Tator, a business professor and politician. Judge Phillip Troup, a Yale College graduate, and Tator's wife, Irmagarde Tator, a Mount Holyoke College graduate, also played major roles in the fledgling institution's founding and nurturing--the former became its first president until his death in 1939; the latter, its first bursar.
Quinnipiac was conceived in reaction to Northeastern University's abandonment of its New Haven, Connecticut program at the onset of The Great Depression. Originally, Quinnipiac was located in New Haven, called Connecticut College of Commerce, and awarded only associate's degrees. On opening its doors in 1929, it enrolled under 200, and its first graduating class featured only eight students. In 1935, the college changed its name to Junior College of Commerce.
From 1943-1945, the college closed--nearly its entire student body was drafted into World War II. Upon re-opening, the college's enrollment nearly quadrupled--to approximately 800 students.
In 1951, the institution was renamed Quinnipiac College, in honor of the Quinnipiack Indian tribe that once inhabited Greater New Haven. That same year, Quinnipiac began to confer bachelor's degrees. In 1952, Quinnipiac expanded rapidly, both physically and in terms of curriculum--relocating to a larger campus in New Haven, and also assuming administrative control of Larson College, a private women's college.
In 1966, having outgrown its campus in New Haven, Quinnipiac moved to its current campus in Hamden, Connecticut's Mount Carmel section, at the foot of Sleeping Giant Park. Quinnipiac's relatively uniform, predominantly red-brick architecture results from much of it being built at (or around) this time. During the 1970s, Quinnipiac began to offer master's degrees in a variety of disciplines.
Aerial View of Quinnipiac's Mount Carmel Campus
Until the 1990s, Quinnipiac remained primarily a regional commuter college; however, this changed during the following decade. In 1995, after having been courted by several other universities, the University of Bridgeport's law school migrated to Quinnipiac. The Law School chose Quinnipiac because it offered long-term financial stability. That same year, the American Bar Association accredited Quinnipiac to award the Juris Doctor degree. The Quinnipiac School of Law Center was dedicated later that year. Also during the mid-1990s, Quinnipiac's journalism and business programs, respectively, built state-of-the-art facilities and recruited several nationally-known professors. Media attention followed, as Quinnipiac's Polling Institute was noted for excellence by several prominent journalistic outlets, and often cited during the 1998 and 2000 election campaigns.
On July 1, 2000, the school officially changed its name to Quinnipiac University--to reflect its relatively new breadth in academic offerings. That same year, Quinnipiac University received accreditation by AACSB.
Currently, Quinnipiac offers 51 undergraduate majors, 20 graduate concentrations, and a JD program. Its most highly regarded undergraduate and graduate programs are in business, journalism/communications, and health sciences. Frequently, the Polling Institute garners Quinnipiac national media attention.
To enhance Quinnipiac's journalism and communications programs, the university operates several media outlets--a professionally-run, commercial radio station WQUN, and a student-run FM radio station WQAQ, which also streams on the Internet; a student-run television station, Q30, which can be seen only on campus; and a student-produced newspaper, The Chronicle, which was established in 1929 and publishes 2,500 copies every Wednesday.
Notably, Quinnipiac is home to one of the world's largest collections of art commemorating the Great Irish Famine. The collection is contained in the Lender Family Special Collection room located in the Arnold Bernhard library.
Currently, Quinnipiac is developing two new campuses--a campus across Hamden's Whitney Avenue, on York Hill, will house a sports complex, a student center, and undergraduate residence halls--it is slated for completion in 2012. Also, recently Quinnipiac has purchased a 100-acre parcel in North Haven, Connecticut, which will eventually become the headquarters for many of Quinnipiac's graduate programs.
Admissions
For the undergraduate class of 2011, Quinnipiac admitted 5,669 of the 12,049 applicants who applied (47%). 1,350 (24%) of those admitted enrolled. 62% of the class is female; 38% is male. 90% of the Quinnipiac's class of 2011 ranked in the top half of their high school class; 55% ranked in the top quarter; 22% ranked in the top tenth. Most students hail from from the American Northeast: New York (29%), Connecticut (21%), New Jersey (19%), and Massachusetts (18%). One percent (1%) of the class of 2011 is international. 70% receive financial aid.
Generally, Quinnipiac's Office of Admissions seeks the following characteristics in undergraduate applicants: a 3.5/4.0 GPA and a combined SAT score of approximately 1850.
Quinnipiac Polling Institute
Quinnipiac's Polling Institute receives national recognition for its independent surveys of residents throughout the United States. It conducts public opinion polls on politics and public policy as a public service--and for academic research.
The poll has been cited by major news outlets throughout North America and Europe, including The Washington Post [1], FOX News [2], USA Today [3], The New York Times [4], CNN [5], and Reuters[6].
Noteworthy Quinnipiac alumni
- Murray Lender - Lender Bagels
- Daniel M. Petriw - associate director II; ESPN, 2 time Emmy Award winner for best daily show; SportsCenter
- William C. Weldon - Chairman & CEO of Johnson and Johnson
- Turk Wendell - former Major League Baseball pitcher
- Paula Meronek - former cast member of MTV's "Real World:Key West"
Accolades
- Quinnipiac is featured in the 2009 edition of the Princeton Review guide "Best 368 Colleges."[2]
- U.S. News & World Report’s 2008 America’s Best Colleges issue[3] has, for the twelfth consecutive year, named Quinnipiac as one of the best universities in the country.
- 2008 - U.S. News & World Report has ranked Quinnipiac 12th in the northern universities master’s region.[4]
- Featured in 2008 edition of "Best 290 Business Schools" by Princeton Review[5].
- Quinnipiac's School of Business[6] is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International.[7]
- PC Magazine[8] and the Princeton Review [9] to rate Quinnipiac as number nine in 2007's Top 20 Wired Colleges.
- The School of Law[10] was ranked 108 in the most recent U.S. News and World Report rankings[11].
John S. Ginnetti - Class of 1996 - Restaurateur in New Haven, Connecticut (owner 116 Crown)
External links
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