History of Ohio State University
The Ohio State University was founded in 1870 as a land-grant university in accordance with the Morrill Act of 1862 under the name of Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College. Initially, it was thought that one of Ohio's two existing public universities (Ohio University and Miami University) would be designated as the land-grant institution, and each engaged in a vigorous competition to win over the state legislature. At the strong urging of Republican stalwart Governor Rutherford B. Hayes, however, it was ultimately decided to establish a new university to be located near the legislature in Columbus. Hayes' role in founding the university is recognized in Hayes Hall (named after Rutherford, not Woody), the oldest building still standing on the campus. Hayes later noted that the founding of Ohio State was one of his two greatest achievements—the other being Ohio's ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment.
The school was originally situated within a farming community located on the northern edge of Columbus, and was intended to matriculate students of various agricultural and mechanical disciplines. From its inception, a debate was waged between those in favor of broadening the university's focus to encompass the liberal arts and sciences and those who favored a more limited focus. Governor Hayes viewed the selection of the university's location as key to keeping the university free of excess influence by the state's agricultural interests. As such, he worked strongly behind the scenes to ensure that the campus would be located in the city of Columbus rather than the more agriculturally oriented towns of Springfield or Urbana. The campus' location near the state capital combined with Hayes' plan of an expanded board of trustees based upon one member from each of the state's congressional districts ensured that his vision for the new university's curriculum would be put into place. Subsequently, the new board of trustees voted on the spectrum of disciplines to be offered. The ("broad-gauge") faction was led by university trustee Joseph Sullivant. When the votes were completed, it had been decided to offer seven fields of study: agriculture, ancient languages, chemistry, geology, mathematics, modern languages, and physics. Only the ancient languages curriculum came down to a close vote, passing by a margin of 8–7. Later that year, the university welcomed its first class of twenty-four students, including three women. In 1878, and in light of its expanded focus, the college permanently changed its name to the now-familiar "The Ohio State University." To this day, "The" is part of Ohio State's official name.
Ohio State University
Ohio State is one of six universities (the University of Michigan, the University of Florida, Stanford University, UCLA, and the University of California at Berkeley being the others) to have won national championships in all three major men's sports (baseball, men's basketball, and football). Ohio State is also one of only two universities to appear in the national championship games in both football and men's basketball in the same calendar year (the other university is the University of Florida.) Ohio State has also won national championships in wrestling, men's volleyball, men's swimming & diving, men's outdoor track & field, men's golf, men's gymnastics, men's fencing, women's rowing, co-ed fencing, and multiple synchronized swimming championships. The Ohio State equestrian team has won eight Intercollegiate Horse Show Association national championships. Since the inception of the Athletic Director's Cup, Ohio State has finished in the top 25 each year, including top 6 finishes in three of the last five years. During the 2005–2006 school year Ohio State became the first Big Ten team to win conference championships in Football, Men's Basketball, and Women's Basketball. Ohio State repeated the feat during the 2006–2007 school year, winning solo championships in all three sports. In 2007, Sports Illustrated nicknamed Ohio State's athletic program as being "The Program" due to the unsurpassed facilities, an unparalleled number of men's and women's sports teams, their success, and the financial support of an impressive fan base.