A whole lot more than just a university
The UI is home to world-renown writers, historical firsts, and the state’s largest library system. It’s been around a long time, so it’s bound to have some interesting facts.
Here’s our top 20:
1. The UI was the first public university in the United States to admit men and women on an equal basis when it opened in 1855.
2. The first University Hospital opened with 50 beds on Jan. 11, 1898. Today, the UI Hospitals and Clinics has expanded to 680 beds and is nationally recognized.
3. The UI Libraries system has more than 5 million volumes and is Iowa’s largest library system.
4. The College of Education building is named after UI professor, and inventor of the ACT test, E.F. Lindquist.
5. Carver-Hawkeye Arena can seat 15,500 people and is one of the 15 largest university-owned arenas in the nation.
6. There are more than 600 student groups on campus.
7. The wrestling team has won 21 national titles and 32 Big Ten championships.
8. Iowa City used to be the capital of Iowa before Des Moines became the capital in 1857.
9. Stanley Hall converted from female-only to coed beginning in the fall of 1991.
10. Historic flooding in the summer of 2008 forced the UI to cancel 40 percent of its summer conferences.
11. The university was one of the first institutions in America to grant a law degree to a woman and an African American.
12. The UI Law Library is ranked No. 1 in the nation.
13. The trampoline was invented by Hawkeye gymnastics assistant coach George Nissen and Larry Griswold, a member of the gymnastics team, in the mid-1930s.
14. Many notable writers have attended the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, including Flannery O’Conner, Raymond Carver, James Alan McPherson, and T.C. Boyle.
15. The Daily Iowan was the first daily campus newspaper west of the Mississippi River.
16. The UI was the first state university to officially recognize the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Allied Union, in 1970.
17. In 1897, North Hall suffered a devastating fire, caused by lightning. The building — the UI’s library at the time — held roughly 25,000 books.
18. The 10 most popular undergraduate majors are: interdepartmental studies, political science, art and art history, nursing, business, engineering, psychology, English, biology, and communication studies.
19. On Nov. 20, 2001, fire hit the Old Capitol dome, destroying it and its bell. It took five years to repair the damage.
20. In November 2008, the U.N. Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization designated Iowa City the world’s third and America’s first City of Literature.
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