Troy University is a public university located in Troy, Alabama and founded in 1887, as "Troy Normal School". The main campus enrollment as of the fall of 2007 is 6,177 On April 16, 2004, the Board of Trustees voted to change the name of the institution from Troy State University to Troy University. The transition to the new name was completed in August 2005 concurrent with the merger of all the associated satellite campuses into a single, unified system and administration. Trustees say they believe the name change will allow the university system to reflect its quality, funding sources and global mission better.

The name change is the fifth in the school's history. When created by the Alabama Legislature on February 26, 1887, it was officially named the Troy State Normal School. The school was located in downtown Troy until moving to the present location in 1930. In 1929, the name was changed to Troy State Teachers College and it subsequently conferred its first baccalaureate degree in 1931. In 1957, the legislature voted both to change the name to Troy State College and to allow it to begin a master's degree program. The name was changed once again in 1967 to Troy State University.

The Troy University System includes three other campuses in the state of Alabama in Dothan, Montgomery, and Phenix City. The university also has a very large off-campus/distance learning program and offers many courses in conjunction with the United States Armed Forces.

The Princeton Review recognizes Troy University as "One of the Best in the Southeast". It can boast the 63rd best graduate school, and is ranked among the top in many other categories. Troy University is one of the only schools in the country that offers a masters level degree in Health Care Administration and a Masters in Human Resource Management. Troy's broadcast journalism program has a sterling reputation and the university's student-led television news broadcast took home the Southeast's top spot at the most recent 2007/2008 awards banquet at the University of Mississippi. In 2008, Troy University was ranked as the 25th best university in the United States for international students by the Institute of International Education. Troy University is home to the state of Alabama's first and only bachelor of science degree program in deaf-interpreting. Troy's learning center in Atlanta, Georgia, offers one of the only certification programs in polygraph science in the country. Graduates of Troy's nursing program consistently have the highest pass rates on the state of Alabama nursing boards. In December 2007, the Alabama Commission on Higher Education gave Troy University the approval to begin the university's first doctoral program; the Doctorate in Nursing Practice.

The Troy University Montgomery campus located in downtown Montgomery is home to the award-winning Rosa Parks Library and Museum.

Troy University is home to the first Confucius Institute in the state of Alabama. The Confucius Institute will begin full operations in the fall of 2008 on the main campus in Troy.

As of May 2008, Troy University is in the early stages of a comprehensive capital campaign called "Building Beyond Boundaries" that will target massive fundraising efforts across all areas of the university.

Athletics

Troy University football began playing in the NCAA's Division I-A in 2001, became a football only member of the Sun Belt Conference in 2004, and joined the conference for all other sports in 2005. In 2001, Troy defeated Mississippi State University at Scott Field in Starkville, Mississippi, by a count of 21-9 to notch the Trojans' first victory over a BCS level program. Troy has beaten both the University of Missouri and Oklahoma State University of the Big XII in 2004 and 2007 at Movie Gallery Veterans Stadium on the Troy University campus. The Trojan football team made its first bowl game appearance in the Silicon Valley Football Classic on December 30, 2004, but lost to Northern Illinois, 34-21. In 2006, Troy won the Sun Belt Conference for the first time after defeating Middle Tennessee in dramatic fashion toward the end of the 2006 season. Troy represented the Sun Belt conference in the 2006 New Orleans Bowl where the Trojans defeated the Rice Owls of Conference USA by a score of 41-17. Troy won the NAIA national football championship in 1968 and the NCAA Division II national football championship in 1984 and 1987.

Troy football head coach Larry Blakeney is entering his 18th season as head coach. He has led the program to three Southland Football League titles and two Sun Belt Conference titles, as well as guided the Trojans to seven FCS playoff appearances and two FBS bowl games. Blakeney boasts an overall record of 136-68-1 as head coach at Troy. Blakeney is the winningest coach in the Troy University history and he is the 4th winningest collegiate coach all-time in the state of Alabama, only behind greats Paul "Bear" Bryant, Cleve Abbott, and Ralph "Shug" Jordan. Blakeney is just one of two coaches to ever take a football program from Division II to I-A (the other is UCF’s Gene McDowell).

The Troy University men's basketball team is under the direction of head coach Don Maestri. Head coach Don Maestri is the winningest coach in Troy University history and he has won numerous conference coach-of-the-year awards during his tenure at Troy University. On January 12, 1992, Troy defeated DeVry University of Atlanta by the score of 258-141, in what is the highest scoring game in college basketball history. The Trojans competed in the 2003 NCAA tournament in Nashville against Xavier University. In 2004, Troy was an NIT participant in a matchup against Niagara University. In 2008, Don Maestri was inducted into the Wiregrass Sports Hall of Fame at a ceremony in Dothan, AL.

The Troy University women's basketball team is currently under the direction of head coach Michael Murphy. The women's basketball program last competed in the NCAA tournament in 1997 under the direction of then head coach, Jerry Hester.

The Troy University baseball team won two Division II national championships in 1986 and 1987 under the leadership of legendary baseball coach Chase Riddle. One of Troy's most significant victories in baseball came in April 1998 when the Trojans knocked off the #3 nationally ranked University of Alabama Crimson Tide by a score of 8-4 at Riddle-Pace Field on the Troy campus. under the direction of current head coach Bobby Pierce, the Trojan baseball program has competed in the NCAA Division One tournament in 2006 and 2007. Troy also competed in the 1995 and 1997 NCAA Division One tournament under then head coach John Mayotte.

Troy University has one of the top collegiate rodeo programs east of the Mississippi River. The program's governing body is the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association. The rodeo program's home facility is the Pike County Cattlemen's Arena in Troy where it hosts a three-day rodeo each October that features college rodeo programs from throughout the southern region of the United States. Troy University calf roper, Ben Mayworth, won the 2007 national title in Casper, Wyoming, at the National Finals Collegiate Rodeo.

Prior to becoming a member of NCAA Division One athletics in 1993, Troy University was a member of the Gulf South Conference of the NCAA Division II ranks. Troy's primary rivals were Jacksonville State University, Livingston University (now the University of West Alabama), and the University of North Alabama. Troy University's athletics nickname was the Red Wave until the early 1970's when the student body voted to change the name to Trojans after many felt that Red Wave was too similar to the University of Alabama's nickname, the Crimson Tide.

Student Life

There are currently nine sororities at Troy University. Alpha Kappa Alpha, Delta Sigma Theta, Zeta Phi Beta, and Sigma Gamma Rho represent the National Pan-Hellenic Council while Chi Omega, Alpha Delta Pi, Phi Mu, Kappa Delta, and Alpha Gamma Delta make up the National Panhellenic Conference.

There are currently several fraternal organizations on campus: Alpha Tau Omega, Delta Chi, Lambda Chi Alpha, Tau Kappa Epsilon, FarmHouse, Pi Kappa Phi, and Sigma Chi. The school's chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon has been reinstated as of April 2008 and will restart operations as a new colony in the fall of 2008. A recent colony of Kappa Sigma fraternity has been removed from campus by the national fraternity office because it did not meet the requirments to establish a full chapter. Alpha Phi Alpha, Kappa Alpha Psi, Omega Psi Phi, and Phi Beta Sigma make up the National Pan-Hellenic Council fraternities at Troy University. Troy is also home to a chapter of the Christian fraternity Gamma Phi Delta.

There are five Greek organizations that function under the supervision of the John M Long school of music: Phi Mu Alpha, Kappa Kappa Psi, Sigma Alpha Iota, Tau Beta Sigma, and Phi Boota roota.

The university is home to numerous religious campus organizations such as the Wesley Foundation, Baptist Campus Ministries, Pentecostal Campus Ministries, and the Christian Student Center (Church of Christ), all of which have stand-alone physical facilities on the Troy campus.

The Tropolitan

The school newspaper, the Tropolitan (commonly referred to as "The Trop"), is located on the bottom floor of Wallace Hall. It is a weekly publication, written and produced entirely by students. The Palladium, is located in adjacent offices in the same building.

Also located in Wallace Hall is Troy University Television, also referred to as TrojanVision. Troy University Television is unique in that it broadcasts two live entirely student produced newscasts at noon and five o'clock daily, one of the few universities in the area to do so.

The "Sound of the South" Marching Band

Troy University Fight Song

Here's to the school we love

We are Trojans, one and all

We will always cheer for victory,

And you'll never let us fall

GO! GO! GO!

Cheers to T-R-O-Y

We are with you all the way

So get out there team

And FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT

And win today

Music is an integral part of Troy University. The university boasts 29 faculty in the School of Music, over 200 undergraduate music majors, and fields a variety of music ensembles including a Symphonic Band, two Concert Bands, two Jazz Bands, a Trumpet Ensemble, Pep Band, Brass Quintet, and more.

The Sound of the South plays halftime shows at all Troy home football games and many of the away games. The band is noted for traveling as much as the football team, some recent trips were University of Nebraska, University of Miami, University of Arkansas, Mississippi State University, University of Florida, University of Georgia, and Florida State University. The Sound has been featured at numerous bowl games, including the Peach Bowl, the Senior Bowl, the Blue-Gray Football Classic, the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, and has also been featured in halftime performances for the Atlanta Falcons, Miami Dolphins, New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Over the past two years, the band has performed for over 450,000 fans.

The band has recorded for the Warner Brothers Marching Band Promotional Compact Disc since 1998, which is distributed to over 38,000 bands. This is thanks in part to current director of bands Ralph Ford who has composed and arranged over 130 pieces of music for symphonic band, concert band, jazz band, and marching band

Trojan Oaks Golf Course

Troy University maintains a 9-hole championship golf course on the campus for use by the general public, golf team, and students. Students are given a discount on Tuesday and Wednesday to encourage teenage and young adult participation in the sport.

The Trojan Oaks is 3,211 yards from the longest tee. The par for the course is 36 with a course rating is 35.5 and a slope rating of 125 The course was built and opened in 1977 under the supervision of Chancellor Ralph Wyatt Adams. The greens and fairways are both Bermuda Grass.

Campus Features

• Trojan Oaks Golf Course
• National Band Association Hall of Fame of Distinguished Band Conductors located in the Hawkins-Adams-Long Hall of Honor
• Confucius Institute

Notable Alumni

• DeMarcus Ware, an All-Pro NFL linebacker for the Dallas Cowboys
• Osi Umenyiora, an All-Pro NFL defensive end for the Super Bowl XLII champion New York Giants
• Lawrence Tynes, a Scottish-American NFL placekicker for the Super Bowl XLII champion New York Giants
• Brannon Condren, an NFL safety for the Indianapolis Colts
• Alfred Malone, an NFL defensive tackle for the Green Bay Packers on the practice squad
• Al Lucas, a former NFL and Arena Football League linebacker
• Virgil Seay, a former NFL wide receiver player and Super Bowl XVII champion
• Derrick Moore, a former NFL player and current chaplain for the Georgia Tech football team
• Fred Hatfield, a former MLB infielder
• Mackey Sasser, a former MLB catcher
• Lynne Koplitz, a stand-up comedian and actress
• Jill Dobson, a Fox News Channel entertainment correspondent
• Tom Foreman, a CNN political correspondent and host of This Week at War and This Week in Politics
• Anthony Henton, a former NFL Linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers
• Leodis McKelvin, first Troy University NCAA Division I-A first-team all-american football player and current cornerback for the Buffalo Bills
• Marcus Richardson, a linebacker for the Houston Texans
• Chris Bradwell, an NFL defensive lineman for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• Elbert Mack, an NFL defensive back for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• Sim Byrd, former All-American football player, quarterback for the 1968 NAIA national champions, and 2008 inductee into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame
• Rick Moody, former longtime head women's basketball coach at the University of Alabama
• Robbie Laing, head men's basketball coach at Campbell University
• J. Kelley Hall, head women's basketball coach at the University of Cincinnati
• Wendy Koford, 1994, TROY-Dothan campus graduate, VP of Finance/CFO of Florida Credit Union
• Mike Turk, former All-American football player, quarterback for the 1987 NCAA Division II national champions, and current head football coach at Huntingdon College
• Kerry Jenkins, a former NFL offensive lineman for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Super Bowl XXXVII champion
• Col. Kevin Kregel (USAF), NASA astronaut and mission commander for the February 2000 mission of the Space Shuttle Endeavour
• Dr. Manley Johnson, former vice chairman of the Board of Governors of the U.S. Federal Reserve
• Troy King, current attorney general for the state of Alabama
• Phil Robinson, referee in the National Basketball Association
• Dr. William Novick, internationally known pediatric cardiac surgeon
• McDowell Lee, longtime secretary of the Alabama Senate
• Bobby Bright, current mayor of Montgomery, Alabama
• John Harrison, current state superintendent of banking for the state of Alabama and current member of the Troy University board of trustees
• Bryan Wallace, Southeast U.S. District Manager for the Australian Trade Commission (Austrade)
• Bobby Jon Drinkard, two-time contestant on Survivor: Palau and Survivor: Guatemala television show, Cosmopolitan Magazine bachelor of the year for Alabama in 2003, runway model for Calvin Klein, played role in We Are Marshall, and current host/producer of On the Job on Alabama Public Television
• Vecepia Towery, contestant and winner of Survivor: Marquesas television show
• Ted Sullivan, 2008/2009 Top 100 Irish-American business leaders in Irish-America Magazine
• Tiffany Goss, country music recording artist/songwriter in Nashville, TN
• Ambre Lake, actress/model and winning contestant on VH1's Rock of Love in April 2008
• Herbert "Moo" Evans, current member of the world famous Harlem Globetrotters

External links

• Troy University Main Campus
• Troy University Athletics
• Troy University eCampus
• Troy University Dothan Campus
• Troy University - Montgomery Campus
• Troy University - Phenix City Campus
• Troy University Official Newspaper of Troy University

References