The University of Wyoming is one of sixty-eight
land-grant colleges created under the federal
Morrill Land-Grant Act. The bill signing the
University of Wyoming into law was enacted in 1886.
Under the Morrill Act, each state in the United
States received acreage grants of federal land.
This land was to be used or sold by the colleges to
fund each school. President Abraham Lincoln signed
the Morrill Land-Grant Act into law in 1862. The
first attempt to pass the act in 1859 was vetoed by
President James Buchanan. The first president of
the University of Wyoming was John Hoyt. The
University of Wyoming is a public college. It has
an endowment over $250 million. The trademarked
nickname of the university is “UW.” The UW has a
faculty staff of over 580 instructors. There are
about fifteen hundred people employed as staff for
the college. The University of Wyoming is the only
four-year college and offers the only graduate
program in the state of Wyoming. The school motto
is “New Thinking.” The campus is location in the
Albany County town of Laramie, Wyoming. Laramie is
about fifty miles west of Cheyenne off of Interstate-80
and about 130 north of Denver, Colorado. The
University of Wyoming has seven different
colleges. These colleges are agriculture,
business, engineering, arts and sciences,
education, law, and health science. Over
thirteen thousand students attend the school.
The college averages sixteen students to each
teacher and has an average class size of
thirty. The school colors for the UW are brown
and gold. The sports teams are called the
Cowboys and the Cowgirls. The two sports
mascots are the Cowboy Joe pony and the
character of Pistol Pete. The football teams
play on the Jonah Field of War Stadium. The
Arena houses the basketball events and
concerts. The Arena can hold nearly 15,000
fans and was built for $15 million in 1982. A
prominent feature on campus is the University
of Wyoming Art Museum. It is housed in the
Centennial Complex across from the Arena. The
design of this complex was completed by the
architect firm of Antoine Predock. Admission
to the facility is free. The William R. Coe
Library, which is the main library, and the
George William Hopper Law Library are both
located on the University of Wyoming campus.
The Half Acre Gym, located near the William
Coe Library, is a modern athletic club for all
on campus. Nearly 150 different student groups
are organized into areas of special interest.
The Old Main Building, that houses the office
of the college president, is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places.
Click Picture for Photo Album
Welcome to University
of Wyoming Views!
