| Southern Methodist University | |
|---|---|
 | |
| City: | University Park, Texas |
| Type: | Private |
| Sports: | basketball, cross country, equestrian, football, golf, rowing, soccer, swim and dive, tennis, track and field, volleyball[1] |
| Colors: | red, blue |
| Mascot: | Peruna (Mustangs) |
| Website: | http://www.smu.edu/ |
Southern Methodist University (or SMU) is a Texas private university founded in 1911 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.[2] The school ranked #67 in US News's 2008 "National Universities: Top Schools" list.[3]
History
The school was founded by what is now the United Methodist Church (though it now only has nominal ties to them).[2] It opened its doors in 1915.[2] On February 22, 2008, the school was chosen as the site of the George W. Bush Presidential Center - the presidential library - partly because First Lady Laura Bush was an alumna.[4]
Athletics
The SMU football program has won 4 bowl games (while losing 6) and 1 national championship.[5] However, its football program was also the center of one of the largest scandals in NCAA history, the "Pony Express" scandal claiming illegal payments to players, resulting in the school receiving the "death penalty" for one year.[6]
In addition the basketball team under former coach Dave Bliss was accused of illegal payments; the scandal was uncovered while Bliss was under investigation for his cover-up of similar payments at Baylor University, ultimately resulting in his forced resignation at Baylor and his essentially being blackballed from NCAA coaching.
In 2024 it joined the Atlantic Coast Conference; in an unusual agreement, it agreed to take only nominal revenue from the conference's television rights for an astounding nine years (but, as many of its alumni are "filthy rich, old money", it is not expected to have an adverse effect on its on-field performance).
References
- ↑ The Official Site of SMU Athletics (English). Southern Methodist University.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 SMU Facts (English). Southern Methodist University.
- ↑ National Universities: Top Schools (English). US News.
- ↑ Anna Driver (2008-02-22). SMU chosen as site for Bush's presidential library (English). Reuters.
- ↑ SMU FOOTBALL HISTORY DATABASE (English). National Champs.
- ↑ In NCAA terminology this meant the team could not play any games for one year; the penalties in the following year were so severe that the school voluntarily chose not to play for that year as well. The program would not recover from the scandal until 2024, when (in its first year as a member of the "Power 5" Atlantic Coast Conference) it made the conference championship game.