Team: Colorado State Rams
Stadium: Sonny Lubick Field at Hughes
Stadium
Conference: Mountain West
Sport: College Football
Background: Colorado State University
is a public land grant institution of higher learning
located in Fort Collins, Colorado in the United States.
It was founded in 1870 as the Agricultural College of
Colorado, and received its first students in 1879. The
current enrollment is approximately 22,000 students.
The university has approximately 1,400 faculty in eight
colleges and 55 academic departments.
The university mascot is the Ram, and the colors are
green and gold. Colorado State University's athletic
teams compete in the Mountain West Conference, which
is an NCAA Division I conference and sponsors Division
I-A football.
Colorado State has two major rivalries. The Rams' football
team plays the University of Colorado every year in
Denver in a game called the "Rocky Mountain Showdown."
Within the Mountain West, Colorado State has a big rivalry
with Air Force. The winner of the CSU-Air Force football
game receives the Ram-Falcon Trophy. Colorado State
also has an intraconference rivalry with Wyoming (the
"Border War"), with the winner of the annual
football game receiving a bronze boot.
History
Early Years
The act to create the university was signed
by Colorado Territory governor Edward McCook in 1870
arising from the Morrill Act. During the first years
of its official existence, the university existed only
a paper. A board of 12 trustees was formed to "purchase
and manage property, erect buildings, establish basic
rules for governing the institutions and employ buildings."
But the near complete lack of funding by the territorial
legislature for this mission severely hampered progress.
The first 30 acre (120,000 m²) parcel of land for
the campus was deeded in 1871 by Robert Dazell. In 1872,
the Larimer County Land Improvement Company contributed
a second 80 acre (320,000 m²) parcel. The first
$1000 to erect buildings was finally allocated by the
territorial legislature in 1874. The funds were not
sufficient, however, and trustees were required to find
a matching amount, which they eventually obtained from
local citizens and businesses.
External links
Official site (http://welcome.colostate.edu/)
History of CSU (http://welcome.colostate.edu/index.asp?url=history)
Official CSU athletics site (http://www.csurams.com/)