Mulholland University

  

Mulholland University

Motto	Civitas super montem (Latin)
Motto in English	City upon a hill
Type	Private research
Established	1850
Endowment	$8.9 billion
Academic staff	3,232
Students	16,744 (2018)
Undergraduates	10,483
Postgraduates	6,261
Location	Porciúncula , Gold Coast , Sierra
Campus	Suburban area – 4,235 acres total
Colors	Gold      Red
Affiliations	AAAU AIUSC FAPUC URA
Mascot	Mulholland Rangers
Website	mulholland.edu.ks

Mulholland University is a Sierran private Pacific Ivy research university in the Westside neighborhood of Porciúncula, Gold Coast. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Western North America and is one of the five universities founded before the founding of Sierra. It is one of three private land grant universities in Sierra, receiving nearly $9 billion in endowment from the federal and provincial governments in 2017.

The university is organized into ten undergraduate schools and six professional schools, with each school maintaining its own admissions, curriculum, and standards. It includes 45 academic departments and interdisciplinary programs including 62 majors in humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and engineering, and graduate programs that focus on Law, Business, Medicine, Education, Art, and Theology. Its undergraduate program is one of Anglo-America's most selective and highly competitive by acceptance rate. Its 32 varsity sports team compete intercollegiately in the OCE-12 conference of AACA Division I.

Mulholland was founded originally as the Westridge Bible Seminary by American Methodists, an institution specializing in theology. For much of its early years, the seminary trained ministers according to the Methodist tradition before it gradually secularized, expanding its scope across multiple disciplines and secular fields, changing its name to Westridge College in 1856. After it disaffiliated from the Sierran Methodist Episcopal Church by withdrawing from the Association of Methodist Universities in 1912, the College was renamed Mulholland University and emerged as a leading educational center in Porciúncula. It played a significant role in the Sierran Cultural Revolution as the birthplace of the Pacific School, an intellectual school of thought that guided the direction and ideals of the Revolution. The university became coeducational in 1931 when it began admitting female students to its campus and schools.

As of September 2018, Mulholland is ranked the world's fifth best university by the Worldwide Registry of Universities Rankings, and is ranked 2nd worldwide in the K.S. Newstar Education Report, 4th best in the Academic Placement of International Universities, and 7th best in Calico Tech Rankings. Mulholland has educated many notable alumni, including 11 Nobel laureates, 9 prime ministers of Sierra, 17 royals, several of heads of state and government from throughout the world, 30 living billionaires, 249 Rhodes Scholars, and 197 Marshall Scholars. It has distinguished faculty in nearly every academic discipline, with 33 Nobel Prize winners, 12 Fields Medalists, and 6 Turing Award winners having studied, worked, researched, or fellowshipped at Mulholland. Its alumni has also produced 25 Academy Awards, 39 Pulitzer Awards, and 61 Olympic medalists (24 gold, 21 silver, and 16 bronze).

History

Mulholland was founded on March 12, 1850 by Harris Wallace Keagan, a Methodist minister from Astoria, Illinois, who wanted to educate young Methodist men interested in pursuing a life in the Christian ministry. He was a prolific evangelist who traveled westward alongside congregants seeking new lives on the North American West Coast. Keagan and his followers established Westridge Bible Seminary on the northeastern foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains.

The initiating class in 1850 consisted of "27 Americans, 7 Mexicans, 5 Indians, and 2 Negroes", all male students, and was one of the few mixed-race educational institutions at the time in North America. Students were admitted into the seminary for free, as their tuition was sponsored by the tithes and offerings of local Methodist churches, including Keagan's own congregation nearby. The school struggled with its finances during its incipient years. The lack of trained faculty and resources resulted in limited amount of seats for prospective students. By 1856, the seminary had expanded its scope and was renamed Westridge College, offering courses and degrees in the humanities and sciences.

In 1862, following a visit to the campus by King Charles I, the university began receiving annual endowments from Parliament. The administrative staff became close friends with the King, who was impressed by the students attending the campus. At Charles I's urging, Mulholland and similar institutions nationwide were to receive financial support from Parliament in order to increase Sierra's academic prestige and scholarly landscape.

During the Sierran Civil War, the university closed as most of its students and some faculty members were drafted into the war. The university provided its campus to the government voluntarily where it converted temporarily into a military training base. The dormitory halls were converted into barracks and its athletic field was expanded to accommodate the need for field exercises and marches.

After the war, the university invested more funding and attention to its athletic program, which included American football. It began admitting students whose primary intention and goal was to play for the university's sports team, thus pioneering the tradition of modern Anglo-American collegiate athleticism in Sierra.

The university also expanded by creating a medical school in 1880, a law school in 1887, a fine arts school in 1890, a music school in 1897, a business school in 1901, and an economics school in 1906.

Campus

The campus of Mulholland University encompasses approximately 4,235 acres (1714 ha) that are situated atop the eastern slopes of the Santa Monica Mountains overlooking Porciúncula's Bel Air and Encino neighborhoods. The buildings on campus are designed and built according to the Mission Revival style with noticeable East Asian influences. The current design of the school is based on the principles of the Pacific School, a school of thought that was founded at Mulholland University and was a major influencer and force on the Sierran Cultural Revolution.

The oldest building still standing on the campus is Stearns Hall, which was completed in 1872 and was the only building that survived the 1920 Encino earthquake. In the 1930s, Mulholland University saw its campus expand drastically, growing from 30 acres to over 200 by the end of the decade. The expansion includes the twin 57-feet bell towers that face each other at Perry Hall. The second major period of expansion and renovation occurred in the 1980s when the Mulholland University Campus Annex and new student housing complexes were added. Recent additions in the 21st century include the Judith L. Fonseca Library, the Murphy Klein Laboratory, and the Bruder Athletic Center.

Administration and organization

Mulholland University is governed by the Mulholland Corporation, a body which comprises 23 members, including a president, the ex officio Lord Superintendent of the Gold Coast, and members elected by Mulholland alumni. There are nearly 9,000 faculty and staff which work at Mulholland University, including professors, lecturers, instructors, and other fellows.

The Mulholland College of Arts and Sciences is the largest school and its faculty oversees instruction for Mulholland's ten undergraduate schools, as well as two of Mulholland's graduate and professional schools. The four other graduate schools maintain their own faculties.

Notable alumni and faculty

Nine K.S. prime ministers have graduated from Mulholland University including Robert Landon, Poncio Salinas, Franklin Tan, Henry Faulkner, Walter Zhou, Mitchell Ford, Ted Brundy, Melinda Peters, and Diana Jeong. Several K.S. deputy prime ministers, Supreme Court justices, and prominent K.S. legislators are also alumni including current Chief Justice Preston Brantley, Senate Majority Leader Marcus Gutierrez, and House Leader of the Opposition Margaret Chan.

Mulholland graduates played a leading role in the Sierran Cultural Revolution and the related Pacific School movement including Mark Culler, Lincoln Tsukamoto, Sophia Wu, Edmond Xu, and Francis Chin.

Notable graduates of Mulholland's Graham College of Engineering include astronauts Chance Kipley, William Price, and Lorenzo Fuentes, former Chairman of Cabrillo Technologies Ezekiel Musgrave, and former Surveyor General Wallace Stanton-Hill .

See also

• List of universities in Sierra
• Education in Sierra