Wayne State College is a four-year public college in the Nebraska State College System in Wayne, Nebraska, United States. The current enrollment is 3,571. The college opened as a State Normal School in 1910 after the State purchased the private Nebraska Normal College (established 1891). The State Normal College became State Normal School and Teacher's College in 1921. This was changed to Nebraska State Teachers College at Wayne in 1949 and the present name was adopted in 1963.
Academics
Wayne State offers 90 different programs of study in four Schools: Arts and Humanities, Business and Technology, Education and Counseling, and Natural and Social Sciences. Wayne State also offers classes at Northeast Community College in Norfolk, Nebraska.
Athletics
Wayne State offers 11 NCAA Division II sports and is a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference in all sports. The mascot is the Wildcat. Men's sports include Baseball, Basketball, Cross Country, Football, Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field. Women's sports include basketball, Cross country running, Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field, Softball, Volleyball, and Soccer.
The college began participating in athletics in 1912, when the football program began. Men's basketball and track and field began around the same time. These were the main sports up to World War II, when Wayne State was a member of the Nebraska Intercollegiate Athletic Association (NIAA) with Kearney, Chadron, Peru, and for a while, Omaha University. After World War II, the NIAA became the Nebraska College Conference (NCC) and Wayne State began to compete in baseball, cross country, golf, swimming, tennis, wrestling, and for a short period, boxing.
Before 1980, cross country, golf, indoor track and field, swimming, tennis, and wrestling were dropped. In 1997, women's soccer was added to the athletics program.
Notable alumni
- Byron Chamberlain, NFL and Pro Bowl tight end
- Lamart Cooper, American football player
- Greg L. Adams, state senator and Speaker of the Nebraska Legislature.
- Charlie Janssen, state senator in the Nebraska Legislature.
- James Keogh, journalist and political adviser. Assistant managing editor of Time, Special Assistant to President Richard Nixon, Director, U.S. Information Agency.
- John H. Kyl, U.S. political figure. Member of the House of Representatives from Iowa's Fourth Congressional District 1959â€"1965, 1967â€"1973. Asst. Secretary, Dept. of the Interior, 1973â€"1977. Father of Arizona Senator Jon Kyl.
- Hilda Neihardt, history author and daughter of John G. Neihardt
- John Neihardt, writer and poet. Poet Laureate of Nebraska, author of Black Elk Speaks.
- Gale McGee, U.S. political figure. Democratic Senator from Wyoming 1959â€"1977. U.S. Ambassador to the Organization of American States.
- Ruben Mendoza, NFL guard
- Brad Ottis, NFL defensive end/defensive tackle
- Val Peterson, U.S. political figure. Governor of Nebraska 1947â€"1953, Director of Federal Civil Defense Administration, Ambassador to Denmark and Finland. Wayne State College's Peterson Fine Arts Building is named after him.
- Brett Salisbury, quarterback and author of The Transform Diet
- Tom Sherlock, British Basketball League forward
- Kevin Swayne, Arena Football League and NFL wide receiver
- Brian Wansink, Cornell University professor and author of Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think
- DaVarryl Williamson, quarterback and boxer
See also
- Wayne State College Arboretum
References
External links
- Official website
- Wayne State Athletics website
