The University of Tulsa (TU) is a private university awarding bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. The university is historically affiliated with the Presbyterian Church USA. Tulsa's athletic teams compete in Division I of the NCAA as members of the Conference USA and are collectively known as the Tulsa Golden Hurricane.

Henry Kendall College
The Presbyterian School for Girls was founded in Muskogee, Indian Territory to offer a primary education to Creek girls. In 1894, it was expanded to become Henry Kendall College, named in honor of Reverend Henry Kendall, secretary of the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions. The first president was William A. Caldwell, who served until 1896. He was succeeded by William Robert King. Kendall College, while still in Muskogee, granted the first post-secondary degree in Oklahoma in June 1898. Under King, the college was moved from its original location in downtown Muskogee to a larger campus on lands donated by Pleasant Porter. The opening of the new campus coincided with the start of the tenure of the third president, A. Grant Evans. Over the next ten years, Evans oversaw the struggling school. In most years, class sizes remained small and although the Academy, the attached elementary, middle, and high school was more successful; by the end of the 1906/07 year Kendall College had had only 27 collegiate graduates. At the request of the administration, the Synod of Indian Territory assumed control as trustees and began to look at alternatives for the future of the school. When the administration was approached by the comparatively smaller Boom town of Tulsa and offered a chance to move, the decision was made to relocate.
 
Move to Tulsa
The Tulsa Commercial Club (a forerunner of the Tulsa Chamber of Commerce) decided to bid for the college. Club members who packaged a bid in 1907 to move the college to Tulsa included: B. Betters, H. O. McClure, L. N. Butts, W. L. North, James H. Hall (sic), Grant C. Stebbins, Rev. Charles W. Kerr, C. H. Nicholson. The offer included $100,000, 200 acres of real estate and a guarantee for utilities and street car service.

The school opened to 35 students in September 1907, two months before Oklahoma became a state. These first students attended classes at First Presbyterian Church until permanent buildings could be erected on the new campus. This became the start of higher education in Tulsa. Kendall Hall, the first building of the new school, was completed in 1908. It was quickly followed by two other buildings. All three buildings have since been demolished. In 1972, Kendall Hall was the last to be razed. The bell that once hung in the Kendall Building tower was saved and displayed in Bayless Plaza.
 
The Kendall College presidents during 1907-1919 were: Arthur Grant Evans, Levi Harrison Beeler, Seth Reed Gordon, Frederick William Hawley, Ralph J. Lamb, Charles Evans, James G. McMurtry and Arthur L. Odell.
 
Formation of The University of Tulsa
In 1918, the Methodist Church proposed building a college in Tulsa, using money donated by Tulsa oilman Robert M. McFarlin. The proposed college was to be named McFarlin College. However, it was soon apparent that Tulsa could not support two such schools. In 1920, Henry Kendall College merged with the proposed McFarlin College to become The University of Tulsa. The McFarlin Library of TU was named for the principal donor of the proposed college. The name of Henry Kendall has lived on to the present as the Henry Kendall College of Arts and Sciences.
 
Survival and recovery from the Great Depression
The Great Depression hit the university hard. By 1935, the school was about to close because of its poor financial condition. It had a debt of $250,000, enrollment had fallen to 300 students (including many who could not pay their own tuition), the faculty was poorly paid and morale was low. It was then that Waite Phillips offered the school presidency to Clarence Isaiah ("Cy") Pontius, a former investment banker. His primary focus would be to rescue the school's finances. A deans' council would take charge of academic issues.
 
However, Pontius' accomplishments went beyond raising money. During his tenure the following events occurred:
 In 1935, the university opened the College of Business Administration, which it renamed as the Collins College of Business Administration in 2008.
 The Tulsa Law School, located in downtown Tulsa, became part of the university in 1943.
 In 1948, William G. Skelly donated funds to build the TU radio station, KWGS, which was then managed by Ben Graf Henneke (Pontius' successor as president of TU).
 
Acquisition of Skelly House
After William G. Skelly died, his widow donated the Skelly Mansion, at the corner of 21st Street and Madison Avenue, to the University of Tulsa. The school sold the mansion and its furnishings to private owners in 1959. On July 5, 2012, the university announced that would repurchase the house as a residence for its president, who would live on the second floor. The ground floor will be used by the university for special events. After closing the purchase on July 13, 2012, the structure will be officially known as Skelly House.
 
Academics
The University of Tulsa is noted for having one of the world's premier programs in petroleum engineering, and has distinguished programs in English, computer science, natural sciences, Clinical and Industrial/Organizational Psychology, and several engineering disciplines. The university also maintains a school of law, which is one of the few to specialize in Native American legal issues. The University of Tulsa College of Law Review ranks in the top 15% of most cited legal periodicals as ranked by Washington and Lee University. In its focus on energy, the University of Tulsa maintains both the National Energy Policy Institute and the National Energy-Environment Law and Policy Institute.
 
The University has a strong undergraduate research program, evidenced by 44 students receiving Goldwater Scholarships since 1995. The Tulsa Undergraduate Research Challenge (TURC) allows undergraduates to conduct advanced research with the guidance of top TU professors.

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