Texas Lutheran University


Texas Lutheran University is a private Evangelical Lutheran university in Seguin, Texas.

History

The university traces its roots back to 1891, to an academy of the first German Evangelical Lutheran Synod in Texas, in Brenham. Its first president was the Reverend Gottlieb Langner. That school accumulated crushing financial problems, but in 1912, it was rescued by an offer of 15 acres and $20,000 from local businessmen to relocate the academy to Seguin. Initially, the Lutheran College of Seguin, Texas, as it was newly named, had only one building on a bare former cotton field, with 46 students.
The academy reached junior college status in 1928 with accreditation from the Texas Department of Education. The Swedish Lutheran Trinity College of Round Rock was having trouble maintaining a minimum 40 freshmen and 20 sophomores, so in 1929, it pooled its resources with the larger Seguin institution, bringing two professors and support from Swedish Lutherans. The combined school was renamed Texas Lutheran College in 1930. It became a four-year institution in 1948. Then, Texas Lutheran absorbed Clifton College of Clifton, a Norwegian Lutheran school in 1954, again gaining faculty and support from a larger base.
When the college received recognition in 1953 as a fully accredited senior college by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, faculty and students rang the "Victory Bell" in celebration for hours. After 40 years of growth, the institution was once again renamed, taking its present title of Texas Lutheran University in 1996. Over the 100 years since moving to Seguin, TLU's span has increased to over 40 buildings and sports fields on 184 acres with about 1,400 students each semester.

Academics

Student body
Texas Lutheran University currently has an enrollment of about 1400 students with 48% male and 52% female. Students come from 23 states and eight foreign countries. About 65% of full-time students live on campus, and 96% receive some financial assistance. TLU has 19% Lutheran students, 27% Hispanic, and 10% African-American students.
Rankings and accreditation
Texas Lutheran University is ranked number three by the U.S. News & World Report 2013 Best West Regional Universities, and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges and also accredited by ACBSP, CAATE, and TEAC.

Campus

The campus lies just off Interstate 10 on State Highway 46, between US Highway 90 and Alt US 90. The address is 1000 West Court St., which is also Alt. U.S. 90, and Seguin's main east-west street.
The campus occupies more than 40 buildings and athletic fields covering 184 acres, as well as a biology field station at neighboring Lake McQueeney. Located in the heart of the campus is the Chapel of the Abiding Presence. There are several residence halls, as well as on-campus apartments and family housing for students who are married or have children. Student and alumni art can be found throughout campus, and sections of the sidewalk are designed for bricks dedicated to Texas Lutheran University affiliates. Oaks and other trees shade the campus, and rows of flowering crape myrtles provide color.

Chapel of the Abiding Presence

The Chapel of the Abiding Presence is located in the heart of the campus. The Gothic Revival building of Austin limestone was designed by ecclesiastical architect Henry Steinbomer of San Antonio in 1954. The Chapel is listed in the Historic Campus Architecture Project of the Council of Independent Colleges. After a fire in 1969, architect Ed Sovik from St. Olaf College in Minnesota supervised the rebuilding with a nontraditional interior.
Today, the sanctuary can seat 400, and hosts a tracker-action Schlicker organ. The chapel is used by campus organizations to hold various activities and services, as well as weddings of students and alumni.
Chapel services that last 20 minutes are open to the public. They are held Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10 am during the academic year.

Other notable buildings

Also facing the quadrangle on the southwest corner is the Emma Frey Hall, a former women's dormitory in Spanish Colonial Revival style by noted architect Marvin Eichenroht in 1929. The building is the oldest on the campus and has been remodeled to serve as offices for computer science and mathematics faculty offices, as well as the honors programs.
On the east side is Langner Hall, named for the first president of TLU, and built to plans by Atlee B. Ayers in 1947. Today, it houses classrooms and faculty offices for the social science and humanities departments, as well as the Mexican American Studies Center, and the Fiedler Memorial Museum and outdoor geological garden.

Residence halls

TLU offers a variety of housing options for students, including residence halls and on-campus apartments. Residence halls are co-ed or single-sex, and separated by grade level.
Co-ed residences include Centennial, Knutson, Clifton, Baldus, and Seguin Halls.
Freshman residences include Centennial, Baldus, Trinity, and Clifton Halls.
Sophomore residences include Knutson and Seguin Halls.
On-campus apartments include the North, South Efficiency, and Glazener apartments, as well as Bogisch family housing. All on-campus units, with the exception of Bogisch family housing, are available to junior and senior level students. The North and South apartments are two-bedroom units and house up to four students. The North units are equipped with a full kitchen, and the South units include a kitchenette.
Glazener apartments have two bedrooms with full kitchens, and house up to two students.
Bogisch family housing is reserved for students who are married or have children, and have two bedrooms with a full kitchen.

Alumni Student Center

The ASC is located at the north end of the quadrangle. Inside is the bookstore, Lucky's Kennel snack bar, lounges, meeting rooms, a post office for on-campus mail, student publications offices and lab, and an academic computer lab. The ASC has offices for counseling, career development, and student activities.

Blumberg Library

The Blumberg Library, which opened in 1970, is next to the Alumni Student Center. It includes over 262,000 items of library materials and subscribes to over 700 journal titles. It is a member of the Online Computer Library Centef system and also provides an Online Public Access Catalog, which gives students access to databases in each academic discipline.

Hein Dining Hall

Hein Dining Hall, with cafeteria-style service and food stations, is the main dining hall. The Centennial Commons seats 350 and is the general dining area for students. Other smaller dining rooms are the Timmerman Room, Suehs Room, and Katie Conference Center, which are often used by campus and community groups for meetings.

Jackson Auditorium

Jackson Auditorium seats 1,050 and many of the special events at TLU, like the Krost Symposium or concerts, happen here. It is also used by the Mid-Texas Symphony and other community and church organizations.

Classrooms and other buildings

Other campus buildings include O. G. Beck College Center, Moody Science Building, Tschoepe Hall, Health Center, Krost Center, Lutheran Ministry Center, Moline Center for Student Leadership, and the newest, Centennial Hall—named in celebration of 100 years in Seguin—with ground floor classrooms and housing above.
Schuech Fine Arts Center is a multipurpose facility with a 200-seat theater, recital hall, band hall, music studios, art labs, and a gallery.
The Jesse H. Jones Physical Education Complex, named for the former United States Secretary of Commerce Jesse H. Jones, has a 2,200-seat gym for intercollegiate basketball and volleyball games, offices for faculty and coaches, locker rooms, racquetball courts, and an eight-lane collegiate-size swimming pool, as well as the Grossman Fitness Center, the Kieffer Kinesiology Laboratory, and Rinn Field House.
The campus has intramural sports fields, the Gustafson Soccer Field, the Katt-Isbel Baseball Field, the Morck Softball Field, a putting green/driving range for the golf team, tennis courts, sandlot volleyball courts, a police department, and a maintenance complex.
A major expansion of intercollegiate sports was part of its 2013 Homecoming, when TLU officials broke ground for a football and track and field stadium, as well as a new and lighted softball field, lights for the baseball field, and a concession stand with toilets. The Bulldog teams began playing in the new facilities in 2014.

Student life

The Greek life opportunities for students include sororities and fraternities. The sororities include: Beta Alpha Sigma, Xi Tau, Kappa Pi Gamma, Delta Alpha Delta, and Sigma Delta Lambda. Fraternities include Sigma Phi Theta, Zeta Chi, and Omega Tau. The only active fraternity being Sigma Phi Theta.
Student organizations are offered in many areas on campus. Some are based on department, such as Athletic Training Club and Geography Club; Honorary Greek Organizations, such as Alpha Chi National Honors Society and Psi Chi Psychology Honors Society; Professional Organizations such as Alpha Kappa Psi National Business Fraternity and Student Education Association for Student Teachers; Band Service Fraternity and Sorority Kappa Kappa Psi, and Tau Beta Sigma; Campus Ministry and Religious Organizations such as Catholic Student Organization and Fellowship of Christian Athletes; Campus Organizations such as the Cheerleaders and the Student Government Association; Service and Social Organizations such as the Black Student Union and Mexican American Student Association; Theater Organizations such as Alpha Psi Omega, the theater honor society; Musical Organizations such as the variety of TLU choirs and TLU bands; Student Publications such as the Lone Star Lutheran Magazine and the Sidewalk; and others.

Athletics

Almost one third of full-time TLU students take part in one of the intercollegiate sports.
The Athletics Department includes baseball, softball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's golf, men's and women's tennis, volleyball, women's cross country, women's track & field, and recently football. All sports teams compete at the NCAA Division III level under the team name, the Bulldogs.
Starting July 1, 2013, Texas Lutheran University switched to a new conference, competing in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference, in all sports except football. SCAC does not have enough member schools with football teams. Meanwhile, the football team is an independent.
The schools in SCAC are similar to TLU. Student athletes receive no athletic scholarships. The others are Austin College in Sherman, Centenary College in Shreveport, Colorado College in Colorado Springs, University of Dallas in Irving, Schreiner University in Kerrville, Southwestern University in Georgetown, and Trinity University in San Antonio.
Baseball
Greg Burnett is the head baseball coach.
Softball
Wade Wilson is the head coach of the softball team. They were the 2014 SCAC regular-season and tournament champions.
Men's basketball
Mike Wacker is the head coach for the Bulldogs.
Women's basketball
Mel Dixon is head coach for the women's basketball team.
Men's soccer
Eddie Salazar is head coach of the men's soccer team.
Women's soccer
Coach Larry Schaffer took over the women's soccer program in 2012.
Men's and women's golf
H.C. Tran is the head coach for both the men's and women's golf teams. They practice on the courses at Max Starcke Park, Chaparral Golf Club, and The Bandit at Long Creek for daily on-course practice. Players compete in many tournaments, often traveling out of state.
Volleyball
Tiffany Davis is the head coach of the volleyball team.
Men's and women's tennis
Michael Hunt is the head coach for both the men and the women. Both teams play home matches.
Women's cross country and frack & field
Darlene Holland is the head coach for cross country and track. Track and field won the conference championship four times.
Football
The head coach of TLU's is Carl Gustafson
Cheerleaders and dance team
The TLU cheerleaders and mascot are part of the TLU Athletics Department. The squad participates at home football and basketball games, as well as a few away games. The Gold Star Dance Team performs at halftime of every home football and basketball game.

Media

''Lone Star Lutheran''

The Lone Star Lutheran has been a student-run newspaper on the TLU campus for many years. In 2011, the LSL changed to a magazine format before returning to its original publication format of a tabloid newspaper in 2013. The staff includes the editor-in-chief, managing editor, four copy editors, a website manager, and a variety of student writers from all departments. Additionally, TLU offers a student module that allows students to work on the LSL for the class credit.

Bulldog TV

Bulldog TV is the cable channel that is all about TLU.

Christmas Vespers

In preparation for the Christmas holidays, the TLU choirs collaborate with the TLU band to host the annual Christmas Vespers services. This celebration of music and word honors the integral role music has played and is playing in Texas Lutheran curriculum and cultural history. The service is usually held four days in Seguin and one or two days in Austin to allow the campus and Seguin communities, as well as TLU families and the Austin community, the opportunity to attend the service.

Special events

Texas Lutheran University invites speakers, performers and musicians to campus.
Past cultural events presented by TLU include Chanticleer, The Vienna Choir Boys, The Joffrey Ballet, The Guthrie Theatre, The Dixie Chicks, The Chinese Golden Dragon Acrobats, Canadian Brass, Bach Society Houston, U.S. Navy Band Country Current and The Second City Touring Company.
Past speakers include Arun Gandhi, Bob Dole, Morris Dees, Barbara Ehrenreich, Harry Benson, Paul Roberts, John Besh, David Gergen, Aron Ralston, Michele Norris and Judy Shepard.

Krost Symposium

Every year, Texas Lutheran hosts a symposium focusing on a particular new topic. This multi-day Krost Symposium event brings in guest speakers with a range of viewpoints and experience on the chosen topic. The first Krost Symposium was held in 1981 and the program has continued annually without interruption ever since. Events are free and open to the public.

Notable alumni