Eastern Michigan University (EMU) is a public research university[7] in Ypsilanti, Michigan. The university was founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School. Today, the university is governed by an eight-member Board of Regents whose members are appointed by the governor of Michigan for eight-year terms. The school belongs to the Mid-American Conference and is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Since 1991 EMU athletes have been known as "Eagles" and the school mascot, Swoop, was officially adopted by the university three years later.[8]

Currently, EMU comprises seven colleges and schools:[9] College of Arts and Sciences, College of Business, College of Education, College of Health and Human Services, College of Technology, an Honors College, and a Graduate School. The university's site is composed of an academic and athletic campus spread across 800 acres (3.2 km2), with over 120 buildings. EMU has a total enrollment of more than 23,000 students.

The university was founded in 1849 and opened its doors in 1853 as Michigan State Normal School. Michigan State Normal School was the first in Michigan and the first normal school created outside the original 13 colonies. One hundred and twenty-two students started classes March 29, 1853.[10] Adonijah Welch served as Michigan State Normal School's first principal. Michigan created a state educational system modeled on Germany. The normal schools were to train teachers for common schools, which were being established rapidly in new towns in the state.

In 1899, the school became the Michigan State Normal College when it developed the first four-year curriculum for a normal college in the nation. Normal began the 20th century as Michigan's premier teacher-preparatory school and had become the first teacher-training school in the United States to have a four-year degree program.[10] The school continued through World War I, the Great Depression, and World War II, and expanded further.[10] In 1956, under President Eugene Elliott, the school officially became Eastern Michigan College. This was mostly due to the expansion of the school's programs and increased enrollment following the Second World War.

University Enrollment
Year
Enrollment
1853 122
1905 1,130
1930 2,250
1960 5,137
1970 21,410
1980 19,326
1990 26,000*
2000 23,181
2010 23,503
*Data from 1990 is based on university publication.[11][12][13]
In 1959 the school became a university, gaining the title Eastern Michigan University after establishing the Graduate School (graduate classes had been offered for two decades, since 1939).[10] Between 1959 through 1980 the College of Education, College of Arts and Sciences, Graduate School, College of Business, College of Health and Human Services, and College of Technology were established. In the early 1970s, international student exchange schemes were organized, including one with Coventry College of Education (later part of the University of Warwick) in Britain.[14][15] In 2005, the Honors Program became the Eastern Michigan University Honors College.

More recently, extended programs were added, such as Continuing Education (which includes EMU Online), the Centers for Corporate Training, the World College, and numerous community-focused institutes. Today the university's total student population averages about 23,000, of whom roughly 5,000 are graduate students. Most programs are undergraduate or master's level, although the university has doctoral programs in Educational Leadership, Technology, and Psychology. EMU former-President Susan W. Martin, Ph.D., took office as EMU's twenty-second president on July 7, 2008, just after the university was fined a then-record $350,000 for not reporting to students the sexual assault and murder of a student in her residence hall room.

The Eastern Michigan Eagles, formerly known as the Normalites, are the athletic teams for Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States. The Eagles compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level as members of the Mid-American Conference (MAC). The only exception is the women's rowing program, which is a member of the Colonial Athletic Association. Altogether, the Eagles have won three NCAA Division II national championships and 13 NAIA Division I national championships in five different sports (baseball, men's cross country, men's swimming and diving, men's indoor track and field, and men's outdoor track and field); moreover, EMU has been NCAA Division I national runner-up twice. In 1940, the men's cross country team finished second to Indiana University at the national meet hosted by Michigan State University.

The Eagles have also won the Reese Trophy, given to the best overall men's athletic program in the MAC, five times, most recently in 2018.[2] EMU was a member of the Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference from 1950 to 1961, and has been a member of the MAC since 1972.