University of Hartford

Private university in West Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "University of Hartford" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (April 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

This article contains promotional content. Please help improve it by removing promotional language and inappropriate external links, and by adding encyclopedic text written from a neutral point of view. (April 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

(Learn how and when to remove this message)

University of Hartford

Motto|

Ad humanitatem

Motto in English

| "For Enlightenment"
Type| Private university
Established| 1957; 68 years ago (1957)
Accreditation| NECHE

Academic affiliations

| NAICU[1]
Space-grant
Endowment| $194 million (2024)[2]
President| Lawrence P. Ward

Administrative staff

| 718
Students| 6,022 (fall 2024)[3]
Undergraduates| 4,229 (fall 2024)[3]
Postgraduates| 1,793 (fall 2024)[3]
Location|

West Hartford, Connecticut

United States

Campus| Suburban, 350 acres (140 ha)
Colors| Scarlet and white[4]

Nickname| Hawks

Sporting affiliations

| NCAA Division III[a] Conference of New England
Mascot| Howie the Hawk
Website| hartford.edu

The University of Hartford (UHart) is a private university in West Hartford, Connecticut, United States. Its 350-acre (1.4 km2) main campus extends into neighboring Hartford and Bloomfield. It enrolled approximately 6,000 undergraduate and graduate students as of fall 2024.[3] The university is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education.[6]

## History

[edit]

The University of Hartford was chartered through the joining of the Hartford Art School, Hillyer College, and The Hartt School in 1957.[7]

## Campus

[edit]

Gengras Student Union Millard Auditorium Auerbach Hall

Gengras Student Union houses the student government, the university post office, student organizations including the student newspaper The Informer and the Student Television Network (STN), a cafeteria, a convenience store, and the Gengras food court, featuring Einstein Bros. Bagels, Burger Studio, and Moe's. A major renovation of the Gengras Student Union began in early 2017.[8]

Centrally located on campus, the Harry Jack Gray Center houses the Mortensen Library and the Allen Memorial Library.[9] Also located here are the Joseloff Gallery, the university bookstore, the School of Communications, the Visual Communication Design Department, the Department of Architecture, WWUH (91.3 MHz FM) radio station, the Wilde Auditorium, the Kent McCray Television Studio, the Gray Conference Center, the Museum of Jewish Civilization, and the 1877 Club restaurant. It was the former home of the Museum of American Political Life, which housed the second largest collection of political memorabilia in the United States after the Smithsonian.[10]

The Hartt School Complex is composed of Millard Auditorium, Paranov Hall, and O'Connell Hall, a one-story extension of Paronov Hall. Originally, Abrahms Hall was included in the Fuller Complex. A renovation of Millard Auditorium was completed in 2017.

Auerbach Hall is named after businesswoman Beatrice Fox Auerbach. It is one of the largest academic buildings on campus and is home to the Barney School of Business. During the 2018–19 academic year, Auerbach Hall underwent a major renovation which included a 10,000-square-foot addition for the Barney School including additional classrooms and a trading room.[11]

Built in 1962, Hillyer Hall was the first classroom building on campus. Hillyer Hall is home to the College of Arts and Sciences, College of Education, and Hillyer College. In 2012, the Shaw Center was completed to provide additional classrooms and offices for Hillyer College. The building is named after John C. "Jay" Shaw (Class of '74) and wife Debi of Greenwich, who donated $1.5 million to the project.[12][13][14]

University High School of Science and Engineering is a public magnet high school located on the east side of the campus. The University High School was established in 2004 as a partnership of the Hartford Public Schools, the University of Hartford, and the Capitol Region Education Council. It is based on the early college initiative mode: University High School students are able to earn college credits while they attend high school. The high school enrolls two hundred students, seventy percent of whom are from Hartford. The other thirty percent come from towns in central Connecticut. Students are selected through a lottery from a pool of applicants, as required by the state of Connecticut.

Dedicated in 2008, the Mort and Irma Handel Performing Arts Center is a 55,000-square-foot (5,100 m2)facility that is the instructional home for collegiate and Community Division students studying theatre, Musical Theater and Dance at the Hartt School. It contains five dance studios, four theatre rehearsal studios, three vocal studios, and two black box theatres, as well as faculty offices, a community room, and a cafe.[15]

Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion is home to the men's and women's basketball teams and the women's volleyball team. Opened in 1990, the arena is named in honor of the Chase Family in West Hartford.[16] Included in the building is the Mary Baker Stanley Pool and the university's athletic administration offices. Entertainment at the arena has included Girl Talk, Wale, and Ludacris. Past visiting politicians include Governor Dannel P. Malloy, former President Bill Clinton,[17] and President Barack Obama.[18]

Located 2 miles (3 km) west of downtown Hartford and once home to the Hartford College for Women, the Asylum Avenue Campus now includes academic classrooms and graduate student campus housing in fourteen townhouses and Johnson House. It contains a cafeteria, computer lab, and studio space.[19]

## Organization and administration

[edit]

List of university presidents:

1. Vincent B. Coffin (1959–1967)
2. Archibald M. Woodruff (1967–1977)
3. Stephen Joel Trachtenberg (1977–1988)
4. Humphrey Tonkin (1989–1998)
5. Walter Harrison (1998–2017)
6. Gregory S. Woodward (2017–2023)
7. Stephen Mulready (2023–2024)
8. Lawrence P. Ward (2024–present)

## Academics

[edit]

Academic rankings

National
Forbes[20]| 542
U.S. News & World Report[21]| 304
Washington Monthly[22]| 434
Global
QS[23]| 801–1000
National Program Rankings[24]

Program  | Ranking
Engineering | 78
Nursing | 345

The University of Hartford has fewer than 6,000 full-time and part-time graduate and undergraduate students. The university offers 82 bachelor's degree programs, 10 associate degrees, 28 graduate degrees, and 7 certificates or diplomas. The student-faculty ratio is 9:1.[25] The university's academics are organized into seven schools and colleges.[26]

## Student life

[edit]

Student body composition as of September 22, 2023  Race and ethnicity[27] | Total

|

White | 51%  |

Hispanic | 17%  |

Black | 16%  |

Asian | 4%  |

Foreign national | 3%  |

Other[b] | 2%  |

Economic diversity
Low-income[c] | 35%  |

Affluent[d] | 65%  |

Acapella groups at the University of Hartford are governed by the A Cappella Coalition and hold auditions at the beginning of each year for new members. Groups include L'shir,[28] Hawkapella,[29] Uharmonies and HartAttack[30]

Launched in the spring of 2000, the Music for a Change benefit concert series raises money for Greater Hartford charities and nonprofit organizations. Headliners have included Arlo Guthrie, Alison Krauss and Union Station, Art Garfunkel, Aztec Two-Step, Citizen Cope, Dionne Warwick, George Winston, Jonathan Edwards, Kris Kristofferson, Marc Cohn, Pat Metheny, Richie Havens, Shawn Colvin, Susan Tedeschi, Tom Paxton, Tom Rush, The Wailers, and Wynton Marsalis.[31]

There are several fraternities and sororities on campus.

### Media

[edit]

Main article: WWUH

Founded on February 2, 1974, WSAM is the university's only student-run radio station. It streams its radio shows online through Mixlr.[32] It hosts annual concerts such as Live from the Lawn every opening weekend and a Halloween show every Halloween weekend.[33]

With a legacy from The Hillyer Callboard, the student newspaper of Hillyer College, dating from the 1920s, the Informer is the official student newspaper of the University of Hartford. It is published weekly.[citation needed]

The Student Television Network is a completely student-run station that broadcasts on stn2.tv and their YouTube page. Founded by then-graduate student Chuck King and a group of interested students in 1993, STN became a popular student organization. Though separate from the School of Communication, it provides relevant experience for students pursuing careers in television. STN started its weekly news program broadcast, "STN Channel 2 News," on February 9, 1993. Currently, new broadcasts are live once a week and then played throughout the week. In addition to weekly news broadcasts, STN produces and broadcasts several live Hartford Hawks sports productions throughout the year, and hosts a number of other student-created programs.[34]

## Athletics

[edit]

Main article: Hartford Hawks

Hartford participates in the NCAA Division III in the Conference of New England. The university fields 20 varsity sports. They formerly participated in the Division I America East Conference until the 2023–4 academic year.[35]

In 2021, the University of Hartford announced it will begin the process to move all of its 17 athletic programs from Division I to Division III. Students and alumni from the University of Hartford attempted to sue the university, claiming that the university "reneged on its commitment" to the student-athletes. The university filed its intent to move to Division III in January 2022 and is expected to become a member of DIII no later than September 1, 2025, unless the move is halted in the courts.[36]

### Men's sports

[edit]

* Baseball
* Basketball
* Cross country
* Golf
* Lacrosse
* Soccer
* Indoor and outdoor track & field
* Tennis

### Women's sports

[edit]

* Basketball
* Cross country
* Field hockey
* Golf
* Lacrosse[37]
* Soccer
* Softball
* Indoor and outdoor track & field
* Tennis
* Volleyball[38][39]

## Notable alumni

[edit]

Currently the university has over 94,000 alumni worldwide.[40]

* Kenny Adeleke (born 1983), basketball player
* Robert Black (bassist)
* William Bridgeo, state representative[41]
* Leo Brouwer, musician
* Kathleen Clark, playwright
* David Cordani, CEO of Cigna
* Steve Davis, jazz trombonist
* Mark Dion, artist
* Jim Ford, actor and stuntman
* Henry Genga, state representative
* A. J. Hammer, television host, radio personality
* Jonas Hampton, distance runner
* Liane Hansen, radio personality
* Jack Hardy, singer and songwriter
* Seymour Itzkoff, professor, researcher in intelligence
* Johnathan Lee Iverson, circus performer
* Wilfred X. Johnson, first black Connecticut state legislator
* Jerry Kelly, professional golfer, PGA Tour
* Tim Leissner, former Goldman Sachs investment banker and convicted felon
* Erik Mariñelarena, filmmaker[42]
* William J. Murphy, former Speaker of the House of the State of Rhode Island
* Peter Niedmann, composer
* Chuck Pagano, chief technology officer of ESPN
* Tim Petrovic, golfer
* Pierre Sow, basketball player[43]
* Joseph M. Suggs Jr. (B.S. 1978), mayor of Bloomfield and Connecticut State Treasurer (1993–1995)

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Scheduled to reclassify to Division III no later than September 1, 2025.[5]
2. ^ Other consists of Multiracial Americans & those who prefer to not say.
3. ^ The percentage of students who received an income-based federal Pell grant intended for low-income students.
4. ^ The percentage of students who are a part of the American middle class at the bare minimum.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "NAICU – Member Directory". naicu.edu. Archived from the original on November 9, 2015. Retrieved March 30, 2018.
2. ^ Puffer, Michael (August 5, 2024). "Aiming for long-term tenure, new UHart president Ward focuses on restoring financial stability, enrollment growth". Hartford Business Journal. Retrieved March 5, 2025.
3. ^ a b c d "At a Glance". hartford.edu. Retrieved June 9, 2025.
4. ^ University of Hartford Brand Identity Guide. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
5. ^ "University of Hartford Votes to Drop Athletic Department to Division III". Sports Illustrated. May 6, 2021. Retrieved May 7, 2021.
6. ^ University of Hartford Accreditation http://admission.hartford.edu/studying/accreditation.php Archived August 16, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
7. ^ "University of Hartford".
8. ^ "SLAM Completes Multiple Projects at the University of Hartford". HIGH PROFILE. January 23, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
9. ^ "UHart begins $10.6M Mortensen Library redo". Hartford Business.com. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
10. ^ "More Doubts, Opposition To Sale Of Unique, Hartford Collection Of Political History". Hartford Courant. April 28, 2016. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
11. ^ "UHart biz school eyes $5.2M expansion". Hartford Business.com. Retrieved June 3, 2018.
12. ^ "UHart's Hillyer College debuts new Shaw Center". Hartford Business.com. Retrieved January 21, 2018.
13. ^ "The SLAM Collaborative". Retrieved June 3, 2018.
14. ^ "Cornerstones: University of Hartford Making $4 Million Addition To Hillyer Hall". Hartford Courant. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
15. ^ "Ex-dealership Nearly Ready For Close-up". Hartford Courant. Retrieved June 16, 2018.
16. ^ "David T. Chase Remembered For Shaping Hartford Skyline, Co-Founding Holocaust Memorial Museum". Hartford Courant. June 4, 2016. Retrieved June 24, 2018.
17. ^ "Clinton stumps for Malloy in governor's race". THE REGISTER CITIZEN. November 2010. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
18. ^ "At University Of Hartford, President Calls For Congressional Vote On Gun Control". Associated Press. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
19. ^ "Former College Campus In Hartford's West End May Be Converted To Student Apartments". Hartford Courant. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
20. ^ "America's Top Colleges 2024". Forbes. September 6, 2024. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
21. ^ "2024-2025 Best National Universities Rankings". U.S. News & World Report. September 23, 2024. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
22. ^ "2024 National University Rankings". Washington Monthly. August 25, 2024. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
23. ^ "QS World University Rankings 2026". Quacquarelli Symonds. June 19, 2025. Retrieved June 19, 2025.
24. ^ "University of Hartford - Overall Rankings". U.S. News & World Report. April 9, 2024. Retrieved November 8, 2024.
25. ^ "Academics | University of Hartford". New.hartford.edu. Retrieved April 9, 2016.
26. ^ "University of Hartford Schools and Colleges". University of Hartford. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
27. ^ "College Scorecard: University of Hartford". United States Department of Education. Retrieved September 22, 2023.
28. ^ "L'News". www.lshir.com. Retrieved March 30, 2018.
29. ^ "Welcome to Hawkapella.com!". Hawkapella. Archived from the original on March 31, 2018. Retrieved March 30, 2018.
30. ^ "HartAttack". hartford.edu. Retrieved March 30, 2018.
31. ^ "MUSIC for a CHANGE". University of Hartford. Retrieved May 27, 2010.
32. ^ "WSAM Radio on Mixlr".
33. ^ "WSAM Alternative Radio (@wsamradio) • Instagram photos and videos".
34. ^ "Student Television Network at the University of Hartford".
35. ^ "Athletics Transition". Archived from the original on March 24, 2025. Retrieved March 24, 2025.
36. ^ "UHart student-athletes, managers sue over decision to move to DIII". July 20, 2021.
37. ^ "University of Hartford Athletics Adds Women's Lacrosse, Discontinues Men's and Women's Tennis". Hartford Courant. October 29, 2015. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
38. ^ "University of Hartford Athletics". NCAA. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
39. ^ Riley, Lori; Putterman, Alex (May 6, 2021). "University of Hartford Board of Regents votes to move from Division I to Division III in athletics". Hartford Courant. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
40. ^ "ALUMNI NETWORK". Retrieved December 30, 2018.
41. ^ "William Bridgeo". Ballotpedia. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
42. ^ "Erik Mariñelarena – Filmography by year". IMDb. Retrieved October 3, 2011.
43. ^ Tien-Dana, Jack (September 11, 2024). "Pierre Sow Player Profile, Hartford". RealGM. Retrieved September 11, 2024.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to University of Hartford.

* Official website
* Athletics website

* v
* t
* e

University of Hartford

* Located in: West Hartford, Connecticut
* Founded: 1957

Academics|

| Colleges|

* University of Hartford Hartt School
* Hartford College for Women
* University High School of Science and Engineering
* Barney School of Business

|

Athletics|

| Teams|

* Baseball
* Men's basketball
* Women's basketball
* Men's lacrosse

|

Venues|

* Al-Marzook Field at Alumni Stadium
* Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion
* Dunkin' Park
* Fiondella Field
* Grant Family Track and Field

Media|

* WWUH
* Aerie

Life|

* Edward Lewis Wallant Award
* Wadsworth Atheneum

People|

* Alfred Fuller
* Charles T. Hillyer
* Jeff Bagwell

* Students: 7,025
* Endowment: uS$144.9 million
* Category

* v
* t
* e

Conference of New England

Current full members|

* Curry Colonels
* Endicott Gulls
* Gordon Fighting Scots4
* Hartford Hawks4
* Johnson & Wales Wildcats1
* New England Nor'easters2
* Nichols Bison
* Roger Williams Hawks4
* Suffolk Rams3
* Wentworth Leopards1
* Western New England Golden Bears

Current associate member|

* Husson Eagles (football)

See also|

* Commonwealth Coast Football

* 1non-football member
* 2non-tennis member
* 3non-football and lacrosse member
* 4non-football and ice hockey member

* v
* t
* e

Colleges and universities in Connecticut

Public institutions|

* Central Connecticut State University
* Charter Oak State College
* Eastern Connecticut State University
* Southern Connecticut State University
* University of Connecticut
* Dental
* Law
* Medicine
* UConn Health
* Western Connecticut State University

Private institutions|

* Albertus Magnus
* Connecticut College
* Fairfield
* Goodwin
* Holy Apostles
* Lyme Academy
* Mitchell
* Post
* Quinnipiac
* Law
* Medicine
* Rensselaer at Hartford
* Sacred Heart
* Saint Joseph
* Trinity
* Bridgeport
* Hartford
* New Haven
* Wesleyan
* Yale
* Law
* Drama
* Medicine

Federal institutions|

* United States Coast Guard Academy

Community colleges|

* Asnuntuck
* Capital
* Gateway
* Housatonic
* Manchester
* Middlesex
* Naugatuck Valley
* Northwestern Connecticut
* Norwalk
* Quinebaug Valley
* Three Rivers
* Tunxis

Graduate, professional, and
research institutions|

* Berkeley Divinity
* Hartford International

Multi-institution system|

Connecticut State Colleges & Universities

* v
* t
* e

Colleges and universities in Hartford County, Connecticut

Public universities|

* Central

Private universities|

* Goodwin
* Hartford
* Saint Joseph
* Trinity

Community colleges|

* Asnuntuck
* Capital
* Manchester
* Tunxis

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF

National|

* United States
* France
* BnF data
* Israel

Geographic|

* MusicBrainz place

Other|

* Yale LUX

41°48′03″N 72°42′50″W﻿ / ﻿41.800911°N 72.714021°W﻿ / 41.800911; -72.714021
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template