Stetson University was the first private university in Florida to have a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest and most prestigious undergraduate honors organization. Phi Beta Kappa to date has recognized a selective group of only 255 liberal arts colleges that have achieved the highest standards of liberal arts education. Stetson’s College of Law was the first in Florida. It also is the first and only law school to win all five national mock trial team competitions in one academic year.
The School of Business Administration was the first in Florida.
The School of Music was the first in Florida.
Stetson’s Elementary and Secondary Education Programs were the first in Florida. Today they have nearly a 100 percent placement rate.
Stetson’sGeography Program was the first in Florida. Our Gillespie Museum of Minerals holds the South’s most extensive private mineral collection, a resource for the community and for student research.
Stetson is home to the first college-level Model Senate program.
Stover Theatre houses the first collegiate theatrical company in Florida. Stetson’s program is in its 96th year.
The Digital Arts Program is the first in the South — and one of only a few in the country — to combine music, the visual arts, and computer science.
Started in 1958, Stetson’s Russian Studies major was among the first undergraduate programs of its kind in the nation.
The new Stetson University Center at Celebration, opened in September 2001, is Osceola County’s first university campus.
FIRST IN DIVERSITY
Stetson University was the first private university in Florida to enroll African-American students. Today, Stetson is committed to an energeticuniversity-wide diversity initiative and welcomes an increasingly diverse faculty, student body, and staff with two new facilities: the Center for International Education and the Cross Cultural Center.
FIRST IN CONSERVATION
Stetson was the first educational institution to receive a Year 2000 Sustainable Florida Award honoring our implementation efforts and community involvement in environmental issues such as recycling and energy conservation.
FIRST IN ATHLETICS
Stetson played the first intercollegiate basketball games (both men’s and women’s), the first intercollegiate baseball game, and the first intercollegiate football game in Florida. Stetson’s men’s basketball team was the first in Florida to earn 1,000 victories.
FIRST IN STUDENT ACTIVITIES
Stetson is home to the first college newspaper in Florida, The Stetson Reporter, founded in 1887.
