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SMU was founded in 1911 by the United Methodist Church, and the first building (Dallas Hall) opened in 1915. The university currently operates campuses in Dallas and Taos, New Mexico, serving a total of almost 11,000 students.
The school's sports teams, known as the Mustangs, participate in NCAA Division I (I-A for football) as a member of the Western Athletic Conference. In 2005, SMU will leave the WAC to join Conference USA.
University Facts and Figures
Of the university's roughly 11,000 students, around 6,000 are undergraduates. 20% classify themselves as "minorities", and half of the student body claims religious affiliation (despite the university's name, only 14% of its students claim affiliation with the Methodist church).Famous Alumni
SMU alumni have found success in all fields. Some famous SMU graduates are First Lady Laura Bush, actress Kathy Bates, Nobel Prize-winning physicist James Cronin, senator John Tower, golfer Payne Stewart, Heisman Trophy winner Doak Walker, TV and film producer Aaron Spelling, journalist Craig Flournoy and playwright Beth Henley (both recipients of the Pulitzer Prize in their fields), and computing pioneer Robert Dennard.