As students at Wayne State University, we’ve all accumulated a list of common facts about the university during our time here. Most likely, these are the same facts that are incorporated into welcome speeches and dispersed on pamphlets across campus. We know that M. Roy Wilson is president of the university, WSU is Michigan’s only urban research university, and that it’s home to Michigan’s most diverse student body. But, I’m willing to bet there are a few facts that have eluded the average student at Wayne State.

1. Wayne State wasn’t even “Wayne State University” until 1956.

Now the School of Medicine, the Detroit Medical College was established in 1868 and marks the founding of the modern WSU. The Detroit Normal Training School (est. 1881 and now the College of Education) became a four-year, degree-granting institution under the name of the Detroit Teachers College, and the Detroit Junior College was established in 1917. The colleges of liberal arts, education, engineering, medicine, and the graduate school were united into a university institution, temporarily named the “College of the City of Detroit” in 1933. It was not until 1934 that the institution received the name “Wayne University,” named after Wayne County and General Anthony Wayne. Finally, Wayne University officially became “Wayne State University,” a constitutionally established university, in 1956.

2. We have famous alumni.

Wayne State graduates are quite successful. For "Arrested Development" fans, Jeffrey Tambor (yes, George Bluth Sr.) graduated from Wayne State. Other actors include Lily Tomlin and Tom Sizemore. Wayne State alumni also include Congressman John Conyers Jr. (the current Dean of Congress), Cora Brown (the first black woman in the Senate), Congressman Keith Ellison (the first Muslim elected to Congress), Robert Hayden (his most famous poem is “Those Winter Sundays”), Casey Kasem (radio personality and actor), and Sonya Tayeh (choreographer on "So You Think You Can Dance"). Additionally, Metro-Detroit superstars Dan Gilbert and Joumana Kayrouz both earned law degrees from Wayne State University Law School.

3. The most credentialed man in modern history obtained a degree from WSU.

Michael Nicholson, from Kalamazoo, Michigan, has earned 29 advanced degrees and counting. His degrees include one bachelor’s degree, two associate’s degrees, 22 master’s degrees, three specialist degrees, and one doctoral degree. Nicholson received a Master of Science in Library Science (MSLS) from Wayne State in 1980. As of 2010, the 71-year-old Nicholson was pursuing a Master’s in Criminal Justice and hoped to obtain over 34 degrees in his lifetime. That’s dedication!

4. WSU has the third-largest international enrollment in Michigan.

With over 3,000 international students and visiting scholars from six continents in the Fall 2014 semester, Wayne State University welcomes cultures from across the globe. Although behind Michigan State University and The University of Michigan-Ann Arbor in enrollment of international students, Wayne State became home to students and scholars from over 80 countries. So experience new cultures, make friends from around the world, and be inspired to travel or study abroad!

5. WSU athletic teams changed names in 1999.

The athletic teams at Wayne State were officially named “The Tartars” in 1927 following a contest held on campus. Before this official name change, school nicknames included the Munies and the Griffins. The name “The Tartars” derives from the central Asian ethnic group, now generally called “Tartars,” who were notorious for savagery and ferocity. For years, there wasn’t one single depiction of the Tartar, but once a caricature of the Tartar mascot emerged, it was deemed “racially insensitive" by many students. In 1999, the university changed the name to the "Warriors," due to a feeling that the Tartar name was dated and that the general student body didn’t know what a Tartar was (bring on the “tartar" sauce jokes).

Now that you (hopefully) know more about Wayne State University than you did before, think of this knowledge as a catalyst to inspire you to explore the history of the university and the city you love.