National University of Tyreseia
Universitas Nationalis Tyreseiensis Uñivezidadu Naxunalu dja Tirexia | |
     Clockwise from top: Plaza of Thought, College Library Courtyard, Residential Halls, Hall of Engineering, Wechsler Library | |
Former names | Collegium Bibliothecae Tyriensis |
|---|---|
| Motto | Lux et veritas (High Latin) |
Motto in English | Light and truth |
| Type | Public research university |
| Established | 1095 CE |
| Endowment | Ⲇ4 billion (2020) |
| Chancellor | Enricu Arba |
| Vice-Chancellor | Juañi Papiju |
| Dean | Plutarcu Alfavjanu |
Academic staff | 2,555 |
| Students | 35,908 (2020) |
| Undergraduates | 27,604 (2020) |
| Postgraduates | 8,304 (2020) |
| Location | , |
| Campus | Urban |
| Colours | Tyrian purple |
 | |
The National University of Tyreseia (UNT) is a public research university in the Workers' Federation of Tyreseia. Founded in 1095 CE as the Collegium Bibliothecae Tyriensis, the UNT is not only the oldest institution of higher education in Tyreseia, but among the oldest in the world. Founded during the Coptic Golden Age as a center of both religious and scholarly learning, the Collegium became a fully secular institution funded by the merchant guilds of New Tyria in the 14th century. Over the centuries, the Collegium accumulated millennia worth of knowledge, and with only minor interruptions, preserved it uninterrupted. Following the restructuring of the region in the mid-19th century, the Collegium and its preserved works became the backbone of the new National University.
Today, the National University of Tyreseia possesses several sprawling campuses across New Tyria, the nation's capital city. With programs in STEM, the humanities, and the arts, UNT dominates tertiary education in the southern Periclean Basin. Numerous students from across the nation and around the world flock to study at the University, which offers courses taught in Tyreseian, Gharbaic, Hebrew, Tsurushimese, Takelat, Nahuatl, Nylele, Latin, and other languages. Since the 1900s, UNT has maintained a friendly athletic rivalry with Periclean University in Oyat. A government rail line, the Varsity, even runs daily between the two schools.
History
The National University generally traces its academic heritage back to 1095 CE, when an edict from the Presbyter Princeps of the Coptic Nazarene Church, Euphrosynos V, created a lay center for theological and scholarly study in New Tyria to combat the increasing scholastic power of the monastery sects that were growing in influence during the early Coptic Golden Age. This edict was supported by financial donations from Prince Cuaudju II (r. 1092-1123 CE), whom saw the project as both granting prestige and a religious edge over his rivals in the Coptic Republic, which long held the institutional headquarters of the Nazarene Church.
Academics
UNT offers numerous two-year, four-year, and graduate degrees in numerous fields. The constituent colleges offering these degrees include:
- The School of Engineering
- The College of the Arts
- The College of Law
- The College of Letters
- The School of Pharmacy and Health Science
- The Academy of Natural Sciences
- The School of Diplomacy and International Relations (graduate only)
- The Azmelcart Xidduni College of Military Science
Campuses
The National University occupies four sprawling campuses in New Tyria. Two of them, including the Main Campus, are located in the University District towards the north of the city, while a third resides near the old Jewish Quarter. The fourth, the Engineering Campus and the newest addition, resides in the southeastern "ring communities" of New Tyria City. All four campuses are linked by bus and light rail, with the Main Campus, the Jewish Quarter Campus, and Engineering Campus lying along a single subway line.
Aside from the Engineering Campus, none of the campuses at UNT are specialized by instruction and exist merely to diversify accessible campus locations to more students, as well as to take advantage of open land for expansion wherever it can be found within the dense neighborhoods of New Tyria City.
UNT maintains satellite offices to facilitate international study and education of Tyreseian expatriates in Tsurushima, Ostrozava, Talahara, Latium, Sante Reze, and Zacapican.
Athletics
UNT operates numerous sports teams, which play on the top levels of Tyreseia's collegiate athletics leagues.
The University maintains a century-old rivalry with Periclean University in Oyat, across the Cexet Bay from New Tyria.
Student groups
Student life at UNT is dominated by student-run activity groups. While many of these represent activities, from intramural sports to cultural exchange to hobbies, many also represent circles of intellectual debate and study. At times, the line between the two can blur, especially in clubs predominantly populated by foreign exchange students. Though UNT does not explicitly endorse any one political ideology as an institution, the political structure of Tyreseia and the reputation of UNT (and of the city of New Tyria in general) as a place for freedom, student self-discovery and spirited political debate have drawn disproportionately on students that see themselves as political dissidents, especially from countries where left-wing politics are frowned upon, shunned, or repressed by the mainstream system. Student groups that are explicitly political have presented a source of diplomatic tension between Tyreseia and other nations, especially when students are later implicated in political movements in their home nations. As a result, some student protests at UNT reportedly feature observers filming the events; student organizers decry such observers as foreign intelligence operatives spying on protests so as to intimidate student activists abroad. As a result, many political student groups close ranks to all but the most trustworthy and dedicated, leaving those merely interested in political exploration to resort to generic political science or hobby groups. Notable political student groups include:
- Estudjantes pera Erredza Democratica (Students for a Democratic Yisrael), an umbrella organization organizing student cells advocating for left-wing reform or revolution in Yisraeli politics. The Yisraeli government alleges that the EED radicalizes Yisraeli exchange students, and encourages them to join violent extremist groups such as the the Liberal Democratic Front or the International Democratic Revolution upon leaving UNT. EED student leaders deny these claims, and the UNT administration claims that "there is no plausible evidence" for such recruitment and radicalization.
- Estudjantes pera Scipia Democratica (Students for a Democratic Scipia), an overarching organization aggregating groups of left-wing activists from various nations across the continent of Scipia. Despite the name, an increasing number of Belisarian students, especially from the so-called "Periclean Monarchies". Several former students of the ESD have been implicated as members of the Namdak-Andelfingen Group over the years, though ESD student leadership has denied official involvement with their membership.
Notable alumni
According to UNT records, there are 500,000 members of the university's alumni body. Among their ranks are numerous political leaders, scientists, engineers, intellectuals, inventors, artists and athletes from Tyreseia and around the world. Notable alumni include:
Anarixa Tabnit, Tyreseian queer feminist philosopher and key influence in intersectionality theory- Toña Fontana, Tyreseian Ordosocialist revolutionary, political theorist, writer, and leading light of the violent paramilitary group known as the International Democratic Revolution.
Nadia Alshaiba, Fahrani photojournalist and peace activist renowned for photographing the human toll of war in Haqara during the Fahrani Civil War- Dr. Saleh al-Qiyadi, Fahrani biochemist, oncologist and pharmacologist that helped research nano-emulsion technology for cancer treatment