SMU has enjoyed a positive relationship with the city of Dallas since the school’s founding in 1911. Today, this city of 1.2 million is the ninth-largest in the country, and contains a plethora of education and entertainment resources for SMU students to enjoy. Dallas boasts the largest urban arts district in the country, and the area known as Deep Ellum is always a popular spot for live music. For the sports fan, one of the nearby pro teams are always playing. And the city is of course also known for having a huge selection of bars and nightclubs for those of age.

As a tribute to the city in which it was built, SMU named its first building Dallas Hall. The school is sometimes called the “Hilltop” due to the hilly area Dallas Hall was built upon. The school’s main campus is small by some standards, spanning 210 acres. The Hall is now registered in the National Register of Historic Places and remains one of the iconic images of SMU. The Meadows Museum is one of the more well-known spots on the SMU campus, housing one of the most noteworthy collections of Spanish art outside of Spain. SMU’s campus in Fort Burgwin, New Mexico, is an archaeological site where the university offers summer programs that include rafting, hiking, and fly fishing in the surrounding area.

All SMU dorms are co-ed, smoke-free, carpeted, and air-conditioned. Halls: -Boaz Hall - Cockrell-Macintosh Hall -McElvaney Hall -Mary Hay Hall -Morrison-McGinnis -Perkins -Peyton -Smith Theme Halls: -Daniel House: community for transfer students to live together within an apartment setting -Hawk: theology commuter community -Service House: community service-themed apartments -Multicultural House: international-themed community -Shuttles: fine arts community -Virginia-Snider: honors community

SMU’s athletic teams compete in the NCAA’s Division I (the football team plays in Division I-A) and are affiliated with Conference USA. The university’s main rivals are Texas Christian University and Rice University. Each year, the football team plays against TCU to determine the winner of the “Iron Skillet.” In 2005, the SMU Mustangs, unranked at the time, beat 24th-ranked TCU. During the 2006 season, the men’s soccer team enjoyed its best season in recent memory. After spending most of the season at the top of the rankings, the team won the Conference USA title game, beating Kentucky 1-0. The Mustang became SMU’s mascot when a faculty member remarked that the football team looked like “a bunch of wild mustangs”; the name was adopted when it won a student vote.