The University of Connecticut, located in Storrs, was originally known as the Storrs Agricultural School ­— a fitting name for an institution surrounded by farmland. Storrs is a sleepy town about a 30-minute drive from Hartford; 60 minutes from Providence, R.I.; and 90 minutes from Boston. Without many activities off campus, students can get involved in the more than 450 clubs and organizations on campus, including more than 30 fraternities and sororities. They can also catch a film in the on-campus movie theater and skate for free in the school’s ice rink. Sports are a major focus for students; the UConn Huskies compete in the NCAA Division I American Athletic Conference, in which UConn’s basketball teams are especially ferocious competitors. Freshmen do not have to live on campus, though more than 70 percent of all undergraduates choose to do so. Each year before final exams, students gather for Spring Weekend, a fun-filled, multi-day celebration that began as the school’s Campus Community Carnival in the 1940s.The University of Connecticut has many graduate offerings, including the highly ranked Neag School of Education. UConn is the state of Connecticut’s sea grant institution and receives funds for research and outreach to the region’s waterways. Notable alumni of the University of Connecticut include WNBA star Sue Bird; George Harrison, former senior vice president at Nintendo; and David Lee, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics.