History of Ohio Wesleyan University
Encyclopedia
The history of Ohio Wesleyan University
began with discussions of a college in Ohio in 1821 when the Ohio Methodist Conference in connection with the Kentucky Conference had established Augusta, the first Methodist institution of higher learning in the United States
. But Augusta was an obscure village, quite inaccessible and especially because it was on the “wrong” side of the Ohio River
to suit the growing anti-slavery sentiments of the people of Ohio
.
now occupied by Delaware hosted a Delaware
Native American
village prior to the founding of the town in 1808. The Delawares called themselves Lenape
or Leni-lenape, equivalent to "real men," or "native, genuine men" and were called "Grandfathers" by the Algonquian
tribes because of their belief that the Delawares were the oldest and original Algonquian nation. During the American Revolution
, the Delawares became a divided people. Many attempted to remain neutral in the conflict. Some adopted Christianity
, while other Delawares supported the English, who had assumed the role of the French traders at the end of the French and Indian War
. These natives thanked England for the Proclamation of 1763, which prohibited colonists from settling any further west than the Appalachian Mountains, and feared that, if the Americans were victorious, the Delawares would be driven from their lands. Following the American victory in the Revolution, the Delawares struggled against whites as they moved onto the natives' territory. In 1829, the Delawares relinquished their remaining land in Ohio and moved to present-day Kansas
.
The desire to establish an institution of higher learning was discussed for several years but did not assume a practical form until The White Sulphur Spring Property, a sanatorium in Delaware, Ohio
, and also the geographic center of Ohio
was offered for sale and Adam Poe in the summer of 1841 that it be purchased for the purpose of founding a new institution of higher learning. The property, which covered 10 acres (40,468.6 m²) of land with the former Mansion House and a few other buildings was bought on November 17, 1841 by the committee of Ohio citizens for $10,000.00 and the payment was concluded in 1849.
James Cobb, an ex-army officer and a graduate of West Point was the first informal principal of the preparatory school for both girls and boys. At the end of 1841, he retired from teaching due to his poor health conditions.
The following year, The State Legislature
of Ohio
under an old Ohio state constitution granted a special charter to the new school in on March 7, 1842.
On March 7, 1842, the founders formed a Board of Trustees and secured a charter, edited by a local resident Joseph Trimble, from the Ohio legislature. The charter established wide powers to a board comprising twenty-one members. The charter emphasized the democratic spirit of freedom of teaching.
Following the formal recognition by the state, the school appointed its first Principal, Solomon Howard and the formally recognized school unofficially opened its doors on November 1, 1842 six months later after the school obtained its official charter. The enrollement on November 1 comprised four boys. However, it increased to 130 students by the end of 1842, a number comprising students of both genders.
The school officially opened its doors on November 13, 1844 as a Methodist-related but nonsectarian college under the name Ohio Wesleyan University. It was among the first of a number of institutions named for Methodism founder John Wesley. The college originally admitted only male students, and began with twenty-nine students and three professors. The renamed Elliott Hall, formerly the Mansion House Hotel served as an academic facility, recitation hall and a dormitorie.
on November 13, 1844 when the College of Liberal Arts opened its doors. Edward Thompson headed the college. In addition to the college president, the school hired four more instructors. The first salaries of the school administrators
were fixed at: $800 for the college president, $600 for college professors, and $400 for other instructors. November 13 was a rainy day and the surroundings were not pleasant. Apart from the senior class and the students in the preparatory school, the starting class was composed of male students only. The first-year class consisted of twenty-nine students. Of the twenty-nine students, at the end of 1844, two were juniors, two were sophomores, fourteen freshmen and ninety-two in the prep school.
The first graduating exercises occurred in 1846 when the school graduated one student with the degree A.B.
. The following year, the school graduated two students. The graduating class increased subsequently with the only interruption occurring with a two-year interruption during the War of the Rebellion when Wesleyan students participated in the Civil War
on behalf of the Union Army
.
On August 5, 1846, the first president, Edward Thomson, delivered his inaugural address. He stated that the college was a product of the liberality of the people of Delaware. He believed that Ohio Wesleyan was fortunate in that it was founded as a community divided in religious and political opinions because the friction of a mixed society prevented dogmatism, developed energy, and that the spirit of the college is the spirit of liberty.
Thomson and his successors were vocal in other political debates of the time, such as slavery and the expansion of the United States. In 1857, Edward Thomson denounced the argument that southern Christians "should retain their slaves in obedience to state laws forbidding manumission," saying that "the soft and slippered Christianity which disturbs no one, is not the Christianity of Christ."
The Ohio Wesleyan Female College was established in 1853. In 1857, the female college moved to Monnett Hall, named for school benefactress Mary Monnett Bain. In 1877, the female college merged with the University, which became coeducational. Monnett Hall remained the center for women's housing on campus well into the 20th century. The Monnett Garden, which now stands between Sanborn Hall and Austin Manor, was constructed in 1990 to honor the former Monnett Hall.
was chartered on April 1, 1853, also located in Delaware, Ohio
. It graduated 411 graduated by its formal union with Ohio Wesleyan University
on August 11, 1877. Since that date, the institution has been continuously and exclusively co-educational.
Early in its inception, the corporate powers of the college were vested in a board of twenty-one board members, the vast majority, seventy percent, at that time being laymen. In 1849, the number of the trustees, was increased to thirty-one.
The first president of the college after its formal charter, was Edward Thomson
. He served the college until 1860 when moved to a position of a publication editor for a journal in New York city
. He was succeeded by Frederick Merrick, elected in 1860 and serving until 1873 when he resigned on account of poor health. Between 1873 and 1876, Lorenzo McCabe, a senior professor at the college, administered the interim presidency until a new appointment
The third president was Charles Payne
, who was elected in 1876. Under his presidency, the number of students doubled and the university assets increased to $500,000. He had a reputation for being a strict disciplinarian. Payne resigned in 1888 when he accepted the position of corresponding secretary of the Methodist Church in Ohio
to which he was elected.
, which was utilizing the fact that sulfur
water was springing naturally from the grounds near the building. The Mansion House also served as a library, which contained several hundred books for about twelve to fifteen years since the college's conception. In 1856, a new temporary three-story brick building was built housing the expanding library collection. The brick building was eventually replaced when the Elihu Slocum Library was built in 1898. Another addition to the campus was University Hall built in 1893. By the turn of the century the campus comprised a total of thirteen buildings serving the various departments.
The female college, until its merge with the University, of 10 acres (40,468.6 m²) consisted of a women's dormitory and a Music
department, an adjoining tract containing the Arts
Department, a President's House, an Observatory
, the latter three buildings situated on land of about 50 acres (202,343 m²). The university had no dormitories for men only.
The aggregate number of volumes in the library in the 1880s was 12,000. Most of the library and the museum collections focus on books in botany
, zoology
, mineralogy
and geology
.
s, masters
and doctoral degrees until the turn of the century. For example, in 1897, the university conferred one-hundred and six bachelor's degrees, eleven master's, thirty-three doctor of medicine
and two doctor of sacred theology
.
The school continued to grant A.B.s
for the students interested in the Classics
course until 1868, when Ohio Wesleyan University
began granting S.B. degrees for students interested in the study of sciences.
case, a case that questioned the constitutionality
of the institution operating as a private college, had opened a wide range of freedom for the establishment of private or denominational schools, and the charter
was issued by special legislative act
. Wesleyan was originally founded as a result of an educational renaissance in Ohio, a process described as denomination-ridden, poverty-stricken...in fact not colleges at all, but glorified high schools or academies that presumed to offer degrees. However, in the early days the Methodist denomination constituted a minority among the school's graduates.
In the 1850s, Ohio Wesleyan was by a large majority Republican, a party at that time associated with anti-slavery and Unionism
. On May 17, 1861 a huge flag was raised at a large concourse. In the annual celebrations for George Washington
's birthday in 1862, a college seniors responded to the toasts for the college classes with an oration being our Republic: May she have a second Washington in her second revolution implicitly endorsing the ideals of democracy at stake.
During the mid-19th century, the school focused as on curriculum
and fund raising. During this era, the college administration significantly increased the school's coffers, but failed to abolish fraternities. Between the years 1876 and 1888, enrollment in the college tripled and music education
experienced a decided renaissance
, though no major buildings were built during this time.
By the end of the 19th century, the University grew to contain several schools: a College of Liberal Arts (founded in 1844), a School of Music (1877), a School of Fine Arts (1877), a School of Oratory (1894), and a Business School (1895). Recognizing the need for new departments and the value of specialized instruction
, the Ohio Wesleyan administration improved the college's facilities and offerings to make its curriculum
and buildings on par with its new academic position. Construction during that period included Monnett extensions, University Hall and Slocum Library. Athletics
and physical education
facilities were established and a start was made for a new gym
nasium.
During these years OWU added departments for natural science
(physics
, zoology
, geology
), speech
, history
, French
, English
and economics
. The new ideal of specialization
brought an emphasis on professional
preparation for the Doctor of Philosophy
degree and on travel and study in Europe
. Three professional
schools — Law
, of Medicine
and Theology
— were formed and the Doric Front was demolished.
The speciliazation of the curriculum, a process that started during the Bashford presidency, influenced a lot of undergraduate students to take on further graduate study at other universities. Two Rhodes Scholars from Ohio Wesleyan were appointed during the first ten years of the 1910s: E.R.Loyd (1905) and E.E. Lincoln (1909). In 1907, the United Societes of Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest undergraduate honors organization in the United States installed its first chapter on campus.
It was decided during the Welch presidency years that despite the expansion and the institution's name, Ohio Wesleyan University was to remain a college, not a university. In the interest of wider degree legitimacy, the Bachelor of Science
degree was dropped and only the Bachelor of Arts
was offered. The mantle of the old classical
degree would be used to invoke a wide variety of fields, not just classical studies. Academic requirement for the bachelor's degree were cut and the emphasis on Latin and mathematics came to an end during the 1920s.
During the Hoffman years, the Academy and the School of Business came to an end in 1916. The Academy had started in 1842 as a preparatory school
and throughout its seventy-five years of existence frequently outnumbered the college in enrollment. The academy's demise was precipitated by the expansion of enrollment in public high schools and the Ohio centralized school system that started during the years of the Welch presidency. Decreasing demand for college preparatory services coincided with more stringent Department of Education
conditions.
service was dropped and sororities came into being. Edgar Hall came into use and Selby Stadium was built. Austin Manor and Perkins Observatory
was constructed and Stuyvesant Hall was planned.
The 1930s were marked by the effects of The Great Depression years. Even before 1929 there had been a shrinkage of enrollment, alumni donations decreased, and faculty
size remained the same resulting in the Soper (1928–1938) and Burgstahler's (1939–1947) administration battling mainly financial problems of survival. During the early 1930s the university administration undertook curriculum adjustments. Greek and Latin seemed to decline in popularity, business administration and economics continued to remain attractive, with the social sciences, English, pre-medicine and history among the largest enrollments at the school. The registrar in these years stated that these years saw a student "increase from eastern states and from Ohio cities, the number of foreign students and the fact that about seven hundred of our students contemplated some form of further educational work". By the 1930s, the number of Methodist students had appreciably declined to a minority among the student body.
Between 1996-2001 fiscal years, Ohio Wesleyan increased its expenditures per student by 23%, while the average increase over the same period for top tier liberal arts colleges was 17%. Economist Robert Lenke argued that this increase in spending per student contributed to an increase in the school's PhD creation rate, a rate that captures the number of students that obtained baccalaureates at Ohio Wesleyan and eventually earned a doctorate at another institution. During the same time period, the PhD creation rate for Ohio Wesleyan graduates increased from 3.8 to 5.3. Biological science and Social science graduates of the college receive doctorates at disproportionately higher rates than graduates in other academic fields.
Both academic and athletic achievements have marked Ohio Wesleyan's recent history. In mathematics, OWU's team has finished first five out of the last ten years at the Ohio Five mathematics
contest. In the athletics world, the Battling Bishops have captured four NCAA Division III national championships in soccer and basketball
in the last two decades.
Today, OWU maintains a loose, mainly historic, affiliation with the United Methodist Church.
Ohio Wesleyan University
Ohio Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college in Delaware, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1842 by Methodist leaders and Central Ohio residents as a nonsectarian institution, and is a member of the Ohio Five — a consortium of Ohio liberal arts colleges...
began with discussions of a college in Ohio in 1821 when the Ohio Methodist Conference in connection with the Kentucky Conference had established Augusta, the first Methodist institution of higher learning in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. But Augusta was an obscure village, quite inaccessible and especially because it was on the “wrong” side of the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
to suit the growing anti-slavery sentiments of the people of Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
.
Founders
The part of the Olentangy RiverOlentangy River
The Olentangy River is a tributary of the Scioto River in Ohio.It was originally called keenhongsheconsepung, a Delaware word literally translated as "stone for your knife stream", based on the shale found along its shores. Early settlers to the region translated this into "Whetstone River"...
now occupied by Delaware hosted a Delaware
Lenape
The Lenape are an Algonquian group of Native Americans of the Northeastern Woodlands. They are also called Delaware Indians. As a result of the American Revolutionary War and later Indian removals from the eastern United States, today the main groups live in Canada, where they are enrolled in the...
Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
village prior to the founding of the town in 1808. The Delawares called themselves Lenape
Lenape
The Lenape are an Algonquian group of Native Americans of the Northeastern Woodlands. They are also called Delaware Indians. As a result of the American Revolutionary War and later Indian removals from the eastern United States, today the main groups live in Canada, where they are enrolled in the...
or Leni-lenape, equivalent to "real men," or "native, genuine men" and were called "Grandfathers" by the Algonquian
Algonquian peoples
The Algonquian are one of the most populous and widespread North American native language groups, with tribes originally numbering in the hundreds. Today hundreds of thousands of individuals identify with various Algonquian peoples...
tribes because of their belief that the Delawares were the oldest and original Algonquian nation. During the American Revolution
Revolution
A revolution is a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively short period of time.Aristotle described two types of political revolution:...
, the Delawares became a divided people. Many attempted to remain neutral in the conflict. Some adopted Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
, while other Delawares supported the English, who had assumed the role of the French traders at the end of the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
. These natives thanked England for the Proclamation of 1763, which prohibited colonists from settling any further west than the Appalachian Mountains, and feared that, if the Americans were victorious, the Delawares would be driven from their lands. Following the American victory in the Revolution, the Delawares struggled against whites as they moved onto the natives' territory. In 1829, the Delawares relinquished their remaining land in Ohio and moved to present-day Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
.
The desire to establish an institution of higher learning was discussed for several years but did not assume a practical form until The White Sulphur Spring Property, a sanatorium in Delaware, Ohio
Delaware, Ohio
The City of Delaware is a city in and the county seat of Delaware County in the United States state of Ohio. Delaware was founded in 1808 and was incorporated in 1816. It is located near the center of Ohio, is about north of Columbus, and is part of the Columbus, Ohio Metropolitan Area...
, and also the geographic center of Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
was offered for sale and Adam Poe in the summer of 1841 that it be purchased for the purpose of founding a new institution of higher learning. The property, which covered 10 acres (40,468.6 m²) of land with the former Mansion House and a few other buildings was bought on November 17, 1841 by the committee of Ohio citizens for $10,000.00 and the payment was concluded in 1849.
James Cobb, an ex-army officer and a graduate of West Point was the first informal principal of the preparatory school for both girls and boys. At the end of 1841, he retired from teaching due to his poor health conditions.
The following year, The State Legislature
Legislature
A legislature is a kind of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law. In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise or lower taxes and adopt the budget and...
of Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
under an old Ohio state constitution granted a special charter to the new school in on March 7, 1842.
On March 7, 1842, the founders formed a Board of Trustees and secured a charter, edited by a local resident Joseph Trimble, from the Ohio legislature. The charter established wide powers to a board comprising twenty-one members. The charter emphasized the democratic spirit of freedom of teaching.
Following the formal recognition by the state, the school appointed its first Principal, Solomon Howard and the formally recognized school unofficially opened its doors on November 1, 1842 six months later after the school obtained its official charter. The enrollement on November 1 comprised four boys. However, it increased to 130 students by the end of 1842, a number comprising students of both genders.
The school officially opened its doors on November 13, 1844 as a Methodist-related but nonsectarian college under the name Ohio Wesleyan University. It was among the first of a number of institutions named for Methodism founder John Wesley. The college originally admitted only male students, and began with twenty-nine students and three professors. The renamed Elliott Hall, formerly the Mansion House Hotel served as an academic facility, recitation hall and a dormitorie.
Conception
The school started functioning as an institution of higher learningHigher Learning
Higher Learning is a 1995 American drama film, starring an ensemble cast. It also featured Tyra Banks' first performance in a theatrical film...
on November 13, 1844 when the College of Liberal Arts opened its doors. Edward Thompson headed the college. In addition to the college president, the school hired four more instructors. The first salaries of the school administrators
Academic administration
An academic administration is a branch of university or college employees responsible for the maintenance and supervision of the institution and separate from the faculty or academics, although some personnel may have joint responsibilities...
were fixed at: $800 for the college president, $600 for college professors, and $400 for other instructors. November 13 was a rainy day and the surroundings were not pleasant. Apart from the senior class and the students in the preparatory school, the starting class was composed of male students only. The first-year class consisted of twenty-nine students. Of the twenty-nine students, at the end of 1844, two were juniors, two were sophomores, fourteen freshmen and ninety-two in the prep school.
The first graduating exercises occurred in 1846 when the school graduated one student with the degree A.B.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
. The following year, the school graduated two students. The graduating class increased subsequently with the only interruption occurring with a two-year interruption during the War of the Rebellion when Wesleyan students participated in the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
on behalf of the Union Army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
.
On August 5, 1846, the first president, Edward Thomson, delivered his inaugural address. He stated that the college was a product of the liberality of the people of Delaware. He believed that Ohio Wesleyan was fortunate in that it was founded as a community divided in religious and political opinions because the friction of a mixed society prevented dogmatism, developed energy, and that the spirit of the college is the spirit of liberty.
Thomson and his successors were vocal in other political debates of the time, such as slavery and the expansion of the United States. In 1857, Edward Thomson denounced the argument that southern Christians "should retain their slaves in obedience to state laws forbidding manumission," saying that "the soft and slippered Christianity which disturbs no one, is not the Christianity of Christ."
The Ohio Wesleyan Female College was established in 1853. In 1857, the female college moved to Monnett Hall, named for school benefactress Mary Monnett Bain. In 1877, the female college merged with the University, which became coeducational. Monnett Hall remained the center for women's housing on campus well into the 20th century. The Monnett Garden, which now stands between Sanborn Hall and Austin Manor, was constructed in 1990 to honor the former Monnett Hall.
Early leadership
Since the college was exclusively geared towards the needs of men from the very start, the Ohio Wesleyan Female CollegeOhio Wesleyan Female College
Ohio Wesleyan Female College was founded in 1853 in Delaware, Ohio. It is also known under the name Wesleyan Female College in Cincinnati...
was chartered on April 1, 1853, also located in Delaware, Ohio
Delaware, Ohio
The City of Delaware is a city in and the county seat of Delaware County in the United States state of Ohio. Delaware was founded in 1808 and was incorporated in 1816. It is located near the center of Ohio, is about north of Columbus, and is part of the Columbus, Ohio Metropolitan Area...
. It graduated 411 graduated by its formal union with Ohio Wesleyan University
Ohio Wesleyan University
Ohio Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college in Delaware, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1842 by Methodist leaders and Central Ohio residents as a nonsectarian institution, and is a member of the Ohio Five — a consortium of Ohio liberal arts colleges...
on August 11, 1877. Since that date, the institution has been continuously and exclusively co-educational.
Early in its inception, the corporate powers of the college were vested in a board of twenty-one board members, the vast majority, seventy percent, at that time being laymen. In 1849, the number of the trustees, was increased to thirty-one.
The first president of the college after its formal charter, was Edward Thomson
Edward Thomson
Edward Thomson was an American Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church , elected in 1864.-Early life:Thomson was born in Portsea, part of Portsmouth, England...
. He served the college until 1860 when moved to a position of a publication editor for a journal in New York city
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. He was succeeded by Frederick Merrick, elected in 1860 and serving until 1873 when he resigned on account of poor health. Between 1873 and 1876, Lorenzo McCabe, a senior professor at the college, administered the interim presidency until a new appointment
The third president was Charles Payne
Charles Payne
Charles Payne, a clergyman, revised the hymn-book of the Methodist denomination in the late 19th century. He was president of Ohio Wesleyan University and an author....
, who was elected in 1876. Under his presidency, the number of students doubled and the university assets increased to $500,000. He had a reputation for being a strict disciplinarian. Payne resigned in 1888 when he accepted the position of corresponding secretary of the Methodist Church in Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
to which he was elected.
Campus development
In the early years, the main central building for teaching purposes encompassed the former Mansion House. It was a Colonial style building, a former sanatoriumSanatorium
A sanatorium is a medical facility for long-term illness, most typically associated with treatment of tuberculosis before antibiotics...
, which was utilizing the fact that sulfur
Sulfur
Sulfur or sulphur is the chemical element with atomic number 16. In the periodic table it is represented by the symbol S. It is an abundant, multivalent non-metal. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with chemical formula S8. Elemental sulfur is a bright yellow...
water was springing naturally from the grounds near the building. The Mansion House also served as a library, which contained several hundred books for about twelve to fifteen years since the college's conception. In 1856, a new temporary three-story brick building was built housing the expanding library collection. The brick building was eventually replaced when the Elihu Slocum Library was built in 1898. Another addition to the campus was University Hall built in 1893. By the turn of the century the campus comprised a total of thirteen buildings serving the various departments.
The female college, until its merge with the University, of 10 acres (40,468.6 m²) consisted of a women's dormitory and a Music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
department, an adjoining tract containing the Arts
ARts
aRts, which stands for analog Real time synthesizer, is an audio framework that is no longer under development. It is best known for previously being used in KDE to simulate an analog synthesizer....
Department, a President's House, an Observatory
Observatory
An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geology, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed...
, the latter three buildings situated on land of about 50 acres (202,343 m²). The university had no dormitories for men only.
The aggregate number of volumes in the library in the 1880s was 12,000. Most of the library and the museum collections focus on books in botany
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
, zoology
Zoology
Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...
, mineralogy
Mineralogy
Mineralogy is the study of chemistry, crystal structure, and physical properties of minerals. Specific studies within mineralogy include the processes of mineral origin and formation, classification of minerals, their geographical distribution, as well as their utilization.-History:Early writing...
and geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
.
Academic degrees
Wesleyan was granting bachelorBachelor
A bachelor is a man above the age of majority who has never been married . Unlike his female counterpart, the spinster, a bachelor may have had children...
s, masters
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
and doctoral degrees until the turn of the century. For example, in 1897, the university conferred one-hundred and six bachelor's degrees, eleven master's, thirty-three doctor of medicine
Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians. The degree is granted by medical schools...
and two doctor of sacred theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
.
The school continued to grant A.B.s
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
for the students interested in the Classics
Classics
Classics is the branch of the Humanities comprising the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient Mediterranean world ; especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during Classical Antiquity Classics (sometimes encompassing Classical Studies or...
course until 1868, when Ohio Wesleyan University
Ohio Wesleyan University
Ohio Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college in Delaware, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1842 by Methodist leaders and Central Ohio residents as a nonsectarian institution, and is a member of the Ohio Five — a consortium of Ohio liberal arts colleges...
began granting S.B. degrees for students interested in the study of sciences.
Fundraising and curriculum
The Dartmouth CollegeDartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
case, a case that questioned the constitutionality
Constitutionality
Constitutionality is the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution. Acts that are not in accordance with the rules laid down in the constitution are deemed to be ultra vires.-See also:*ultra vires*Company law*Constitutional law...
of the institution operating as a private college, had opened a wide range of freedom for the establishment of private or denominational schools, and the charter
Charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified...
was issued by special legislative act
Legislative act
A legislative act is a formal written enactment produced by a legislature or by a legislative process. It may be contrasted with a non-legislative act which is adopted by an executive or administrative body under the authority of a legislative act or for implementing a legislative act....
. Wesleyan was originally founded as a result of an educational renaissance in Ohio, a process described as denomination-ridden, poverty-stricken...in fact not colleges at all, but glorified high schools or academies that presumed to offer degrees. However, in the early days the Methodist denomination constituted a minority among the school's graduates.
In the 1850s, Ohio Wesleyan was by a large majority Republican, a party at that time associated with anti-slavery and Unionism
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
. On May 17, 1861 a huge flag was raised at a large concourse. In the annual celebrations for George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
's birthday in 1862, a college seniors responded to the toasts for the college classes with an oration being our Republic: May she have a second Washington in her second revolution implicitly endorsing the ideals of democracy at stake.
During the mid-19th century, the school focused as on curriculum
Curriculum
See also Syllabus.In formal education, a curriculum is the set of courses, and their content, offered at a school or university. As an idea, curriculum stems from the Latin word for race course, referring to the course of deeds and experiences through which children grow to become mature adults...
and fund raising. During this era, the college administration significantly increased the school's coffers, but failed to abolish fraternities. Between the years 1876 and 1888, enrollment in the college tripled and music education
Music education
Music education is a field of study associated with the teaching and learning of music. It touches on all domains of learning, including the psychomotor domain , the cognitive domain , and, in particular and significant ways,the affective domain, including music appreciation and sensitivity...
experienced a decided renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
, though no major buildings were built during this time.
Campus expansion
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
, the Ohio Wesleyan administration improved the college's facilities and offerings to make its curriculum
Curriculum
See also Syllabus.In formal education, a curriculum is the set of courses, and their content, offered at a school or university. As an idea, curriculum stems from the Latin word for race course, referring to the course of deeds and experiences through which children grow to become mature adults...
and buildings on par with its new academic position. Construction during that period included Monnett extensions, University Hall and Slocum Library. Athletics
Athletics (track and field)
Athletics is an exclusive collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross country running, and race walking...
and physical education
Physical education
Physical education or gymnastics is a course taken during primary and secondary education that encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting....
facilities were established and a start was made for a new gym
Gym
The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, that mean a locality for both physical and intellectual education of young men...
nasium.
During these years OWU added departments for natural science
Natural science
The natural sciences are branches of science that seek to elucidate the rules that govern the natural world by using empirical and scientific methods...
(physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
, zoology
Zoology
Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...
, geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
), speech
Public speaking
Public speaking is the process of speaking to a group of people in a structured, deliberate manner intended to inform, influence, or entertain the listeners...
, history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, English
English studies
English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language , English linguistics English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the U.K., U.S.,...
and economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
. The new ideal of specialization
Academic specialization
In academia, specialization may be a course of study or major at an academic institution or may refer to the field that a specialist practices in....
brought an emphasis on professional
Professional
A professional is a person who is paid to undertake a specialised set of tasks and to complete them for a fee. The traditional professions were doctors, lawyers, clergymen, and commissioned military officers. Today, the term is applied to estate agents, surveyors , environmental scientists,...
preparation for the Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
degree and on travel and study in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. Three professional
Professional
A professional is a person who is paid to undertake a specialised set of tasks and to complete them for a fee. The traditional professions were doctors, lawyers, clergymen, and commissioned military officers. Today, the term is applied to estate agents, surveyors , environmental scientists,...
schools — Law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
, of Medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
and Theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
— were formed and the Doric Front was demolished.
The speciliazation of the curriculum, a process that started during the Bashford presidency, influenced a lot of undergraduate students to take on further graduate study at other universities. Two Rhodes Scholars from Ohio Wesleyan were appointed during the first ten years of the 1910s: E.R.Loyd (1905) and E.E. Lincoln (1909). In 1907, the United Societes of Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest undergraduate honors organization in the United States installed its first chapter on campus.
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
degree was dropped and only the Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
was offered. The mantle of the old classical
Classical antiquity
Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, collectively known as the Greco-Roman world...
degree would be used to invoke a wide variety of fields, not just classical studies. Academic requirement for the bachelor's degree were cut and the emphasis on Latin and mathematics came to an end during the 1920s.
During the Hoffman years, the Academy and the School of Business came to an end in 1916. The Academy had started in 1842 as a preparatory school
University-preparatory school
A university-preparatory school or college-preparatory school is a secondary school, usually private, designed to prepare students for a college or university education...
and throughout its seventy-five years of existence frequently outnumbered the college in enrollment. The academy's demise was precipitated by the expansion of enrollment in public high schools and the Ohio centralized school system that started during the years of the Welch presidency. Decreasing demand for college preparatory services coincided with more stringent Department of Education
United States Department of Education
The United States Department of Education, also referred to as ED or the ED for Education Department, is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government...
conditions.
Depression years
During the 1920s the chapelChapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
service was dropped and sororities came into being. Edgar Hall came into use and Selby Stadium was built. Austin Manor and Perkins Observatory
Perkins Observatory
Perkins Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Delaware, Ohio. It is owned and operated by Ohio Wesleyan University.-Early history:The observatory is named for Hiram Perkins, a professor of mathematics and astronomy at the Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio from 1857 to 1907...
was constructed and Stuyvesant Hall was planned.
The 1930s were marked by the effects of The Great Depression years. Even before 1929 there had been a shrinkage of enrollment, alumni donations decreased, and faculty
Faculty (university)
A faculty is a division within a university comprising one subject area, or a number of related subject areas...
size remained the same resulting in the Soper (1928–1938) and Burgstahler's (1939–1947) administration battling mainly financial problems of survival. During the early 1930s the university administration undertook curriculum adjustments. Greek and Latin seemed to decline in popularity, business administration and economics continued to remain attractive, with the social sciences, English, pre-medicine and history among the largest enrollments at the school. The registrar in these years stated that these years saw a student "increase from eastern states and from Ohio cities, the number of foreign students and the fact that about seven hundred of our students contemplated some form of further educational work". By the 1930s, the number of Methodist students had appreciably declined to a minority among the student body.
Today
The Conrades-Wetherell Science Center opened in 2004 to provide 52000 square feet (4,831 m²) of additional space for the science departments. An athletic fundraising campaign began in 2005.Between 1996-2001 fiscal years, Ohio Wesleyan increased its expenditures per student by 23%, while the average increase over the same period for top tier liberal arts colleges was 17%. Economist Robert Lenke argued that this increase in spending per student contributed to an increase in the school's PhD creation rate, a rate that captures the number of students that obtained baccalaureates at Ohio Wesleyan and eventually earned a doctorate at another institution. During the same time period, the PhD creation rate for Ohio Wesleyan graduates increased from 3.8 to 5.3. Biological science and Social science graduates of the college receive doctorates at disproportionately higher rates than graduates in other academic fields.
Both academic and athletic achievements have marked Ohio Wesleyan's recent history. In mathematics, OWU's team has finished first five out of the last ten years at the Ohio Five mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
contest. In the athletics world, the Battling Bishops have captured four NCAA Division III national championships in soccer and basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
in the last two decades.
Today, OWU maintains a loose, mainly historic, affiliation with the United Methodist Church.
Timeline of recent developments
- 1991
- The Hamilton-Williams Campus Center opens.
- 1993
- Co-ops, called SLUs, are acquired by the university.
- 1994
- A major initiative for international students is endowed.
- Thomas CourticeThomas CourticeThomas Barr Courtice was the president of Ohio Wesleyan University between 1994 and 2004. He received degrees from the University of Pittsburgh, Indiana University, and the University of Minnesota...
is inaugurated as Ohio Wesleyan's 14th president. - 1995
- The respective college presidents sign papers of incorporation on June 30, 1995, establishing The Five Colleges of OhioFive Colleges of OhioThe Five Colleges of Ohio is an academic consortium of five selective private liberal arts colleges in the U.S. state of Ohio. It is a nonprofit educational consortium established in 1995 to promote the broad educational and cultural objectives of its member institutions...
, Inc. as a legal entity. - Alumnus F. Sherwood Rowland shares the 1995 Nobel PrizeNobel PrizeThe Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
in ChemistryChemistryChemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
for work in atmospheric chemistry. - The student body expands by 20%.
- 1998
- The men's soccer team wins the NCAA Division III national championship.
- The Campaign for Wesleyan goes into its public phase with a goal of $100 million.
- 2001
- The women's soccer team wins the NCAA Division III national championship.
- 2003
- The Campaign for Wesleyan surpasses its $100-million goal by $10 million.
- The $33 million Science Center is built.
- 2004
- Mark HuddlestonMark HuddlestonMark W. Huddleston is the 19th President of the University of New Hampshire , having been elected to that position on April 18, 2007.-Biography:...
becomes Ohio Wesleyan's fifteenth president. - The Strand Theatre in downtown Delaware is purchased by the University.
- The Richard M. Ross Art Museum opens.
- 2005
- A $22 million initiative is directed at addressing the needs of the University's athletic and recreation programs.
- 2008
- Rockwell F. Jones is inaugurated as Ohio Wesleyan's sixteenth president.
- 2010
- The $10 million Meek Aquatic Center is completed.
- 2011
- The Board of Trustees approves work to renovate Stuyvesant Hall. The 15-month project is expected to begin in Summer 2011 and should be completed before the start of the 2012-2013 academic school year.