Iowa Wesleyan University

Iowa Wesleyan University is a private four-year liberal arts college located in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. Founded in 1842, it ranks as Iowa's first co-educational institution of higher learning and the oldest of its type west of the Mississippi River. The college's innovations have included concepts of undergraduate lab science, career experience, and service-learning. The college is affiliated with the United Methodist Church.^[1]

Two campus buildings, Old Main and the Harlan-Lincoln House, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The latter, the former summer home of Robert Todd Lincoln, is now a museum featuring various artifacts from the Harlan and Lincoln families.

History

In 1841 a group of Methodist settlers in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, met and began lobbying the Iowa territorial legislature to establish an institute of higher learning in their burgeoning community.^[2] On February 17, 1842, the legislature granted a charter for the Mount Pleasant Literary Institute, soon to be renamed as Mount Pleasant Collegiate Institute.^[1] Despite the charter, organization and fund raising were slow going at first. Twenty acres of land were donated for the campus by four Mount Pleasant residents in March 1843. That same month, organizing officials hired Reverend Artistides J. Heustis as the institution's first president.^[2]

From February 1855, the school was known as Iowa Wesleyan University, honoring John Wesley, the founder of Methodism^[1] The institution's name was modified to Iowa Wesleyan College in 1912, reflecting its contemporary status as a four-year baccalaureate degree institution of higher learning.

On August 10, 2015, Iowa Wesleyan officially adopted its new name: Iowa Wesleyan University, reflecting its broad educational opportunities and its roots as one of the oldest four-year co-educational church-related universities west of the Mississippi River.

The university occupies a 60-acre central campus of historic red brick buildings and modern structures, including some listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Chapel, built in 1896, received a complete renovation and restoration in the early 21st century.

Iowa Wesleyan is fully accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools to offer academic programs leading to the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, and Bachelor of Music Education degrees. Undergraduate enrollment at the college is approximately 600 full-time students. Dr. Steven E. Titus has been president of the college since June 2013.

Academic programs

Students at Iowa Wesleyan can gain a variety of degrees in the fields of Business, Education, Fine Arts, Human Studies, Language and Literature, Nursing, and Science Math and Computer Science.

In the late 1960s, Iowa Wesleyan started its Responsible Social Involvement program, or RSI. Now called Service Learning, the program has two main goals:

1. Service to the greater community, and
2. Having students participate more actively in their own education.

Service Learning allows students direct experience outside the traditional realms of textbooks, classrooms, and professors. Additionally, all students at Iowa Wesleyan are required to complete an approved internship through the Office of Field Experience.

Student life

Iowa Wesleyan University offers many activities for students outside the classroom, including the Student Government Association, the Student Union Board, Intramurals, College Radio (IWCR), Hall Councils, Student Ambassadors, as well as a number of performing groups such as the Concert Choir.

Greek life

Greek life has a rich history at Iowa Wesleyan University. The one active chapter on campus is the Beta chapter of Alpha Xi Delta Sorority, which has been on campus since 1902. It is the oldest chapter of Alpha Xi Delta in the country.

The P.E.O. Sisterhood was founded at Iowa Wesleyan University on January 21, 1869.

Greek organizations that have had chapters on campus include: National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) Sororities:

• Pi Beta Phi, 1868–2004
• Phi Mu, 1914–1943
• Zeta Tau Alpha, 1918–1987

North American Interfraternity Conference (IFC) Fraternities

• Phi Delta Theta, 1871–2009
• Beta Theta Pi, 1868–1915
• Delta Tau Delta, 1875–1980
• Sigma Phi Epsilon, 1913–1976
• Lambda Chi Alpha, 1924–1974
• Tau Kappa Epsilon, 1947–1954
• Phi Kappa Tau, 1968–1984

Athletics

Iowa Wesleyan teams are known as the Tigers. The college is a member of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) and a provisional member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference(SLIAC).^[3] The football team competes in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC).^[4]

The Tigers were formerly part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), primarily competing in the Midwest Collegiate Conference (MCC) until the end of the 2011-12 season. Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer and track & field; while women's sports include basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, track & field and volleyball.

In 2009, for the second time in college history since 2006, both the men's and women's teams qualified for the NAIA National Basketball Tournament. Both men's and women's teams also qualified for the USCAA National Tournament in 2015.

From 1989-1991, Hal Mumme was head football coach, with Mike Leach as his offensive coordinator. It was at Iowa Wesleyan that they developed the "Air Raid" offense.

Notable alumni

• William Andrews Clark, United States Senator and business magnate.
• Dana Holgorsen, college football coach (West Virginia University).
• Belle Babb "Arabella" Mansfield, the first woman lawyer in the United States.
• John H. Mickey, the 17th governor of Nebraska (1903 to 1907).
• Ola Babcock Miller, Iowa Secretary of State
• James Van Allen, astrophysicist who discovered the Van Allen radiation belt circling the earth.
• Peggy Whitson, former NASA Chief Astronaut and first female commander of the International Space Station.

References

External links

• Official website
• Official athletic website
•  "Iowa Wesleyan University". Collier's New Encyclopedia. 1921. 

Coordinates: 40°58′21″N 91°33′08″W / 40.9725°N 91.5522°W / 40.9725; -91.5522 (Iowa Wesleyan University)