The story
Founding (1841–1855)
In 1841, Ohio residents Adam Poe and Charles Elliott decided to establish a university "of the highest order" in central Ohio. To that end, they purchased the Mansion House Hotel, a former health resort featuring the Sulphur Spring, using funds raised from local residents. Poe and Elliott wrote a charter emphasizing "the democratic spirit of teaching", which was approved by the Ohio State Legislature. Early in the following year they opened the college preparatory academy and formed a board of trustees. Ohio Wesleyan University, named (like several other U.S. colleges and universities) after John Wesley, founder of Methodism, opened on November 13, 1844, as a Methodist-related but nonsectarian institution, with a College of Liberal Arts for male students.
Ohio Wesleyan's first president, Edward Thomson, stated in his inaugural address on August 5, 1846, that the school was "a product of the liberality of the local people." This liberal philosophy contributed to Ohio Wesleyan's vocal opposition to slavery in the 1850s. In the annual celebration for George Washington's birthday in 1862, second president Frederick Merrick endorsed Ohio Wesleyan's "ideals of democracy" during his oration.
Early growth (1855–1930)
During the mid-19th century, Ohio Wesleyan focused on attracting students, adding fields of study, and fundraising, by which it significantly increased its endowment. Sturges Hall was constructed as the university's first library in 1855. In 1873, the school added the Department of Natural History housed in Merrick Hall. The Ohio Wesleyan Female College, established in 1853, merged with the university in 1877. Between 1876 and 1888, enrollment tripled and music education greatly increased, yet no major buildings were built in this time.
By the end of the 19th century, Ohio Wesleyan had added a School of Music (1877), School of Fine Arts (1877), School of Oratory (1894), and Business School (1895) to the original College of Liberal Arts (founded in 1844). To address the need for new departments and specialized instruction, the administration improved the facilities and courses to make them on par with OWU's new academic position. University Hall, Slocum Library, extensions to the Monnett campus, and athletic facilities were all constructed during that period.
Between 1891 and 1895, Ohio Wesleyan specialized the curriculum by establishing departments for physics, zoology, geology, speech, history, French, English, and economics. This specialization encouraged undergraduates to continue studies at graduate level, allowed professional preparation for the Doctor of Philosophy degree, and promoted exchange study in Europe. Two professional schools for law and medicine were formed in 1896, with support from the Wesleyan Methodist Church.
In 1905, the board of trustees decided to keep Ohio Wesleyan a college, despite the expansion of the curriculum and campus and the word "university" in the institution's name. The Bachelor of Science degree was abolished, which left only the Bachelor of Arts. Two students were selected as Rhodes Scholars in 1905 and 1909. Edwards Gymnasium was built in 1906. In 1907, the United Societies of Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest undergraduate honor society in the United States, installed the "Eta of Ohio" ΦΒΚ chapter on campus. In 1909, the school added Sanborn Hall, housing the Music Department.
In the 1920s, academic requirements for the bachelor's degree were reduced, and Latin and mathematics were no longer emphasized. During the presidency of John W. Hoffman (1916–1928), the academy and School of Business were closed; the academy had started in 1842 as a preparatory school, and throughout its seventy-five years frequently outnumbered the college in enrollment. Also in the 1920s, the chapel service was dropped and sororities were formed. Ohio Wesleyan also increased the number of buildings on campus, including Selby Stadium, Austin Manor, and Perkins Observatory; another building, Stuyvesant Hall, was in planning; and Edgar Hall was opened.
Curriculum changes (1930–1984)
During the Great Depression, both enrollment and alumni donations shrank. While the faculty size remained stable, lack of tuition and alumni revenues precipitated financial problems which threatened the college's survival in the administrations of Edmund D. Soper (1928–1938), Acting President Edward Loranus Rice (1938–1939), and Herbert John Burgstahler (1939–1949).
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The administration adjusted the curriculum during the early 1930s to address these problems. Greek and Latin declined, while business administration and economics thrived and the highest enrollments were in the social sciences, English, pre-medicine, and history. The registrar reported that, in these years, the number of students from New England states, urban Ohio areas, and from international locations increased. By the 1930s, the Methodist students were a minority among the student body; formal ties to the Methodist church were severed in the 1920s and led to debate among board members in the 1930s, eventually resulting in the university's current active but loose historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. In a study into the relationship between American educational institutions and the Christian denominations they were historically affiliated with, James Tunstead Burtuchell writes that it was during this period that "in its personnel, its resources, and its students", Ohio Wesleyan lost its "symbiotic intimacy with the United Methodist Church."
In 1946, Ohio Wesleyan introduced a new "Centennial Curriculum", which enacted seven distribution requirements across the sciences and humanities; the new requirement for a foreign language course was added to the existing humanities requirement. Thomson and Bashford Halls, originally men's dorms, were built between 1951 and 1954. In the 1960s, faculty, staff and administrators fought over administrative structure and control. They eventually settled on a new "statement of aims" that stressed values, rather than religious goal statements, and instituted a more internationalized curriculum, a new Women's Studies Program, and an International Business major; the faculty senate also introduced a new academic calendar with three 10.5-week terms.
Thomas Wenzlau's presidency (1968–1984) began with the challenge of campus unrest: Ohio Wesleyan students took over the ROTC building, demanded its shut-down, and eventually eliminated ROTC in 1970. Students also demanded participation in departmental meetings and faculty committees, and the democratic process in the governance of Ohio Wesleyan grew in this period. Wenzlau's presidency witnessed decline in students' test scores, an unusually high attrition rate, lack of adequate research to identify potential major donors and a growing "party school" image, leading to a rocky relationship between him and the student body. Between 1979 and 1982, the campus newspaper The Transcript frequently criticized Wenzlau's presidency, blaming it for "severely affecting the reputation of the college". This exchange resulted in a Washington Post report on the school that eventually precipitated the end of Wenzlau's presidency.
Contemporary period (1984–present)
The president, David Warren, increased admission standards in 1985, engaged students in a "live-in" presidency, expanded media exposure and established a National Colloquium focused on the liberal arts. Warren engaged in forty-one interviews on the ABC and NBC networks.
More recently, Ohio Wesleyan has achieved several academic and athletic recognitions. A 1986 study, titled "Educating America's Scientists: The Role of the Research Colleges," identified Ohio Wesleyan as one of 48 highly selective "science-active" liberal arts institutions in the nation. The Battling Bishops won NCAA Division III national championships in men's basketball (1988) and men's (1998, 2011) and women's (2001, 2002) soccer. Ohio Wesleyan also is reporting increasing enrollment figures, In fall 2025, Ohio Wesleyan reported its fourth consecutive year of enrollment growth, with1,652 undergraduates, up about 8% since fall 2024. The university also enrolled 516 new, first-time students, up from 474 in fall 2024.
Ohio Wesleyan continues to undertake construction projects. The Hamilton-Williams Campus Center opened in 1991. The Memorial Union Building was renovated in 2001 to accommodate the Economics Department, the Academic Resource Center, the Information Services portion of the combined Libraries and Information Services department, and the Woltemade Center for Economics, Business and Entrepreneurship. The Schimmel/Conrades Science Center opened in 2004 to provide 52,000 square feet (4,800 m2) of additional space for the science departments. In 2011, the Meek Aquatics Center opened as a state-of-the-art facility, also used by the Delaware community. In 2018, the university opened the Delaware Entrepreneurial Center at OWU in collaboration with the City of Delaware and Delaware County. In 2019, Ohio Wesleyan announced an ambitious Residential Renewal project, committing $60M to renovating existing buildings and the construction of a new village of apartments.
From Wikipedia’s article on Ohio Wesleyan University, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5