History of Ohio Wesleyan University
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.
[1] 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, was offered for sale in the summer of 1841.
The property, which covered 10 acres (40,000 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.
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 school officially opened its doors on November 13, 1844, as a Methodist-related but nonsectarian college under the name Ohio Wesleyan University.
The school started functioning as an institution of higher learning on November 13, 1844, when the College of Liberal Arts opened its doors.
Thomson and his successors were vocal in other political debates of the time, such as slavery and the expansion of the United States.
In the early years, the main central building for teaching purposes encompassed the former Mansion House.
The Mansion House also served as a library, which contained several hundred books for about twelve to fifteen years since the college's conception.
Wesleyan was 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.
During this era, the college administration significantly increased the school's coffers, but failed to abolish fraternities.
[10] Between the years 1876 and 1888, enrollment in the college tripled and music education experienced a decided renaissance,[11] though no major buildings were built during this time.
[13] 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.
[14] During these years OWU added departments for natural science (physics, zoology, geology), speech, history, French, English and economics.
[15] The new ideal of specialization brought an emphasis on professional preparation for the Doctor of Philosophy degree and on travel and study in Europe.
[16] The specialization 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.
The academy had started in 1842 as a preparatory school and throughout its seventy-five years of existence frequently outnumbered the college in enrollment.
Decreasing demand for college preparatory services coincided with more stringent Department of Education conditions.
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.
[22] 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.
[27] 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.
[32] In the athletics world, the Battling Bishops have captured four NCAA Division III national championships in soccer and basketball in the last two decades.
[33] Today, OWU maintains a loose, mainly historic,[34] affiliation with the United Methodist Church.
