[10] To that end, they purchased the Mansion House Hotel, a former health resort featuring the Sulphur Spring, using funds raised from local residents.

[14][15][16] 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.

[18][19][20] 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.

[20] During the mid-19th century, Ohio Wesleyan focused on attracting students, adding fields of study, and fundraising, by which it significantly increased its endowment.

[28] 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.

[29] Between 1891 and 1895, Ohio Wesleyan specialized the curriculum by establishing departments for physics, zoology, geology, speech, history, French, English, and economics.

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.

[40] 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).

[42] 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.

[45] 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.

[50][51] Students also demanded participation in departmental meetings and faculty committees, and the democratic process in the governance of Ohio Wesleyan grew in this period.

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.

[62] 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.

[98] Excluding independent studies and senior theses, nearly 60% of Ohio Wesleyan's class sections have fewer than twenty students enrolled.

[137][138] Its social organizations cover a wide range of interests, including chess, ultimate, finance, and medieval sword fighting.

[150] OWU Radio, formerly WSLN, broadcasts from Phillips Hall, and offers show times to students, faculty, and local citizens of Delaware.

Events include a "People's Parade" with clowns, banners and marching, faculty lectures, Maypole dancing, Choral Arts Society, and an all-campus carnival.

The men, in turn, developed their own tradition: they arrived at Monnett Campus early in the morning, and concealed themselves in trees to watch the festivities, discreetly.

[171] Other traditions include OWU vs. Denison, which stages a "fierce" athletic rivalry between Ohio Wesleyan and Denison University;[172] the Sagan Colloquium, spanning the fall semester, recently expanded to include the spring semester, which consists of speeches focusing on an issue of concern to the liberal arts;[173] and Orchesis, an annual celebration of modern dance and the arts, which occurs at the end of the academic year.

[189][190] For seven of the last twelve years, Ohio Wesleyan has won the NCAC conference All-Sports Trophy for excellence in both women's and men's sports.

In addition, Ohio Wesleyan's varsity athletic teams have been NCAC champions over 100 times,[189] leading the Denison Big Red and the Kenyon Owls.

[198] Both Denison and Ohio Wesleyan issued alerts to their fans specifically for the OWU-Denison lacrosse game about unsportsmanlike behavior and profanity.

[206] A number of the school's alumni have made notable contributions in the fields of government, law, academia, business, arts, journalism, and athletics, among others.

In academia, Frank Sherwood Rowland (class of 1948) won the 1995 Nobel Prize for chemistry for his research on the depletion of the Earth's ozone layer.

Ezra Vogel (1950) is a prominent author on China-Japan issues and was the director of Harvard's Fairbank Center for East Asian Research from 1995 to 1999.

[207] William Hsiao (1963) is an economist in the field of international health at Harvard,[208] and the designer of a landmark study to examine the United States' system of reimbursing physicians for medical services.

and now as "Victoria Chase" on the TV Land sitcom "Hot in Cleveland";[217] Melvin Van Peebles (1953), an actor, director, screenwriter, playwright, and composer; Patricia Wettig (1974), the actress who plays vice president Caroline Richards on Prison Break; and Clark Gregg (1984), the actor playing Richard in The New Adventures of Old Christine with Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

Norman Vincent Peale (1920) was the author of The Power of Positive Thinking and the winner of a Presidential Medal of Freedom for his theological contributions.

[220] Others found fame in other forms: Mildred Elizabeth Sisk (aka Axis Sally) was the first American woman to be tried and sentenced for treason, convicted of broadcasting for Nazi Germany during World War II.