[1] Oklahoma Wesleyan University traces its history back to 1905[6] through several antecedent schools.

[7] The campus purchase included La Quinta Mansion, the former home of oilman H.V.

OKWU's president cited CCCU's "reluctance to make a swift decision" in response to the decisions of two member schools (Goshen College and Eastern Mennonite University) which changed their hiring policies to include same-sex couples, as an unwillingness to defend the biblical definition of marriage.

[9] On August 15, 2016, OKWU joined a court challenge to a 2011 mandate from the U. S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights requiring colleges and universities adjudicate what they called "a unconstitutional process and standard."

Former president Piper stated, in part, that they "refuse to accept any government intrusion that would require OKWU to teach the antithesis of our Christian beliefs concerning sexual behavior" and that OKWU's students "should have the legal right to avail themselves of local law enforcement without their petition being compromised by the intrusion of an OCR-mandated committee of amateurs that contravenes the due process and confidentiality of the legal process."

[14] They are also a member of the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA), primarily competing as an independent in the Central Region of the Division I level.