[1] Abner S. Ingman and James R. Maupin founded Southwest Baptist College in 1878 in Lebanon, Missouri.

[3] Southwest Baptist University was granted an exception to Title IX in 2015, allowing the school to legally discriminate against LGBT students for religious reasons.

[4] In November 2021 its accreditor, the Higher Learning Commission, placed it on probation for being in noncompliance on criteria related to governance, academic freedom, and effective leadership.

Students and townspeople saved eight pianos and almost all of the sports equipment from the locker rooms of the multipurpose building at that time.

The newly elected president, Robert E. Craig, used the event to stimulate the buying of 102 acres (41.3 ha) of farmland south of Bolivar.

This farmland expanded into the Shoffner Campus on which Southwest Baptist University resides today.

[11] In 1981, the Gene Taylor National Free Enterprise Center was opened to facilitate the College of Business and Computer Science.

It has since been renamed the Mercy College of Nursing and Health Sciences of Southwest Baptist University.

The most recent addition to the Shoffner campus is the Jane and Ken Meyer Wellness and Sports Center.