Kentucky Wesleyan College
Kentucky Wesleyan College (KWC) is a private Methodist college in Owensboro, Kentucky. The college is known for its liberal arts programs. Fall 2018 enrollment was 830 students.[2]
Motto | Find Yourself |
---|---|
Type | Private Liberal Arts College |
Established | 1858 |
Religious affiliation | United Methodist Church |
Endowment | $36.8 million |
President | Thomas Mitzel |
Students | 785[1] |
Location | , , United States 37.7435°N 87.1202°W |
Campus | Suburban; 55 acre (.22 km²) campus near the southern bypass |
Colors | Purple and white |
Athletics | NCAA Division II G-MAC, Independent (football) |
Affiliations | IAMSCU CIC |
Sports | 17 varsity teams |
Mascot | Panthers |
Website | www.kwc.edu |
History
Kentucky Wesleyan College was founded in 1858 by the Kentucky Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. It was originally located in Millersburg. Classes began in 1866 and the first commencement took place in 1868. At first, it was a training school for preachers but soon business and liberal arts classes were added to the curriculum. In 1890 the school was moved to Winchester and soon after women began to be admitted for the first time. In 1951, the school moved to its present location in Kentucky's fourth largest city, Owensboro.[3]
Presidents
College presidents include:[4]
1. Rev. Charles Taylor (1866–1870)
|
17. David C. Hull (1925–1928) |
Academics
Kentucky Wesleyan offers 29 majors and 13 pre-professional programs[5] and has a student-to-faculty ratio of 13:1.[6] Academics are divided into four divisions: Fine Arts & Humanities, Natural Sciences & Mathematics, Professional Studies, and Social Sciences.[7]
Campus
Kentucky Wesleyan is located on 55 acres of land.[2] Their campus includes buildings for academics, administration, student residence halls, and athletic facilities.
Academic and administrative buildings[8]
- Barnard-Jones Administration building, which houses the Office of Admissions and includes Tapscott Chapel and the Snyder Faculty Office building.
- Winchester Campus Community Center, a student space that has meeting spaces, student organization offices, and the campus security office.
- Hocker Family Dining Center/Greenwell Library and Learning Center, a large building that includes the dining hall, library, computer labs, student work spaces, and group and individual study spaces. This building connects to the Winchester Center for student ease of access.
- Ralph Center for Fine Arts and Communication Arts, an academic building housing the majority of the Fine Arts and Humanities degree programs and the auditorium.
- Yu Hak Hahn Center for the Sciences, an academic building that includes the majority of the Natural Sciences & Mathematics and some Social Sciences degree program classes.
Residence halls
All residence halls have air conditioning. Each residence hall room, unless designed as a private room, has two twin-size beds with mattresses, two dressers, two desks, two chairs and ample closet space. All residence halls are also equipped with Wi-Fi and laundry facilities. In addition, the campus is smoke-free.[9]
- Massie Residence Hall, a suite-style residence hall featuring double and single rooms, semi-private bathrooms and community spaces.[10]
- Peeples Residence Hall, which houses 140 people.[11]
- Kendall Residence Hall, which houses 150 people. This is a newly renovated residence hall.[12]
- Deacon Residence Hall, which houses ninety people.[13]
- Stadium Drive Apartments, an apartment style residence hall featuring double and single rooms, living room, and semi-private bathrooms.[14]
Athletic facilities
The campus includes both student athletic facilities and athlete spaces.[8]
- Jones Gymnasium/Woodward Health and Recreation Center, home to the practice facilities for the university's basketball teams and student health resources.
- Panther Hitting Facility, where university baseball and softball teams practice.
- Panther Park and Foster Field, where the baseball and softball teams compete.
- Panther Field, where the soccer teams practice and compete.
- Bullet Wilson Field at Steele Stadium, where the university's football teams practice and compete.
Student life
Kentucky Wesleyan offers over 40 student organizations on campus. These range from campus ministry, student government, Greek life, academic, and other special interest clubs.[15] Intramural sports are offered on a seasonal basis.
Governing organizations[16]
- Student Government Association (SGA), the self-governing body on campus that provides the student body with a voice in college affairs, ranging from administrative to social matters. SGA consists of an elected executive council and senate. Two senators represent each class. Elections are open to any interested student.
- Panhellenic Council, the governing body for the national sororities on campus. It fosters cooperation, good will and harmony among the sororities, plans activities and administers policies and regulations governing Recruitment activities.
- Interfraternity Council, which regulates the affairs of the social fraternities, administers rules governing rush and pledging and encourages cooperation and harmony among its members.
Media and publications
- The Panogram — weekly student newspaper
- 90.3 WKWC — 5,000 watt FM radio station run by students and volunteers
Greek life
Kentucky Wesleyan has three national fraternities and two national sororities.[17]
Fraternities
Sororities
Campus ministries
Kentucky Wesleyan, as a private Christian college, has strong ties to the local religious community. They have partnerships with twelve churches of various denominations as well as on-campus services and religious organizations.[18]
Athletics
The Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers compete in NCAA Division II and was a charter member of the Great Lakes Valley Conference. KWC is currently a charter member of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC) joining in the 2013-14 season. The 2014 KWC football team currently competes as an Independent NCAA Division II team after leaving the Great Lakes Valley Conference, as an associate member, after the 2013 season.
Intercollegiate men's teams include: baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, football, soccer, and implemented modern era indoor and outdoor track and field teams beginning in the 2012-2013 academic season. Women compete in basketball, bowling, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, volleyball, and also implemented modern era indoor and outdoor track and field teams in the 2012-2013 academic season.[19]
The men's basketball team advanced to the Division II championship game six consecutive years (1998–2003), winning in 1999 and 2001 under the direction of Ray Harper.[20] In addition to these successes, they won six other championships (1966, 1968, 1969, 1973, 1987, and 1990) and were runners-up in 1957. Overall, Kentucky Wesleyan has won eight NCAA Division II National Men's Basketball Championships, which is the most by any NCAA Division II School.[20]
Notable alumni
- Mohamed Abu Arisha (born 1997) - Israeli basketball player for Hapoel Be'er Sheva of the Israeli Basketball Premier League and the Israeli national basketball team
- Keelan Cole - current wide receiver for Jacksonville Jaguars of the NFL
- Urban Valentine Williams Darlington - former bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South
- G. Lindsey Davis - bishop of the United Methodist Church
- Ray Harper - former head men's basketball coach, current head coach at Jacksonville State University
- John Wesley Hughes - founder of Asbury University and Kingswood College
- Doug Moseley - former Kentucky state senator and retired United Methodist minister
- Mark Patton - CFO Colony Hardware
- Paul A. Porter - former Federal Communications Commission chairman
- Stanley Forman Reed - former Justice of the United States Supreme Court
- Jody Richards - former Speaker of the House, Kentucky House of Representatives
- Roy Hunter Short - former Bishop of The Methodist Church and the United Methodist Church
- A. J. Smith - Executive Vice President and General Manager of the San Diego Chargers
- Benjamin T. Spencer
- Edward Lewis Tullis - former bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South and the United Methodist Church
- Cory Wade - pitcher for the New York Yankees
References
- As of fall 2016. "Student headcount by level: All independent institutions (2006-16)" (PDF). Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education. Commonwealth of Kentucky. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
- "Kentucky Wesleyan College". US News and World Report. Archived from the original on 2018-08-25. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
- "The 10 Biggest Cities In Kentucky". WorldAtlas. Retrieved 2020-02-29.
- Presidents of the College Archived 2013-12-27 at the Wayback Machine https://kwc.edu/about-wesleyan/office-of-the-president/presidents-of-the-college/
- "About Wesleyan". Retrieved 3 November 2017.
- "KWC Common Data Set 2013-2014" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 April 2014. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
- "KWC Academic Divisions". Archived from the original on 13 April 2014. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
- "Visit Campus". Kentucky Wesleyan College. 2015-09-22. Retrieved 2020-02-29.
- "About Our Halls". Kentucky Wesleyan College. 2015-10-26. Retrieved 2020-02-29.
- "Massie Hall". Kentucky Wesleyan College. 2018-11-29. Retrieved 2020-02-29.
- "Peeples Hall". Kentucky Wesleyan College. 2018-11-29. Retrieved 2020-02-29.
- "Kendall Hall". Kentucky Wesleyan College. 2018-11-29. Retrieved 2020-02-29.
- "Deacon Hall". Kentucky Wesleyan College. 2018-11-29. Retrieved 2020-02-29.
- "Stadium Apartments". Kentucky Wesleyan College. 2018-11-29. Retrieved 2020-02-29.
- "KWC Campus Clubs, Organizations, & Societies". Archived from the original on 29 August 2014. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
- "Campus Clubs, Organizations & Societies". Kentucky Wesleyan College. 2015-10-13. Retrieved 2020-02-29.
- "Greek life at KWC". Archived from the original on 2013-12-27. Retrieved 2013-12-27.
- "Find a Church..." KWC Campus Ministries. Retrieved 2020-02-29.
- Athletic teams
- "Men's basketball NCAA Div. II Championships". Archived from the original on 2012-10-26. Retrieved 2012-12-03.