| Kentucky Wesleyan College | |
| Motto: | Find Yourself |
| Type: | Private college |
| Religious Affiliation: | United Methodist Church |
| Endowment: | $36.8 million |
| President: | Thomas Mitzel |
| City: | Owensboro, Kentucky |
| Country: | U.S. |
| Coordinates: | 37.7435°N -87.1202°W |
| Students: | 785[1] |
| Campus: | Suburban, |
| Athletics Affiliations: | NCAA Division II G-MAC |
| Colors: | Purple and white |
| Mascot: | Panthers |
| Academic Affiliations: | IAMSCU CIC |
Kentucky Wesleyan College (KWC) is a private Methodist college in Owensboro, Kentucky. Fall 2018 enrollment was 830 students.[2]
Kentucky Wesleyan College was founded in 1858 by the Kentucky Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. It was originally located in rural Millersburg, Kentucky. 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, Lawrence W. Hager raised over US$1,000,000 to move the school moved to its present location in Kentucky's fourth largest city, Owensboro.[3] [4]
College presidents include:[5] 1. Charles Taylor (1866–1870)
Interim A.G. Murphy (1869–1870)
2. Benjamin Arbogast (1870–1873)
3. John Darby (1873–1875)
4. Thomas J. Dodd (1875–1876)
5. William H. Anderson (1876–1879)
6. David W. Batson (1879–1883)
7. Alexander Redd (1883–1884)
8. David W. Batson (1884–1893)
9. Benjamin T. Spencer (1893–1895)
10. Eugene H. Pearce (1895–1900)
11. John L. Weber (1901–1906)
12. Henry K. Taylor (1906–1909)
13. John J. Tigert (1909–1911)
14. James L. Clark (1911–1919)
15. William B. Campbell (1919–1924)
16. U. V. W. Darlington (1924–1925)
17. David C. Hull (1925–1928)
Interim Walter V. Cropper (1928–1929)
18. Clarence M. Dannelly (1929–1932)
19. Reginald V. Bennett (1932–1937)
20. Paul S. Powell (1937–1950)
21. John F. Baggett (1950–1951)
22. Oscar W. Lever (1951–1959)
23. Dr. Harold P. Hamilton (1959–1970)
24. William E. James (1971–1979)
25. Luther W. White (1979–1988)
26. Paul W. Hartman (1988–1993)
Interim Ray C. Purdom (1993–1994)
27. Wesley H. Poling (1994–2004)
28. Anne C. Federlein (2004–2008)
Interim Dr. M. Michael Fagan (2008)
29. Cheryl D. King (2008–2011)
30. W. Craig Turner (2011–2014)
31. Barton D. Darrell (2014–2019)
Interim Gene Tice (2019)
32. Thomas Mitzel (2020–2024)
33. James Cousins (2025-)[6]
Kentucky Wesleyan offers 30 majors and 13 pre-professional programs[7] and has a student-to-faculty ratio of 13:1.[8] Academics are divided into four divisions: Fine Arts & Humanities, Natural Sciences & Mathematics, Professional Studies, and Social Sciences.[9]
Kentucky Wesleyan College was ranked #24 (tie) in the Regional Colleges South category by U.S. News & World Report in 2022–23. The college was also named #33 in Top Performers on Social mobility.[10]
Kentucky Wesleyan is located on 55 acres of land. Their campus includes buildings for academics, administration, student residence halls, and athletic facilities.
The campus includes both student athletic facilities and athlete spaces.
Kentucky Wesleyan offers over 40 student organizations on campus. These range from campus ministry, student government, Greek life, academic, and other special interest clubs.[12] Intramural sports are offered on a seasonal basis.
Several student organizations provide leadership for other students and organizations, including:[13]
Kentucky Wesleyan has three national fraternities and two national sororities.[14]
Kentucky Wesleyan, as a private Christian college, has partnerships with twelve churches of various denominations as well as on-campus services and religious organizations.[15]
See main article: Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers.
The Kentucky Wesleyan (KWU) athletic teams are called the Panthers. The college is a member of the Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) as a founding member since the 2013–14 academic year. The Panthers previously competed as a charter member of the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) from 1978–79 to 2011–12 (but was fulfilling its commitments to the final year of competition for its other sports in the GLVC as a full member for the 2012–13 school year; before beginning competition as a full G-MAC member). They also competed in the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (KIAC; now currently known as the River States Conference (RSC) since the 2016–17 school year) of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 1916–17 to 1954–55.
KWU competes in 22 intercollegiate varsity sports: men's teams include baseball, basketball, bowling, cross country, football, golf, soccer, tennis, track & field (indoor and outdoor) and wrestling; while women's sports include basketball, bowling, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, track & field (indoor and outdoor) and volleyball; and co-ed sports include cheerleading.[16]
The men's basketball team advanced to the NCAA Men's Division II Basketball Championship Game six consecutive years (1998–2003), winning in 1999 and 2001 under the direction of Ray Harper.[17] 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.[17]