Bethany College is a
private
Private or privates may refer to:
Music
* " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation''
* Private (band), a Denmark-based band
* "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...
Christian college in
Lindsborg, Kansas
Lindsborg is a city in McPherson County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 3,776. Lindsborg is known for its large Swedish, other Nordic and Scandinavian Americans ( Nordic- Scandinavian), and German ...
. It was founded in 1881, making it one of the oldest colleges in Kansas.
History
Bethany College, established by Swedish Lutheran immigrants in 1881, is a college of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is a mainline Protestant Lutheran church headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA was officially formed on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three Lutheran church bodies. , it has approxim ...
(ELCA). Swedish-Lutheran settlers worked with the Rev.
Carl Aaron Swensson
Carl Aaron Swensson (June 25, 1857 – February 16, 1904) was an American Lutheran minister and founder and President of Bethany College.
Background
Carl Aaron Swensson was born at Chandler's Valley near Sugar Grove, Pennsylvania. He was a son ...
, pastor of Bethany Lutheran Church, to establish Bethany Academy on October 15, 1881, in the sacristy of the church in Lindsborg, Kansas, with ten students.
The first building erected contained classrooms and a dormitory for men. A separate dormitory for women was built next. J. A. Udden was the first teacher. In 1882, the Smoky Valley district of the Kansas conference of the
Augustana Synod
The Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church (previously the Augustana Lutheran Synod and also Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod in North America and Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod in North America) was a Lutheran church ...
took responsibility for the college; a board of directors was appointed and a state charter was received.
In 1883, a large dormitory for men was constructed, and in 1885, a main hall with classrooms, a chapel museum, and library and science departments opened. The Kansas conference itself took responsibility for the school in the spring of 1885 and the name was changed to Bethany College and Normal Institute. By 1889, its present name, Bethany College, had been assumed and it had been granted permission to award academic degrees.
Notable Bethany presidents in the 20th century include Rev. Ernst Frederick Wilhelm Pihlblad (1873–1943), who was a professor from 1895 to 1904 and president from 1905 to 1941. Under Pihlblad, Bethany was accredited and became a member of the
National Association of Schools of Music
The National Association of Schools of Music (NASM) is an association of post-secondary music schools in the United States and the principal U.S. accreditor for higher education in music. It was founded on October 20, 1924, and is based in Reston ...
. Under the watch of
Emory K. Lindquist (1908–1992), who took office of president in 1943, Bethany survived war troubles, grew in post-war America, and improved its reputation. He was the author of ''Bethany in Kansas: The History of a College'' (1975).
The Bethany College Board of Directors announced the appointment of Elizabeth Mauch as Bethany College President in 2020.
Academics
Bethany College has 14 academic departments. The school offers majors focused in education, humanities, fine arts, sciences, and social sciences; minors ranging from business and sacred music to theater and art; teaching endorsements for all majors in education; and six pre-professional studies including medicine, law and, physical therapy.
Athletics
The Bethany athletic teams are called the Swedes (or Terrible Swedes). The college is a member of the
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to its stu ...
(NAIA), primarily competing in the
Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference
The Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The KCAC is the oldest conference in the NAIA and the second oldest in the United Stat ...
(KCAC) since the 1902–03 academic year.
Bethany competes in 22 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, tennis, track & field (indoor and outdoor) and wrestling; while women's sports include basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, track & field (indoor and outdoor) and volleyball; and co-ed sports include cheerleading, dance and eSports.
Traditions
![Bethany College in Lindsborg Kansas KS USA](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/Bethany_College_in_Lindsborg_Kansas_KS_USA.jpg)
* Since 1903, students and alumni have rallied Bethany athletic competition with the "Rockar! Stockar!" cheer.
* Every year since 1882, Bethany Oratorio Society has presented
Handel's Messiah
In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; ,
; ,
; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of ''mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach'' ...
at the college, one of the longest-running annual performances in North America.
* The walk from Bethany Lutheran Church. In honor of its founding in the sacristy of Bethany Lutheran Church, students traditionally walk to the church for a welcome service on their first day at Bethany as freshmen. Then, before the baccalaureate services on the day of their commencement, Bethany seniors line up in front of Bethany Lutheran Church for a traditional procession to Presser Hall on campus.
* The ringing of the bell. When a Swedes athletics team wins conference, they gather in front of Hahn Gymnasium to ring the bell and spread the news to the rest of the campus, regardless of what time of day—or night—it may be.
*
Lift High the Cross
"Lift High the Cross" is a 19th century English Christian hymn. It was written in 1887 by George Kitchin and revised in 1916 by Michael R. Newbolt.
History
Kitchin wrote "Lift High the Cross" in 1887, while he was the Church of England Dean of ...
. Each year during Homecoming week, Bethany students celebrate the college’s heritage of faith by lifting high a wooden cross in the gazebo. Students sign up for shifts so that the cross is held high during every hour of the week.
* The number of feet out that the fence is for a home run in Anderson Stadium is 352, and it is also the place all Swedes baseball fans gather to cheer.
Notable alumni and faculty
![Bethany College entrance sign](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/Bethany_College_entrance_sign.JPG)
*
Randy W. Berry
Randy William Berry (born 1965) is an American diplomat and the United States ambassador to Namibia since February 9, 2023. He has previously served as the United States ambassador to Nepal and the first Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGB ...
, United States Ambassador to Nepal
*
John Frykman, Lutheran minister and psychotherapist
*
Oscar Jacobson
Oscar Brousse Jacobson (May 16, 1882 – September 15, 1966) was a Swedish-born American painter and museum curator. From 1915 to 1945, he was the director of the University of Oklahoma's School of Art, later known as the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of ...
, B.A., Ph.D., painter and director of the
University of Oklahoma
The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...
School of Art, now known as the
Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art
The Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art is an art museum on the University of Oklahoma campus in Norman, Oklahoma.
Overview
The University of Oklahoma’s Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art holds over 20,000 objects in its permanent collection. The museum c ...
.
*
Harrison Keller
Harrison Keller (October 8, 1888 – March 13, 1979) was an American violinist and music educator.''Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians'', Seventh Edition, Revised by Nicolas Slonimsky, Schirmer Books, New York, 1984, page 1178
Keller wa ...
, violinist and professor
*
Ted Kessinger
Ted Kessinger (born January 15, 1941) is a former American football coach. He served as the head football coach at Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas from 1976 to 2003, compiling a record of 219–57–1 for a winning percentage of . He is amo ...
, football coach and
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...
inductee
*
Emory Lindquist
Dr. Emory Kempton Lindquist (Feb. 29, 1908 – Jan. 27, 1992) was the president of Bethany College (1943–1953) in Lindsborg, Kansas and Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas (1963–1968). He also served as a professor and authored many a ...
, 1930
Rhodes Scholar
The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom.
Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...
, Swedish-American historian, President of Bethany, President of
Wichita State University
Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...
*
Carl Lotave
Carl Lotave (February 29, 1872 – December 27, 1924) was a painter of portraits, illustrator, and sculptor. He painted portraits of notable leaders of World War I and is best known for his two portraits of President Abraham Lincoln. Lotave was an ...
, art instructor and portraitist
*
Bruce Montgomery, composer, performer, painter conductor, director
*
Wade Moore
Wade Hampton Moore (June 14, 1876 – June 14, 1956) was an American football and baseball player and coach.
Moore was a graduate of the University of Kansas, lettering for the baseball team in 1898 and 1899, and the football team in 1899. Follow ...
, baseball manager and college football coach
*
Bennie Owen
Benjamin Gilbert Owen (July 24, 1875 – February 26, 1970) was an American football player and coach of football, basketball, and baseball. He served as the head football coach at Washburn College, now Washburn University, in 1900, at Bethany C ...
, football coach and
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...
inductee
*
John Pfeiffer
John Pfeiffer (September 29, 1920February 8, 1996) was a classical recording producer, a design engineer, and an occasional electronic music composer.
Life and career
Born in Tucson, Arizona, Pfeiffer studied music and engineering at the Unive ...
, classical music producer
*
Norman Reedus
Norman Mark Reedus (born January 6, 1969) is an American actor best known for starring as Daryl Dixon in the AMC (TV channel), AMC horror drama series ''The Walking Dead (TV series), The Walking Dead'' (2010–2022). He also starred as Murphy Mac ...
, actor (Attended a
Semester)
*
Birger Sandzen, artist, art professor at Bethany College
*
Carl Aaron Swensson
Carl Aaron Swensson (June 25, 1857 – February 16, 1904) was an American Lutheran minister and founder and President of Bethany College.
Background
Carl Aaron Swensson was born at Chandler's Valley near Sugar Grove, Pennsylvania. He was a son ...
, Lutheran minister and President of Bethany College
*
Norma Wendelburg, composer
*
Evelyn Wilson
Evelyn Zabel Wilson (born December 6, 1959) is a justice of the Kansas Supreme Court.
Education
Wilson graduated from Bethany College in 1982 with a bachelor's degree in business and from Washburn University School of Law in 1985.
Legal an ...
, Justice of the
Kansas Supreme Court
The Kansas Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority in the state of Kansas. Composed of seven justices, led by Chief Justice Marla Luckert, the court supervises the legal profession, administers the judicial branch, and serves as the sta ...
References
External links
*
Official athletics website
{{Authority control
1881 establishments in Kansas
Buildings and structures in McPherson County, Kansas
Education in McPherson County, Kansas
Educational institutions established in 1881
Private universities and colleges in Kansas
Swedish-American culture in Kansas
Tourist attractions in McPherson County, Kansas