Park University is a

private university Private universities and private colleges are institutions of higher education, not operated, owned, or institutionally funded by governments. They may (and often do) receive from governments tax breaks, public student loans, and grant (money ...

in Parkville, Missouri. It was founded in 1875. In the fall of 2017, Park had an enrollment of 11,457 students.

History

The school which was originally called Park College was founded in 1875 by John A. McAfee on land donated by

George S. Park George Shepherd Park (October 28, 1811 – June 6, 1890) was a Texas War of Independence hero and founder of Parkville, Missouri, Park University, and Manhattan, Kansas. He helped establish Kansas State University. Biography Park was born in Gra ...

with its initial structure being the stone hotel Park owned on the bluff above the Missouri River. The original concept called for students to receive free tuition and board in exchange for working up to half day in the college's farm, electrical shop or printing plant. According to the terms of the arrangement if the “Parkville Experiment” did not work out within five years, the college grounds were to revert to Park. There were 17 students in the first school year and in the first graduation class there were five women. McAfee led until his death in 1890. His son Lowell M. McAfee became the second president of Park until stepping down in 1913. The first international student at Park University arrived in 1880 from Japan. The defining landmark of the campus is Mackay Hall, named after Carroll County, Illinois banker Duncan Mackay who donated $25,000 in materials for the structure shortly before his death. The building was constructed using

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

mined on the campus grounds and built with the labor of students. Construction began in 1883 and was finished by 1893. Today the building is the main focal point of the campus and dominates the hillside, overlooking the town of Parkville. It is on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. For many decades the school was affiliated with the Presbyterian Church but it no longer has that affiliation. The college has had a relationship with the military since 1889. However, the relationship was greatly expanded in the late 1960s with the establishment of a Military Degree Completion Program and later in 1972 with the Military Resident Center System. Park's total enrollment has grown from its small base since 1996 when it first began offering online courses. In 2000, it was renamed Park University.

Locations

Parkville campus

The flagship campus of Park University is located in the city of Parkville,

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

. The Park University Graduate School is located in downtown

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

. There are 41 campuses in 22 U.S. states including four campuses in the Kansas City area (downtown Kansas City,

Independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

, Lenexa, and Parkville) and a campus center in

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. Most of the satellite campuses are on or near United States military bases and share quarters with other businesses/organizations. The home campus currently has an enrollment of 1,600 students representing 50 states and 106 countries. The entire extended system had an annual student enrollment of 23,000.

Gilbert campus

In 2018, the university opened a campus center in

Gilbert Gilbert may refer to: People and fictional characters * Gilbert (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Gilbert (surname), including a list of people Places Australia * Gilbert River (Queensland) * Gilbert River (South ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

in the city's Heritage District. Park leased at the University Building. The university continued to expand the Gilbert campus in 2019, leasing an additional and extending the initial three-year term to five years with the city. The university continued to expand the Gilbert campus with the addition of college athletics. Initially playing as an independent during the 2019–20 academic year, the university announced membership in the NAIA and California Pacific Conference (Pac West) starting in 2020–21.

Rankings

*Ranked second in the “online and nontraditional” category on the ''Military Times’'' "Best for Vets: Colleges 2016" list. *Ranked second among all private colleges/universities in the country with a 9.5 percent annual ROI by 2015 PayScale College ROI Report. *2015-16 Colleges of Distinction list. * Ranked by '' U.S. News & World Report'' as the 126-165 best Midwest college in 2018.

Athletics

Parkville Pirates

The athletic teams of the Park University main campus are called the Pirates. The university 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

Heart of America Athletic Conference The Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC or The Heart) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Member institutions are located in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska in ...

(HAAC) since the 2020–21 academic year. The Pirates previously competed in the American Midwest Conference (AMC) from 2009–10 to 2019–20; which they were a member on a previous stint from 1986–87 to 1993–94; and in the defunct Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference (MCAC) from 1994–95 to 2008–09. Park competes in 18 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, track & field (indoor and outdoor) and volleyball; while women's sports include basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, track & field (indoor and outdoor) and volleyball; and co-ed sports include eSports. The Department of Athletics at Park University was led by Claude English, Director of Athletics, who was also the Pirates’ men's basketball coach from 1992 to 2005 and retired in 2021. From 1980 to 1984, English was the head men's basketball coach at his alma mater, the

University of Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of the state of Rhode Island ...

, and he played one season in the NBA with the Portland Trail Blazers in 1970–1971. Seven former Park Pirates compete currently for the Kansas City Comets of the Major Arena Soccer League.

Championships

* 2018 Women's Volleyball (NAIA National Champions) * 2017 Men's Volleyball (NAIA Invitational Tournament) * 2014 Women's Volleyball (NAIA National Champions) * 2014 Men's Volleyball (NAIA Invitational Tournament) * 2012 Men's Volleyball (NAIA Invitational Tournament) * 2008 Men's Volleyball (NAIA Invitational Tournament) * 2003 Men's Volleyball (NAIA Invitational Tournament)

Gilbert Buccaneers

The athletic teams of the Gilbert campus of Park University (Park–Gilbert) are called the Buccaneers. The university added a college athletics program to the

Gilbert, Arizona Gilbert is a town in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, located southeast of Phoenix within the city's metropolitan area. Incorporated on July 6, 1920, Gilbert was once known as the "Hay Shipping Capital of the World". It is the fifth-larg ...

campus center in 2019. After playing as independent institution during the 2019–20 academic year, the university announced membership in the

(NAIA), primarily competing in the California Pacific Conference (Cal Pac) starting in the 2020–21 academic year. Park–Gilbert competes in 15 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, track & field (indoor and outdoor) and volleyball; while women's sports include basketball, beach volleyball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, track & field (indoor and outdoor) and volleyball.

Notable people

* Marsia Alexander-Clarke, artist * Vlatko Andonovski -

United States Women's National Soccer Team The United States women's national soccer team (USWNT) represents the United States in international women's Association football, soccer. The team is the most successful in international women's soccer, winning four FIFA Women's World Cup, Wom ...

Coach * James J. Barry, Jr. (1969) - former New Jersey General Assemblyman and

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

Director of

Consumer Affairs Consumer protection is the practice of safeguarding buyers of goods and services, and the public, against unfair practices in the marketplace. Consumer protection measures are often established by law. Such laws are intended to prevent business ...

Ralph von Frese Ralph R. B. von Frese is an American geophysicist at the Ohio State University who identified the Wilkes Land mass concentration in Antarctica in collaboration with Laramie Potts. In 1969, Frese graduated B.A. ''cum laude'' from Park College in ...

(1969) - American

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...

Tsiang Tingfu Tsiang Tingfu (; 17 February 1895 – 9 October 1965), was a historian and diplomat of the Republic of China who published in English under the name T.F. Tsiang. Early life and education Tsiang was born in Shaoyang in Hunan Province. Tsiang's ...

(Chinese: 蔣廷黻)- Chinese scholar and diplomat. In 1911, he attended the Park Academy *

Don H. Compier Don H. Compier became Dean of the Bishop Kemper School for Ministry in Topeka, KS, in July 2014. BKSM is a joint project of the Episcopal Dioceses of Nebraska, Western Kansas, Kansas, and West Missouri. It uniquely seeks to educate candidates for o ...

(1985) - founding Dean of the

Community of Christ Seminary The Community of Christ Seminary at the Independence campus of Graceland University is the official and only seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (s ...

* Steve Cox - freelance writer * John R. Everett (1942) - President of Hollins College, first Chancellor of the Municipal College System of the City of New York, and President of the

New School for Social Research The New School for Social Research (NSSR) is a graduate-level educational institution that is one of the divisions of The New School in New York City, United States. The university was founded in 1919 as a home for progressive era thinkers. NSSR ...

* Maurice Green Olympic Sprinter; world record holder *

Melana Scantlin Melana Scantlin (born December 4, 1977 Gladstone, Missouri) is an American entertainment journalist, sports journalist and former Miss Missouri USA, and reality TV star who also competed in the Miss Teen USA and Miss USA pageants. In college, sh ...

(2002) - former

Miss Missouri USA The Miss Missouri USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state Missouri in the Miss USA pageant. It is directed by Vanbros and Associates, based in Lenexa, Kansas. In 1993, Missouri joined the Vanbros group of st ...

, television personality *

Chance Browne Robert "Chance" Browne (born June 17, 1948) is an American comic strip artist and cartoonist, painter, and musician. He was born in New York City. After his father Dik Browne died in 1989, Browne took over drawing the family comic strip ''Hi and ...

- American musician, painter, and cartoonist * Robert E. Hall - eleventh Sergeant Major of the Army *

Charles A. Holland Charles Alfred Holland (1872–1940) was a University of Southern California football captain, a businessman and a Los Angeles, California, City Council member between 1929 and 1931. Biography Holland was born in 1872 in Girard, Kansas, the son ...

, Los Angeles, California, City Council member, 1929–31 *

James A. Roy James A. Roy (born May 18, 1964) is a retired Chief Master Sergeant of the United States Air Force who served as the 16th Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force from June 30, 2009, to January 24, 2013. He was previously the Senior Enlisted Leader ...

- sixteenth Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force *

Edwin Kagin Edwin Frederick Kagin (November 26, 1940 – March 28, 2014) was an attorney at law in Union, Kentucky, and a founder of Camp Quest, the first secular summer camp in the United States for the children of secularists, atheists, agnostics, brights ...

attorney Attorney may refer to: * Lawyer ** Attorney at law, in some jurisdictions * Attorney, one who has power of attorney * ''The Attorney'', a 2013 South Korean film See also * Attorney general, the principal legal officer of (or advisor to) a gove ...

, founder

Camp Quest Camp Quest is an organisation providing humanist residential summer camps for children in the United States, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Norway. It was first held in 1996 in Kentucky to provide an alternative to the traditional religiousl ...

* George Kelly - American

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and interpretation of how indi ...

, therapist and

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

Texe Marrs Texe William Marrs (July 15, 1944 – November 23, 2019) was an American writer and radio host, who ran two fundamentalist Christian ministries, Power of Prophecy Ministries and Bible Home Church, both based in Austin, Texas. His teachings inclu ...

- American preacher *

Cleland Boyd McAfee Cleland Boyd McAfee (September 25, 1866 – February 4, 1944) was an American theologian, Presbyterian minister and hymn writer, best known for penning the gospel hymn, "Near to the Heart of God," and its tune called "McAfee". He wrote the song af ...

(1884) - American

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

Newell A. George Newell Adolphus George (September 24, 1904 – October 22, 1992) was a U.S. Representative from Kansas. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, George attended public schools in Kansas City, Kansas, Wentworth Military Academy in Lexington, Missouri, Pa ...

- United States

Congressman A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...

, 1959–1961. * Carl McIntire -

radio broadcaster Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio sta ...

* Stephen M. Veazey -

Prophet-President In the Latter Day Saint movement, the President of the Church is generally considered to be the highest office of the church. It was the office held by Joseph Smith, founder of the movement, and the office assumed by many of Smith's claimed succe ...

of the

Community of Christ The Community of Christ, known from 1872 to 2001 as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS), is an American-based international church, and is the second-largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement. The churc ...

* George S. Robb, U.S. Army (1912) -

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

* Lewis Millet, U.S. Army (1964) -

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

Thaddeus J. Martin Major General Thaddeus J. Martin (born July 4, 1956) is a retired American military officer and former adjutant general of the Connecticut National Guard until June 30, 2018. He began his military service in 1977. He was commissioned, through Of ...

, U.S. Air Force,

Connecticut Adjutant General The Adjutant General of Connecticut is the highest-ranking military officer in the Armed Forces of the State of Connecticut which includes the Connecticut National Guard, the four units of the Governor's Guards, the Connecticut State Guard, the ...

David Grace (basketball) David Grace is an American college basketball coach, former high school and AAU head coach, and is retired from the United States Air Force. He was most recently the associate head coach for the Vanderbilt Commodores of the Southeastern Conferenc ...

UCLA and Oregon State University men's assistant basketball coach (USAF Retired) *

Anthony Melchiorri Anthony Melchiorri is a hospitality expert and television personality. He is the creator, co-executive producer, and host of the Travel Channel's hotel turnaround show ''Hotel Impossible''. Early life and education Melchiorri was born in Broo ...

- Hospitality expert and Travel Channel host * Hollington Tong - transferred to

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

Republic of China ambassador to the United States The Chinese Ambassador to the United States is the official representative from the People's Republic of China to the United States of America. List of representatives This is a list of diplomatic representatives from China to the United Stat ...

*James A. Decker - founder of the

Decker Press The Press of James A. Decker was a poetry publishing house once located in the tiny hamlet of Prairie City, Illinois. Created in 1937 by James A. Decker, the press carried the full name of its founder until 1948 when the imprint was shortened to si ...

Faculty and staff

Stanislav Ioudenitch Stanislav Ioudenitch (born December 5, 1971) is an Uzbekistani-born American pianist, known for winning the Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Gold Medal at the Eleventh Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2001, jointly with Olga Kern, as well ...

(Professor of Music and Piano) - Pianist and gold medalist of Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2001 *

Kay Barnes Kay Waldo Barnes (born March 30, 1938) is a former American politician and two-term Mayor of Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas City, Missouri, and the first woman to be elected to the office. She was the Democratic nominee for map of the United State ...

(Senior Director for University Engagement) - Former mayor of

and candidate for Congress in 2008

References

External links

*
Park Pirates athletics website

Park–Gilbert Buccaneers athletics website
{{authority control Private universities and colleges in Missouri Kansas City metropolitan area Private universities and colleges in Texas Educational institutions established in 1875 Buildings and structures in Platte County, Missouri Education in Platte County, Missouri 1875 establishments in Missouri