Bethany College is a private

liberal arts Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term '' art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically th ...

college in

Bethany, West Virginia Bethany is a town in southern Brooke County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 756 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Weirton–Steubenville metropolitan area. It is best known as the home of Bethany College, a private liberal ...

. Founded in 1840 by Alexander Campbell of the

Restoration Movement The Restoration Movement (also known as the American Restoration Movement or the Stone–Campbell Movement, and pejoratively as Campbellism) is a Christian movement that began on the United States frontier during the Second Great Awakening (17 ...

, who gained support by the Virginia legislature, Bethany College was the first institution of higher education in what is now West Virginia.

History

A liberal arts college, Bethany was chartered on March 2, 1840, by the

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

legislature and given "all degree-granting powers" of the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

. West Virginia's secession from Virginia on June 20, 1863, recognized existing Virginia charters; Bethany College continues to operate under the Virginia charter. It was founded by Alexander Campbell, a minister in the

who provided the land and funds for the first building and served as the first president. Bethany has been a four-year private liberal arts college affiliated with the

Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States and Canada. The denomination started with the Restoration Movement during the Second Great Awakening, first existing during the 19th ...

, since its inception. This religious body, of which Campbell was one of the principal founders, continues to support and encourage the college but exercises no sectarian control. An early center of coeducation, Bethany has admitted women since the 1880s. The college's roots stem from the Buffalo Seminary, founded in 1818, by Campbell; sessions were first held in his mansion in Bethany, home of Alexander Campbell and his father Thomas Campbell. The new Buffalo Seminary, " a continuing education arm of the College" is less than a mile away from the College. The college is the birthplace of

Delta Tau Delta Delta Tau Delta () is a United States-based international Greek letter college fraternity. Delta Tau Delta was founded at Bethany College, Bethany, Virginia, (now West Virginia) in 1858. The fraternity currently has around 130 collegiate chapter ...

, an international social fraternity founded in 1858. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Bethany was one of 131 colleges nationally that took part in the

V-12 Navy College Training Program The V-12 Navy College Training Program was designed to supplement the force of commissioned officers in the United States Navy during World War II. Between July 1, 1943, and June 30, 1946, more than 125,000 participants were enrolled in 131 colleg ...

, which offered students a path to a Navy commission. A number of campus buildings are contributing resources to the

Bethany Historic District Bethany Historic District is a national historic district located at Bethany, Brooke County, West Virginia. It encompasses 111 contributing buildings on the campus of Bethany College, the central business district, and surrounding residential a ...

. The Historic District was listed 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 ...

in 1982.

Pendleton Heights Pendleton Heights is a historic neighborhood in Kansas City, Missouri, United States. It is near the downtown highway loop, between Paseo and Chestnut Trafficway to the west and east, and Independence Avenue and Cliff Drive to the south and nort ...

was listed in 1975 and the

Delta Tau Delta Founders House Delta Tau Delta Founders House is a historic home associated with Bethany College, at Bethany, Brooke County, West Virginia. It was built in the early 1850s, and is a two-story, five bay Greek Revival-style dwelling. It is "L"-shaped and constr ...

in 1979. The campus is also home to the Parkinson Forest, which in 2019 was added to the national Old-Growth Forest Network. The designation identifies the Parkinson Forest as the oldest Old-Growth Forest in Brooke County.

Academics

Bethany College offers a wide selection of studies, awarding Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Arts degrees in more than 25 fields. If a major does not appeal to a student, Bethany offers students the opportunity to design their own major through the Interdisciplinary program. Bethany also offers Dual Majors, which is a combination of two majors. According to recent research, 95% of Bethany College graduates carry student loan debt, averaging $25,704. The endowment fund in 2016 was worth $46.7 million.https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/bethany-college-west-virginia-3808 According to U. S. News tuition and fees are $28,444 and room and board costs $10,270 (2017–18). About 29% of Bethany students graduate in four years.

Notable alumni

Virginia Dare Aderholdt Virginia Dare Aderholdt was an Arlington Hall cryptanalyst and Japanese translator, who decrypted the intercepted Japanese surrender message, August 14, 1945. Early years Virginia was the daughter of Oscar Wrey Aderholdt, a Lutheran clergyman, and ...

, an

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cryptanalyst and Japanese translator, who decrypted the intercepted Japanese surrender message, August 14, 1945 * Joseph Baldwin (1852), educator and founder of

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* Walter M. Bortz III, educator and 23rd president of

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Thomas Buergenthal Thomas Buergenthal (born 11 May 1934, in Ľubochňa, Czechoslovakia, today Slovakia) is a renowned international lawyer, scholar, law school dean, and former judge of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). He resigned his ICJ post as of 6 S ...

(1957), retired U.S. judge on the

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* James Beauchamp "Champ" Clark (1873), Democratic representative from

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and Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. * Faith Daniels (1979),

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and

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news anchor * Wilma Z. Davis (1912-2001), codebreaker during World War II and the Vietnam War * Daniel Coleman DeJarnette Sr. (1822-1881) Democratic representative from

, served in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

and then in the

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during the

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. *

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(1986), professional wrestler *

William Ferrel William Ferrel (January 29, 1817 – September 18, 1891) was an American meteorologist who developed theories that explained the mid-latitude atmospheric circulation cell in detail, and it is after him that the Ferrel cell is named. Biograph ...

(1844), meteorologist * Bob Goin (1959), athletic director in Florida State University and University of Cincinnati * John William McGarvey (1829–1911), religious educator *

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, mayor of Dunedin, New Zealand, during 1995–2004 *

Caroline Gordon Caroline Ferguson Gordon (October 6, 1895 – April 11, 1981) was an American novelist and literary critic who, while still in her thirties, received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1932 and an O. Henry Award in 1934. Biography Gordon was born ...

(1916), novelist and critic, author of ''Penhally''"Gordon, Caroline (1895 – 1981)." The Crystal Reference Encyclopedia. West Chiltington: Crystal Semantics, 2005. Credo Reference. Web. 17 September 2012. *

Kaye Gorenflo Hearn Kaye Gorenflo Hearn (born January 30, 1950) is a former justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court. She served on the court from 2010 to 2022. Education and career Hearn is a graduate of Bethany College, the University of South Carolina Sch ...

, Justice of the Supreme Court of South Carolina. *

Edgar Odell Lovett Edgar Odell Lovett (April 14, 1871 – August 13, 1957) was an American educator and education administrator. He was the first president of Rice Institute (now Rice University) in Houston, Texas. Lovett was recommended to the post by Woodr ...

(1890 lass valedictorian, first president of

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. *

William H. Macy William Hall Macy Jr. (born March 13, 1950) is an American actor. His film career has been built on appearances in small, independent films, though he has also appeared in mainstream films. Some of his best known starring roles include those i ...

, Emmy Award-winning actor (attended; transferred to

Goddard College Goddard College is a progressive education private liberal arts low-residency college with three locations in the United States: Plainfield, Vermont; Port Townsend, Washington; and Seattle, Washington. The college offers undergraduate and gra ...

.) *

Frances McDormand Frances Louise McDormand (born Cynthia Ann Smith; June 23, 1957) is an American actress and producer. Throughout her career spanning over four decades, McDormand has received numerous accolades, including four Academy Awards, two Primetime Emm ...

(1979), film, television and stage actress and winner of four

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

s including Best Actress for '' Fargo'' (1996) and '' Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri'' (2017), and Best Picture and Best Actress for ''

Nomadland ''Nomadland'' is a 2020 American drama film written, produced, edited and directed by Chloé Zhao. Based on the 2017 nonfiction book '' Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century'' by Jessica Bruder, it stars Frances McDormand ...

'' (2020) * Oliver S. Marshall (1850–1934), president of the

West Virginia Senate The West Virginia Senate is the upper house of the West Virginia Legislature. There are seventeen senatorial districts. Each district has two senators who serve staggered four-year terms. Although the Democratic Party held a supermajority in t ...

1899 to 1901 from Hancock County. *

Adrian Melott Adrian Lewis Melott (born January 7, 1947) is an American physicist. He is one of the pioneers of using large-scale computing to investigate the formation of large-scale structure in a Universe dominated by dark matter. He later turned his atten ...

(1968), astrophysicist and cosmologist. *

John O. Pendleton John Overton Pendleton (July 4, 1851 – December 24, 1916) was a U.S. Representative from West Virginia. Biography Pendleton was born in Wellsburg, West Virginia (then part of Virginia), the son of Confederate veteran Joseph H. Pendleton and Mar ...

(1871), United States Representative *

Tom Poston Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in '' Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

, Emmy Award-winning actor (attended but was not graduated from Bethany College) *

Jeffrey L. Seglin Jeffrey L. Seglin (born December 26, 1956) is an American columnist, author, and teacher. Since 2011, he has been a faculty member and director of the communications program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. His w ...

, (1978), writer of weekly column "The Right Thing," faculty member,

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* Dave Sims (1975), Emmy Award-winning sportscaster * Robert J. McCann (1980), Chief Executive Officer of UBS Group Americas * George Tener Oliver (1868), United States Senator from Pennsylvania (1909 to 1917) * Sid Gepford, NFL player *

Joseph Rucker Lamar Joseph Rucker Lamar (October 14, 1857 – January 2, 1916) was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court appointed by President William Howard Taft. A cousin of former associate justice Lucius Lamar, he served from 1911 until hi ...

(1877), Associate Justice, Supreme Court of the United States * John E. Niederhuber, 13th director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI)

Notes

References

External links

*
Official Bethany College athletics website
{{authority control Buildings and structures in Brooke County, West Virginia Education in Brooke County, West Virginia Educational institutions established in 1840 Universities and colleges affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Private universities and colleges in West Virginia Tourist attractions in Brooke County, West Virginia 1840 establishments in Virginia Liberal arts colleges in West Virginia