Nebraska Wesleyan University (NWU) 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 recorded ...

Methodist-affiliated university in

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska. The city covers and had a population of 291,082 as of the 2020 census. It is the state's List of cities in Nebraska, second-most populous city a ...

. It was founded in 1887 by Nebraska Methodists. As of 2017, it had approximately 2,100 students, including 1,500 full-time students and 300 faculty and staff. The university has 119 undergraduate majors, minors, and pre-professional programs in addition to three graduate programs.

History

left, Old Main Chartered on January 20, 1887, Nebraska Wesleyan University had an initial enrollment of 96. The initial teaching and administrative staff at this time totaled eight, including the chancellor. In September 1887, the cornerstone was laid for Old Main, which became the central building of the campus. Still with no stairways, windows, or flooring on some floors, classes began in September 1888. The first graduating class was four women in 1890. The second graduating class, in 1891, was made up of four men. Nebraska Wesleyan received accreditation by the

North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools The North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA), also known as the North Central Association, was a membership organization, consisting of colleges, universities, and schools in 19 U.S. states engaged in educational accreditation. It ...

in 1914. The school is located in the former town of University Place, Nebraska. Today, it is part of northeast

; the surrounding neighborhood is a historic residential and shopping area of Lincoln. Early on, Nebraska Wesleyan also included a high school, elementary school, and kindergarten. The high school was discontinued in 1931, and the primary schools in 1941 (grade school) and 1942 (kindergarten). Duane W. Acklie Hall of Science opened in 2019. It was the first new academic building on campus in three decades.

Athletics

The Nebraska Wesleyan athletic teams are called the Prairie Wolves. The university is a member of the

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is the lowest division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that do not offer athletic scholarships to student- ...

ranks, primarily competing in the

American Rivers Conference The American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) is an intercollegiate athletic conference that competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III. From 1927 until August 9, 2018, it was known officially as the Iowa Intercollegia ...

(ARC; formerly known as the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC), since the 2016–17 academic year. The Prairie Wolves previously competed in the

Great Plains Athletic Conference The Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Member institutions are located in Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota. The conference was f ...

(GPAC) of the

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for higher education, colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic schola ...

(NAIA) from 1969–70 to 2015–16; as well as an NCAA D-III Independent while holding dual affiliation membership with the NAIA and the NCAA from 1982 to 2016. It was during their time in the GPAC Wesleyan played their traditional rival

Doane University Doane University is a private university in Crete, Nebraska. It has additional campuses in Lincoln and Omaha. Established in 1872, Doane is the oldest private university in the state of Nebraska. History Doane College was founded on July 11, ...

in nearby

Crete, Nebraska Crete is the most populous city of Saline County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 7,099 at the 2020 census. The city is home to Doane University. History The railroad reached Crete in 1870, attracting new settlers. In 1871, two c ...

. Nebraska Wesleyan competes in 21 intercollegiate varsity sports. Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, swimming, tennis, track & field and wrestling. Women's sports include basketball, cheerleading, cross country, dance, golf, soccer, swimming, softball, tennis, track & field and volleyball. Former sports included women's bowling.

Mascot

Nebraska Wesleyan has been associated with four mascots in its history, the Sunflower (1894–1907), the Coyote (1907–1933), the Plainsman (1933–2000), and the Prairie Wolf (2000–present). The school colors are black and gold.

Athletic facilities

Nebraska Wesleyan's athletic facilities include Abel Stadium, which seats approximately 2,500 people and is used for

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

, soccer and other events, and Snyder Arena, which seats 2,350 and is used for basketball and volleyball.

Accomplishments

The men's golf team won the 2006

National Championship, its first in men's golf. The Prairie Wolves won by 10 strokes over the University of Redlands. The men's golf team has also won 35 conference championships; with back-to-back championships in 2018 and 2019. The men's basketball team won the 2018 NCAA Division III National Championship, its first in men's basketball.

Greek life

There are several fraternities and sororities on campus.

Notable alumni

* Kate Bolz, former Nebraska State Senator *

Shawn Bouwens Shawn M. Bouwens (born May 25, 1968) is an American former professional football player who was a guard in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Nebraska Wesleyan Prairie Wolves. He played in the NFL for the De ...

, football player * Ralph G. Brooks, 29th

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

* Carl T. Curtis, former

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Sandy Dennis Sandra Dale Dennis (April 27, 1937 – March 2, 1992) was an American actress. She made her film debut in the drama '' Splendor in the Grass'' (1961). For her performance in the comedy-drama film '' Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' (1966), she ...

, Oscar-winning actress * John R. Dunning,

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

in the

Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development program undertaken during World War II to produce the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States in collaboration with the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the ...

Mignon Eberhart Mignon Good Eberhart (July 6, 1899, Lincoln, Nebraska – October 8, 1996, Greenwich, Connecticut) was an American author of mystery novels. She had one of the longest careers (from the 1920s to the 1980s) among major American mystery writers. Ear ...

, mystery novelist * Rick Evans, singer and guitarist, writer of hit "

In the Year 2525 "In the Year 2525 (Exordium & Terminus)" is a 1969 hit song by the American pop-rock duo of Zager and Evans. It reached No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for six weeks commencing July 12, 1969. It peaked at No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart for t ...

" as part of group

Zager and Evans Zager and Evans was an American rock music, rock-popular music, pop Duet (music), duo active during the late 1960s and early 1970s, comprising Denny Zager (born February 14, 1944, Wymore, Nebraska) and Rick Evans (born January 20, 1943, Lincoln, ...

Ted Genoways Ted Genoways (born April 13, 1972) is an American journalist and author. He is a contributing writer at '' Mother Jones'' and ''The New Republic'', and an editor-at-large at ''Pacific Standard''. His books include ''This Blessed Earth'' and ''T ...

, poet and former

Virginia Quarterly Review The ''Virginia Quarterly Review'' is a quarterly literary magazine that was established in 1925 by James Southall Wilson, at the request of University of Virginia president E. A. Alderman. This ''"National Journal of Literature and Discussio ...

editor * John M. Gerrard, current Judge for the Federal District of Nebraska * Gene V Glass, Regents'

Professor Emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

, social scientist *

Dwight Griswold Dwight Palmer Griswold (November 27, 1893April 12, 1954) was an American publisher and politician from the U.S. state of Nebraska. He served as the 25th governor of Nebraska from 1941 to 1947, and in the United States Senate from 1952 until his ...

, former

and

Governor of Nebraska The governor of Nebraska is the head of government of the U.S. state of Nebraska as provided by the fourth article of the Constitution of Nebraska. The officeholder is elected to a four-year term, with elections held two years after presidential ...

Mary Lou Harkness Mary Lou Harkness (August 19, 1925 – May 13, 2014) was a librarian and a university library director, the first woman to hold that title at any Florida university. She was the fourth employee hired by the University of South Florida.Girona, J ...

, university library director * Kent Haruf, novelist * Minnie Throop England,

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

* Robert Hilkemann, Nebraska State Senator * Harry Huge, international lawyer * Lew Hunter, screenwriter and Chair Emeritus of

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

Film Department *

Emily Kinney Emily Rebecca Kinney (born August 15, 1985) is an American actress, singer, and songwriter. She is known for her role as Beth Greene on AMC (TV channel), AMC's horror drama television series ''The Walking Dead (TV series), The Walking Dead'' (2 ...

, television and theater actress ('' The Walking Dead'') * Lowen Kruse, minister and former Nebraska State Senator * Jason Licht, general manager of NFL's

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

James Moeller James Moeller (November 14, 1933 – July 16, 2019) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as a justice of the Arizona Supreme Court for eleven years from 1987 to 1998. Moeller was a native of Valley, Nebraska. He graduated from Valley H ...

, former Vice Chief Justice, Arizona State Supreme Court * Bess Gearhart Morrison,

Chautauqua Chautauqua ( ) is an adult education and social movement in the United States that peaked in popularity in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. The Cha ...

speaker *

James Munkres James Raymond Munkres (born ) is a Professor Emeritus of mathematics at MIT and the author of several texts in the area of topology, including ''Topology'' (an undergraduate-level text), ''Analysis on Manifolds'', ''Elements of Algebraic Topology' ...

, Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

Orville Nave Orville James Nave (April 30, 1841 – June 24, 1917) was an American Methodist theologian and chaplain in the United States Army. He is best known for compiling ''Nave's Topical Bible'', an index of topics addressed in the Christian Bible. E ...

, author of ''

Nave's Topical Bible Nave's Topical Bible is a book written by Orville James Nave (1841–1917) and published by Thomas Nelson Publishers. Nave was a chaplain in the United States Army and referred to his work as "the result of fourteen years of delight and untiri ...

'' * John N. Norton, former

United States Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

Marian Heiss Price Marian Heiss Price (born August 6, 1938) is a former Nebraska state senator from Lincoln, Nebraska and registered nurse. She is a Republican. __NOTOC__ Personal life Price was born August 6, 1938, in Page, Nebraska, and graduated from Page Hig ...

, former Nebraska State Senator *

Robert Reed Robert Reed (born John Robert Rietz Jr.; October 19, 1932 – May 12, 1992) was an American actor. He played Kenneth Preston on the legal drama '' The Defenders'' from 1961 to 1965 alongside E. G. Marshall, and is best known for his role as pa ...

, science-fiction writer *

Ed Schrock Edward Lee Schrock (born April 6, 1941) is a retired naval officer (1964–1988) and American Republican politician who served as a member of the Senate of Virginia from 1996 to 2001. He also served in the U.S. House of Representatives from Ja ...

, former Nebraska State Senator *

Coleen Seng Coleen J. Seng (born February 8, 1936) is a politician who served as the 50th mayor of Lincoln, Nebraska. A member of the Democratic Party, she served as mayor from May 19, 2003 to May 19, 2007. Previously, she had served on the Lincoln city cou ...

, former Mayor of Lincoln, 2003–2007 * Warren K. Urbom, former Chief Judge for the Federal District of Nebraska * Antwan Wilson, school administrator

References

External links

*
Athletics website
{{Coord, 40.83925, N, 96.65095, W, source:placeopedia, display=title Universities and colleges established in 1887 Education in Lincoln, Nebraska Buildings and structures in Lincoln, Nebraska 1887 establishments in Nebraska Private universities and colleges in Nebraska