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Simpson College is a private
Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
college in Indianola, Iowa. It is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and enrolled 1,151 students in fall 2022.


History

Indianola Male and Female Seminary was opened on September 24, 1860, and the name was changed to the Des Moines Conference Seminary in September 1865. On September 21, 1867, the school was upgraded to a
college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...
and renamed Simpson Centenary College to honor Methodism's most renowned living bishop, Bishop Matthew Simpson (1811–1884), and to celebrate the centennial of American Methodism. (Simpson is best known as the minister who spoke a eulogy at
Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...
's funeral in
Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its population was 114,394 at the 2020 United States census, which makes it the state's List of cities in Illinois, seventh-most populous cit ...
, in 1865; he was known as a great pulpit preacher.) Simpson himself gave the commencement address at Simpson in 1882. In June 1885, "Centenary" was dropped from the name, becoming simply Simpson College.


Presidents

* Jay Byers (2023–2025) * Marsha Kelliher (2020–2023) * Jay Simmons (2013–2019) * John Byrd (2005–2013) * Kevin LaGree (1999–2005) * Stephen G. Jennings (1987–1998) * Robert Edward McBride (1979–1987) * Richard Bailey Lancaster (1972–1979) * Ralph Candler John (1963–1972) * William Edward Kerstetter (1953–1963) * Edwin Edgar Voigt (1942–1952) * Earl Enyeart Harper (1936–1938) * John Linnaeus Hillman (1919–1936) * James Watson Campbell (1916–1919) * William Ennis Hamilton (1915–1916) * Charles Eldred Shelton (1899–1910) * Joseph Benton Harris (1898–1899) * Another Simpson (1892–1898) * Edmund Meek Holmes (1889–1892) * William Ennis Hamilton (1886–1889) * Edward Lamay Parks (1880–1886) * Thomas S. Berry (1878–1880) * Alexander Burns (1868–1878) * Samuel Milton Vernon (1866–1868)


Campus

Other notable construction includes the 55,000-square-foot Kent Family Campus Center, which replaced the old Brenton Student Center as the center of student life. The tree-lined campus is bordered on the north by Buxton Park Arboretum. The architecture blends tradition with modernity. The theater building, an example of the
Brutalist architecture Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by Minimalism (art), minimalist constructions th ...
that dominated American campus construction in the 1970s, was renovated and added on to in 2010–11, softening its features. Simpson also renovated its outdoor track and football field. In addition to rebuilding the entrances and fences surrounding Bill Buxton stadium, the school invested in what has been dubbed the most innovative artificial turf system in the world, FieldTurf Revolution. A new-era Beynon BSS 1000 running track was also installed for the 2011–12 school year. The renovation of Simpson's athletic facilities concluded in 2014 with the construction of a new bi-level weight room in the former pool area. This move was made possible by constructing the Indianola YMCA, which has a 25-yard pool and hosts swimming meets for Simpson College, Indianola High School, and the YMCA Tide swim team. Simpson offers a variety of residential housing options, including two first-year-only residence halls, other traditional residence halls, apartment-style living, theme houses, and an active Greek system. All Simpson living facilities include air conditioning, lofted beds, carpet, furniture, social lounges, and wireless internet.


Organization and administration

The college had an endowment of $78.6 million as of February 10, 2017.


Athletics

120px, Simpson Storm logo Simpson College athletic teams are nicknamed the Storm. They compete in the American Rivers Conference in
NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
Division III. Simpson fields men's teams in
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
,
basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
, cross country,
American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...
,
golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...
, gymnastics,
soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
,
tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
,
track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...
, and
wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...
. Women's teams include basketball, cross country, golf, gymnastics, soccer,
softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...
,
swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...
, tennis, track & field, and
volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...
. Simpson also fields cheerleading and dance squads. The Simpson College softball team won the NCAA Division III National Championship in 1997 and 1999. Simpson's softball team appeared in one
Women's College World Series The Women's College World Series (WCWS) is the final portion of the NCAA Division I softball tournament for college softball in the United States and is held annually in Oklahoma City, OK. The event is held at Devon Park (stadium), Devon Park loca ...
in 1971.


Student life

Simpson ranks among the nation's top 100 colleges in the percentage of students who study abroad, according to ''U.S. News & World Report''. ''The Simpsonian'' is the student newspaper, first published in 1870. ''Sequel'' is an annual Simpson literary arts magazine, assembled from student and faculty contributions including paintings, photographs, drawings, short fiction, and short non-fiction. KSTM, 88.9, is a student-operated radio station.


John C. Culver Public Policy Center

The Culver Center was established at Simpson College in 2010 to honor the service of John Culver, a former Iowa Senator and Congressman. The program awards four-year scholarships to up to select incoming Simpson students who demonstrate a commitment to public service and civic engagement. The annual John C. Culver Lecture brings a prominent public service or political figure to campus to meet with students and deliver a lecture open to the public. Lectures have included Senator George McGovern, Political Journalist Mark Shields, Supreme Court Reporter Linda Greenhouse, and former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel.


Notable people

File:George Washington Carver c1910 - Restoration.jpg, alt=, George Washington Carver File:David Orr on Live from the Heartland July 23 2012.png, alt=, David Orr File:Representative women of Colorado - DPLA - db23f05ca711bf918050d89ef58df0ea (page 212) (Ruth Hinshaw Spray) (cropped).jpg, alt=, Ruth Hinshaw Spray File:Nate Boulton.jpg, alt=, Nate Boulton File:Alice Bellvadore Sams Turner (1896).png, alt=, Alice Bellvadore Sams Turner * Simpson College was the first college attended by George Washington Carver. Carver entered Simpson as an art major, but became interested in the natural sciences after receiving advice from a fellow student. Carver once remarked that his time at Simpson taught him that he was "a human being." Carver left Simpson College to complete his undergraduate education at Iowa State College (now Iowa State University). Both schools have buildings named in his honor: Carver Science Hall at Simpson and Carver Hall at Iowa State University. * Historian Avery Craven (1885–1980), who specialized in the study of the nineteenth-century United States and the American Civil War, received his B.A. from Simpson in 1908. The Avery O. Craven Room of Dunn Library at Simpson holds Craven's personal library of over 2,000 volumes, notes, manuscripts, correspondence, and memorabilia. * Nick Ackerman attended Simpson College in the late 1990s and early 2000s. His wrestling performance, in which he won the 2001 NCAA Division III Championships, was named one of the top 25 moments in NCAA history. Nick lost his legs to bacterial meningitis as a baby.Metzger, Sherry.
"Bilateral Amputee Named in Top 25 NCAA Moments: College Wrestling Champion Nick Ackerman"
''The O&P Edge'', June 2006. Retrieved on 2007-10-25.
* Former Chicago Alderman, 52nd Mayor of Chicago, and current Cook County Clerk David Orr also attended Simpson College for his undergraduate degree. Orr is an American Democratic Politician from Chicago, Illinois. He was Alderman of the 49th Ward in Chicago from 1979 to 1991. In 1987, he served briefly as Mayor of Chicago after the death of Mayor Harold Washington and was recognized for his strong and sensible leadership during one of the most tumultuous periods in Chicago's political history. Serving his 23rd year as the Clerk of Cook County, Orr is responsible for the third largest election district in the United States (among other duties). * Mike Pearson, host of Market to Market on Iowa Public Television, is a graduate of the class of 2010. * Ruth Hinshaw Spray (1848–1929), peace activist * Evan Tanner (attended), retired professional MMA fighter, former UFC middleweight champion. * Malcolm A. Love (1904–1990), former President of the University of Nevada (1950–51) and
San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CS ...
(1952–71). President Love was a graduate of the class of 1927. * Nate Boulton received his BA in Political Science and History from Simpson College and is an Iowa state senator and former Iowa Democratic gubernatorial candidate. * Alice Bellvadore Sams Turner (1859–1915), physician, writer * Chad Buchanan, 1995 graduate, General Manager of the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association. * Wanda Brownlee Paige (born 1956), member of Kansas House of Representatives (2024–present)


References


External links

*
Athletics website
{{authority control Buildings and structures in Warren County, Iowa Universities and colleges established in 1860 Education in Warren County, Iowa Indianola, Iowa Liberal arts colleges in Iowa 1860 establishments in Iowa Private universities and colleges in Iowa