The University of Mount Union 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 ...

liberal arts university in

Alliance, Ohio Alliance is a city in Stark County, Ohio, United States. The population was 21,672 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It was established in 1854 by the merger of three smaller communities and was a manufacturing and railroad hub in t ...

, United States. Founded in 1846, the university was affiliated with the

Methodist Church 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 ...

until 2019. It had an enrollment of 2,100 students as of 2023.

History

Mount Union was founded in 1846 by Orville Nelson Hartshorn as the Select School as "a place where men and women could be educated with equal opportunity,

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

would parallel the

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...

, and there would be no distinction due to race, color, or sex." Only three years after opening, in 1849, it was renamed as the Mount Union Seminary. The school would not be chartered under Ohio state law until June 9, 1856, after which it adopted the name Mount Union College. In approximately 1911, Scio College of

Scio, Ohio Scio ( ) is a village (United States)#Ohio, village in northern Harrison County, Ohio, Harrison County, Ohio, United States. The population was 673 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Scio was originally called New Market, and ...

, merged with Mount Union, moving faculty to the Mount Union campus and abandoning the Scio campus. Mount Union College was renamed University of Mount Union effective August 1, 2010.

Campus

The University of Mount Union is located on a campus in

, from

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

, and from

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

. The university's Huston-Brumbaugh Nature Center is approximately six miles away from the campus. Two buildings, Chapman Hall and Miller Hall, are listed in the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. Kehres Stadium is the oldest college stadium in the state of Ohio.

Academics

Mount Union offers 46 majors and 47 minors as undergraduate programs. The university also offers Pre-Health/Pre-Medicine and Pre-Law programs. Mount Union offers 13 master's degree programs, most of which are online. The university also has a Doctor of Physical Therapy program and an Emergency Nurse Practitioner certificate program. Eighty-five percent of the faculty at Mount Union have earned a

doctoral degree A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

or other

terminal degree A terminal degree is the highest-level university degree that can be achieved and awarded in an academic discipline or professional field. The term "terminal degree" is also used to refer to a degree that is awarded because a doctorates, doctoral-le ...

with graduate training at universities in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Rankings

In 2024, '' U.S. News & World Report'' ranked Mount Union tied for No. 24 out of 167 in Regional Universities Midwest, No. 9 in Regional Universities Midwest Best Value Schools, tied for No. 59 in Top Performers on Social Mobility in Regional Universities Midwest, tied for No. 223 in Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs at schools where a doctorate is not offered, and tied for No. 345 in Nursing.

Undergraduate admissions

In 2024, Mount Union accepted 75.7% of undergraduate applicants, with those admitted having an average 3.33 high school

GPA Grading in education is the application of standardized measurements to evaluate different levels of student achievement in a course. Grades can be expressed as letters (usually A to F), as a range (for example, 1 to 6), percentages, or as num ...

. The university does not require submission of standardized test scores, Mount Union being a test optional school where scores will only be considered if scores increase the scholarship level for which the applicant is eligible although applicants who choose not to submit test scores are still eligible for academic scholarships. Those accepted that submitted test scores had an average 1070

SAT The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and Test score, scoring have changed several times. For much of its history, it was called the Scholastic Aptitude Test ...

score (17% submitting scores) or average 22 ACT score (64% submitting scores). An application essay is required.

Student life

Mount Union's radio station is 91.1 WRMU, and the campus paper is ''The Dynamo''. The university's music program offers participation in numerous bands and choirs, including Concert Choir, Mount Union Alliance Chorale, Opera Workshop, Alliance Symphony Orchestra, Repertory Strings, Marching Band, The Raider Steel Band, Jazz Band, Percussion Ensemble, and more. The Theatre Department puts on two productions every fall, and varying productions in the spring. Every spring semester alternates between a musical and a straight play every year for the main stage show, and every spring there are also student-directed one-acts. Theatre productions are open to all students, regardless of major or class rank. In the spring of 2019, the University of Mount Union started its Esports program by fielding its first ''Overwatch'' roster. Later, the team began competing in ''Overwatch'', ''

League of Legends ''League of Legends'' (''LoL'', commonly referred to as ''League'', is a multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games. Inspired by ''Defense of the Ancients'', a Mod (video games), custom map for ''Warcraf ...

'', and ''

Rocket League ''Rocket League'' is a 2015 vehicular Association football, soccer video game developed and published by Psyonix for various home consoles and computers. A sequel to 2008's ''Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars'', ''Rocket League ...

''. There are four major social

fraternities A fraternity (; whence, " brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club or fraternal order traditionally of men but also women associated together for various religious or secular aims. Fraternity in the Western conce ...

and four major social

sororities In North America, fraternities and sororities ( and ) are social clubs at colleges and universities. They are sometimes collectively referred to as Greek life or Greek-letter organizations, as well as collegiate fraternities or collegiate sorori ...

with chapters at the institution.

Athletics

Mount Union athletics logo Mount Union's school colors are purple and white and competes in the

Ohio Athletic Conference The Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. All member institutions are located in Ohio. Formed in 1902, it is the third oldest athletic conference in the United States ...

and in

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- ...

athletics. The teams are nicknamed Purple Raiders, and the school's mascot is MUcaw, a purple

macaw Macaws are a group of Neotropical parrot, New World parrots that are long-tailed and often colorful, in the Tribe (biology), tribe Arini (tribe), Arini. They are popular in aviculture or as companion parrots, although there are conservation con ...

. Mount Union sponsors 12 men's

varsity team A varsity team is the highest-level team in a sport or activity representing an educational institution. Varsity teams train to compete against each other during an athletic season or in periodic matches against rival institutions. At high schools ...

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,

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

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 ...

track & field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and ...

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 ...

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 ...

diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), ...

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 ...

lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

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 ...

, 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 ...

. The school also sponsors 10 women's

, cross-country,

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) ...

and

. Club sports include

bowling Bowling is a Throwing sports#Target sports, target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a bowling ball, ball toward Bowling pin, pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). Most references to ''bowling'' are ...

, and

intramural sports Intramural sports are recreational sports organized within a particular institution, usually an educational institution, for the purpose of fun and exercise. The term, which is chiefly North American, derives from the Latin words ''intra muros'' m ...

include

flag football Flag football is a variant of gridiron football (American football or Canadian football depending on location) where, instead of Tackle (football move)#Gridiron football, tackling players to the ground, the defensive team must remove a flag or ...

dodgeball Dodgeball is a team sports, team sport in which players on two opposing teams try to throw balls and hit opponents while avoiding being hit themselves. The objective of each team is to eliminate all members of the opposing team by hitting them w ...

, innertube water polo, ultimate frisbee,

beach volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two to four players each on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side o ...

, 2 person golf scramble, men's

, women's

indoor soccer Indoor soccer or arena soccer is a form of five-a-side football, five-a-side or six-a-side version of minifootball. It is derived from association football and adapted to be played in walled hardcourt indoor arenas. It differs from the FIFA, FIFA ...

, indoor volleyball, 2 on 2

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

, and

pickleball Pickleball is a racket or paddle sport in which two or four players use a smooth-faced paddle to hit a perforated, hollow plastic ball over a net until one side is unable to return the ball or commits a rule infraction. Pickleball is played i ...

. Mount won the NCAA Men's Division III Cross Country Championship in 1974 under Coach Jim Wuske, the NCAA Men's Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships in 2017, and in 2014 and 2018 Mount Union won the NCAA Men's Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships under Coach Kevin Lucas. The men’s basketball team was retroactively named the pre- NCAA Tournament national champion in 1897–98 by the

Premo-Porretta Power Poll The Premo-Porretta Power Poll is a retroactive end-of-year ranking for American college basketball teams competing in the 1895–96 through the 1947–48 seasons. The Premo-Porretta Polls are intended to serve collectively as a source of informa ...

Football

Mount Union's football is currently led by head coach Geoff Dartt. The Purple Raiders have claimed 13 NCAA Division III Football Championship and 35 OAC titles and have 12 undefeated seasons. Mount Union holds the all-division record for consecutive victories at 55 from 2000 to 2003, which ended with their loss to St. John's University (Collegeville, MN) in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl (Division III National Championship) on December 20, 2003. Mount Union previously held the all divisions mark at 54 consecutive games until losing in the semifinals on December 12, 1999, to

Rowan University Rowan University is a public research university in Glassboro, New Jersey, with a medical campus in Stratford and medical and academic campuses in Camden. Founded in 1923 as Glassboro Normal School on a site donated by 107 residents, the scho ...

(Glassboro, NJ). During both the 55 and 54 game streaks Mount Union won 3 consecutive National Championships.D3football.com Since both streaks were connected—from 1997 to 2003 Mount Union won 109 of 110 games played. The Purple Raiders won 110 consecutive regular-season games between 1994 and 2005 (which was ended by conference foe Ohio Northern University on Oct 22, 2005), posted 14 undefeated regular seasons, won 16 Ohio Athletic Conference Championships, and had the best overall record in the 1990s (120–7–1, an overall winning percentage of 0.941).

People

References

External links

*
Athletics website
{{authority control Private universities and colleges in Ohio Universities and colleges affiliated with the United Methodist Church Universities and colleges established in 1846 Alliance, Ohio 1846 establishments in Ohio