Men's college: Moravian College and Theological Seminary (1863–1954) Women's college: Bethlehem Female Seminary (Founded 1742) Moravian Female Seminary (1863–1913) Moravian Seminary and College for Women (1913–1954) Merged college: Moravian College (1954–2021)
Moravian University is a private university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The institution traces its founding to 1742 by Moravians, descendants of followers of the Bohemian Reformation under John Amos Comenius. Founded as a girls school in 1742, the College itself was founded as the Moravian College and Theological Seminary in 1807 and was accredited in 1863. In 2021, the College was elevated to a University. Moravian University uses the foundation of the Girls school as their foundation date which would make them the sixth-oldest college in the United States.[4]
The university also traces its roots to the founding of two boys' schools, established in 1742 and 1743, which merged to become Nazareth Hall in 1759. Located in the town of Nazareth, Nazareth Hall became, in part, Moravian College and Theological Seminary in 1807. It was later incorporated by the Pennsylvania State Legislature in 1863 as a baccalaureate-granting institution, albeit with the same name. Beginning in 1858 and continuing to 1892, the seminary and college relocated from Nazareth to a former boys' school on Church Street in Bethlehem, located on the present site of the Bethlehem City Hall.
The men's Moravian College and Theological Seminary then settled in the north end of the city (the present-day North Campus) as a result of a donation from the Bethlehem Congregation of the Moravian Church in 1888. The first buildings constructed at North Campus, Comenius Hall and Zinzendorf Hall, were completed in 1892 and joined the property's original brick farmhouse to form the new campus. The farmhouse was later named Hamilton Hall, which still stands today.
In 1954, the two schools combined to form the single, coeducational, modern institution of Moravian College. The merger of the two institutions combined the North Campus (the location of the men's college from 1892 to 1954) and the South Campus (the location of the women's college) into a single collegiate campus. The distance between the North and South campuses is about 0.8 miles of Main Street, called the "Moravian Mile". First-year students traditionally walk the Moravian Mile as part of their orientation activities.[6]
In 2021, Moravian College received approval from the Pennsylvania Department of Education to become a university. The change to Moravian University became official on July 1, 2021.[7]
Academics
Gate of the South Campus from Main Street
Moravian University currently enrolls about 1,700 full-time undergraduate students in a wide variety of majors, all of which are presented in the liberal arts tradition. The seminary enrolls over 100 part-time students in its graduate divinity programs. During most semesters, at least 14 denominations are represented in the seminary student body. Faith communities most often represented among the seminary's students include: Moravian, Lutheran, UCC, Episcopal, United Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist, Roman Catholic, Quaker, Mennonite, Unitarian Universalist, African Methodist Episcopal, Assembly of God, Brethren, Reformed, and nondenominational. The university's varied and highly regarded music programs grow from the Moravian Church's musical traditions.[8]
Moravian University's student news site is The Comenian, which is published online throughout the school year.[9]
Every year, the student body elects representatives to the United Student Government. USG has a legislature, composed of 16 senators from the undergraduate body, an executive, including an elected president and vice president, appointed cabinet and staff, and a judiciary, composed of appointed justices. USG was officially recognized in 1968.[citation needed] Additionally, two students are elected members of Moravian University's board of trustees; both are full, voting members and serve two-year terms.[10]
Moravian University awards these undergraduate and graduate degrees: Bachelor of Music, Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Fine Arts, Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Bachelor of Science, Master of Business Administration, Master of Education, Master of Arts in Teaching, Master of Business Administration, Master of Data Analytics, Master of Health Administration, Master of Human Resource Management, Master of Fine Arts, Master of Arts in Clinical Counseling, and six Master of Science programs in nursing; master of science in athletic training, master of science in occupational therapy, master of arts in speech-language pathology, doctor of physical therapy, and doctor of athletic training. The seminary grants Master of Divinity, Master of Arts in Chaplaincy, and Master of Arts in Theological Studies degrees. The university also has evening undergraduate programs for adults seeking continuing undergraduate education and graduate degrees. The seminary has accreditation from the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada.[11]
Because Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and Tondabayashi, Japan, have been sister cities for over half a century, Moravian University and Osaka Ohtani University (大阪大谷大学) also established a partnership.[12] Each spring, several Japanese students come to Moravian for two weeks to take a class about the American education system. These students are hosted by Moravian students and enjoy trips to New York City and Philadelphia. During May and June 2010, the first two Moravian students studied at Osaka Ohtani University.[13] Additionally, the university is a member of the Lehigh Valley Association of Independent Colleges & Universities; members include Muhlenberg College, Lafayette College, Lehigh University, Cedar Crest College, and DeSales University; students from each institution can take classes in each other member institution and can take courses in programs offered at other institutions not offered at Moravian, such as architecture.[14]
The university's Student Opportunities for Academic Research (SOAR) program provides stipends, travel allowances, and expenses for students engaged in research or creative activities through close interaction with a faculty mentor. The program helps Moravian students gain a better understanding of scholarship in their discipline, and fosters scholar–colleague relationships. SOAR stipends can be as high as $3,000 for summer work.[15]
Established in 1960, the university's honors program provides qualified seniors the opportunity to pursue a yearlong intensive study of a subject of special interest.[16]
Campus
The university's programs are offered at four locations: Main Street Campus (North Campus), the Priscilla Payne Hurd Campus (South Campus), the Steel Field Complex, and the Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation Center.
Priscilla Payne Hurd Campus
Art and music programs are offered in Bethlehem's historic district on the college's Priscilla Payne Hurd Campus. Many of the buildings on that campus were built during the colonial period, including the Brethren's House, built in 1748, which served as a hospital during the Revolutionary War, and currently houses the Music Department. Also located on Priscilla Payne Campus are the President's House, Main Hall (1854), the Widow's House, Clewell Hall, West Hall, South Hall, the 1867 Chapel, Clewell Dining Hall, and the Central Moravian Church. A number of the buildings are connected. The facilities have been renovated to include Payne Gallery (renovated from the original women's gymnasium in 1903), the college's two-level art gallery that offers several shows each year, and Foy Concert Hall. Also located on the Priscilla Payne Hurd Campus are Peter Hall, a medium-sized recital hall, Hearst Hall, a small recital hall, and individual student rehearsal rooms and art studios. The university presents the nationally renowned Christmas Vespers services in the Central Moravian Church, located on the corner of Main and Church streets across from Brethren's House. Many of the buildings on the Priscilla Payne Hurd Campus are located in a National Register of Historic Places District and Church Street has been referred to as one of the most historic streets in America.
In the 2009–2010 school year, Moravian University added a new living complex on the Priscilla Payne Hurd Campus called the HILL. Each floor has suites, where four to 16 people can live. The complex has classrooms, a cafe, a fitness room, a mail room, and common rooms. The HILL is air conditioned and fully handicap accessible. The suites contain a living room, full kitchen, private bathroom, and additional hallway sinks. A shuttle service is provided for easy transportation between the North and South campuses.
Main Street Campus
Initially given in 1888 and settled in 1892, the North Campus is also known as the Main Street campus, as it is physically larger and is the site of the majority of the university's buildings, academic departments, administration, and student residences. The main building of the Main Street Campus is Comenius Hall, which was built in 1892 and is named for John Amos Comenius, the last bishop of Unity of the Brethren, known as the "father of modern education" for his revolutionary educational principles. Comenius wrote in 1632, "not the children of the rich or of the powerful only, but of all alike, boys and girls, both noble and ignoble, rich and poor, in all cities and towns, villages and hamlets, should be sent to school". The Moravians had considered schools secondary in importance only to churches. A statue of Comenius, which was a gift to the college from Charles University of Prague and the Moravian Church of Czechoslovakia, stands in front of Comenius Hall. The Main Street Campus is also the location of Reeves Library, Priscilla Payne Hurd Academic Complex, Colonial Hall, the Bahnson Center, the Moravian Archives, Zinzendorf Hall, Borhek Chapel, Prosser Auditorium (capacity 300, inside the Haupert Union Building), Monocacy Hall, Collier Hall of Science, the Sally Miksiewiecz Center for Health Sciences, Hamilton Hall, Memorial Hall, Benigna Hall, Johnston Hall (capacity 1,600 for athletics, 3,000 for events), the Timothy M. Breidegam Athletic and Recreation Center, the Collier Hall of Science, the Haupert Union Building, the Arena Theatre, and most of the university's student housing, including dorms, townhouses, and apartments.
In 2016, John Makuvek Field was installed and opened behind the Haupert Union Building. John Makuvek Field is a synthetic-turf field that is home to the Greyhounds' field hockey, men's and women's lacrosse, and men's and women's soccer teams. The field is named for John Makuvek, who retired in 1996 after four years as athletics director, and in 2010 after 43 years as head golf coach. The field is located at the center of campus, with views from the residential halls, Reeves Library, and the portico of the Haupert Union Building.
In 2017, the Sally Breidegam Miksiewicz Center for Health Sciences was opened at 1107 Main Street. The 55,000-square-foot facility hosts classes for both undergraduate and graduate programs, including nursing, informatics, and the health sciences and features the region's only virtual cadaver lab. The building is named in honor of former Moravian College trustee Sally Breidegam Miksiewicz.
Also located on the Main Street Campus is the Betty Prince field hockey field.
Steel Field Complex
Most of the university's athletic fields are located at this complex, including the football stadium with a grandstand capacity of 2,400 and Sportexe turf field, eight-lane Mondo Super X Performance synthetic track, the softball field, the Gillespie baseball field, the Hoffman tennis courts, the football practice fields, and a fieldhouse.
Steel Field and its brick grandstand were originally built by Bethlehem Steel to host the Bethlehem Steel Football Club, 1913 to 1930. In 1925, Lehigh University purchased Steel Field from Bethlehem Steel.[17] The Bethlehem Steel Soccer Club continued to use the field until its demise. In 1962, Lehigh sold the facility to Moravian University.[18]
Men's sports include football, lacrosse, soccer, basketball, baseball, track and field, cross country, tennis, golf, and swimming. Women's sports include softball, basketball, soccer, field hockey, track and field, volleyball, tennis, lacrosse, golf (beginning in 2023–24), cross country, and swimming.
This 14.7-acre area was established in 1741 as a religious mission community of German-speaking settlers. The historic district presents Bethlehem’s heritage.
With its well-preserved core buildings, the community preserves some of the most important structures relating to the Moravians here in the New World. The historic sites include the Colonial Industrial Quarter, God’s Acre cemetery, the Sun Inn, and buildings of the Central Moravian Church, the city of Bethlehem, and Moravian University.
The district includes two buildings — the Waterworks pump house and the Gemeinhaus community hall — both previously recognized as historic landmarks on their own.
The Second Single Brethren’s House, built in 1748 at the end of West Church Street on the axis of Main Street, is the most impressive example of eighteenth-century Moravian Church Civic Baroque in the US (today it is part of Moravian University).
The Moravian village buildings in this area are significant examples of urban heritage and Colonial Germanic architecture. Historic Moravian Bethlehem is the physical manifestation of the artistic, architectural, cultural, educational, religious, and industrial attributes that set the Moravians apart from other Colonials.
In 2023, the U.S. Government submitted a nomination for Bethlehem’s Historic Moravian Church settlement to be designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The transnational serial nomination includes Bethlehem with Herrnhut, Germany, and Gracehill, Northern Ireland/UK. These three sites would join Christiansfeld, Denmark — a Moravian Church settlement that was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2015.
This multi-national nomination is the first of its kind for the United States.
Historic Moravian Bethlehem would join only 25 cultural World Heritage sites in the United States.
Lehigh University (LU) is a private research university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer and was initially affiliated with the Episcopal Church. Lehigh University's undergraduate programs have been coeducational since the 1971–72 academic year. As of 2019, the university had 5,047 undergraduate students and 1,802 graduate students.
Nazareth is a borough in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. The borough's population was 6,053 at the 2020 census. Nazareth is part of the Lehigh Valley metropolitan area, which had a population of 861,899 and was the 68th-most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. as of 2020.
Bethlehem is a city in Northampton and Lehigh Counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, Bethlehem had a total population of 75,781, making it the second-largest city in the Lehigh Valley after Allentown and the seventh-largest city in the state. Among its total population as of 2020, 55,639 were in Northampton County and 19,343 were in Lehigh County. The city is located along the Lehigh River, a 109-mile-long (175 km) tributary of the Delaware River.
Muhlenberg College is a private liberal arts college in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1848, Muhlenberg College is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and is named for Henry Muhlenberg, the German patriarch of Lutheranism in the United States.
The Lehigh Valley, known colloquially as The Valley, is a geographic and metropolitan region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh and Northampton counties in eastern Pennsylvania. It is a component valley of the Great Appalachian Valley bounded to its north by Blue Mountain, to its south by South Mountain, to its west by Lebanon Valley, and to its east by the Delaware River and Warren County, New Jersey. The Valley is about 40 miles (64 km) long and 20 miles (32 km) wide. The Lehigh Valley's largest city is Allentown, the third-largest city in Pennsylvania and the county seat of Lehigh County, with a population of 125,845 residents as of the 2020 census.
Penn State Lehigh Valley is a commonwealth campus of Pennsylvania State University located in Center Valley, outside of Allentown in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania.
Ervin J. Rokke is a retired lieutenant general and retired President of Moravian College. He is a retired United States Air Force lieutenant general and former president of the National Defense University. During the 1980's, as a Brigadier General in the United States Air Force, General Rokke served as the Dean of Faculty at the United States Air Force Academy.
DeSales University (DSU) is a private Catholic university in Center Valley, Pennsylvania. The university offers traditional, online, and hybrid courses and programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Named for St. Francis de Sales, the university was founded in 1964 as "Allentown College of Saint Francis de Sales" by the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales.
Moravian Academy is a preschool through 12th-grade independent, co-educational, college preparatory school in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. Moravian Academy is the ninth oldest independent school in the nation.
Nazareth Hall (1752–1929) was a school in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. It was built, by master mason Melchior Rasp, in 1754 in hopes that Count Nikolaus Ludwig Zinzendorf would return from Europe and settle permanently in the community; he never came back to America. It is located in the Nazareth Hall Tract, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
Northampton Community College is a public community college in Pennsylvania with campuses in Bethlehem in Northampton County and Tannersville in Monroe County. The college, founded in 1967, also has satellite locations in the south side of Bethlehem and Hawley. The college serves more than 34,000 students a year in credit and non-credit programs.
The Moravian Museum of Bethlehem, also known as the 1741 Gemeinhaus and the Lewis David de Schweinitz Residence, is a historic house museum at 66 West Church Street in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Built in 1741 to house the early Moravian community as well as the community's place of worship, the Saal, it is the oldest surviving building in Bethlehem, the largest surviving log house in continuous use in the U.S. and also significant for its association with the botanist and mycologist Lewis David de Schweinitz (1780–1834). It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1975. The building is part of the Historic Moravian Bethlehem District which was designated as a National Historic Landmark District in 2012 and later named to the U.S. Tentative List in 2016 for nomination to the World Heritage List.
Christiansbrunn is the name of two communities established in Pennsylvania.
Fulneck Moravian Church and its associated settlement were established on the Fulneck estate, Pudsey, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England, in 1744 by Count Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf, a Moravian Bishop and Lutheran priest, following a donation of land by the evangelical Anglican clergyman, Benjamin Ingham. Fulneck is now part of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire.
Moravian Book Shop is a book store based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1745 by the Moravian Church and lays claim to being the oldest continuously operating bookstore in the United States and the second oldest in the world.
Linden HallSchool for Girls is an independent boarding and day school for girls in grades 6–12 located in Lititz, Pennsylvania. The school was founded in 1746 and is the oldest girls' boarding and day school in continuous operation in the United States.
Archibald Johnston was a mechanical engineer who, favored by Bethlehem Iron Company management and senior Bethlehem Steel Company president Charles M. Schwab, became president of Bethlehem Steel Company. He was subsequently appointed as first vice president of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation in charge of foreign sales. While first vice president, he led a municipal consolidation campaign to create the modern city of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, from the boroughs of Bethlehem and South Bethlehem.
The Bethlehem Female Seminary was established in 1742 in Germantown, Philadelphia and was the first Protestant boarding school for girls in what became the United States. The Bethlehem Female Seminary later became known as the Moravian Female Seminary, and in 1863 the seminary was established as Moravian College.
Mary Matz was a Pennsylvania theologian who became the first woman ordained by the Moravian Church in North America. She also served as a vice president of the Moravian National Council of Churches.
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