Motto | The Moment of Discovery |
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Type | Private college |
Established | February 6, 1855 |
Religious affiliation | Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) |
Endowment | $16.2 million |
President | Jamel Wright |
Students | 559 (Fall 2023) [1] |
Location | , U.S. 40°42′50″N89°16′3″W / 40.71389°N 89.26750°W |
Campus | Rural, 112 acres (45 ha) |
Colors | Maroon and gold |
Nickname | Red Devils |
Sporting affiliations | NCAA Division III – SLIAC |
Website | www |
Eureka College is a private college in Eureka, Illinois, that is related by covenant to the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). [2] Enrollment in 2022 was approximately 559 students.
Eureka College was the third college in the United States to admit men and women on an equal basis. It had a close connection with alumnus Ronald Reagan, the 40th president of the United States. In 2010, Eureka College was designated as a national historic district by the National Park Service. [3]
The college was founded in 1848 by a group of abolitionists who had left Kentucky because of their opposition to slavery and was originally named the Walnut Grove Academy. [4] [5] It was chartered in 1855. [6] When the school was founded, it was the first school in Illinois (and only the third in the United States) to educate women on an equal basis with men. Abingdon College merged with Eureka in 1885. [7]
Eureka College is the smallest college or university in American history to graduate a future U.S. president with a bachelor's degree. Among its alumni throughout history are forty-two college and university presidents, seven governors and members of U.S. Congress, and the 40th president of the United States, Ronald Wilson Reagan, class of 1932. [8]
Ronald Reagan is the only president born, raised and educated in the state of Illinois. [9] Reagan's relationship with his alma mater began in 1928 when he entered as a freshman from Dixon, Illinois, at age 17. Following his graduation on June 10, 1932, with a joint major in economics and sociology, [10] Reagan returned for visits on twelve recorded occasions. He served on the board of trustees for three terms, stayed connected to his fraternity Tau Kappa Epsilon, communicated with his football coach and mentor Ralph "Mac" McKinzie, and helped support fund-raising drives including with his own financial commitments to the college. Reagan gave three commencement addresses at Eureka College in 1952, 1957, 1982, and 1992. [11] He dedicated the Melick Library building in 1967 and the Reagan Physical Education Center in 1970. When he died in 2004, Eureka College was one of three officially designated recipients of memorial gifts by his family.
In 1982, President Reagan told the Eureka College audience, "Everything that has been good in my life began here." [12]
Eureka College has created programs related to its most famous alumnus. It established the Ronald W. Reagan Leadership Program in 1982 to provide scholarships and four-year full tuition scholarships to designated Reagan Fellows. [13] On March 27, 2009, the former leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, visited the section of the Berlin Wall on display in the Reagan Peace Garden on campus. Eureka gave President Gorbachev an honorary degree during a convocation in which students asked the former Soviet leader questions. [14] The college granted Nancy Reagan an honorary degree in 2009 at a private ceremony in the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. [15] As part of the Ronald Reagan Centennial Celebration in 2011, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Newt Gingrich delivered the commencement address at Eureka. [16] The same year saw the opening of the Mark R. Shenkman Reagan Research Center and College Archives; the center is collecting and maintaining every book and doctoral dissertation written about Ronald Reagan. [17] James A. Baker III was named Honorary Reagan Fellow in 2012, [18] and this honor was bestowed on Justice Sandra Day O'Connor the next year. [19] George P. Shultz, former U.S. Secretary of State, received was made an Honorary Reagan Fellow at a ceremony in San Francisco in 2014. [20]
The Ronald W. Reagan Museum, located within the Donald B. Cerf Center, contains a collection of objects and memorabilia largely donated by Reagan. The items are from his times as a student, actor, athlete, Governor of California and President of the United States. Admission is free. [21]
Eureka College Administration and Chapel | |
Location | 300 College Ave. Eureka, Illinois |
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Coordinates | 40°42′50″N89°16′09″W / 40.7139°N 89.2691°W |
Area | 2.8 acres (1.1 ha) |
Built | 1858 |
Architectural style | Italianate, Georgian, Federal |
NRHP reference No. | 80001426 [22] |
Added to NRHP | May 31, 1980 |
About 48% of the students at Eureka are women, while about 52% are men. 0.5% of the students are Native American, 0.35% are Asian, 8.5% are African-American, and 82% are white. 1.2% of the students are international, but 93.5% of the students are from the state of Illinois. The first-time, full-time bachelor's seeking student retention rate is 62% and the graduation rate cohort as percent of total entering students is 70%. The student-to-faculty ratio is 13 to 1.
The Eureka athletic teams are the Red Devils. The college is a member of the Division III level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), [27] primarily competing in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) since the 2006–07 academic year. The Red Devils previously competed in the defunct Northern Illinois-Iowa Conference from about 1996–97 to 2005–06; and in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) until after the 1995–96 school year. Eureka was also a member of the Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) from 1910–11 to 1941–42.
Eureka competes in 14 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer and wrestling; while women's sports include basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, volleyball and wrestling.
On September 1, 2012, Eureka College quarterback Sam Durley set an NCAA record with 736 passing yards in Eureka's 62–55 victory over Knox College. That beat the old record of 731 yards set by Menlo College quarterback Zamir Amin, who passed for 731 yards on October 7, 2000. [28]
As of 2019, 23% of male students are in social fraternities, while 26% of female students are in social sororities. Overall 24% of the student body are involved in Greek life. In February 2020, the college's chapter of Delta Sigma Phi was disciplined due to unknown allegations. [29]
The Big Ten Conference is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1896, it predates the founding of its regulating organization, the NCAA. It is based in the Chicago area in Rosemont, Illinois. For many decades the conference consisted of 10 prominent universities, which accounts for its name. As of August 2024, it consists of 18 member institutions and 2 affiliate institutions. The conference competes in the NCAA Division I and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, the highest level of NCAA competition in that sport.
Woodford County is a county located in the state of Illinois. The 2020 United States Census listed its population at 38,467. Its county seat is Eureka. Woodford County is part of the Peoria, IL, Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its name comes from General William Woodford, an officer of the American Revolutionary War who served at the brutal military encampment at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.
Eureka is a city and the county seat of Woodford County, Illinois. The population was 5,295 at the 2010 census. Eureka is part of the Peoria, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area.
East Tennessee State University (ETSU) is a public research university in Johnson City, Tennessee. It was historically part of the State University and Community College System of Tennessee under the Tennessee Board of Regents, but since 2016, the university has been transitioning to governance by a separate institutional Board of Trustees. As of May 2017, it is the fourth largest university in the state and has off-campus centers in nearby Kingsport, Elizabethton, and Sevierville.
James Edgar is an American politician who was the 38th governor of Illinois from 1991 to 1999. A moderate Republican, he also served as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 1976 to 1979 and as Illinois Secretary of State from 1981 to 1991.
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The Ronald Reagan Trail is a collection of highways in central Illinois that connect villages and cities that were of importance to former United States President Ronald Reagan. The trail was established on May 21 1999 by the Illinois General Assembly, five years prior to former President Reagan's death in June 2004. The trail was dedicated in a ceremony on August 25, 2000 with a motorcade marking the first trip. The Reagan Trail was the brainchild of the late mayor of Eureka, Illinois Joe Serangeli. A volunteer-run Reagan Trail Association maintained a web presence and promoted the trail for its initial years, but the board was dissolved in July 2016 and website transferred to the care of the Ronald W. Reagan Society of Eureka College.
Craigan Paul Shirley is a conservative American political consultant and author of four books on Ronald Reagan.
Ralph Clyde "Mac" McKinzie was an American football, basketball, and baseball coach.
Harold Pryor "Spud" Owen was an American football, basketball, and baseball player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Culver–Stockton College in Canton, Missouri from 1948 to 1951, Eureka College in Eureka, Illinois from 1952 to 1955, and Elmhurst College in Elmhurst, Illinois from 1956 to 1958, compiling a career college football coaching record of 21–60–5. Owen was also the athletic director at Eureka from 1952 to 1956 and coached golf at Elmhurst.
William Franklin "Burgie" Burghardt was an American football and basketball coach and former athlete.
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The 1930 Eureka Red Devis football team was an American football team that represented Eureka College in the Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) during the 1930 college football season. In its 10th season under head coach Ralph McKinzie, the team compiled a 2–6 record. Ronald Reagan, who later served as the 40th President of the United States, was a lineman on the team.
The 1931 Eureka Red Devils football team was an American football team that represented Eureka College in the Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) during the 1931 college football season. In its 11th season under head coach Ralph McKinzie, the team compiled a 3–4–1 record, 2–4–1 against conference opponents.