Nebraska Wesleyan University (NWU) is a privateMethodist-affiliated university in Lincoln, Nebraska. It was founded in 1887 by Nebraska Methodists. As of 2017, it had approximately 2,100 students, including 1,500 full-time students[6] and 300 faculty and staff. The university has 119 undergraduate majors, minors, and pre-professional programs in addition to three graduate programs.
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 in 1914.
The school is located in the former town of University Place, Nebraska. Today, it is part of northeast Lincoln, Nebraska;[7] 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.[8]
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).[12] The school colors are black and gold.[9]
Athletic facilities
Nebraska Wesleyan's athletic facilities include Abel Stadium,[13] which seats approximately 2,500 people and is used for college football, soccer and other events, and Snyder Arena, which seats 2,350 and is used for basketball and volleyball.[14]
Accomplishments
The men's golf team won the 2006 NCAA Division III National Championship,[15] 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.[16]
The men's basketball team won the 2018 NCAA Division III National Championship, its first in men's basketball.[17]
Greek life
There are several fraternities and sororities on campus.
David H. Mickey, class of 1939, wrote Of Sunflowers, Coyotes and Plainsmen: A History of Nebraska Wesleyan University (1992). Its three volumes cover inception to 1987. Volume One describes how the university began and tracks its progress to 1921. The second volume covers the years 1921–1946 and the third volume encompasses 1946–1987.
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