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Nebraska Wesleyan University
 

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Nebraska Wesleyan University





HISTORY

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, the defining building of the campus. Still with no stairways, windows, or flooring on some floors, classes began in September 1888 . The first graduating class was comprised of 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 was located in the small town of University Place, Nebraska. Today, that town is part of Lincoln, Nebraska . Today, University Place is a residential area of Lincoln with many shops and historic neighborhoods.

Early on, Nebraska Wesleyan was a college of liberal arts; schools of art, business and education; a music conservatory; an academy (high school) also comprising an elementary school and kindergarten. The high school was discontinued in 1931 , and the primary schools in 1941 (gradeschool) and 1942 (kindergarten). Nebraska Wesleyan offered a Master Of Arts degree until 1937 .

The university recently brough back its graduate programs with a Master Of Science in Nursing developed in 2000 and a Master of Forensic Science degree first offered in 2001 .

Nebraska Wesleyan has been associated with four emblems in its history, featuring the Sunflower ( 1894 - 1907 ), the Coyote ( 1907 - 1933 ), the Plainsman ( 1933 - 2000 ), and the Prairie Wolf ( 2000 -Present). The school colors of brown and gold are a tribute to the first emblem.

Notable Alumni include U.S. Senator Carl Curtis , U.S. Senator and Nebraska Governor Dwight Griswold , Congressman John N. Norton , Lincoln Mayor Coleen Seng , physicist John R. Dunning , novelist Kent Haruf , science fiction writer Robert Reed , and poet Ted Genoways .


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