History of the University

DePauw University was founded in 1837. The original name, Indiana Asbury University, came from the first American bishop of the Methodist Episcopal church, Francis Asbury. At its conception, the school was to be an ecumenical institution of national stature. In fact, the college was "forever to be conducted on the most liberal principles, accessible to all religious denominations and designed for the benefit of our citizens in general."

Greencastle was the chosen site because the community worked diligently to raise $25,000--a huge sum in those days--to convince the Methodists to establish their college in the rough, frontier village. The General Assembly of the State of Indiana granted a charter for the establishment of the University on January 10, 1837, and the cornerstone of the first building was laid that year.

Three years later the first president, Matthew Simpson, a friend and counselor of Abraham Lincoln, was inaugurated, and the first college class graduated. Over several decades, the curriculum developed from a traditional classical one to a set of courses that included history, composition and the natural sciences.

From its humble beginnings of one professor and five students, Asbury College grew quickly, although many men left the University to fight for either the North or South during the Civil War. In 1867, with the strong support of the faculty and Board of Trustees, the college admitted a small group of women.

In 1870 the construction of East College began. Although it took several years to build, East College was and still is the centerpiece of the campus. During the economic hardships of the 1870s, businessman Washington C. DePauw and his family generously gave more than $600,000 to the University, and in appreciation the trustees authorized the change in name to DePauw University.

W. C. DePauw and his family took a special interest in the formation and progress of the School of Music, which was founded in 1884 and is one of the oldest in the country.

Two other benefactors have helped shape the history of DePauw. In 1919 Edward Rector gave $2.5 million for the establishment of the Rector Scholarship Fund. DePauw alumni Ruth Clark and Philip Forbes Holton gave a total of $128 million, and in 1999 the Holton Memorial Fund was established in order to provide scholarships to students of "high character and with academic and leadership potential." Both scholarship funds continue to make it possible for deserving students to pursue a DePauw education.

DePauw, under the leadership of its 18th president, has a distinguished faculty and an academically talented student body. Although the University has undergone many changes through the years, the sense of its history is still obvious on the campus and in its traditions.

ACCREDITATION

The University or specific degree programs are accredited by:

• North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. (The most recent comprehensive evaluation occurred in 1997-98.)
• University Senate of the United Methodist Church
• Committee on Professional Training of the American Chemical Society
• National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education
• Indiana Professional Standards Board for the State of Indiana
• Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP)
• National Association of Schools of Music

(An institutional statement approved by the faculty.)

 DePauw University stands today as a prime example of the independent liberal arts college which has served its state and nation in the best traditions of American educational institutions. It views the normal four-year period of college as a foundation for a lifetime of continued learning and growth. Therefore, while it stresses particular patterns of prevocational and pre-professional learning, it does so in the context of an intentional commitment to an examination of values, a pursuit of heightened aptitude in critical thinking and the establishment of a sufficiently broad base of general learning to constitute a foundation for living with meaning as well as making a living.

DePauw reaffirms its commitment to academic excellence, growth in personal and social awareness and preparation for leadership.

The general intellectual aims of the University are to seek truth and educate minds. To these ends the members of the University strive:

• to foster the love of learning and the increase of knowledge and to recognize and support intellectual and creative excellence;
   
• to enlarge capacities for clear, thorough and independent thought;
   
• to understand and appreciate cultural and scientific achievements, past and present;
   
• to encourage serious reflection on the moral and religious aspects of experience;
   
• to respect and sustain the freedom of inquiry and speech; and
   
• to demonstrate integrity and honesty, courage and compassion in academic work and in the activities of the University generally and in all such matters to be open to the views of others.

These intentions shape the pattern of DePauw University's environment and direct its activities. Students and deans, staff and alumni, faculty and president are all members of a community whose governance they share. Ours is a residential campus with provision for a variety of student lifestyles; and because of its residential nature, students and faculty exchange ideas outside as well as within the classroom and seminar, and students have the benefit of experience in governing themselves and living with others.

The DePauw curriculum is designed to introduce students to basic methods and areas of inquiry; to develop their analytic abilities; to improve their skills in writing and speech; to broaden their perspectives on humanity and culture; to give them an understanding of the contemporary world and the human prospect for the next decades; to offer them intensive training and mastery of at least one subject area; to prepare them for future careers; and to afford them the foundation for more advanced and professional studies.

DePauw provides individual guidance to meet the particular educational and emotional needs of students and to assist them in identifying personal career preferences and possibilities. It seeks to conserve and develop physical health and has a tradition of athletic competition for men and women in a variety of intercollegiate and intramural sports, with an emphasis on participation and preparation for lifelong recreational pursuits. DePauw is a place of theatre and debate, of art exhibits and recitals, of publications and many other activities. Its honorary societies recognize academic excellence, leadership and outstanding achievement in special fields.

The University nurtures a lively acquaintance with the expressions of self-understanding, which inform the religious traditions and is a setting for the thoughtful observance of religious belief and practice. There are various opportunities for worship and participation in volunteer service-learning projects.

DePauw seeks to encourage in its students the capacity to ask hard and basic questions about the world, themselves and their commitments; to elicit a serious interest and a delight in ideas and books and works of art; to provide the intellectual setting for those who enter its community to become wise and humane persons; and to prepare them for a lifetime of service to the wider human community.

Indiana's first Phi Beta Kappa chapter is located at DePauw. Admittance is limited to students with high academic achievement. Strength in one field is not enough, as Phi Beta Kappa expects its members to show an interest and aptitude in a broad and well-rounded liberal arts education. Considerations of moral character and contributions to the community enter in, but the dominant factors are academic.

DePauw University boasts a number of "firsts." Not only was the University the site of the first Phi Beta Kappa chapter in the state of Indiana, but it was also home to the first sorority in the nation, Kappa Alpha Theta, established in 1870. The Alpha chapter of Alpha Chi Omega sorority was founded at DePauw.

DePauw students founded Sigma Delta Chi, a national journalistic honorary fraternity in 1909. It spread to other campuses and today is also known as The Society of Professional Journalists.

Other DePauw firsts include the first 10-watt college FM radio station in the country, WGRE-FM, which went on the air in 1949. DePauw's student-managed newspaper, The DePauw, is the oldest college newspaper in Indiana.

Campus Facilities

Visitors are often struck by the overall beauty of the DePauw campus, but it is also important that the individual facilities provide an excellent environment for teaching and learning. From the campus' s historic centerpiece, East College, to its expanded Percy Lavon Julian Science & Mathematics Center and the Eugene S. Pulliam Center for Contemporary Media, DePauw presents its community of learners with a physical plant that is equal or superior to other undergraduate liberal arts institutions.

The AAAS House, located on Anderson Street, provides meeting, social space and kitchen facilities for the Association of African-American Students and its activities.

Asbury Hall is the north building in a quadrangle that includes Roy O. West Library and Harrison Hall. Asbury Hall provides classroom and office space for the departments and professors of education, English, philosophy, political science, sociology and anthropology.

The Bartlett Alumni House, located on Seminary Street, is named for Dean Edward R. Bartlett, former professor in religious education and dean of the University from 1941 through 1947. Its renovation was made possible through a gift from James and Susan Bartelsmeyer Bartlett, both members of the class of 1966. James Bartlett is Dean Bartlett's grandson. The house, originally built in the 1880s, has served as a series of private residences, an Episcopal church, a former DePauw president's home, and most recently, it housed the Student Affairs Office. The house was converted to a home-away-from-home for DePauw's alumni in 1998 and now serves as the headquarters for DePauw's alumni relations office.

The Eugene S. Pulliam Center for Contemporary Media houses all student media: The DePauw; WGRE-FM, the student-run 24-hour radio station; Midwestern Review, the campus literary magazine; and the Mirage, the DePauw yearbook. Also located in the media center are complete television production and broadcasting facilities – all available to students no matter what their major or class year. The Watson Forum is a 91-seat auditorium for live performances and talks that can also be broadcast on local cable television. In addition, the center houses a Macintosh computer laboratory.

Charter House, located on Seminary Street, houses the offices of development,   communications and media relations. Also located in Charter House are the student health services and printing services.

The DePauw University Nature Park, an approximately 481-acre nature park just one-third  mile west of campus, is the newest addition to DePauw and the community. When completed, the nature park will feature as many as four trails for walking, jogging, hiking and biking; arboretums; several canoe launches; and outdoor classrooms. Other amenities, such as a lodge for retreats and overnight guests as well as an outdoor amphitheater, may be added later. The nature park is located on the site of a former limestone quarry.

Many well-known speakers have given convocations in East College's Meharry Hall. The oldest building on campus and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, East College also provides classrooms and offices for the economics, history and foreign language departments and is home to the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame.

The Emison Art Center provides space for a variety of faculty offices.

The F.W. Olin Biological Sciences Building is designed for undergraduate
research. In fact, there are more laboratories than classrooms, reflecting DePauw's view that students learn more when they are "doing science" than when they are being lectured about science. The building features subject-area laboratories: anatomy and physiology, animal biology, botany, genetics, environmental sciences and microbiology. Each faculty member has an individual laboratory to encourage collaborative, research-based undergraduate science education. Other features of the building are a tissue culture facility for research and teaching immunology and a climate-zone and computer-operated greenhouse.

The Grover L. Hartman Center for Civic Education and Leadership provides
administrative office space for all of DePauw's student volunteer service programs, including Winter Term in Service, DePauw Community Services and the Bonner Scholars Program. The Hartman Center also houses student meeting and work rooms, as well as classroom space. The center is named for Grover L. Hartman, a 1935 graduate of DePauw and a Methodist layperson who spent his life as an advocate for a multitude of social, political and economic causes.

The Indoor Tennis and Track Center opened in 2001 and is one of the finest indoor facilities in the country. Located west of Blackstock Stadium, the 300,000-square-foot center includes six tennis courts, a 200-meter track, batting cages for baseball and softball, golf nets, putting green and executive locker rooms for men and women (two each). It also can accommodate indoor soccer, football, field hockey and other sports. It allows students to exercise, participate and train in a variety of sports all year long.

The International and Off-Campus Study Center accommodates office and
meeting space for the University's international education activities, a library of
information about off-campus study programs, both in the United States and abroad,
and resources on immigration regulations for international students.

John H. Harrison Hall, completely renovated in 1994, is home to the psychology
department and its classrooms, laboratories and professors' offices. The religious
studies department and its professors' offices are also in Harrison Hall. The second
and third floors house a number of University offices: Academic Affairs, Academic
Resource Center, Career Services and Student Academic Support Services. In addition, the Arthur E. Klauser Asian and World Community Collection in the Shidzuo likubo Museum is on
the second floor of Harrison Hall.

The Lilly Physical Education and Recreation Center is home to men's and women's intercollegiate athletics, intramurals, kinesiology department classrooms and offices, leisure-time sports, concerts and intercollegiate athletic contests.

Neal Fieldhouse, with its multi-use surface, provides space for three basketball
courts, five tennis courts, seven volleyball courts, eight badminton courts, a four-lane
(10-laps-to-the-mile) track with a five-lane, 55-meter straightaway and pit for field
events, and press box. The fieldhouse may be divided into three separate areas to
isolate activities. It seats a maximum of 3,000.

An auxiliary gymnasium on the second floor provides one full-size basketball court,
one tennis court, three badminton courts, one volleyball court, three fencing lanes and
18- and 25-meter archery firing lanes. A separate dance studio provides space for
aerobics, dancercise, jazzercise, slimnastics and ballet events. The 5,600-square-foot
weight room and fitness center addition to the Lilly Center offers state-of-the-art exercise equipment and free weights designed to meet the needs of the DePauw community.

Wrestling, gymnastics and the martial arts use Lilly Center's multi-purpose room
on the second level. Six hardwood courts for racquetball and handball are on the
ground level. The swimming pool is 25-yards by 25-meters, offering eight competition lanes and two one-meter and one three-meter diving boards.

Other athletic facilities include Blackstock Stadium (football, track and field),
McKeen Field (softball, field hockey and archery), Boswell Field (soccer), Walker
Field (baseball) and a women's softball field built in 1997. In 1998 a major renovation
of Blackstock Stadium included new locker rooms and sports medicine facilities.
Three of the Blackstock tennis courts are lighted.

The Memorial Student Union Building is a three-story structure erected through
memorial contributions honoring former students who died in World War II. The Union serves as a social center for the campus and the Greencastle community and
provides students a place for recreational opportunities, cultural programs, social
events and meetings.

In 1998 the University completed a $7-million expansion and renovation of the
Memorial Student Union Building. The basement houses the bookstore and student
recreation space. The kitchen and food court are on the mezzanine level. The first floor provides office space for student government, fraternities, sororities and other organizations. The Robert C. McDermond Center for Management & Entrepreneurship is also located on the first floor. On the second floor are the DePauw Public Safety Office and Student Affairs Office as well as the Don R. Daseke Board Room.

McKim Observatory is located about one-half mile from campus. Built in 1884
and listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the building houses two telescopes and other original equipment still in regular use.

North Quadrangle residence halls include Anderson Street, Lucy Rowland and Mason halls and Rector Village, a group of seven suite-style residence halls constructed near the former location of Rector Hall, which was built in 1917 and damaged beyond repair in a fire on April 7, 2002. South Quadrangle residence halls are Bishop Roberts, College Street, Hogate, Longden and Humbert halls.

Other student residence facilities are Seminary Street House, Senior Hall,
Locust Street, Coan apartments and several townhouses. The two-story townhouses are named in honor of distinguished faculty members, alumni and administrators in the University’s history, including Katharine Sprague Alvord, William Martin Blanchard, Sutemi Chinda, Julia Alice Druley, Raymond H. French, John Jacob Oliver, George W. Gore Jr., Bettie Locke Hamilton, Paul B. Kissinger, David E. Lilienthal, Belle A. Mansfield, Tucker Essily Wilson and Truman G. Yuncker.

The Office of Admission, located adjacent to campus on Seminary Street,
houses the admission staff and contains offices, interview rooms and resources for
prospective students and their families.

The Percy Lavon Julian Science & Mathematics Center is named for the 1920 DePauw
alumnus known as "America's greatest black chemist." It houses classrooms, laboratories and offices of the chemistry, computer science, geoscience, mathematics,and physics and astronomy departments. Also located in the center is the Prevo Science Library, containing books, periodicals, electronic resources and a personal computer laboratory; Information Services; a technology suite, featuring four computing laboratories and a Geographic Information System laboratory; and an 80-seat auditorium. Rededicated on November 1, 2003, following a $36-million renovation and expansion project, the Julian Center includes 17 technology-enhanced classrooms with high-speed networked computers, video, DVD and wired student stations; seven computer classrooms; computer-equipped rooms; and technology support for the campus. The east entrance opens into a three-story atrium that features abundant study spaces with wired and wireless access to the University network and Internet. The 361° Initiatives, which integrate technology into the liberal arts curriculum and prepare students for an increasingly technological world, are located in the Julian Center.

The Performing Arts Center is a multi-level complex that includes two main areas, one for teaching and one for performing. In the performing area are the 80-seat black box Kerr Theater; 1,400-seat Kresge Auditorium, featuring the J. Stanford Smith Concert Organ; 400-seat Moore Theater, which has three stages; and 220-seat Thompson Recital Hall. In two-story Burkhart Hall, the teaching area of the center, are teaching studios, soundproof practice modules, a music library with listening and recording facilities, a Music Instructional Technology Center and classrooms for the School of Music and the Department of Communication Arts and Sciences. The center features a landscaped courtyard and a 37-bell carillon tower.

The Office of Religious Life, located adjacent to campus on Seminary Street, is
home to the University's coordinator of religious life and many religiously oriented activities
and organizations.

With the dedication of the Richard E. Peeler Art Center on Oct. 11, 2002, the DePauw campus now has a space designated specifically for the visual arts The Peeler Art Center, located on Hanna Street between Indiana and Jackson streets, is a world-class facility that accommodates everything from studio art and art history to gallery displays, lectures and performances. Designed by the internationally recognized architect Carlos Jiménez, the center includes studios for painting and drawing classes; ceramics studio; four classrooms and seminar rooms with current technologies; computer labs for graphic design classes and digital video; photography facilities; a small auditorium; and 8,000 square feet of gallery and exhibition space.

Roy 0. West Library provides a variety of study spaces and group study rooms; contains a collection of more than 319,000 books, 1,500 periodical subscriptions and 12,000 audiovisual titles; provides campus-wide access to 475 electronic titles; distributes video and cable TV throughout campus, including faculty-assigned viewing and popular TV channels; holds the oldest U.S. government depository in the state of Indiana with thousands of rare, original documents; features Café Roy, a collaborative social and learning area; provides individual research assistance and course-based instruction; and houses a computer laboratory. Faculty Instructional Technology Support (FITS) also is located in Roy O. West Library. A new façade was added to the east side of the library in 2001 to give the building an architectural appearance similar to neighboring Asbury and Harrison halls.

Instructional Media Services, housed in the library, provides audiovisual equipment, training and support for campus activities. Archives and Special Collections houses unique historical records of the University, Indiana United Methodism and the Society for Professional Journalists as well as rare books and alumni publications. 

There are three branch libraries. The Music Library, located on the lower level of
the Performing Arts Center, contains a collection of approximately 41,000 volumes,
including musical scores and parts, books on music, sound recordings, videotapes,
CD-ROMs and online databases. It features in-house audio listening facilities,
including two private studio/listening rooms. The library collection for most of the
science areas is located in the Prevo Science Library, on the first and lower levels of the
Percy Lavon Julian Science & Mathematics Center. It provides access to online indexes
and abstracts and a variety of study areas. The Visual Resources Center, on the second floor of the Richard E. Peeler Art Center, includes 75,000 art and architecture slides, as well as an image database.

The Studebaker Administration Building provides offices for the University president, vice president for development and alumni relations, vice president for finance and administration, vice president for student services, and registrar as well as the financial aid, student loan, accounting, cash receipts and human resources offices.