Wilberforce University
Encyclopedia
Wilberforce University is a private, coed, liberal arts
historically black university
(HBCU) located in Wilberforce, Ohio
. Affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church
, it was the first college to be owned and operated by African Americans. It participates in the United Negro College Fund
.
The founding of the college was unique as a collaboration in 1856 by the Cincinnati, Ohio
Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church
and the African Methodist Episcopal Church
(AME). They planned a college to provide classical education and teacher training for black youth. Leaders of both races made up the first board members.
When the number of students fell due to the American Civil War
and financial losses closed the college, in 1863 the AME Church purchased the institution to ensure its survival. Its first president, AME Bishop Daniel A. Payne
, was one of the original founders. Prominent supporters and the US government donated funds for rebuilding after a fire in 1865. When the college added an industrial department in the late 19th century, state legislators could sponsor scholarship students.
The college attracted the top professors of the day, including W.E.B. Du Bois
. In the 19th century, it enlarged its mission to include students from South Africa
. The university supports the national Association of African American Museums to broaden the reach of its programs and assist smaller museums with professional standards.
to meet graduation requirements. The cooperative program places students in internships that provide practical experience in addition to academic training.
Science, Engineering, Mathematics and Aerospace Academy (SEMAA) and the associated Aerospace Education Laboratory (AEL). It was attended by Dr. Bernice G. Alston, deputy assistant administrator of NASA’s office of Education, and the Honorable David L. Hobson
, state representative from Ohio’s 7th congressional district.
NASA’s program is designed to provide training in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to underprivileged students to support NASA’s future needs. There are 17 NASA SEMAA project sites through the United States. Through this partnership, Wilberforce will offer training sessions for students in grades K-12 during the academic year and during the summer. The AEL is computerized classroom that provided technology to students in grades 7-12 that supports the SEMAA training sessions.
in the southwestern part of the state, the founding of Wilberforce University was a collaboration among leaders of the Cincinnati Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church and the African Methodist Episcopal Church
. They planned to promote classical education and teacher training for black youth. Among the first 24 members of the Board of Trustees in 1855 were Bishop Daniel A. Payne
, Rev. Lewis Woodson
and Messrs. Ishmael Keith and Alfred Anderson, all of the AME Church. Also on the Board were Salmon P. Chase
, then Governor of Ohio and a strong supporter of abolition
; a member of the Ohio State Legislature, and other Methodist leaders from the white community. They named the college after the British abolitionist and statesman, William Wilberforce
.
As a base for the college, the Cincinnati Conference bought a hotel, cottages and 54 acres (218,530.4 m²) of a resort
property, named Tawawa Springs after a Shawnee
word for "clear or golden water". European Americans had founded the health resort because of the springs, which historically the Native Americans had long used. Because of its location, the resort attracted summer people from both Cincinnati and the South
. Some people in this area of abolitionist sentiment were shocked when wealthy Southern planters arrived at the resort with their entourages of enslaved or free African-American mistresses and mixed-race "natural" (illegitimate) children.
Given migration patterns, this was also an area where numerous free blacks
settled, many having moved across the Ohio River from the South for better living conditions. Xenia had quite a large free black population, as did other towns in southwestern Ohio, such as Chillicothe
, Yellow Springs
and Zanesville
. Free blacks and anti-slavery white supporters used houses in the town as stations on the Underground Railroad
in the years before the war. Wilberforce College also supported freedom-seeking slaves.
The college opened for classes in 1856, and by 1858 its trustees selected Rev. Richard S. Rust as the first President. By 1860 the university had 200 students. Most were from the South rather than Ohio or northern states. They were the "natural" mixed-race sons and daughters of wealthy white planters and their African-American mistresses. The fathers paid for the education denied their children in the South. They were among the fathers who did not abandon their mixed-race children but provided them with the social capital
of education. The outbreak of Civil War threatened the college's finances. Not only were Methodist church resources diverted, but the southern planters withdrew their children, and no more paying students came from the South. The college closed temporarily in 1862 when the Methodist Church was unable to fully fund it.
Led by Bishop Daniel Payne, in 1863 the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME) decided to buy the college to ensure its survival. Founders were Bishop Payne, who was selected as its first President; James A. Shorter, pastor of the AME Church in Zanesville and future bishop; and Dr. John G. Mitchell, principal of the Eastern District Public School of Cincinnati
. Payne was the first African American to become a college president in the United States.
When an arson fire damaged some of the buildings in 1865, Salmon P. Chase, then Chief Justice
of the US Supreme Court, and Dr. Charles Avery from Pittsburgh each contributed $10,000 to rebuild the college. Mary E. Monroe, another white supporter, contributed $4200. The US Congress approved a $25,000 grant for the college, which raised additional monies privately from a wide range of donors.
In 1888 the AME Church came to an agreement with the Republican
-dominated state legislature that brought considerable financial support. It negotiated contemporary pressures to emphasize industrial education for many black youth by accommodating both that and the classical education. As an act of political patronage, the state legislature established a commercial, normal and industrial (CNI) department at Wilberforce College. While this created complications for administration and questions about the mission of the college, in the near term it brought tens of thousands of dollars annually in state aid to the campus. Each state legislator could award an annual scholarship to the CNI department at Wilberforce, enabling hundreds of African American students to attend classes. The state-funded students could complete liberal arts at the college, and students at Wilberforce could also take "industrial" classes. By the mid-1890s, the college also admitted students from South Africa
, as part of the AME Church's mission to Africa. The church helped support such students with scholarships, as well as arranging board with local families.
The college became a center of black cultural and intellectual life in southwestern Ohio. Because the area did not receive many European immigrants, blacks had more opportunities at diverse work. Xenia and nearby towns developed a professional elite.
Generations of leaders: teachers, ministers, doctors, politicians and presidents of other colleges, and later men and women of all occupations, have been educated at the university. In the nineteenth century, Bishop Payne established his dream, a theological seminary, which was named in his honor. Top-ranking scholars taught at the college, including W.E.B. DuBois, the philologist William S. Scarborough, Edward Clarke, and John G. Mitchell, dean of the seminary. In 1894 Lieutenant Charles Young, the third black graduate of West Point and then the only African-American commissioned officer in the US Army, led the newly established military science department. Additional leading scholars taught at the college in the early twentieth century, such as the politician
, theologian and missionary
Theophilus Gould Steward and the sociologist Richard R. Wright, Jr., the first African American to earn a Ph.D.
from the University of Pennsylvania
. He was a future AME bishop and president of Wilberforce. These men were prominent in the American Negro Academy, founded in 1897 to support the work of scholars, writers and other intellectuals. In 1969 the organization was revived as the Black Academy of Arts and Letters.
Growth of the university after the mid-20th century led to construction of a new campus in 1967, located one mile (1.6 km) away. In 1974, the area was devastated by part of the Super Outbreak
tornado storm, which destroyed much of the city of Xenia
and the old campus of Wilberforce.
Older campus buildings still in use include the Carnegie Library
, built in 1909 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places
; Shorter Hall, built in 1922; and the Charles Leander Hill Gymnasium, built in 1958. The former residence of Charles Young near Wilberforce was designated a National Historic Landmark
, in recognition of his significant and groundbreaking career in the US Army.
In the 1970s, the university established the National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center, to provide exhibits and outreach to the region. It is now operated by the Ohio Historical Society. The university supports the national Association of African American Museums, to provide support especially to smaller museums across the country.
(NAIA) and participates in the American Mideast Conference
. The Bulldogs participate in the following intercollegiate sports: basketball
(men's and women's), and cross country (men's and women's). Students also participate in the following intramural sports: basketball, softball
, volleyball, flag football, and tennis
.
Liberal arts
The term liberal arts refers to those subjects which in classical antiquity were considered essential for a free citizen to study. Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic were the core liberal arts. In medieval times these subjects were extended to include mathematics, geometry, music and astronomy...
historically black university
Historically Black Colleges and Universities
Historically black colleges and universities are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before 1964 with the intention of serving the black community....
(HBCU) located in Wilberforce, Ohio
Wilberforce, Ohio
Wilberforce is a census-designated place in Greene County, Ohio, United States. The population was 1,579 at the 2000 census. The community was named for the English statesman William Wilberforce, who worked for abolition of slavery and achieved the end of the slave trade in the United Kingdom and...
. Affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church
African Methodist Episcopal Church
The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the A.M.E. Church, is a predominantly African American Methodist denomination based in the United States. It was founded by the Rev. Richard Allen in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1816 from several black Methodist congregations in the...
, it was the first college to be owned and operated by African Americans. It participates in the United Negro College Fund
United Negro College Fund
The United Negro College Fund is an American philanthropic organization that fundraises college tuition money for black students and general scholarship funds for 39 private historically black colleges and universities. The UNCF was incorporated on April 25, 1944 by Frederick D. Patterson , Mary...
.
The founding of the college was unique as a collaboration in 1856 by the Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church
Methodist Episcopal Church
The Methodist Episcopal Church, sometimes referred to as the M.E. Church, was a development of the first expression of Methodism in the United States. It officially began at the Baltimore Christmas Conference in 1784, with Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke as the first bishops. Through a series of...
and the African Methodist Episcopal Church
African Methodist Episcopal Church
The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the A.M.E. Church, is a predominantly African American Methodist denomination based in the United States. It was founded by the Rev. Richard Allen in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1816 from several black Methodist congregations in the...
(AME). They planned a college to provide classical education and teacher training for black youth. Leaders of both races made up the first board members.
When the number of students fell due to the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
and financial losses closed the college, in 1863 the AME Church purchased the institution to ensure its survival. Its first president, AME Bishop Daniel A. Payne
Daniel Payne
Daniel Alexander Payne was an American bishop, educator, college administrator and author. He became a bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church and was a major shaper of it in the 19th century. He was one of the founders of Wilberforce University in Ohio...
, was one of the original founders. Prominent supporters and the US government donated funds for rebuilding after a fire in 1865. When the college added an industrial department in the late 19th century, state legislators could sponsor scholarship students.
The college attracted the top professors of the day, including W.E.B. Du Bois
W.E.B. Du Bois
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was an American sociologist, historian, civil rights activist, Pan-Africanist, author, and editor. Born in Massachusetts, Du Bois attended Harvard, where he was the first African American to earn a doctorate...
. In the 19th century, it enlarged its mission to include students from South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. The university supports the national Association of African American Museums to broaden the reach of its programs and assist smaller museums with professional standards.
Cooperative Education
Wilberforce requires all students to participate in cooperative educationCooperative education
Cooperative education is a structured method of combining classroom-based education with practical work experience. A cooperative education experience, commonly known as a "co-op", provides academic credit for structured job experience...
to meet graduation requirements. The cooperative program places students in internships that provide practical experience in addition to academic training.
NASA SEMAA project
In October 2006, Wilberforce held the grand opening and dedication for the NASANASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
Science, Engineering, Mathematics and Aerospace Academy (SEMAA) and the associated Aerospace Education Laboratory (AEL). It was attended by Dr. Bernice G. Alston, deputy assistant administrator of NASA’s office of Education, and the Honorable David L. Hobson
Dave Hobson
David Lee Hobson is an American politician of the Republican Party who served as a U.S. representative from the seventh congressional district of Ohio.Hobson was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and graduated from Withrow High School in 1954...
, state representative from Ohio’s 7th congressional district.
NASA’s program is designed to provide training in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to underprivileged students to support NASA’s future needs. There are 17 NASA SEMAA project sites through the United States. Through this partnership, Wilberforce will offer training sessions for students in grades K-12 during the academic year and during the summer. The AEL is computerized classroom that provided technology to students in grades 7-12 that supports the SEMAA training sessions.
History
Located three miles (5 km) from Xenia, OhioXenia, Ohio
Xenia is a city in and the county seat of Greene County, Ohio, United States. The municipality is located in southwestern Ohio 21 miles from Dayton and is part of the Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area...
in the southwestern part of the state, the founding of Wilberforce University was a collaboration among leaders of the Cincinnati Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church and the African Methodist Episcopal Church
African Methodist Episcopal Church
The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the A.M.E. Church, is a predominantly African American Methodist denomination based in the United States. It was founded by the Rev. Richard Allen in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1816 from several black Methodist congregations in the...
. They planned to promote classical education and teacher training for black youth. Among the first 24 members of the Board of Trustees in 1855 were Bishop Daniel A. Payne
Daniel Payne
Daniel Alexander Payne was an American bishop, educator, college administrator and author. He became a bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church and was a major shaper of it in the 19th century. He was one of the founders of Wilberforce University in Ohio...
, Rev. Lewis Woodson
Lewis Woodson
Lewis Woodson was an educator, minister, writer, and abolitionist. He was an early leader in the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Ohio and Pennsylvania...
and Messrs. Ishmael Keith and Alfred Anderson, all of the AME Church. Also on the Board were Salmon P. Chase
Salmon P. Chase
Salmon Portland Chase was an American politician and jurist who served as U.S. Senator from Ohio and the 23rd Governor of Ohio; as U.S. Treasury Secretary under President Abraham Lincoln; and as the sixth Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.Chase was one of the most prominent members...
, then Governor of Ohio and a strong supporter of abolition
Abolitionism
Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...
; a member of the Ohio State Legislature, and other Methodist leaders from the white community. They named the college after the British abolitionist and statesman, William Wilberforce
William Wilberforce
William Wilberforce was a British politician, a philanthropist and a leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becoming the independent Member of Parliament for Yorkshire...
.
As a base for the college, the Cincinnati Conference bought a hotel, cottages and 54 acres (218,530.4 m²) of a resort
Resort
A resort is a place used for relaxation or recreation, attracting visitors for holidays or vacations. Resorts are places, towns or sometimes commercial establishment operated by a single company....
property, named Tawawa Springs after a Shawnee
Shawnee
The Shawnee, Shaawanwaki, Shaawanooki and Shaawanowi lenaweeki, are an Algonquian-speaking people native to North America. Historically they inhabited the areas of Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Western Maryland, Kentucky, Indiana, and Pennsylvania...
word for "clear or golden water". European Americans had founded the health resort because of the springs, which historically the Native Americans had long used. Because of its location, the resort attracted summer people from both Cincinnati and the South
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
. Some people in this area of abolitionist sentiment were shocked when wealthy Southern planters arrived at the resort with their entourages of enslaved or free African-American mistresses and mixed-race "natural" (illegitimate) children.
Given migration patterns, this was also an area where numerous free blacks
Free people of color
A free person of color in the context of the history of slavery in the Americas, is a person of full or partial African descent who was not enslaved...
settled, many having moved across the Ohio River from the South for better living conditions. Xenia had quite a large free black population, as did other towns in southwestern Ohio, such as Chillicothe
Chillicothe, Ohio
Chillicothe is a city in and the county seat of Ross County, Ohio, United States.Chillicothe was the first and third capital of Ohio and is located in southern Ohio along the Scioto River. The name comes from the Shawnee name Chalahgawtha, meaning "principal town", as it was a major settlement of...
, Yellow Springs
Yellow Springs, Ohio
Yellow Springs is a village in Greene County, Ohio, United States, and is the location of Antioch College and Antioch University Midwest. The population was 3,487 at the 2010 census...
and Zanesville
Zanesville, Ohio
Zanesville is a city in and the county seat of Muskingum County, Ohio, United States. The population was 25,586 at the 2000 census.Zanesville was named after Ebenezer Zane, who had constructed Zane's Trace, a pioneer road through present-day Ohio...
. Free blacks and anti-slavery white supporters used houses in the town as stations on the Underground Railroad
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists,...
in the years before the war. Wilberforce College also supported freedom-seeking slaves.
The college opened for classes in 1856, and by 1858 its trustees selected Rev. Richard S. Rust as the first President. By 1860 the university had 200 students. Most were from the South rather than Ohio or northern states. They were the "natural" mixed-race sons and daughters of wealthy white planters and their African-American mistresses. The fathers paid for the education denied their children in the South. They were among the fathers who did not abandon their mixed-race children but provided them with the social capital
Social capital
Social capital is a sociological concept, which refers to connections within and between social networks. The concept of social capital highlights the value of social relations and the role of cooperation and confidence to get collective or economic results. The term social capital is frequently...
of education. The outbreak of Civil War threatened the college's finances. Not only were Methodist church resources diverted, but the southern planters withdrew their children, and no more paying students came from the South. The college closed temporarily in 1862 when the Methodist Church was unable to fully fund it.
Led by Bishop Daniel Payne, in 1863 the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME) decided to buy the college to ensure its survival. Founders were Bishop Payne, who was selected as its first President; James A. Shorter, pastor of the AME Church in Zanesville and future bishop; and Dr. John G. Mitchell, principal of the Eastern District Public School of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
. Payne was the first African American to become a college president in the United States.
When an arson fire damaged some of the buildings in 1865, Salmon P. Chase, then Chief Justice
Chief Justice
The Chief Justice in many countries is the name for the presiding member of a Supreme Court in Commonwealth or other countries with an Anglo-Saxon justice system based on English common law, such as the Supreme Court of Canada, the Constitutional Court of South Africa, the Court of Final Appeal of...
of the US Supreme Court, and Dr. Charles Avery from Pittsburgh each contributed $10,000 to rebuild the college. Mary E. Monroe, another white supporter, contributed $4200. The US Congress approved a $25,000 grant for the college, which raised additional monies privately from a wide range of donors.
In 1888 the AME Church came to an agreement with the Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
-dominated state legislature that brought considerable financial support. It negotiated contemporary pressures to emphasize industrial education for many black youth by accommodating both that and the classical education. As an act of political patronage, the state legislature established a commercial, normal and industrial (CNI) department at Wilberforce College. While this created complications for administration and questions about the mission of the college, in the near term it brought tens of thousands of dollars annually in state aid to the campus. Each state legislator could award an annual scholarship to the CNI department at Wilberforce, enabling hundreds of African American students to attend classes. The state-funded students could complete liberal arts at the college, and students at Wilberforce could also take "industrial" classes. By the mid-1890s, the college also admitted students from South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, as part of the AME Church's mission to Africa. The church helped support such students with scholarships, as well as arranging board with local families.
The college became a center of black cultural and intellectual life in southwestern Ohio. Because the area did not receive many European immigrants, blacks had more opportunities at diverse work. Xenia and nearby towns developed a professional elite.
Generations of leaders: teachers, ministers, doctors, politicians and presidents of other colleges, and later men and women of all occupations, have been educated at the university. In the nineteenth century, Bishop Payne established his dream, a theological seminary, which was named in his honor. Top-ranking scholars taught at the college, including W.E.B. DuBois, the philologist William S. Scarborough, Edward Clarke, and John G. Mitchell, dean of the seminary. In 1894 Lieutenant Charles Young, the third black graduate of West Point and then the only African-American commissioned officer in the US Army, led the newly established military science department. Additional leading scholars taught at the college in the early twentieth century, such as the politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
, theologian and missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
Theophilus Gould Steward and the sociologist Richard R. Wright, Jr., the first African American to earn a Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
from the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
. He was a future AME bishop and president of Wilberforce. These men were prominent in the American Negro Academy, founded in 1897 to support the work of scholars, writers and other intellectuals. In 1969 the organization was revived as the Black Academy of Arts and Letters.
Growth of the university after the mid-20th century led to construction of a new campus in 1967, located one mile (1.6 km) away. In 1974, the area was devastated by part of the Super Outbreak
Super Outbreak
The Super Outbreak is the second largest tornado outbreak on record for a single 24-hour period, just behind the tornado outbreak of April 25–28, 2011...
tornado storm, which destroyed much of the city of Xenia
Xenia, Ohio
Xenia is a city in and the county seat of Greene County, Ohio, United States. The municipality is located in southwestern Ohio 21 miles from Dayton and is part of the Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area...
and the old campus of Wilberforce.
Older campus buildings still in use include the Carnegie Library
Carnegie Library
Carnegie Library, Carnegie Public Library, Carnegie Free Library, Carnegie Free Public Library, Andrew Carnegie Library, Andrew Carnegie Free Library or Carnegie Library Building may refer to any of the following Carnegie libraries:- California :*Carnegie Library , listed on the National Register...
, built in 1909 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
; Shorter Hall, built in 1922; and the Charles Leander Hill Gymnasium, built in 1958. The former residence of Charles Young near Wilberforce was designated a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
, in recognition of his significant and groundbreaking career in the US Army.
In the 1970s, the university established the National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center, to provide exhibits and outreach to the region. It is now operated by the Ohio Historical Society. The university supports the national Association of African American Museums, to provide support especially to smaller museums across the country.
Financial aid audit
In 2008 the US Department of Education, Office of the Inspector General (OIG) completed an audit of financial management, specifically the university's management of Title IV funds, which related to its work-study program. For the two-year audit period (2004-2005, 2005-2006) the audit found numerous faults. In summary, the OIG found:"The University did not comply with the Title IV, HEA program requirements because it was not administratively capable. During the audit period, the University experienced significant staff turnover and lacked sufficient financial aid staff, failed to develop and implement written policies and procedures, did not maintain all records needed to demonstrate compliance with the HEA and applicable regulations, and did not ensure sufficient communication between the financial aid office and all other institutional offices at the University."
Past university presidents
- Richard RustRichard RustRichard Rust was an American actor of stage, television, and film born in Boston, Massachusetts, probably best remembered for his role as a young lawyer in NBC's Sam Benedict series. Rust's mother died when he was five, and his father was an officer in the United States Navy...
, 1858-1862 (under joint Methodist Episcopal and African Methodist Episcopal trustees) - Daniel A. PayneDaniel PayneDaniel Alexander Payne was an American bishop, educator, college administrator and author. He became a bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church and was a major shaper of it in the 19th century. He was one of the founders of Wilberforce University in Ohio...
, 1863-1876, first under AME operation - Benjamin F. Lee, 1876-1884
- Samuel T. Mitchell, 1884-1900
- Joshua H. Jones, 1900-1908
- William S. Scarborough, 1908-1920
- John A. Gregg, 1920-1924
- Gilbert H. Jones, 1924-1932
- Richard R. Wright, Jr., 1932-1936, 1941-1942
- D. Ormonde WalkerD. Ormonde WalkerD. Ormonde Walker was the 10th president of Wilberforce University, serving from 1936-1941. He was the 66th bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.-References:...
, 1936-1941 - Charles H. WesleyCharles H. WesleyCharles Harris Wesley was a noted African American historian, educator, writer and author.-Early life and education:...
, 1942-1947
Athletic programs
Wilberforce is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate AthleticsNational Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics is an athletic association that organizes college and university-level athletic programs. Membership in the NAIA consists of smaller colleges and universities across the United States. The NAIA allows colleges and universities outside the USA...
(NAIA) and participates in the American Mideast Conference
American Mideast Conference
The American Mideast Conference is an affiliate of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics that includes eight member institutions in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Massachusetts. Founded in 1949, it was known as the Mid-Ohio League, and named the Mid-Ohio Conference from 1962...
. The Bulldogs participate in the following intercollegiate sports: basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
(men's and women's), and cross country (men's and women's). Students also participate in the following intramural sports: basketball, softball
Softball
Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
, volleyball, flag football, and tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
.
NPHC Organizations
- Alpha Kappa AlphaAlpha Kappa AlphaAlpha Kappa Alpha is the first Greek-lettered sorority established and incorporated by African American college women. The sorority was founded on January 15, 1908, at Howard University in Washington, D.C., by a group of nine students, led by Ethel Hedgeman Lyle...
, Zeta Chapter - Alpha Phi AlphaAlpha Phi AlphaAlpha Phi Alpha is the first Inter-Collegiate Black Greek Letter fraternity. It was founded on December 4, 1906 at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Its founders are known as the "Seven Jewels". Alpha Phi Alpha developed a model that was used by the many Black Greek Letter Organizations ...
, Xi Chapter - Kappa Alpha PsiKappa Alpha PsiKappa Alpha Psi is a collegiate Greek-letter fraternity with a predominantly African American membership. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911 at Indiana University Bloomington, the fraternity has never limited membership based on color, creed or national origin...
, Delta Chapter - Omega Psi PhiOmega Psi PhiOmega Psi Phi is a fraternity and is the first African-American national fraternal organization to be founded at a historically black college. Omega Psi Phi was founded on November 17, 1911, at Howard University in Washington, D.C.. The founders were three Howard University juniors, Edgar Amos...
, Upsilon Chapter - Delta Sigma ThetaDelta Sigma ThetaDelta Sigma Theta is a non-profit Greek-lettered sorority of college-educated women who perform public service and place emphasis on the African American community. Delta Sigma Theta Sorority was founded on January 13, 1913 by twenty-two collegiate women at Howard University...
, Beta Chapter - Zeta Phi BetaZeta Phi BetaZeta Phi Beta is an international, historically black Greek-lettered sorority and a member of the National Pan-Hellenic Council.Zeta Phi Beta is organized into 800+ chapters, in eight intercontinental regions including the USA, Africa, Europe, Asia and the Caribbean...
, Gamma Epsilon Chapter - Phi Beta SigmaPhi Beta SigmaPhi Beta Sigma is a predominantly African-American fraternity which was founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C. on January 9, 1914, by three young African-American male students. The founders A. Langston Taylor, Leonard F. Morse, and Charles I...
, Alpha Alpha Chapter - Sigma Gamma RhoSigma Gamma RhoSigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. was founded on the campus of Butler University on November 12, 1922, by seven school teachers in Indianapolis, Indiana...
, Kappa Chapter - Iota Phi Theta, Alpha Iota Chapter (Founded March 17, 1979)
Notable alumni
See also
- Historically black colleges and universitiesHistorically Black Colleges and UniversitiesHistorically black colleges and universities are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before 1964 with the intention of serving the black community....
External links
- www.wilberforce.edu - Wilberforce University Official Website
- Horace Talbert, "The Sons of Allen: Together with a Sketch of the Rise and Progress of Wilberforce University, Wilberforce, Ohio", 1906, Documenting the American South, University of North Carolina