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Ohio Northern University

Coordinates: 40°46′01″N 83°49′30″W / 40.76686°N 83.82491°W / 40.76686; -83.82491
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Ohio Northern University
File:Ohionorthern.JPG
TypePrivate
Established1871
Endowment$174,016,794
PresidentKendall Baker, Ph.D
Academic staff
207
Students3,721 (2008)
Undergraduates3,290 (2007)
Location
Ada
,
Ohio
,
USA
CampusRural
Latin motto"Ex Diversitate Vires"
ColorsOrange, Black, White
NicknamePolar Bears
AffiliationsUnited Methodist Church
MascotKlondike
Websitehttp://www.onu.edu/

Ohio Northern University is a private, United Methodist Church-affiliated university located in the United States in Ada, Ohio, founded by Henry Solomon Lehr in 1871. ONU is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission and the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. ONU is a sister university with Dankook University, a private university in Seoul, South Korea. In 2008, U.S. News & World Report listed Ohio Northern as the second-best comprehensive college in the Midwest.[1]

Academic programs

The university comprises five colleges:

Prior to 1973, the law school was known as "the Warren G. Harding College of Law".[2] It was renamed in honor of Claude W. Pettit, a judge and former dean of the college.[3]

History

Early years

An Ohio Historical Marker detailing the university's history

Henry Solomon Lehr, a former soldier in the American Civil War, became the schoolmaster for the Ada public school in 1866. Lehr began offering additional courses in the evenings to motivated students to cover topics beyond the standard curriculum. After five years, he approached the town about starting a university. In August 1871, the Northwestern Ohio Normal School started with nearly 150 students attending classes in downtown stores and local churches until the first classroom building was completed in October.

Lehr built the university from the ground up, and was involved in all activities from building construction to faculty selection and curriculum design. Like most of the schools in the post-civil war period, the school’s focus was on preparing public school teachers. However, by the mid-1880s, the school’s curriculum had expanded to include programs in pharmacy, engineering, law, and business. In 1885, the school trustees changed the name to Ohio Normal University to reflect the expanded scope.

President Lehr’s educational philosophy formed through his own educational experiences, and emphasized low tuition, flexible schedule and curriculum, and allowed women as both students and faculty. To secure the school’s future, Lehr tried to secure state support for the school, but when that failed, he arranged to sell the school to the United Methodist Church. When the transfer was completed in 1899, he was succeeded by Dr. Leroy Belt in 1900, and then by Dr. Albert Edwin Smith in 1905.

Growth and struggle

Between 1900 and 1930, the school grew and underwent an administrative reorganization. During this time, the name changed for the last time, taking the name Ohio Northern University. A medical school and agriculture school were attempted but failed to develop. As high schools became more common in Ohio, ONU closed its preparatory program that had allowed students to prepare for the university. Dr. Smith traveled extensively on behalf of the school, and secured financing of nearly $500,000 for the first endowment fund. Fraternities continued to make a presence on the campus, and Smith fought to maintain the student code which forbids smoking and drinking.

During the Great Depression and World War II, the school struggled as student enrollment dropped as a reflection of the economic times. Dr. Robert Williams introduced efficiency measures by reducing the administrative staff and combining academic programs into colleges. During the war years, the university participated in government programs supporting the Army Air Corps and Navy. In the 1940s, both the yearbook and student newspaper ceased publication, a classroom building closed, and intercollegiate sports were temporarily suspended. President McClure served his first year without pay and many of the faculty went unpaid or on reduce salaries.

Post-war education boom

In 1944, the G.I. Bill promised to bring servicemen to universities across the country, and ONU received an influx of students starting in the fall of 1945 which continued for several years, straining the local housing market and forcing the university, under the leadership of Dr. Robert McClure, to add trailers and student dormitories. By 1949, Dr. F. Bringle McIntosh shifted the school’s focus from survival to enhancing academic programs and securing accreditation. During the following years, individual programs were accredited and in 1958 the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools accredited the undergraduate program.

Under Dr. Samuel Lewis Meyer and Dr. Ray B. Loeschner, the university continued to grow its campus and its curriculum, enjoying financial stability from the steadily increasing enrollment. In the 1970s, new buildings included the Heterick Memorial Library, the Tilton College of Law and Taggart Law Library, the Wesley Center, the Young Building for Philosophy and Religion, the Biggs Engineering Building, the King-Horn Convocation Center, ONU Sports Center, Park Hall, two McIntosh extensions, along with refurbishing the Taft Building, the Wilson Art Center, and the Meyer Hall of Science. Five national honorary societies established chapters on campus, student organizations grew, and intercollegiate athletic teams expanded.

Recent growth

Growth continued under Dr. DeBow Freed through the 1980s and 1990s with additions to the Taggart Law Library, Presser Hall, Dukes Memorial, Wilson Art Building, Biggs Engineering, Heterick Memorial Library, and Meyer Hall of Science, and the construction of the Freed Center for the Performing Arts and a new president’s on-campus home. Under Dr. Kendall Baker, campus additions include Dicke Hall, an expansion of the Robertson-Evans Pharmacy building, and the Dial-Roberson Stadium. Current construction projects include the Mathile Center for the Natural Sciences annex connecting Meyer Hall of Science with the Pharmacy building and a comprehensive renovation of all on-campus housing. In 2008, Ohio Northern University built and opened The Inn at Ohio Northern University, which contains over 70 deluxe guestrooms.[4]

Technology growth

Starting in the early 1980s, the university provided computer services to a growing segment of the university’s population, expanding from a centralized mainframe to networked personal computers and a computer network. ONU joined OhioLINK and technology revolutionized academic administrative activities and supported classroom activities. With the addition of the Internet, the university began offering its first distance learning courses in the pharmacy program. Today, there are over 1,200 networked computers and Internet access on campus.

Athletics

Joe Banks, Ohio Northern graduate and coach

ONU students participate in intercollegiate, intramural, and sports clubs in a variety of sports. The ONU Polar Bears compete in the Division III Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC). The men's volleyball team participates in the Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association in the Great Midwest Men's Volleyball Conference.

  • The school mascot is a polar bear named Klondike.[5]
  • The ONU varsity football team defeated Mount Union College in 2005 to snap the Purple Raiders 110-game regular season winning streak.[6]
  • The ONU varsity men's swim team won their fifth straight OAC Conference Championship in 2009.[7]

Men’s intercollegiate teams

Women’s intercollegiate teams

National Honors

  • 1993 Men's Basketball NCAA Division III Champions[8]
  • 2001 Men's Basketball NCAA Division III Final Four[9]
  • 1989 Women's Volleyball NCAA Division III Runners-up[10]
  • 2007 Men's Volleyball NIRSA Division II National Champions[11]
  • 2008 Women's Volleyball NCAA Division III Final Four[12]

Notable alumni

Environmental efforts

  • In the 2006–07 academic year, in an effort to reduce wasted resources the university instituted a printing policy, whereby each student was allocated $30 to use throughout the year. The cost of printing one page is four cents.

References

  1. ^ "America's Best Colleges 2007:Comprehensive Colleges-Bachelor's (Midwest): Top Schools". Retrieved January 1 2007. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  2. ^ "Ohio Northern University at universities.com". Retrieved 21 August 2006. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  3. ^ "History of the ONU Pettit College of Law". Retrieved 21 August 2006. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  4. ^ "The Inn at Ohio Northern University". Retrieved August 25 2008. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  5. ^ "Ohio Northern University Student Senate: " A New Bear in Town"".
  6. ^ "USA Today.com: Mount Union's 110-game regular season winning streak snapped".
  7. ^ "Ohio Northern wins third consecutive OAC Championships team title".
  8. ^ D3hoops.com: 1993 Men's NCAA Tournament Results
  9. ^ The 2001 Division III men's tournament
  10. ^ http://www.onusports.com/Mediacenter/2007vb.pdf
  11. ^ http://www.onu.edu/org/mensvb/
  12. ^ [1]
  13. ^ Little Big Man
  14. ^ http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/benjamin_brafman/index.html],[http://asp.usatoday.com/community/tags/topic.aspx?req=tag&tag=Benjamin%20Brafman
  15. ^ Benjamin Brafman
  16. ^ "Ohio Attorney General - William J. Brown". Retrieved 27 August 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  17. ^ Mike DeWine - Congresspedia
  18. ^ http://onucdm.onu.edu:2005/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/ohionalum&CISOPTR=5779&CISOSHOW=5711&REC=4
  19. ^ http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,945778-2,00.html

40°46′01″N 83°49′30″W / 40.76686°N 83.82491°W / 40.76686; -83.82491

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