Carroll University is a

private university Private universities and private colleges are institutions of higher education, not operated, owned, or institutionally funded by governments. They may (and often do) receive from governments tax breaks, public student loans, and grant (money ...

affiliated with the

Presbyterian Church (USA) The Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PC(USA), is a mainline Protestant denomination in the United States. It is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the US, and known for its liberal stance on doctrine and its ordaining of women and ...

and located in

Waukesha, Wisconsin Waukesha ( ) is the county seat of Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. It is part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area. Its population was 71,158 at the 2020 census. The city is adjacent to the Village of Waukesha. History The area tha ...

. Established in 1846, Carroll was Wisconsin's first four-year institution of higher learning.

History

Prior to its establishment, what is now Carroll University was Prairieville Academy which was founded in 1841. Its charter—named for Charles Carroll of Carrollton, a signer of the

United States Declaration of Independence The United States Declaration of Independence, formally The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen States of America, is the pronouncement and founding document adopted by the Second Continental Congress meeting at Pennsylvania State House ( ...

—was passed into law by the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature on January 31, 1846. During the 1860s, the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

and financial difficulty caused Carroll to temporarily suspend operations. The board of trustees voted unanimously to change the institution's name from Carroll College to Carroll University effective July 1, 2008.

Presidents

*John Adams Savage: 1850-63 *Rensellaer B. Hammond: 1863-64 *Walter L. Rankin: 1866-71*, 1893-1903 *Wilbur Oscar Carrier: 1903-17 *Herbert Pierpoint Houghton: 1918-20 *

William Arthur Ganfield William Arthur Ganfield (September 3, 1873, in Dubuque County, Iowa – October 18, 1940, in Wisconsin) was a figure in American higher education and served as president of Centre College in Danville, Kentucky from 1915 to 1921 and later presi ...

: 1921-39 *Gerrit T. Vander Lugt: 1940-46 *Nelson Vance Russell: 1946-51 *Robert D. Steele: 1952-67 *John T. Middaugh: 1967-70 *Robert V. Cramer: 1971-88 *Dan C. West: 1988-92 *Frank S. Falcone: 1993-2006 *Douglas N. Hastad: 2006-2017 *Cindy Gnadinger: 2017- * Between July 31, 1871, and June 22, 1893, no college work was carried on. While the charter retained the college privileges, teaching was on the academy level. College work was resumed and the office of the presidency was filled again in 1893.

Academics

Carroll University offers more than 95 areas of study at the

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-le ...

level, with master's degrees and certificates in selected subjects, as well as one clinical doctorate program in physical therapy. There are 133 full-time and 258 part-time faculty members. 71.4% of the faculty have terminal degrees. As of September 2015, Carroll serves 3,521 students at the full- and part-time undergraduate and graduate levels. These students represent 33 states and 31 countries.

Campus

The campus is home to a variety of nineteenth and early twentieth century historical buildings, including Sneeden House (a 1922 colonial home now used as a guesthouse and conference center) and MacAllister Hall (a renovated, 19th-century mansion that now houses offices for the CFO, English, modern language, computational and physical sciences, chemistry, and the Division of Arts and Sciences). The school provides housing in six residence halls, six apartment buildings, and two houses. The full campus stretches 132.8 acres, with the Main Campus around 50 acres, a four-acre Center for Graduate Studies located three minutes south of

Interstate 94 Interstate 94 (I-94) is an east–west Interstate Highway connecting the Great Lakes and northern Great Plains regions of the United States. Its western terminus is just east of Billings, Montana, at a junction with I-90; its eastern term ...

, a six-acre property southwest of campus and a 64-acre field research station in

Genesee, Wisconsin Genesee is a town in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 7,284 at the 2000 census. The unincorporated communities of Bethesda, Genesee Depot, and Saylesville are in the town. Geography According to the United States C ...

Residence halls

* North Bergstrom Hall * South Bergstrom Hall * Shirley Hilger Hall * Kilgour Hall * Steele Hall * Swarthout Hall * Charles Street Hall

Apartment buildings

* Carroll Street Apartments * College Avenue Apartments * Frontier Hall * Hartwell Avenue Apartments * Pioneer Hall * Prairie Hall

Traditions

Bagpipes

Since the 1960s, bagpipes have been a part of Carroll's opening convocation and commencement ceremony. Freshmen are escorted to their first assembly by a lone bagpiper, and upon graduation are led to commencement by a band of bagpipers. The rite of passage symbolizes Carroll's connection to its

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their n ...

roots; early 19th-century Scottish immigrants settled in Waukesha, then known as Prairieville.

Ring the bell

A longstanding Carroll sports tradition, “Ring the Bell” is a ceremony performed by Carroll varsity teams following a win, when members athletes ring the school victory bell located at the northwest corner of Schneider Stadium. All teams participate—football, soccer, lacrosse—as long as the game is played and won at Schneider. In 2016 the victory bell was repainted and updated to feature the new Carroll Pioneers logo.

Athletics

Carroll athletic teams are the Pioneers. The university is a member of the Division III level of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

(NCAA), primarily competing in the

College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin The College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) is a college athletic conference which competes in the Division III level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). CCIW schools have accounted for 50 national championships ...

(CCIW) since the 2016–17 academic year; which they were a member on a previous stint from 1955–56 to 1992–93. Carroll competes in 23 intercollegiate varsity sports. Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, lacrosse, soccer, swimming, tennis and track & field (indoor and outdoor); while women's sports include basketball, bowling, cross country, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track & field (indoor and outdoor) and volleyball.

Football

: ''See List of Carroll Pioneers head football coaches'' The

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

program at Carroll began in the late 1890s. Past head coaches include Glenn Thistlethwaite, Vince DiFrancesca, and Matty Bell. The current coach is Mike Budziszewski, who replaced Mark Krzykowski after the 2019 season. On September 5, 1906, Carroll became the site of a milestone event in

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

when

Saint Louis University Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university with campuses in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, United States, and Madrid, Spain. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, ...

player Bradbury Robinson, coached by Eddie Cochems, threw the first legal

forward pass In several forms of football, a forward pass is the throwing of the ball in the direction in which the offensive team is trying to move, towards the defensive team's goal line. The forward pass is one of the main distinguishers between gridiro ...

in football history (though it was first used experimentally in the

1905 Washburn vs. Fairmount football game The 1905 Washburn vs. Fairmount football game was a college football game between Fairmount College (now called Wichita State University) and the Washburn Ichabods played on December 25, 1905, in Wichita, Kansas. It marked the first experiment wi ...

Basketball

In 2006, both the men's and women's basketball teams qualified for the NCAA Division III tournament for the first time in school history. The women won the Midwest Conference tournament and received the automatic bid, while the men's team received an "at-large" bid. Both were eliminated in the first round of play. In 2007, both teams again qualified for the tournament. The Pioneers won the Midwest Conference tournament, during which freak power outages forced the championship game to be delayed and moved twice, first to

Monmouth College Monmouth College is a private Presbyterian liberal arts college in Monmouth, Illinois. Monmouth enrolls approximately 900 students from 21 countries who choose courses from 40 major programs, 43 minors, and 17 pre-professional programs in a ...

, then to nearby Knox College. Upon reaching the NCAA tournament, they defeated 7th-ranked Augustana College in the first round of play, and 5th-ranked University of St. Thomas, to advance to the "Sweet Sixteen" sectional level. The women received an at-large bid to the tournament, defeating Illinois Wesleyan University in the first round, but losing in the second round to 25th-ranked Luther College. In 2012, Carroll returned to the NCAA tournament, making it to the second round after defeating ranked

Transylvania University Transylvania University is a private university in Lexington, Kentucky. It was founded in 1780 and was the first university in Kentucky. It offers 46 major programs, as well as dual-degree engineering programs, and is accredited by the Southern ...

Media

* ''Century Magazine'', Carroll University's annual literary magazine, publishes art, photography, prose, and poetry created by Carroll students.

Rankings

Carroll University ranked No. 31 in Regional Universities Midwest in '' U.S. News & World Report'' 2022 America's Best Colleges. In 2018, ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

'' ranked Carroll No. 594 among 650 colleges in the United States.America's Top Colleges Ranking 2015: Carroll University
. ''Forbes'', July 29, 2015. In 2018, ''

Money Magazine ''Money'' is an American personal finance brand and website owned by Ad Practitioners LLC and formerly also a monthly magazine, first published by Time Inc. (1972–2018) and later by Meredith Corporation (2018–2019). Its articles cover the g ...

'' ranked Carroll No. 613 among 727 colleges in the United States.

Notable faculty

Cardon V. Burnham Cardon Vern Burnham Jr. (25 February 1927 – 19 February 2005) was an American composer, arranger, conductor, and performer of musical genre. His work included classical, choral, jazz, orchestral, operatic, and chamber music, most notably the o ...

, composer * Edward Daniels, abolitionist & U.S. Civil War cavalry officer *

Jeffrey Douma Jeffrey Douma is the Director of the Yale Glee Club and the Marshall Bartholomew Professor in the Practice of Choral Music at the Yale School of Music. He is the founding Director of the Yale Choral Artists and serves as Artistic Director of the Ya ...

, current Yale University music professor and choir director * Edward Payson Evans, historian & linguist * Tamara Grigsby, Wisconsin State Representative * Philip Krejcarek, art historian and photographer *

Ray Wendland Ray Theodore Wendland (July 11, 1911 – November 30, 1986) was an American experimental chemist and academician. Education Wendland was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota in July, 1911, and educated at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota ...

, petrochemist * Viola S. Wendt, poet

Notable alumni

* John M. Alberts, Wisconsin State Representative *

Walt Ambrose Walter Louis Ambrose (August 7, 1905 – January 18, 1968) was an American football guard who played one game in the National Football League (NFL) for the Portsmouth Spartans. He played college football at Carroll University. Early life and edu ...

, NFL player *

Norris Armstrong Phillip Norris "Army" Armstrong (September 15, 1898 – October 11, 1981) was an American football player and coach. He played college football at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky from 1918 to 1919 and professionally for one season, in 1922, ...

, played professional football for the Milwaukee Badgers in 1922 * John Ball, author, '' In the Heat of the Night'' * Herb Bizer, NFL player *

James Bonk James Frederick Bonk (February 6, 1931 – March 15, 2013) was an American university professor noted for eschewing a research career in favor of teaching introductory chemistry courses for over 50 years, primarily at Duke University. He did, h ...

, chemistry professor,

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist Jam ...

(B.S. 1953) *

John W. Breen John W. Breen (May 9, 1907 – February 9, 1984) was an American football and basketball player, coach, and executive. He was active in the college ranks before becoming an administrator in the American Football League for the Houston Oilers. Pl ...

, NFL player-personnel manager * Steven Burd, chairman, president and CEO of Safeway Inc. * James P. Daley,

U.S. National Guard The National Guard is a state-based military force that becomes part of the reserve components of the United States Army and the United States Air Force when activated for federal missions.general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...

* Moxie Dalton, NFL player * David L. Dancey, Wisconsin State Representative and jurist * Cushman Kellogg Davis,

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and power ...

from

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over t ...

* Lyle E. Douglass, Wisconsin State Representative * William Edwards, Wisconsin State Senator * Paul Farrow, Wisconsin State Senator * Howard Fuller, Activist * Karl George, NFL player * Donald Goerke, inventor of SpaghettiOs * Rudy Gollomb, played professional football for the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

William Henry Hardy William Henry Hardy (15/16 October 1831 – 20 December 1909) was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly. Biography Hardy was born on October 15, 1831. He attended what was then Carroll College Carroll College is a private Catholic colleg ...

, Wisconsin State Representative * Bill Hempel, NFL player * Kirk Hershey, NFL player * Frank Hertz, played professional football for the Milwaukee Badgers in 1926 * Manville S. Hodgson, Wisconsin State State Representative *

Justin Jacobs Justin Wayne Jacobs (born 1981) is an American statistician, currently serving as the Senior Basketball Researcher with the Orlando Magic. Jacobs is a former applied research mathematician at the National Security Agency, and an independent s ...

, 2014 PECASE winner *

Phil H. Jones Phil H. Jones (February 9, 1874 – ) was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly. Biography Jones was born on February 9, 1874, in Genesee, Wisconsin. Later, he would reside on a farm in Delafield (town), Wisconsin. In 1894, Jones graduated fr ...

, Wisconsin State Representative * Theodore S. Jones, Wisconsin State Representative * Daniel Kelly, attorney and former justice of the

Wisconsin Supreme Court The Wisconsin Supreme Court is the highest appellate court in Wisconsin. The Supreme Court has jurisdiction over original actions, appeals from lower courts, and regulation or administration of the practice of law in Wisconsin. Location The Wi ...

* Mel Lawrenz, author, speaker and former senior pastor of

Elmbrook Church Elmbrook Church is a non-denominational, evangelical Christian megachurch located in the Milwaukee suburb of Brookfield, Wisconsin, in Waukesha County. Since the church's founding in 1958, it has become one of the largest churches in the Unite ...

* Wally Lemm, NFL head coach *

Alfred Lunt Alfred David Lunt (August 12, 1892 – August 3, 1977) was an American actor and director, best known for his long stage partnership with his wife, Lynn Fontanne, from the 1920s to 1960, co-starring in Broadway and West End productions. After th ...

, actor *

Fred MacMurray Frederick Martin MacMurray (August 30, 1908 – November 5, 1991) was an American actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films and a successful television series, in a career that spanned nearly a half-century. His career as a major film le ...

, actor (did not graduate) * Vincent R. Mathews, Wisconsin State Representative *

James A. McKenzie James Andrew McKenzie (August 1, 1840 – June 25, 1904) was a U.S. Representative from Kentucky and uncle of John McKenzie Moss. Born in Bennettstown, Kentucky, McKenzie attended the common schools of Christian County and Centre College, D ...

, Wisconsin State Representative *

Dennis Morgan Dennis Morgan (born Earl Stanley Morner, December 20, 1908 – September 7, 1994) was an American actor-singer. He used the acting pseudonym Richard Stanley before adopting the name under which he gained his greatest fame. According to one obi ...

, actor * Earl D. Morton, Wisconsin State Representative *

Adam Neylon Adam Neylon (born December 30, 1984) is an American small business owner and Republican politician. He is a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing central Waukesha County. Background Neylon was born in Elgin, Illinois, and rais ...

, Wisconsin State Representative * Lucius W. Nieman, founder of the Milwaukee Journal * David W. Opitz, Wisconsin State Senator * Maybelle Maud Park, physician, Wisconsin state official *

Janet Parshall Janet Parshall is a nationally syndicated radio talk show host known for the Christian program ''In the Market with Janet Parshall'', which is broadcast on the Moody Radio network on over 700 stations. She was also the host for the 2004 documenta ...

, radio talk show host * Ivan Quinn, NFL player * Antonio R. Riley, Midwest Regional Administrator of the

United States Department of Housing and Urban Development The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the Secretary of Housing and Ur ...

* Henry C. Schadeberg, U.S. Representative * William C. R. Sheridan, Episcopal Bishop of northern Indiana * Ed Sparr, NFL player in the 1920s * Harper Starling (Amanda Hoffman) recording artist *

Gregg Steinhafel Gregg Steinhafel (born 1954) is an American business executive, and the former President, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Target Corporation. Early life Gregg Steinhafel was born in 1954 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His grandfather founded Steinhaf ...

Target Corporation Target Corporation ( doing business as Target and stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American big box department store chain headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the seventh largest retailer in the United States, and a com ...

, president and chairman of the board *

Douglas C. Steltz Douglas C. Steltz (1920-2009) was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly. Biography Steltz was born on December 7, 1920 in West Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He attended Carroll University, the Wisconsin State College of Milwaukee and Marquette Universi ...

, Wisconsin State Representative * Gil Sterr, NFL player in the 1920s *

Eric Szmanda Eric Kyle Szmanda (; born July 24, 1975) is an American actor. He is best known for having played Greg Sanders in the CBS police drama ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', a role he held from the show's beginning in 2000 until it ended in 2015. ...

, actor '' CSI'' *

Claude Taugher Claude Buckley Taugher (March 2, 1895 – February 8, 1963), also known as Biff Taugher, was a player in the National Football League for the Green Bay Packers in 1922 as a fullback. He also was an officer with the United States Marine Corps dur ...

, professional football player for the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the t ...

in 1926 * Vernon W. Thomson, former Wisconsin governor and U.S. Representative *

Buff Wagner Almore Charles "Buff" Wagner (May 31, 1897 – February 12, 1962) was a professional football player for the Green Bay Packers in 1920 and 1921. He played at the collegiate level at Carroll University. Biography Wagner was born Almore Charles Wa ...

, played for the

in 1921 * David W. Winn, U.S. Air Force

general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...

* William A. Wojnar, classical organist * Matt Christman, co-host of Chapo Trap House * Riley Fay, television actor for

Hearst Communications Hearst Communications, Inc., often referred to simply as Hearst, is an American multinational mass media and business information conglomerate based in Hearst Tower in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Hearst owns newspapers, magazines, televi ...

References

External links

Official website

Official athletics website
{{authority control Waukesha, Wisconsin Liberal arts colleges in Wisconsin Educational institutions established in 1846 Private universities and colleges in Wisconsin Universities and colleges affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) Buildings and structures in Waukesha County, Wisconsin Education in Waukesha County, Wisconsin 1846 establishments in Wisconsin Territory