Adrian College is a private liberal arts college in Adrian, Michigan. The college offers bachelor's degrees in 92 academic majors and programs. The 100 acre (0.40 km²) campus contains newly constructed facilities along with historic buildings. Adrian College is affiliated with the

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelic ...

and is accredited by the

Higher Learning Commission The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) is an institutional accreditor in the United States. It has historically accredited post-secondary education institutions in the central United States: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa ...

. The spring 2020-21 enrollment was 1,677 students.

History

The college has its origin as a theological institute founded by Wesleyan Methodists at Leoni, Michigan, in 1845. This institution merged with Leoni Seminary, another Methodist school, in 1855 to form Michigan Union College. In 1859, that institution closed and its assets were transferred to Adrian "through the efforts of the

antislavery Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

leader and educator, Rev.

Asa Mahan Asa Mahan (; November 9, 1799April 4, 1889) was a U.S. Congregational clergyman and educator and the first president of both the Oberlin Collegiate Institute (later Oberlin College) and Adrian College. He described himself as "a religious teacher ...

, who was elected first president of the new Adrian College". The college was chartered by the Michigan Legislature on March 28, 1859. In the early stages of the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

the college volunteered itself as a base for the formation of Michigan regiments for the

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

side. The current Valade Hall building sits on the site of the former base camp for these soldiers. A marker designating the college as a Michigan Historic Site was erected by the Michigan Historical Commission. The inscription reads:

Chartered on March 28, 1859, Adrian College traces its origins back to a Wesleyan Methodist theological institute founded at Leoni, Michigan in 1845. This institution later became Michigan Union College. Strongly antislavery in its sentiments, the school was moved to Adrian in 1859 through the efforts of the antislavery leader and educator, Rev. Asa Mahan, who was elected first president of the new Adrian College. The college was transferred to the Methodist Protestant Church in 1868, and here for 71 years, leaders of this denomination were trained. In 1939 a denominational union of American Methodism resulted in the establishment of the Methodist Church. Adrian College is affiliated with this great church body.

An additional marker commemorating Camp Williams and the Fourth Michigan Volunteer Infantry as a Michigan Historic Site was erected by the Michigan Historical Commission. The inscriptions read:

Camp Williams At the outbreak of the Civil War in early 1861, the trustees of Adrian College offered the use of campus buildings and grounds to the Fourth Michigan Volunteer Infantry for training. This became known as Camp Williams. The city of Adrian donated money to build a mess and dining hall. By early June ten companies of the Fourth had arrived and started their training. The 1,025 soldiers came from Adrian, Ann Arbor, Dexter, Jonesville, Hudson, Sturgis, Monroe, Hillsdale, Tecumseh, and Trenton. On June 21 nearly 30,000 people came to town to see the Fourth depart for Washington. The ladies of Adrian presented Colonel Dwight Woodbury with the regimental flag. Sewn into the flag was "The Ladies of Adrian to the Fourth regiment Defend It." Fourth Michigan Volunteer Infantry In spring 1861 the Fourth Michigan Volunteer Infantry departed Adrians' Camp Williams for service in the Civil War. The regiment was assigned to the Army of the Potomac and saw action in forty-one engagements, including Gaines Mills, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Petersburg. The Fourth was one of the few regiments to lose more men in battle than from disease. Out of 1,399 men, 307 died from May 1862 through June 1864. Three colonels died in battle defending their regimental flag: Dwight Woodbury, at Malvern Hill, Virginia; Harrison Jeffords in The Wheatfield at Gettysburg; and George Lumbard at The Wilderness, Virginia. In 1864 the reorganized Fourth trained here, at Camp Williams, once more.

Campus

The original campus was built in the mid-19th century. It would be almost a century later that President John Dawson began a major construction phase of the campus, including most of the residence halls, academic buildings, a student union, and the administration building. More recently, current President Jeff Docking has introduced many plans to revitalize Adrian College and its campus, including the construction of new buildings, renovation of old ones, and programs related to athletics. Many of these initiatives are grouped under his "Renaissance I and II Projects" and include the new facilities such as: Arrington Ice Arena, a Multi-Sport Performance (Football) Stadium, Ritchie Marketplace (Dining Hall) Expansion, Athletic Training Laboratory & Human Performance Lab, College View North Apartments, Indoor Baseball & Softball Practice Facility, Terrace at Caine Student Center, and a new Grounds and Maintenance Facility. The college has also undertaken extensive renovation projects which include: the renovation of Rush Hall into a state-of-the-art million dollar multimedia facility, Robinson Planetarium renovations, Peelle 207 Lecture Hall, Spencer Hall Center for Music, Downs Hall (the oldest and most historic building on campus) and the current renovation and upgrade of Jones Hall (Business) and Peelle Hall (Science). The details of Adrian College's growth since 2005 are chronicled in Dr. Docking's recently published book, ''Crisis in Education: A Plan to Save Small Liberal Arts Colleges in America.'' The college is making renovations and expansions to the Science, Business, Visual Arts, and Performing Arts departments. Herrick Chapel Adrian College

Academics

Adrian College offers over 90 majors and pre-professional programs. It also offers six graduate programs using a unique 4+1 structure for current students. Graduate programs exist in: Accounting, Athletic Training, Criminal Justice, Industrial Chemistry, Teacher Education, and Sports Administration and Leadership. Over the past several years eight of the nine academic buildings were renovated, and fundraising is currently being undertaken on the final building, Mahan Hall for Art and Interior Design. The following renovations have taken place since 2008: Rush Hall for Communication Arts, Goldsmith Hall for Modern Languages and Cultures, Spencer Hall for Music, Herrick Chapel, Jones Hall for Business and Humanities, Peelle Hall for Mathematics and Natural Science, Valade Hall for social sciences and humanities, and a historic renovation of the oldest building on campus, Downs Hall for theatre, built in 1860.

Institutes

Institutes are thematic centers focusing on areas of interest supporting the mission of Adrian College. , there are eight institutes including Career Planning, Creativity, Entrepreneurial Studies, Ethics, Health Studies, Romney Institute for Law and Public Policy, Study Abroad, Sports Medicine, and Teacher Education. Each institute provides programming to students, faculty, staff, and wider community.

Student activities

Athletics

Adrian College athletic teams, nicknamed the "Bulldogs," are part of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association and 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 ...

Division III. The men's NCAA Division III hockey team is a member of the

Northern Collegiate Hockey Association The Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) is a college athletic conference which operates in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin in the midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division III as a hockey-on ...

. The men's volleyball team joined the

Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League The Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League (MCVL) is an intercollegiate men's volleyball conference associated with the NCAA's Division III. History The MCVL was founded in March 2014 by an amicable split of the Continental Volleyball Conference (C ...

. Adrian College is the third college or university to offer women's hockey as a varsity sport in Michigan. In 2011, the College reached an agreement with the federal Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights, resolving complaints that the College had violated Title IX. The College was found guilty of eleven violations of the law that governs gender equality, and agreed to make several changes to its athletic programs. Adrian College offers the following varsity sports: *

Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

(Men / Women) * Bass Fishing *

Bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), thou ...

(Men/Women) *

Cheerleading Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense physical activity. It can be performed to motivate sports teams, to ente ...

(Co-ed) * Cornhole (Men/Women) ''Fall 2022'' * Cross country (Men/Women) *

Dance squad A dance squad or dance team, sometimes called a pom squad or song team, is a team of participants that participates in competitive dance. A dance squad can also include: a jazz squad, ballet squad, or any kind of religion dance squad. Dance squads ...

* eSports *

Figure Skating Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are m ...

* Football *

Equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: * Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes i ...

Golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

(Men / Women) *

Ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

(Men / Women) *

Lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensiv ...

(Men / Women) *

Rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically ...

(Men/Women) * Rugby (Men/Women) ''Fall 2021'' * Soccer (Men / Women) *

Softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

Synchronized skating Synchronized skating is an ice skating sport where between 8 to 16 skaters perform together as a team. They move as a flowing unit at high speed over the ice, while performing elements and footwork. This complex sport originated in 1956 and was ...

Tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

(Men / Women) *

Track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

(Men/Women) *

Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

(Men/Women) *

Wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

(Men/Women) Adrian expanded its athletic programs in the 2007–2008 academic year to add NCAA Division III men's and women's

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

and men's Division I ACHA hockey along with synchronized skating and NCAA Division III men's and women's lacrosse. The Bulldog's lacrosse program is the first varsity program in MI since the induction of Title IX. Women's

bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), thou ...

was added for the 2008-2009 year. Later, it added men's and women's rowing in 2018.

Men's ice hockey

The men's Division III team received national attention on the eve of Selection Sunday of the 2007–08 season on ESPN's "The Sports Reporters" as

Mitch Albom Mitchell David Albom (born May 23, 1958) is an American author, journalist, and musician. His books have sold over 40 million copies worldwide. Having achieved national recognition for sports writing in his early career, he turned to writing the ...

, columnist from the ''

Detroit Free Press The ''Detroit Free Press'' is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, US. The Sunday edition is titled the ''Sunday Free Press''. It is sometimes referred to as the Freep (reflected in the paper's web address, www.freep.com). It primari ...

'', used his closing remarks to highlight the remarkable ride of the hockey team's season (their first at the NCAA level). The team finished 26-3 and did not make the NCAA Division III Tournament. They would qualify for the NCAA National Tournament nine times before winning their first NCAA Div. III National Championship on March 26th, 2022 in Lake Placid, New York. Adrian College is home to the largest hockey program in the country, fielding Men's and Women's NCAA DIII teams, ACHA Men's D1, D2 and D3 teams along with ACHA Women's D1 and D2 teams. The ACHA D3 team is the only ACHA D3 team to win 3 consecutive ACHA MD3 National Championships in 2012, 2013 and 2014. The 2012 MD3 National Championship was the school's first national championship in any sport in its 153-year history. The Men's ACHA D1 team went on to win the 2018 ACHA MD1 National Championship in 2018 and 2021.

Men's and women's rowing

On March 30, 2017, Adrian College athletic director, Michael Duffy, announced that men's and women's rowing would be added. On May 22, 2018, Adrian College's new rowing programs joined the

Mid-Atlantic Rowing Conference The Mid-Atlantic Rowing Conference (MARC) is a men's and women's College rowing (United States), intercollegiate rowing conference. History The Mid-Atlantic Rowing Conference was established in January 2009 by nine charter member schools: Bryn Ma ...

(MARC). On August 6, 2018, the program welcomed an inaugural freshman class of 25 rowers. In their first season in the MARC, the men's team finished eighth out of twenty, while the women placed sixth out of eleven.

Football

College football has been a part of the history of Adrian college since 1892, when Hillsdale College defeated Adrian by a score of 56–0. The first head football coach on record was E. E. Tarr in 1903. Since then, the program has won 16 conference championships, the first in 1911 and the most recent in 2012 and 2014. The head coach is

Jim Deere Jim Deere (born June 2, 1967) is an 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 fie ...

who took over in 2010.

Intramural sports

Intramurals are part of Adrian College and the athletic department. Some of the intramural teams include Flag Football, 5-on-5 Basketball, Coed Volleyball League, Broomball, 7-on-7 Soccer, and 3-on-3 Basketball.

Fraternities and sororities

Greek life on campus includes five nationally recognized fraternities: Alpha Tau Omega, Pi Kappa Alpha,

Theta Chi Theta Chi () is an international Fraternities and sororities, college fraternity. It was founded on April 10, 1856 at Norwich University then-located in Norwich, Vermont, and has initiated more than 200,000 members and currently has over 8,700 c ...

Sigma Alpha Epsilon Sigma Alpha Epsilon (), commonly known as SAE, is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity. It was founded at the University of Alabama on March 9, 1856. Of all existing national social fraternities today, Sigma Alpha Epsilon is t ...

and Tau Kappa Epsilon. There are three nationally recognized sororities:

Alpha Phi Alpha Phi International Women's Fraternity (, also known as APhi) is an international sorority with 172 active chapters and over 250,000 initiated members. Founded at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York on September 18, 1872, it is the fo ...

Alpha Sigma Alpha Alpha Sigma Alpha () is a United States National Panhellenic sorority founded on November 15, 1901, at the Virginia State Female Normal School (later known as Longwood College and now known as Longwood University) in Farmville, Virginia. Once a sor ...

, and Chi Omega.Greek Life, Adrian College
There is one locally recognized sorority, Delta Nu Kappa.

Notable alumni

Lucien Baker Lucien Baker (June 8, 1846June 21, 1907) was a United States senator from Kansas. Baker was born near Cleveland, Ohio and moved with his parents to Morenci, Michigan. There he attended the public schools and graduated from Adrian College A ...

United States 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 powe ...

from

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

(1866) *

Virgil Bernero Virgil Paul "Virg" Bernero (born March 31, 1964) is an American politician and former mayor of Lansing, Michigan, elected on November 8, 2005, and re-elected on November 3, 2009. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Prior to serving as mayor ...

, mayor of

Lansing Lansing () is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is mostly in Ingham County, although portions of the city extend west into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. The 2020 census placed the city's population at 112,644, makin ...

and the 2010 Democratic nominee for governor in Michigan (1986) * John E. Bird, member of the

Michigan Supreme Court The Michigan Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is Michigan's court of last resort and consists of seven justices. The Court is located in the Michigan Hall of Justice at 925 Ottawa Street in Lansing, the sta ...

(1892) * Rube Kisinger, pitcher for the Detroit Tigers * James Laird, former

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

U.S. Representative of

Nebraska's 2nd congressional district Nebraska's 2nd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Nebraska that encompasses the core of the Omaha–Council Bluffs metropolitan area. It includes all of Douglas County, which includes Omaha, as well as the s ...

* Mike Lewis,

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is ...

for the

Iowa Barnstormers The Iowa Barnstormers are a professional indoor football team based in Des Moines, Iowa. They are currently members of the Indoor Football League (IFL). They play their home games at Wells Fargo Arena, known in indoor football circles as "The ...

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

(2006). * John Maulbetsch, College Football Hall of Fame member (1911) * Mike Rogers, former Republican U.S. Representative of Michigan's 8th congressional district (1985) * Henry C. Smith, former Republican U.S. Representative of

Michigan's 2nd congressional district Michigan's 2nd congressional district is a United States congressional district in Western Michigan. The current 2nd district contains much of Michigan's old 4th congressional district, and includes all of Manistee, Mason, Lake, Osceola, Clar ...

(1878)

References

External links

Official website

Official athletics website
{{authority control Liberal arts colleges in Michigan Adrian, Michigan Education in Lenawee County, Michigan Educational institutions established in 1859 Buildings and structures in Lenawee County, Michigan Tourist attractions in Lenawee County, Michigan 1859 establishments in Michigan Private universities and colleges in Michigan