{{Infobox university , image = College of Wooster seal.png , image_upright = .6 , name = The College of Wooster , former_names = University of Wooster (1866–1915) , motto = ''Ex Uno Fonte / Independent Minds, Working Together''{{Cite web, url=https://wooster.edu/about/mission-and-vision/, title=Mission and Vision, access-date=October 7, 2021, archive-date=October 7, 2021, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211007140742/https://wooster.edu/about/mission-and-vision/, url-status=live , established = {{start date and age, 1866 , type = Private

liberal arts college A liberal arts college or liberal arts institution of higher education is a college with an emphasis on Undergraduate education, undergraduate study in the Liberal arts education, liberal arts of humanities and science. Such colleges aim to impart ...

, accreditation =

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 ...

, academic_affiliation = Annapolis Group , endowment = $437 million (2024) , president = Anne E. McCall , city =

Wooster, Ohio Wooster ( ) is a city in Wayne County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Located in northeastern Ohio, the city lies approximately south-southwest of Cleveland, southwest of Akron and west of Canton. The population was 27,232 at the ...

, postalcode = 44691 , country = U.S. , faculty = 202 (fall 2023){{cite web, url=https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/institution-profile/206589 , title=Institution Data Profile - The College of Wooster , publisher=National Center for Education Statistics , access-date=January 23, 2025 , students = 1,876 (fall 2023) , campus = Suburban, {{cvt, 240, acre{{cite web , url=https://wooster.edu/about/facts/ , title=Fast Facts , publisher=College of Wooster , year=2019 , access-date=July 4, 2019 , archive-date=July 4, 2019 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190704205629/https://wooster.edu/about/facts/ , url-status=live , language = English , colors = {{Color box, #FFC815, border=darkgray {{Color box, black, border=darkgray Gold & black , sports_nickname = Fighting Scots , mascot = Scottie Dog , athletics_affiliations =

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

Division III — NCAC , website = {{URL, https://wooster.edu/, wooster.edu , logo = WOOSTER primary 3c.png , logo_upright = 1.0 , module = {{Infobox NRHP , name = College of Wooster , embed = yes , nrhp_type = hd , nocat = yes , built = 1900 , architect = Lansing C. Holden , architecture = Late Gothic Revival, Collegiate Gothic, other , added = February 25, 1980 , refnum = 80003246{{NRISref , refnum=80003246, version=2010a The College of Wooster is a private

, United States. Founded in 1866 by the

Presbyterian Church Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Christianity, Reformed Protestantism, Protestant tradition named for its form of ecclesiastical polity, church government by representative assemblies of Presbyterian polity#Elder, elders, known as ...

as the University of Wooster, it has been officially non-sectarian since 1969. From its creation, the college has been a

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

institution. It enrolls about 1,900 students and is a member of the Five Colleges of Ohio, Great Lakes Colleges Association, and Association of Presbyterian Colleges and Universities.

History

Founded as the University of Wooster in 1866 by the Presbyterian Synod of Ohio, the institution opened its doors in 1870 with a faculty of five and a student body of thirty men and four women. Ephraim Quinby, a Wooster citizen, donated the first {{convert, 20, acre, , abbr=, a large oak grove situated on a hilltop overlooking the town. After being founded with the intent to make Wooster open to everyone, the university's first Ph.D. was granted to a woman, Annie B. Irish, in 1882. The first black student, Clarence Allen, began his studies later in the same decade. The university gradually began to define itself as a liberal arts institution. In 1915, after a bitter dispute between the faculty and the trustees, the institution was renamed The College of Wooster reflecting a dedication to the education of undergraduate students in the liberal arts. The college developed under the presidency of Charles F. Wishart, 1919-1944. During the Fundamentalist–Modernist Controversy in the 1920s, prominent Presbyterian layman and former United States Secretary of State

William Jennings Bryan William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator, and politician. He was a dominant force in the History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, running three times as the party' ...

attacked the college for its teaching of evolution. The subject had been taught at the college for several decades and defended by president Wishart. Bryan called for the general assembly of the church to cut off funding to the college. In 1923, Wishart defeated Bryan for the position of

Moderator of the General Assembly The moderator of the General Assembly is the Chair (official), chairperson of a General Assembly (presbyterian church), General Assembly, the highest court of a Presbyterian or Calvinism, Reformed church. Kirk sessions and presbytery (church pol ...

, largely on the evolution issue, and the college continued to teach evolution. Wishart was followed by Howard F. Lowry, who served from 1944 until his death in 1967. He was followed by

J. Garber Drushal J. Garber Drushal (July 16, 1912 – December 3, 1982) was the eighth President of The College of Wooster. He served as president from 1967–1977. Life and career Born in Lost Creek, Kentucky, Lost Creek, Kentucky, Drushal obtained his B.A ...

, who served until 1977. On November 10, 2015, the college named Sarah Bolton as its twelfth president and first female president. Bolton left the college at the end of the 2021–2022 academic year to assume the presidency of

Whitman College Whitman College is a private liberal arts college in Walla Walla, Washington. The school offers 53 majors and 33 minors in the liberal arts and sciences, and it has a student-to-faculty ratio of 9:1. Founded as a seminary by a territorial l ...

. Anne E. McCall was inaugurated on October 28, 2023.

Scottish heritage

Wooster's school colors are black and old gold and its mascot is the 'Fighting

Scot Scottish people or Scots (; ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Scotland. Historically, they emerged in the early Middle Ages from an amalgamation of two Celtic peoples, the Picts and Gaels, who founded the Kingdom of Scotland (or ...

'. Early Wooster teams were known as the Presbyterians or unofficially as the 'Presbyterian Steamroller.' In 1939, a large donation from alumnus Birt Babcock funded the purchase of kilts for the marching band, in the yellow-and-black MacLeod tartan (MacLeod of Lewis), which had no particular significance, except that it matched the school colors. Scottish culture became an important part of the school's heritage; today, the

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

games feature a Scottish

pipe band A pipe band is a musical ensemble consisting of pipers and drummers. The term pipes and drums, used by military pipe bands is also common. The most common form of pipe band consists of a section of pipers playing the Great Highland bagpipe, ...

with Highland dancers in addition to a traditional marching band, with all three groups clad in the MacLeod tartan. The college offers the "Scottish Arts Scholarship" for students who perform as pipers, drummers, or Scottish dancers. COWkaukehall

Presidents

Wooster has had fifteen presidents from 1870 to 2024, including interim presidents. {{div col, colwidth=20em * Anne E. McCall 2023- * Wayne P. Webster 2022-2023 * Sarah R. Bolton 2016-2022 * Georgia Nugent 2015-2016 * Grant Cornwell Jr 2007-2015 * Raleigh Stanton Hales Jr. 1995-2007 * Henry Jefferson Copeland 1977-1995 *

1967-1977 * Howard Foster Lowry 1944-1967 * Charles Frederick Wishart 1919-1944 * John Campbell White 1915-1919 * Louis Edward Holden 1899-1915 * Sylvester Fithian Scovel 1883-1899 * Archibald Alexander Edward Taylor 1873-1883 * Willis Lord 1870 -1873 {{div col end

Organization and administration

The College of Wooster Board of Trustees named Anne E. McCall to be the 13th president of the College of Wooster on December 8, 2022.

Academics

{{Infobox US university ranking , Forbes = 250 , THE_WSJ = 143 , USNWR_LA = 77 , Wamo_LA = 103 Wooster's most popular majors, by 2021 graduates, were: ::Political Science and Government (38) ::Biology/Biological Sciences (30) ::Communication (27) ::Psychology (27) ::Biochemistry & Molecular Biology (25) ::History (21) ::Neuroscience (20)

Libraries

The College of Wooster Libraries consists of three branches (Andrews Library, Flo K. Gault Library, and Timken Science Library) and a music library located at the Scheide Music Center. Andrews Library, the largest library in the system, houses more than 850,000 volumes and can accommodate over 500 readers. Andrews Library houses the college's Special Collections, media library and the student writing center. The Timken Science Library in Frick Hall, the oldest branch in the system, served as the original academic library for the college from 1900 to 1962. After three decades as an art museum, the building reopened as the science library in 1998.

Art Museum

The College of Wooster Art Museum was established in the 1930s. The current museum was established at the Ebert Art Center in 1997. The museum houses two small galleries, the Charlene Derge Sussel Art Gallery and the Burton D. Morgan Gallery, as well as storage for the college's permanent art collection. The museum's encyclopedic collection spans from ancient to contemporary art. Permanent collections include the John Taylor Arms Print Collection—which represents works by

Edward Hopper Edward Hopper (July 22, 1882 – May 15, 1967) was an American realism painter and printmaker. He is one of America's most renowned artists and known for his skill in depicting modern American life and landscapes. Born in Nyack, New York, to a ...

, Winslow Homer,

Isabel Bishop Isabel Bishop (March 3, 1902 – February 19, 1988) was an American painter and graphic artist. Bishop studied under Kenneth Hayes Miller at the Art Students League of New York, where she would later become an instructor. She was most notable fo ...

, Martin Lewis,

James Abbott McNeill Whistler James Abbott McNeill Whistler (; July 10, 1834July 17, 1903) was an American painter in oils and watercolor, and printmaker, active during the American Gilded Age and based primarily in the United Kingdom. He eschewed sentimentality and moral a ...

Albrecht Dürer Albrecht Dürer ( , ;; 21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528),Müller, Peter O. (1993) ''Substantiv-Derivation in Den Schriften Albrecht Dürers'', Walter de Gruyter. . sometimes spelled in English as Durer or Duerer, was a German painter, Old master prin ...

, Käthe Kollwitz and Félix Bracquemond—the William C. Mithoefer Collection of African Art, Middle Eastern pottery and Chinese decorative art.

Student life

Residential life

The College of Wooster is a residential campus and has 16 residence halls, which house 16 to 270 students each, and 30 program houses. 97% of the student body live in the residence halls on campu

The residence halls include Andrews Hall, Armington Hall, Babcock Hall, Bissman Hall, Bornhuetter Hall, Brush Hall, Compton Hall, Douglass Hall, Gault Manor, Gault Schoolhouse, Holden Hall, Kenarden Lodge, Luce Hall, Stevenson Hall, and Wagner Hall.

International presence

Elias Compton, former dean of the college, founded the Wooster in India program during the 1930s, which established a sister school relationship with Ewing Christian College in Allahabad, India. Over a forty-year time span, Wooster sent several former students to serve as Head Resident at Ewing while Ewing faculty were brought to Wooster as Ewing Fellows; a plaque with the names of Ewing Fellows hangs in Babcock Hall. The Wooster in India program helped build this unique bond between Wooster and India that enhanced the exchange of students, ideas and cultures. This international presence affected the entire campus, establishing a tradition which continues to influence the college. Today, 15% of the student body is international in origin, representing 59 countries. The college offers majors in Cultural Area Studies and International Relations, instruction in seven foreign languages and opportunities to study abroad in 60 countries. Sixty-nine percent of Wooster students are from outside of Ohio. * Scot Center: In early 2012, the Scot Center, a {{convert, 123000, sqft, m2, adj=on $30 million recreation facility, opened its doors. It includes four multipurpose sport courts (for intramural basketball, volleyball and tennis), a 200-meter indoor track, a new fitness center, batting cages for baseball and softball, expanded locker rooms, coaches' offices and meeting facilities. The building also boasts a {{convert, 20,000, sqft, m2, adj=on solar roof, the largest of any college facility in the United States. The Scot Center is the first phase of a master plan to create a Campus Center. * Babcock Residence Hall: Babcock Hall houses 60% domestic and 40% international students who desire to experience this cross-cultural living environment. Babcock Hall offers cross-cultural programming that includes regular hall meetings with student speakers and cultural activities; celebrations of holidays from around the world; and discussions of international and diversity-related issues led by faculty and invited speakers. * Luce Residence Hall: Luce Hall houses six language suites (Chinese, Classics, French, German, Spanish, and Russian) providing students with a living/learning environment focusing on developing foreign language skills. The building features submarine-inspired architectural details, like a winding floorplan and porthole windows.

Performing arts

Wooster is the home of the Ohio Light Opera, an enterprise founded within the college in 1979, but not part of the college curriculum. It is the only professional company in the United States entirely devoted to

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the oper ...

. OLO performs the entire Gilbert & Sullivan repertoire, but also regularly revives rarely performed continental works of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Over the years, the company has produced eighty different operettas. Wooster's performing ensembles include the Wooster Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1915 by Daniel Parmelee, then Professor of Violin at the college. The orchestra currently is the second-oldest orchestra in continuous performance in the state of Ohio. Additional ensembles include the Scot Symphonic and Marching Bands, the Wooster Chorus, and the Wooster Jazz Ensemble. Wooster has an active on-campus

. Officially called the College of Wooster Pipe Band, members perform at many official on-campus events such as commencement, sports games (football, basketball, swim meets, and sometimes lacrosse games) and many spontaneous student-run events. During the spring season, they perform and compete at a grade 3 level, having won prizes at the Scots wi' Shotts event in Cleveland hosted by the local Lochaber Pipe Band. The Pipe Band also placed first in the grade 3 contest at the 2009 Toronto Indoor Highland Games, as the only American band competing. The college's department of Theatre and Dance produces two dance concerts per year, a fall concert in the round, and a spring concert in a more formal proscenium setting. Additionally, the college produces at least two plays each academic year. Further plays are produced by student groups and seniors pursuing their Independent Study projects. In 2007, Wooster's theatre production of 'Nocturne' was invited to perform at the Kennedy Center's American College Theatre Festival in Washington, D.C. Wooster's production was one of four shows chosen from a field of approximately 400 entries.

Greek life, honor and professional societies

{{Main, List of College of Wooster fraternities and sororities The College of Wooster has hosted numerous fraternities, sororities and honor societies since its establishment. These number more than 80 Greek named chapters, including defunct groups, with approximately 30 active today. The most visible are the college's Greek Academic and Social chapters. However, the Greek System includes

Honor Societies In the United States, an honor society is an organization that recognizes individuals who rank above a set standard in various domains such as academics, leadership, and other personal achievements, not all of which are based on ranking systems. ...

and Professional Fraternities, along with Greek-aligned clubs and sections which adopted those terms when the words "fraternity" and "sorority" were discouraged. There are currently twelve active academic and social Greek groups at the College of Wooster: six sororities, five fraternities and one co-educational group. Sometimes called clubs and sections, these groups are not affiliated with national Greek organizations, and approximately 15% of the student body participates. Wooster's twelve Greek chapters are self-governed under an Inter-Greek Council. Noted by date of founding, social chapters include: {{col-begin {{col-break, width=50%

Women's sororities

* {{lang, grc, ΠΚ – Pi Kappa (local), 1918, "Peanuts" * {{lang, grc, ΖΦΓ – Zeta Phi Gamma (local), 1928–19xx, 1988, "Imps" * {{lang, grc, ΚΕΖ – Kappa Epsilon Zeta (local), 1943–~1980, 2013, "Keys" * {{lang, grc, ΕΚΟ – Epsilon Kappa Omicron (local), 1943, "Echo" * {{lang, grc, ΑΓΦ – Alpha Gamma Phi (local), 1983, "Alpha Gamm" * {{lang, grc, ΔΘΨ – Delta Theta Psi (local), 1992, "Theta" {{col-break, width=50%

Men's fraternities

* {{lang, grc, ΒΚΦ – Beta Kappa Phi, 1914 (local), First (I) Section * {{lang, grc, ΦΣΑ – Phi Sigma Alpha, 1916 (local), Sixth (VI) Section * {{lang, grc, ΜΟΗ – Men of Harambee, 1989 (local)(inactive), New Eighth (VIII) Section * {{lang, grc, ΞΧΨ – Xi Chi Psi, 1991 (local) * {{lang, grc, ΔΧΔ – Delta Chi Delta, 2017 (local)

Co-ed fraternities

* {{lang, grc, ΗΠ – Eta Pi, 1983 - Inactive (local) {{col-end At least eighteen

honor societies In the United States, an honor society is an organization that recognizes individuals who rank above a set standard in various domains such as academics, leadership, and other personal achievements, not all of which are based on ranking systems. ...

are active at the college, including {{lang, grc, ΦΒΚ –

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

, which arrived in 1926.

Student organizations

The college has a wide variety of student-run media. ''The Wooster Voice'' is the weekly student newspaper with a newly launched website, and has been published weekly since 1883 (see list of college newspapers), while WOO 91, which was at WCWS-FM until 2019, is the college's online radio station that streams from iHeartRadio. The college also has a successful Ultimate Frisbee program. The Women's team, Betty Gone Wild, won USAUltimate's D-III College Championship Sectionals in 2014 and 2015. Also in 2014 and 2015, they came in second at USAUltimate's D-III College Championship Regionals. They attended the National College Championship in 2014 and came in 15th place. The college is well known for its

Moot Court Moot court is a co-curricular activity at many law schools. Participants take part in simulated court or arbitration proceedings, usually involving drafting memorials or memoranda and participating in oral argument. In many countries, the phrase ...

team as part of the American Moot Court Association, ranked second in the nation in 2017 by the ACMA. In addition to the teams regional championships, the college routinely qualifies teams to the Moot Court Nationals tournament and was the 2008 National Champion. In 2017, Wooster qualified five teams to the nationals tournament and had teams finish 12th, 16th, and 18th in oral argument, 13th and 14th in oration, and third in appellate brief writing.

Athletics

{{main, Wooster Fighting Scots 120px, Wooster athletics logo Wooster teams are named the ''Fighting Scots''. Wooster's athletic history dates back to its first baseball team, in 1880, which played only one game, losing 12–2 to

Kenyon College Kenyon College ( ) is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1824 by Episcopal Bishop Philander Chase. It is the oldest private instituti ...

. The football program was established in 1889; over its first two seasons, the team won all seven games it played, by a total score of 306–4. Included was a 64–0 victory at Ohio State on November 1, 1890, in the Buckeyes' first-ever home football game. Shortly thereafter, intercollegiate sports were banned by the College President.{{cite web , url=http://athletics.wooster.edu/fb/archives/history.php , title=Athletics - College of Wooster , publisher=Athletics.wooster.edu , access-date=July 17, 2010 , url-status=dead , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080602063939/http://athletics.wooster.edu/fb/archives/history.php , archive-date=June 2, 2008 Sports sponsored include baseball, basketball, cross country, field hockey, football, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track and field, and volleyball.

Notable people

{{Main, List of College of Wooster people * J.C. Chandor, filmmaker * Martha Chase, geneticist * Arthur Holly Compton,

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

-winning physicist and chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis *

John Dean John Wesley Dean III (born October 14, 1938) is a disbarred American attorney who served as White House Counsel for U.S. President Richard Nixon from July 1970 until April 1973. Dean is known for his role in the cover-up of the Watergate scan ...

, White House Counsel for U.S. President Richard Nixon and participant in the

Watergate scandal The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the Presidency of Richard Nixon, administration of President Richard Nixon. The scandal began in 1972 and ultimately led to Resignation of Richard Nixon, Nix ...

* John Exter, economist, member of the

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, commonly known as the Federal Reserve Board, is the main governing body of the Federal Reserve System. It is charged with overseeing the Federal Reserve Banks and with helping implement the m ...

, and founder of the

Central Bank of Sri Lanka The Central Bank of Sri Lanka ( CBSL; ), known until 1985 as the Central Bank of Ceylon, is the central bank of Sri Lanka. It was established in 1950 under the Monetary Law Act No.58 of 1949 (MLA) and in terms of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka Ac ...

* Stanley Gault, businessman *

Duncan Jones Duncan Zowie Haywood Jones (born 30 May 1971) is a British film director, film producer and screenwriter. He directed the films ''Moon'' (2009), ''Source Code'' (2011), '' Warcraft'' (2016), and '' Mute'' (2018). For ''Moon'', he won the BAFT ...

, film director, producer, and screenwriter; son of

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

* Donald Kohn, former vice chairman of the

* Norman Morrison, anti-war activist who self-immolated in front of the Pentagon in protest of the Vietnam War *

Lamont Paris Lamont Paris (born November 11, 1974) is an American college basketball coach who is currently the head men's basketball coach at South Carolina. Playing career Paris played high school basketball at Findlay High School in Findlay, Ohio. He the ...

, college basketball coach * William P. Richardson, co-founder and first dean of

Brooklyn Law School Brooklyn Law School (BLS) is a Private university, private law school in New York City. Founded in 1901, it has approximately 1,100 students. Brooklyn Law School's faculty includes 60 full-time faculty, 15 emeriti faculty, and adjunct faculty. ...

* George E. Goodfellow, first civilian trauma surgeon and naturalist * S. Robson Walton, billionaire heir to the fortune of

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...

* Susanne Woods, provost of Wheaton College and associate dean of faculty at

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

References

{{Reflist

External links

{{ccat * {{oweb
Athletics website

The College of Wooster Athletic Teams
records, players, and data, 1889–2017
The College of Wooster Athletic Hall of Fame
1886– * {{Cite Collier's, wstitle=Wooster University , short=x {{navboxes , title = Articles related to College of Wooster , titlestyle = background:#FFC815; color:black; border:2px solid black , list = {{Ohio_five {{Colleges That Change Lives {{GLCA {{Annapolis Group {{Oberlin Group {{CLAC {{Presbyterian Colleges {{Global Liberal Arts Alliance {{Ohio college sports {{North Coast Athletic Conference navbox {{authority control {{coord, 40.81167, N, 81.935494, W, source:dewiki_region:US_type:landmark, format=dms, display=title {{DEFAULTSORT:College Of Wooster Private universities and colleges in Ohio Liberal arts colleges in Ohio Five Colleges of Ohio School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio Education in Wayne County, Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Wayne County, Ohio Buildings and structures in Wayne County, Ohio 1866 establishments in Ohio Universities and colleges affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) Universities and colleges accredited by the Higher Learning Commission Universities and colleges established in 1866