Asbury College
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| Asbury College | |
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| Motto: | Academic Excellence and Spiritual Vitality |
| Established: | 1890 |
| Type: | Private |
| President: | Dr. Sandra Gray |
| Faculty: | 86 |
| Undergraduates: | 1,381 |
| Postgraduates: | 64 |
| Location: | Wilmore, KY, USA |
| Campus: | Rural |
| Athletics: | Baseball, Basketball (Men's & Women's), Cross Country (Men's & Women's), Soccer (Men's & Women's), Swimming & Diving, Softball, Tennis (Men's & Women's), Volleyball |
| Colors: | Purple and White |
| Mascot: | Eagles |
| Affiliations: | Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, Christian College Consortium |
| Website: | http://www.asbury.edu |
Asbury College is a Christian liberal arts institution located in Wilmore, Kentucky. Although it is a nondenominational school, the college's foundation stems from a Wesleyan-Holiness tradition. The school offers 50 majors across 17 departments. Primarily a four-year, multi-denominational institution, Asbury ranked third in 2007 among comprehensive colleges in the South by U.S. News & World Report. In the Fall of 2007 U.S. News & World Report reclassified Asbury College into a category with other National Liberal Arts Colleges. The school now ranks in the third tier of National Liberal Arts Colleges according to US News and world reports. Prior to this change Asbury College had been ranked consistently in the top 10 colleges in the south for the last 12 years. Asbury College’s freshman retention rate is currently at 80 percent. Approximately 34 percent of incoming freshman are in the top 10 percent of their high school class and more than 80 percent of current faculty are full-time.
The campus of Asbury Theological Seminary, which became a separate institution in 1940, is located across the street from Asbury College.
Asbury College is a member of the Christian College Consortium and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).
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[edit] History
Asbury College was founded in 1890 by John Wesley Hughes in Wilmore, Kentucky. It was originally called the Kentucky Holiness College, but was later renamed after Bishop Francis Asbury, the "Father of American Methodism" and a circuit-riding evangelist. After being pushed out as President of Asbury College in 1905, Hughes went on to found another college, Kingswood College, in Breckinridge County, Kentucky. Kingswood College no longer exists. Despite his disappointment over being removed at Asbury, Hughes wrote in his 1923 autobiography: "Being sure I was led of God to establish (Asbury College), it being my college child born in poverty, mental perplexity, and soul agony, I loved it from its birth better than my own life. As the days have come and gone, with many sad and broken-hearted experiences, my love has increased. My appreciation of what it has done, what it is doing, and what it promises to do in the future, is such that I am willing to lay down my life for its perpetuation." In 1928, Hughes was invited to break ground for Asbury College's new chapel, Hughes Auditorium, which is still in use today.
Under great financial difficulty, Asbury College hired Dr. Henry Clay Morrison, a Methodist evangelist and editor of the Pentecostal Herald magazine, as its president in 1910. With the help of his Pentecostal Herald readers and his nationwide reputation as a great preacher (William Jennings Bryan regarded him the "greatest pulpit orator on the American continent"), Morrison was able to pay off large debts owed by the college and increase its reputation and student body. After stepping down as president in 1925, Morrison was asked once again to assume the presidency in 1933 under another financial crisis. He served his second term until 1940.
Asbury College has been known through the years for its history of great revivals. There have been several occasions when significant moves of the Holy Spirit have swept the campus and reached around the nation. In February 1905, during a blizzard, a prayer meeting in the men's dormitory spilled out to the rest of campus and the town of Wilmore. In February 1908, revival broke out while someone prayed in chapel; the revival lasted two weeks and was signified by prevailing prayer and intercession. In February 1921 the last service of a planned revival lasted until 6am, and services were extended for three days. In February 1950 a student testimony led to confessions, victories, and more testimonies. This went on uninterrupted for 118 hours and became the second leading news story nationwide; it is estimated that 50,000 people found a new experience in Christ as a result of witness teams that went out from this revival. In March 1958 revival began in a student fast prayer meeting that spilled over into chapel and lasted for 63 hours. In February 1970 student confession and testimonies led to 144 hours of unbroken revival; some 2,000 witness teams went out from Wilmore to churches and at least 130 college campuses around the nation. In March 1992 a student confession during the closing chapel of Holiness Conference turned into 127 consecutive hours of prayer and praise. In February 2006 a student chapel led to four days of prayer and praise.
On October 5, 2007, Dr. Sandra Gray was inaugurated as the seventeenth president of Asbury. She had previously served as Provost and as professor of business management at the school. Her inaugural challenge was given by Mitch McConnell, United States Senator from Kentucky and Minority Leader of the Senate.
[edit] Academics
Students come from 47 states and 10 countries. Nearly 90 percent of the College's students live on campus. Eighty-two percent of the school's faculty hold terminal degrees in their field of study. The College offers a masters degrees in education and alternative certification programs. Internships, exchange programs, missions, and community service opportunities are available and are part of the curriculum in nearly every major.[1]
[edit] Accreditation
Asbury College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). Asbury College is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Music. The Asbury College Department of Education is accredited by the Kentucky Department of Education and all of its individual teacher education programs have state approval. The Asbury College Social Work Program is accredited by the Council on Social Work Education.
[edit] Notable Alumni
More than 20,000 living alumni of the College surround the globe, leading and serving in all 50 states and at least 70 nations.[1]
Notable alumni include
- Frederick Bohn Fisher (Class of 1902) - Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church in India
- Luther Bridgers (Class of 1906 - did not graduate, Honorary Doctorate 1921) - pastor, evangelist, hymnwriter ("He Keeps Me Singing")
- E. Stanley Jones (A.B., 1907) - Missionary, Evangelist, Author, and Theologian
- J. Waskom Pickett (Class of 1907) - Missionary to India
- Lela G. McConnell (Class of 1924) - founder of the Kentucky Mountain Holiness Association
- Edward L.R. Elson (Class of 1928) - pastor of National Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C.; Chaplain of the United States Senate (1969-1981)
- Anna Talbott McPherson (Class of 1929) - author of more than 22 biographies, book illustrator and artist
- Mack B. Stokes (Class of 1932) - retired Bishop of the United Methodist Church
- Laton E. Holmgren (Class of 1936) - General Secretary of the American Bible Society (1963-1978)
- Wayne K. Clymer (A.B., 1939) - a Bishop of the United Methodist Church
- Dennis F. Kinlaw (Class of 1943) - Author, Theologian, Evangelist, Asbury College President (1968-81; 1986-91)
- Rosalind Rinker (Class of 1945) - Author of Prayer: Conversing with God, selected by Christianity Today magazine as the #1 most influential evangelical book
- Ford Philpot (Class of 1951) - Evangelist, Producer of first religious TV program in color, The Story
- Dean Jones (Class of 1953 - did not graduate, Honorary Degree 2002) - actor
- Paul Rader (Class of 1956) - General of Salvation Army (1994-1999), Asbury College President (2000-2006)
- Joe Frank Harris (Class of 1958) - former Governor of Georgia
- Gilbert Crouse (Class of 1960) - Economist DHHS
- W. Todd Bassett (Class of 1961) - National Commander of Salvation Army (2002-2006), Executive Director of National Association of Evangelicals (2007- )
- Janice Shaw Crouse (Class of 1961) - Senior Fellow at the Beverly LaHaye Institute of Concerned Women for America
- Joseph R. Pitts (Class of 1961) - United States Representative from Pennsylvania
- Ted Strickland (A.B., 1963) - current Governor of Ohio and former U.S. Representative
- Leopold Frade (Class of 1965 - did not graduate) - Third Bishop of Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida and former Bishop of Honduras
- David Hager (Class of 1968) - Physician, Author
- Stephen W. Wood (Class of 1973) - past member of the North Carolina General Assembly
- Steve Smith (Class of 1977) - Head Basketball Coach at Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, VA
- Sue Bell Cobb (Class of 1978) - current Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court (first woman to hold this position)
- Gregory Van Tatenhove (Class of 1982) - Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky
- Andy Merrill (Class of 1990) - Voice actor, The Brak Show
- Norman Reinhardt (Class of 2001) - opera tenor
- Josh Kleinfeld (Class of 2003) - Current pastor to youth at Stillmeadow Church of the Nazarene in York, PA.
[edit] Athletics
Asbury College competes athletically in the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Asbury is affiliated with the NAIA (Division I for all sports, except basketball - Division II) while also partnered with the NCCAA (Division I).
The school mascot is the Eagle with the school colors being "Asbury purple" (R:66, G:19, B:110) and white.
[edit] School Traditions
One of the most unusual things about the college is the way Asbury students identify their class. Each class since the early 1900s has a unique name. While this tradition started with animals (the Beaver class of '53 and Eagle class of '56) it continued to tribal names (the Aztec class of '71 and Viking class of '77) and has progressed to names that reflect its Christian Holiness beliefs (the Peacemaker class of '97, the Redeemed class of '01 and the Empowered class of '08). Each incoming Freshman class is given its name by two outgoing seniors who are elected at the end of their junior year. These seniors also choose the class' colors, Bible verse and Logo. Over their four years classes gain an identity with events like the freshman talent show, sophomore musical, junior senior banquet, senior show and their yearly retreats and service projects.
The college places a strong emphasis on community. Because the school has most of its students living on campus, the residence halls often have their own unique identities as well. Each hall or unit has its own traditions. Some have names such as "The Zoo", "The Family," "Firehouse," "Third N3rd," "crust," and "Sea Stars".
There are many yearly events that have been going on for decades. Class Clash Bash and Sophomore Musical have been running traditions since the 1970s. Singspiration and Jym Jamboree have been in existence for over fifty years.
Chapel is given a high priority, and thus attendance is required, which gives the unique experience of the entire campus community gathering together three times a week to worship. There are three major spiritual emphasis weeks observed each school year: Fall Revival, Great Commission Congress (missions conference), and Holiness Emphasis Week.
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