University of Mount Union

The University of Mount Union is a private university in Alliance, Ohio. Founded in 1846, the university was affiliated with the Methodist Church until the spring of 2019. In the fall of 2020, Mount Union had an enrollment of 1,958 undergraduate and 220 graduate students.[2]

University of Mount Union
Former names
Select School (1846–1849)
Mount Union Seminary (1849–1858)
Mount Union College (1858–2010)
MottoSit Lux
TypePrivate liberal arts
Established1846 (1846)
Endowment$135.5 million (2020)[1]
PresidentGregory L. King
Undergraduates1,958[2]
Postgraduates220[2]
Location
Alliance
,
Ohio
,
United States

40°54′17″N 81°6′38″W
CampusSuburban, 115 acres (0.47 km2)
ColorsPurple and White[3]
   
NicknamePurple Raiders
AffiliationsNAICU[4]
MascotMUcaw
Websitewww.mountunion.edu

History
Chapman Hall, which houses many of the humanities classrooms and faculty offices

Mount Union was founded in 1846 by Orville Nelson Hartshorn as the Select School[5] as "a place where men and women could be educated with equal opportunity, science would parallel the humanities, and there would be no distinction due to race, color, or sex." Only three years after opening, in 1849, it was renamed as the Mount Union Seminary.

The school would not be chartered under Ohio state law until June 9, 1856, after which it adopted the name Mount Union College.[6]

In approximately 1911,[7] Scio College of Scio, Ohio, merged with Mount Union, moving faculty to the Mount Union campus and abandoning the Scio campus. Mount Union College was renamed the University of Mount Union effective August 1, 2010.[8]

Academics

Eighty-five percent of the faculty at Mount Union have earned a doctoral degree or other terminal degree with graduate training at universities in the United States and Europe.

Mount Union offers 60 majors and 53 minors of academic coursework in keeping with the liberal arts tradition. The university also offers Pre-Professional programs in Pre-Health professions (Pre-Medicine), Pre-Law, and Pre-Ministry as well as Army ROTC. Mount Union offers a Master of Science in Physician Assistant studies, and a Doctor of Physical Therapy [9][10] and a Master of Arts in educational leadership.[11]

Athletics
Mount Union Stadium

Mount Union school colors are purple and white and competes in the Ohio Athletic Conference and in NCAA Division III athletics. The teams are nicknamed Purple Raiders, and the school's mascot is MUcaw, a purple macaw.

Mount Union sponsors 12 men's varsity teams: baseball, basketball, cross-country, football, golf, track & field, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis, lacrosse, wrestling, and volleyball. The school also sponsors 10 women's varsity teams: basketball, cross-country, golf, lacrosse, track & field, soccer, softball, swimming & diving, tennis and volleyball.

Club sports include bowling, and intramural Sports include flag football, dodgeball, innertube water polo, ultimate frisbee, sand volleyball, 2 person golf scramble, men's basketball, women's basketball, softball, indoor soccer, indoor volleyball, 2 on 2 basketball, badminton, and pickleball. Mount won the NCAA Men's Division III Cross Country Championship in 1974 under Coach Jim Wuske, the NCAA Men's Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships in 2017, and in 2014 & 2018 Mount Union won the NCAA Men's Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships under Coach Kevin Lucas.

The men’s basketball team was retroactively named the pre-NCAA Tournament national champion in 1897-98 by the Premo-Porretta Power Poll.

Football
See also: Mount Union Purple Raiders football

Mount Union's football is currently led by head coach Geoff Dartt. Mount Union has won a record 13 Division III national championships—all since 1993. Mount Union holds the all-division record for consecutive victories at 55 from 2000 to 2003, which ended with their loss to St. John's University (Collegeville, MN) in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl (Division III National Championship) on December 20, 2003.[12] Mount Union previously held the all divisions mark at 54 consecutive games until losing in the semifinals on December 12, 1999, to Rowan University (Glassboro, NJ).[12] During both the 55 and 54 game streaks Mount Union won 3 consecutive National Championships.[13] Since both streaks were connected—from 1997 to 2003 Mount Union won 109 of 110 games played.[12] The Purple Raiders won 110 consecutive regular-season games between 1994 and 2005 (which was ended by conference foe Ohio Northern University on Oct 22, 2005), posted 14 undefeated regular seasons, won 16 Ohio Athletic Conference Championships, and had the best overall record in the 1990s (120–7–1, an overall winning percentage of 0.941).

National Championships: 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2012, 2015, 2017 "Mount won the NCAA Men's Division III Cross Country Championship in 1974 under Coach Jim Wuske, and in 2014 Mount Union won the NCAA Men's Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships under Coach Kevin Lucas .

Student life

Mount Union's radio station is 91.1 WRMU, and the campus paper is The Dynamo.

The university's music program offers participation in numerous bands and choirs, including Concert Choir, Mount Union Alliance Chorale, Opera Workshop, Alliance Symphony Orchestra, Repertory Strings, Marching Band, The Raider Steel Band, Jazz Band, Percussion Ensemble, and more.

The Theatre Department puts on two productions every fall, and varying productions in the spring. Every spring semester alternates between a musical and a straight play every year for the main stage show, and every spring there are also student-directed one-acts. Theatre productions are open to all students, regardless of major or class rank.

Esports

In the spring of 2019, the University of Mount Union started its Esports program by fielding its first Overwatch roster under head coach & director Derek Spinell, and is offering scholarships starting fall of 2019.

Currently, the University of Mount Union supports Overwatch, League of Legends, and Rocket League.[14]

Greek life

There are four major social fraternities and four major social sororities with chapters at the institution.

People
Main article: List of University of Mount Union people

References
  1. As of June 30, 2020. U.S. and Canadian Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year 2020 Endowment Market Value and Change in Endowment Market Value from FY19 to FY20 (Report). National Association of College and University Business Officers and TIAA. February 19, 2021. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
  2. "University of Mount Union". National Center for Education Statistics. 2022. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
  3. University of Mount Union Identity Program (PDF). Retrieved 2016-09-11.
  4. "Member Center – University of Mount Union". National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.
  5. "History of Mount Union". University of Mount Union. Archived from the original on 15 December 2012. Retrieved 22 February 2013.
  6. "MOUNT UNION HISTORICAL TIMELINE". www.mountunion.edu. University of Mount Union. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
  7. "The Rural Seminary - Ohio History Central". Retrieved 25 December 2014.
  8. "Mount Union to adopt identification as university". The Repository. 2009-10-04. Retrieved 2009-10-05.
  9. "Physician Assistant Studies". University of Mount Union. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
  10. "Campus news". The Marietta Times. March 16, 2012. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
  11. "Master of Arts in Educational Leadership". University of Mount Union. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
  12. "Mount Union". Retrieved 25 December 2014.
  13. D3football.com
  14. "esports". www.mountunion.edu. Retrieved 2019-02-28.
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