View source for West Virginia Wesleyan College

{{Short description|Private college in Buckhannon, West Virginia, U.S.}}
{{Use American English|date=August 2025}}
{{Infobox university
|name = West Virginia Wesleyan College
|latin_name = Wesleyanum Collegium Virginiae Occidentalis
|image = WVWCOfficialSeal.jpg
|image_size = 150
|former_name = Wesleyan University of West Virginia (1905–1906)
|image_name =
|motto =
|established = {{start date and age|1890}}
|type = [[Private college]]
|religious_affiliation = [[United Methodist Church]]
|endowment = $88 million
|president = James Moore
|faculty = 137
|students = 1,055
|undergrad = 971
|postgrad = 84
|doctoral =
|city = [[Buckhannon, West Virginia|Buckhannon]] 
|state = [[West Virginia]]
|country = United States
|coor = {{coord|38|59|19|N|80|13|18|W|display=inline,title}}
|campus = [[Rural area|Rural]]
|colors = [[Orange (colour)|Orange]] and [[black]] {{color box|#FF6600}}{{color box|black}}
|sporting_affiliations = [[NCAA Division II]] - [[Mountain East Conference|MEC]]
|nickname = [[West Virginia Wesleyan Bobcats|Bobcats and Lady Bobcats]]
|mascot = [[Bobcat]]
|academic_affiliations = [[Council of Independent Colleges|CIC]]<br>[[National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities|NAICU]]<br>[[International Association of Methodist-related Schools, Colleges, and Universities|IAMSCU]]
|website = {{url|https://www.wvwc.edu/|wvwc.edu}}
|accreditation = [[Higher Learning Commission|HLC]]
| logo  = Wv wesleyan college logo.png
| logo_size   = 250
}}

'''West Virginia Wesleyan College''' is a [[private college]] in [[Buckhannon, West Virginia]], United States. It has an enrollment of about 1,055 students from 35 [[U.S. state]]s and 26 countries. The school was founded in 1890 by the [[Annual Conferences of the United Methodist Church|West Virginia Conference]] of the [[Methodist Episcopal Church]] and is currently affiliated with the [[United Methodist Church]]. West Virginia Wesleyan College is [[Higher education accreditation in the United States|accredited]] by the [[Higher Learning Commission]].

== History ==
[[File:West Virginia Wesleyan College, Buckhannon, West Virginia (1908).jpg|thumb|right|Main Hall, 1908]]

=== Early history ===
West Virginia Wesleyan College was founded in 1890 by the West Virginia Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The school opened in 1890, in a new three-story brick building where the current Lynch-Raine Administration Building now stands. [[Ohio Wesleyan University]] and [[Boston University School of Theology]] alumnus Bennett W. Hutchinson was the college's first president.

Following ten years focusing on college preparatory work, college-level instruction was first offered in 1900 culminating in the first baccalaureate degrees in 1905. For one year the institution was named '''Wesleyan University of West Virginia''' but it was quickly changed to '''West Virginia Wesleyan College''' in honor of [[John Wesley]], the founder of Methodism. Pre-college instruction continued until 1923 when it was discontinued because the high schools in the state had grown enough to adequately perform that task.

=== Recent years ===
[[Dr. Pamela Balch|Pamela Jubin Balch]], a 1971 graduate of Wesleyan, became the college's 18th president in July 2006. Dr. Balch is the first woman to serve as president in the college's history. At the outset of her tenure as president, Balch reinstated the college's briefly-discontinued nursing program as well as its 3-2 engineering program. The college has since expanded its academic programs, adding graduate degrees in athletic training, business administration, English Writing, and nursing.

==Academics==
The college offers over 50 undergraduate majors and 33 minors. Wesleyan also has [[3-2 engineering]] partnerships with Marshall University and West Virginia University. Undergraduate degrees are awarded in Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Science in Nursing, and Bachelor of Music Education. Graduate degrees awarded include the Master of Science in Athletic Training, Master of Business Administration, Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing,  Master of Science in Nursing and Master of Clinical Mental Health Counseling

Approximately 80% of West Virginia Wesleyan's faculty have earned doctorates or comparable terminal degrees within their field. The student-faculty ratio is 11.6 to 1, with an average class size of 15.

==Campus==
{{wide image|West_Virginia_Wesleyan_College_Panorama.jpg|1500px|alt=Panorama of West Virginia Wesleyan College|West Virginia Wesleyan College}}
[[File:WVWCWelcomeSign.jpg|thumbnail|West Virginia Wesleyan College welcome sign on the corner of College Avenue and Meade Street]]
[[File:JohnWesleyStatueWVWC.jpeg|thumbnail|Statue of John Wesley in front of Wesley Chapel at WV Wesleyan College]]

The campus boasts 23 major buildings of [[Georgian architecture]]. The grounds are situated in a park-like setting of more than 100 acres.

==Student life==
Wesleyan has retained its residential character; about 90% of the students live on campus.

There are 21 [[NCAA Division II]] sports teams, and 70 clubs and organizations.

The college's athletics teams are the [[Bobcat]]s, which compete in the [[NCAA Division II]] [[Mountain East Conference]], of which it was a founding member in 2013. The Bobcats were former members of the [[West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference]] (WVIAC), having been recognized as having the top athletic program in the WVIAC.{{Citation needed|date=March 2013}}by winning, over 151 conference championships and earning a conference dominance of 18 Commissioner's Cups during the past 20 years{{When|date=March 2013}} and eight Presidents' Cups in 14 years. Each year, Wesleyan's 21 NCAA II teams successfully{{Clarify|date=March 2013}} compete at the regional and national levels.

The [[Fraternities and sororities in North America|Greek system]] was initiated on campus in 1925, and many fraternities and sororities have been founded since.

Some Wesleyan students participate in community service through the Center for Community Engagement and Leadership Development (CCE).<ref>{{cite press release | url = http://www.wvwc.edu/news/2013/03/wv-campus-compact-awards-engagement-honors-to-west-virginia-wesleyan/ | title = WV Campus Compact Awards Engagement Honors to West Virginia Wesleyan | date = March 28, 2013 | publisher = West Virginia Wesleyan College | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140512222244/http://www.wvwc.edu/news/2013/03/wv-campus-compact-awards-engagement-honors-to-west-virginia-wesleyan/ | archive-date = May 12, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release | url = http://www.wvwc.edu/news/2013/03/west-virginia-wesleyan-college-earns-place-on-national-honor-roll-for-community-service/ | title = West Virginia Wesleyan College Earns Place on National Honor Roll for Community Service | date = March 8, 2013 | publisher = West Virginia Wesleyan College | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141020062046/http://www.wvwc.edu/news/2013/03/west-virginia-wesleyan-college-earns-place-on-national-honor-roll-for-community-service/ | archive-date = October 20, 2014}}</ref> Students in the CCE also organized the first collegiate [[American Heart Association|Jump Rope for Heart]] events in the United States.<ref>{{cite press release | url = http://www.wvwc.edu/news/2013/04/second-annual-jump-rope-for-heart-a-success/ | title = Second Annual Jump Rope for Heart a Success | date = April 22, 2013 | publisher = West Virginia Wesleyan College | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140512231439/http://www.wvwc.edu/news/2013/04/second-annual-jump-rope-for-heart-a-success/ | archive-date = May 12, 2014}}</ref>

== Wesleyan traditions ==

===Athletics===
{{main|West Virginia Wesleyan Bobcats}}
The college currently boasts 21 sports, competing in [[NCAA Division II]]. The college offers varsity men's sports in baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, swimming, tennis, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field. The college offers varsity women's sports in basketball, cross country, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, indoor track and field, outdoor track and field and volleyball. The 21st varsity sport, women's lacrosse, formally began competition in the fall of 2010.

=== Wesley Chapel ===
With the ability to seat 1,800 people,<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.wvwc.edu/about/spiritual-and-religious-life/weddings | title = Weddings | work = West Virginia Wesleyan College | access-date = January 27, 2017 | quote = The chapel seats 1800 people and has a complete sound system, grand piano and the largest pipe organ in West Virginia.}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine | url = https://www.wvwc.edu/MCEUploads/PDFs/Alumni/Sundial_Sum_Fall_2015_web.pdf | title = 125 Things We Love About Wesleyan | magazine = Sundial | issue = Summer/Fall 2015 | publisher = West Virginia Wesleyan College | page = 18 | quote = 67. Wesley Chapel and Martin Religious Center: Wesley Chapel, which is a designated United Methodist historical site, is truly one of the iconic landmarks of Wesleyan’s campus. From its 204-foot tall steeple, to its 1,800-person sanctuary, to the classrooms, meeting rooms, and offices in Martin Religious Center, Wesley Chapel stands as the literal, as well as the spiritual, religious and intellectual heart of West Virginia Wesleyan College, just as it was intended to be when it was constructed in 1966.}}</ref> Wesley Chapel annually hosts the [[Annual Conferences of the United Methodist Church|West Virginia United Methodist Annual Conference]] each June.

==Notable alumni==
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
*[[Maggie Anderson]] (born 1948), poet
*[[Ken Ash]] (1901–1979), baseball player
*[[Chalmers Ault]] (1900–1979), football player
*[[William E. Baker]] (1873–1954), judge
*[[Pamela Balch]], president emerita of West Virginia Wesleyan College
*[[Len Barnum]] (1912–1998), football player
*[[Cliff Battles]] (1910–1981), football player
*[[Thomas Bickerton]] (born 1958), bishop
*[[Sheriff Blake]] (1899–1982), baseball player
*[[Shannon Breen]] (born 1989), football player
*[[Jim Brogan (basketball)|Jim Brogan]] (born 1958), basketball player
*[[Lewis C. Cantley]] (born 1949), cell biologist
*[[Ted Cassidy]] (1932–1979), actor
*[[Robin Davis]] (born 1956), jurist
*[[Ray Dorr]] (1941–2001), football player
*[[William Flanagan (American football)|William Flanagan]] (1901–1975), football player
*[[Matt Foreman (activist)|Matt Foreman]], activist
*[[Denise Giardina]] (born 1951), novelist
*[[L. J. Hanifan]] (1879–1932), economist
*[[Charles Hoyes]], actor
*[[John Kellison]] (1886–1971), football player
*[[Jason Koon]] (born 1985), poker player
*[[Oscar Lambert]] (1890–1970), athlete
*[[Jean Lee Latham]] (1902–1995), writer
*[[Blanche Lazzell]] (1878–1956), painter
*[[Bil Lepp]], TV host
*[[Carl Martin (politician)|Carl Martin]], member of the [[West Virginia House of Delegates]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.wvlegislature.gov/House/lawmaker.cfm?member=Delegate%20Martin|title=West Virginia Legislature |access-date=2023-08-22 |website=www.wvlegislature.gov}}</ref>
*[[John F. McCuskey]] (born 1947), justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia
*[[Irene McKinney]] (1939–2012), poet
*[[Jim Miller (halfback)|Jim Miller]] (1908–1965), football player
*[[Scott Douglas Miller]], president of [[Virginia Wesleyan University]]
*[[Ken Moore (American Football)|Ken Moore]] (1917–2003), American football player, New York Giants
*[[Robbie Morris (politician)|Robbie Morris]], [[West Virginia Senate]], from the 11th district
*[[Greasy Neale]] (1891–1973), football player
*[[Daniel Pitt O'Brien]] (1900–1957), politician
*[[Roy Earl Parrish]] (1888–1918), politician<ref>{{Cite web |title=West Virginia Veterans Memorial - Roy Earl Parrish |url=https://archive.wvculture.org/history/wvmemory/vets/parrishroy/parrishroy.html |access-date=2023-07-20 |website=[[West Virginia Archives and History]]}}</ref>
*[[Okey L. Patteson]] (1898–1989), politician
*[[Anthony Peters]] (born 1983), soccer player
*[[Nelson Peterson]] (1913–1990), football player
*[[Edward G. Rohrbough]] (1874–1956), politician
*[[Harry Shriver]] (1896–1970), baseball player
*[[Stephen Skinner (American politician)|Stephen Skinner]], politician
*[[Margaret Smith (West Virginia politician)|Margaret Smith]] (born 1952), politician
*[[David E. Stuart]], anthropologist
*[[Chalmers Tschappat]] (1896–1958), football player
*[[Peter D. Weaver]] (born 1945), bishop
*[[Lillian Mayfield Wright]] (1894–1986), poet
{{div col end}}
<!-- Editors: please maintain alphabetical order. -->

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*Haught, Thomas W., ''West Virginia Wesleyan College 1890-1940'', Buckhannon, WV: West Virginia Wesleyan College Press, 1940.
*McCuskey, Roy, ''All Things Work Together for Good to them that Love God'', Buckhannon, WV: West Virginia Wesleyan College Press, ca. 1950.
*Miller, Brett T., ''Our Home Among the Hills: West Virginia Wesleyan's First 125 Years'', Virginia Beach, VA: The Donning Company Publishers, 2014.
*Plummer, Kenneth M., ''A History of West Virginia Wesleyan College, 1890-1965'', Buckhannon, WV: West Virginia Wesleyan College Press, 1965.

==External links==
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* {{oweb}}

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[[Category:West Virginia Wesleyan College| ]]
[[Category:Private universities and colleges in West Virginia]]
[[Category:Education in Upshur County, West Virginia]]
[[Category:Universities and colleges established in 1890]]
[[Category:Methodism in West Virginia]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Upshur County, West Virginia]]
[[Category:1890 establishments in West Virginia]]
[[Category:Buckhannon, West Virginia]]