Oakland City University

Not to be confused with Oakland University.

Oakland City University
Motto	Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve
Established	1885 (details)
Type	private coeducational
Endowment	Unreported
President	Dr. Ray Barber
Academic staff	200
Undergraduates	2,350
Location	Oakland City, IN, USA
Campus	small town: 50 acres
Athletics	21 Division II NCAA teams[1]
Colors	White and Columbia Blue
Nickname	Mighty Oaks
Website	www.oak.edu

Oakland City University, abbreviated as OCU, is a coeducational, small-town, urban, private university in Oakland City in eastern Gibson County, about 25 miles (40 km) north and slightly east of Evansville in Southwestern Indiana. Oakland City University is the only General Baptist Church-affiliated college in the United States. Its founding was in 1885; it has slowly grown to the present student enrollment of about 675 on the Main Campus and, counting all sites, about 2,000 total. The small town atmosphere, the Christian emphasis in the students and faculty, and the 3:1 commuter to on-campus student ratio gives Oakland City University a unique college experience. OCU's teams, called the Oaks, play in the NCCAA (National Christian College Athletic Association) and NCAA Division II, where they are strong competitors, having won many national titles over the years.

In addition to the institution's Oakland City Main Campus, the university has satellite campuses in Indianapolis, Evansville, Rockport and Bedford where they hold classes for busy adults. These sites utilize the adult learning model that emphasizes experiential application to objectives and theory. Students from a wide age range attend, learning from three sources: the texts, their instructors (who work in the field they teach), and from each other. Courses are provided in an accelerated pace and condensed format, much like how summer school operates in more traditional programs. Students may take one or two courses at a time and enroll as full-time. They focus on learning business techniques and communication skills which build stronger career skills that can easily be translated to working situations. Another program strength comes from flexibility to transfer credits from prior accredited learning.

History

In June 1885, the Educational Board of General Baptists organized and then gained a charter from the state of Indiana to operate a college at Oakland City. However, because of a lack of funds, the first building, a two-story brick structure housing the administration and classrooms, was not complete until 1891 — the same year Oakland City College opened its doors for classes. In those early days, the school was called "the college on the hill."

By the mid 1920s, the school had reached a zenith for the first half of the century. There were several college buildings gracing the grounds, including an expanded administration building, Wheatley Hall, a women's dorm, a field house, Memorial Gym (which housed a library in the basement), Cronbach Hall, a building used for agricultural and industrial arts classes, and a two-story brick building called the president's house. Beside the normal, liberal arts and theological school, the college had added a large industrial and agricultural department to respond to the vocational needs of the rural area it served.

Sports teams of the 1920s, included basketball, baseball, football, and track. Teams regularly played Indiana State University, Evansville College, University of Louisville, and Ball State. By the mid 1920s a legion of clubs could also be found on campus. Among them were the YMCA, Phi Alpha Literary Society, Germanae Literacy Society, Athenian Literacy and debating team, a standard debating team, the ETOSCA club, the Dramatic League, the French Club, the German Club, the Glee Club, the college orchestra, and the college band. Enrollment during these prosperous times often broached 1,000 students a semester.

Sadly, this comfortable world came to a screeching halt in 1930 with the coming of the Great Depression. Grimly, the school held on with faculty and staff often forgoing paychecks to keep the school running. The end of World War II and the GI Bill saw a resurgence in enrollment and, by the mid 1960s, the "college on the hill" experienced an upswing comparable to the 1920s. Several new buildings now crowned the campus including four dormitories, a new library, Brengle Hall, a science building, and Stinson Hall, a classroom building containing an auditorium.

The good times did not last. The winding down of the war in Vietnam wrought a substantial drop in enrollment. By the fall term of 1973, the college found itself with an abundance of empty dorm rooms.

Fortunately, the sponsoring denomination, the General Baptist, rallied around the school by making an intense effort to raise funds to keep the school open. They also made the important decision of hiring a retiring Marine Colonel and General Baptist minister, James Murray, as the college president. Dr. Murray's success was nothing short of miraculous. In the 1990s the college moved to university status under Murray's leadership. Presently the school has an enrollment of 2,000 and has seen the construction of six new buildings in the last few years. Today, the university stands fully accredited and offers five graduate degrees and over 40 undergraduate programs.

Accreditation and facts

Oakland City University is accredited by the following:

• The Higher Learning Commission
• Higher Learning Commission Mark of Affiliation
• National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education
• International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education (Main Campus Business programs)
• The Association of Theological Schools

The University has historically been a strong teacher education institution in the state and has provided many of the teachers for schools in the surrounding area. It has been regarded as one of the finest teacher institutions in the nation.^{[citation needed]} The instructional staff has had many years of experience in the elementary, junior high/middle school and secondary schools — a prime requisite for approval of a teacher education program by the Indiana Department of Education.

Schools and departments

• School of Arts and Sciences
• School of Education
• Chapman Seminary
• School of Business
• School of Adult and Extended Learning
• Chapman School of Religious Study

Notable alumni

• Wilbur Kitchener Jordan, President (1943–1960) of Radcliffe College, a constitutent of Harvard University, and former general editor of the University of Chicago Press
• Lindel Hume - Indiana State Senate
• Gary Barrett - Chair of Odum School of Ecology at University of Georgia
• Todd Culley - CEO of Boone Electric Cooperative
• Mathew J. Konkler - Director, Office of the Secretary of Defense, United States Department of Defense
• Phillip J Hunt - Chairman, President & CEO of Mercantile Bank of Centralia
• Williams Prentice Dearing - Professor at University of Chicago
• Gloria Mason - Professor at University of Michigan
• J. Michael Poehlein - Head Coach at Purdue University
• Jerry Reynolds - General Manager at Sacramento Kings
• Phil N. Eskew - Commissioner at IHSAA 1952
• C. Eugene Cato - Commissioner at IHSAA 1952
• Joe M Gatewood - Research Scientist at United States Department of Energy 1983
• Ron Dodson - CEO of Audubon International
• Daryl L. Hale, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Western Carolina University
• Grady B. Jones Vice President for Institutional Advancement at Jacksonville University
• Melba Phillips American Physicist and Educator,and Professor Emeritus of the University of Chicago

References

1. ^ "NCAA Member Schools Sorted By State: All Divisions". NCAA. http://web1.ncaa.org/ssLists/orgInfo.do?orgID=177. Retrieved 2006-01-24. 

External links

• Oakland City University