North Carolina Wesleyan College

North Carolina Wesleyan College

Motto	Wisdom and Courage through Christian Education
Type	Private college
Established	1956
President	Dr. Evan Duff [1]
Students	2,093[2]
Location	Rocky Mount , North Carolina , United States
Campus	200 acres (81 ha)[3]
Colors	Blue & Gold
Athletics	NCAA Division III, USA South Athletic Conference [4]
Nickname	Battling Bishops
Website	www.ncwc.edu

North Carolina Wesleyan College (NCWC) is a private Methodist college in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Founded in 1956, the school offers a number of degree programs in the arts and sciences and selected professional disciplines. North Carolina Wesleyan also offers evening courses at its main Rocky Mount campus, as well as satellite locations in Morrisville, Goldsboro, Greenville, Whiteville, Washington, and Wilmington, North Carolina.^[5]

History[]

On May 14, 1956, the North Carolina Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church met in Goldsboro and approved a petition from the citizens of the city of Rocky Mount to locate a college in their community. The College was officially chartered by the State of North Carolina on October 25, 1956. Capital investments totaling approximately $2 million made possible the construction of the main buildings on the 200-acre site donated by the M.C. Braswell heirs of Rocky Mount, and four years later 92 students enrolled in the first class at North Carolina Wesleyan College. In 1964, 33 students received their degrees at the College's first Commencement. Nearly 9,000 students have earned bachelor's degrees in the arts and sciences and selected professional disciplines since its founding.^[6]

Campus[]

The 200-acre (81 ha) Rocky Mount campus includes six residence halls, nine academic and administrative buildings, the Everett Gymnasium, the Dunn Center for the Performing Arts, and outdoor athletic facilities, including a soccer field, baseball field, tennis courts, intramural fields, and softball field. In addition to a residential campus, Wesleyan has developed a strong multi-campus adult degree program called ASPIRE with locations in Raleigh-Durham, Goldsboro, Greenville, Washington, Whiteville, and Wilmington in addition to the main campus in Rocky Mount.^[5]

Academics[]

The college offers 28 undergraduate degrees.^[7] It is a member of the National Association of Schools and Colleges of The United Methodist Church, the North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities, the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, the Council of Independent Colleges, the Association of American Colleges and Universities, the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges, the National Association of Colleges and Universities Business Officers, and the American Council on Education. Women graduates are eligible for membership in the American Association of University Women.

The Roger G. and Gaile Davenport Taylor Honors Program[]

North Carolina Wesleyan College offers a select group of students the opportunity to complement their degree program with a series of challenging and rewarding courses. Freshman take special freshman courses in composition and humanities. Honors Program students then take one honors course each semester during their sophomore and junior years. As seniors, students complete an Honors Project in some area of interest. The Honors Program offers students the opportunity to develop a close community of learning and to take courses from some of the best faculty members at the College. Being in the Honors Program does not add to a student's course load, but it does add variety and depth to her or his college experience. Transcripts of Honors graduates include recognition that they completed the Honors Program.^[8]

Student life[]

As of 2019, about 1,000 students are enrolled in the traditional program on campus, up 75% since 2014. Another 1,200 students are enrolled in adult studies programs on campus and at satellite locations.^[9] Wesleyan has a growing international student population that made up 12% of students in 2019.^[10] The college community welcomes and includes people from diverse religious, cultural, and racial backgrounds.^[11]

Honor societies[]

• Alpha Phi Alpha - the first Black, Inter-Collegiate Greek-Lettered fraternity.
• Alpha Sigma Phi - the 10th oldest fraternity in the United States.
• Delta Phi Epsilon - a National Panhellenic Conference affiliated social sorority.
• Nu Gamma Phi - a affiliated non social fraternity.
• Omicron Delta Kappa - national honorary leadership fraternity.
• Phi Eta Sigma - National collegiate scholastic honor society for freshman.
• Pi Gamma Mu - International Honor Society for Social Sciences.
• Psi Chi - National Honor Society for Psychology.
• Sigma Tau Delta - International English Honors Society
• Kappa Mu Epsilon - National Mathematics Honor Society

Student publications[]

• The Decree (newspaper)
• The Dissenter (yearbook)

Athletics[]

North Carolina Wesleyan is a member of NCAA Division III and the USA South Athletic Conference. Their teams are known as the Battling Bishops, and compete in a total of 12 sports:

Men's

• Baseball
• Basketball
• Football
• Soccer
• Tennis
• Golf
• Cross Country

Women's

• Soccer
• Basketball
• Softball
• Volleyball
• Lacrosse
• Tennis
• Cross Country

History[]

The men's baseball program has two Division III National Championships in 1989 and again in 1999.^{[citation needed]}

The college's football program was established in 2005 with its home stadium at the Rocky Mount Sports Complex. The NCWC football team finished the 2007 regular season with an 8-2 mark, its best overall record in the program's short history. The Battling Bishops made it to the NCAA Division III Football tournament as the USA South champion, where they upset top-seed Washington & Jefferson in the first round 35-34. Not only was this Wesleyan's first post-season victory, but the first time the top seed lost to a number 8 seed since 1975.^[12]

References[]

External links[]

• Official website
• Official athletics website

Coordinates: 36°01′03″N 77°46′34″W / 36.017482°N 77.7761614°W / 36.017482; -77.7761614