News & Media

OWU in Review 2012

Stuyvesant Hall. (Photo by Mark Schmitter ’12)

From the remarkable renovation of Stuyvesant Hall, to the stellar season of the Battling Bishop football team, to the soaring success (literally!) of the “The Fairy Queen” cast—Ohio Wesleyan University has had much to celebrate during 2012.

And as the year draws to a close, here’s a look at just a few of the highlights of 2012:

January

The Department of Physical Education becomes the Department of Health and Human Kinetics to better reflect the department’s focus on lifelong movement, holistic fitness, and health-based programming.

OWU men’s soccer coach Jay Martin is named NCAA Division III National Coach of the Year.

February

Ohio Wesleyan students nominate Mitt Romney and Stephen Colbert for GOP president and vice president during their Republican Mock Presidential Convention. The convention is an OWU tradition that dates back to 1884.

OWU associate professor of psychology Sarah Bunnell, Ph.D., is named a Teagle Pedagogy Fellow by the Great Lakes Colleges Association.

Ohio Wesleyan expands its curriculum with Minor in Music Performance. The new minor was created for students who wish to study the art of performance and participate in music but not necessarily pursue a music major.

March

Two Ohio Wesleyan faculty members – Randolph Quaye, Ph.D., and David Caplan – earn prestigious Fulbright Scholarships. (In October, The Chronicle of Higher Education names Ohio Wesleyan among the “Top Producers of U.S. Fulbright Scholars.”

Ohio Wesleyan earns its fourth consecutive spot on the 2012 Presidential Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll in recognition of students volunteering more than 44,300 hours during the 2010-2011 academic year to help others.

Ohio Wesleyan is listed by Accounting Careers for Dummies.com among the nation’s top business accounting schools. Award selection is determined by variables including academic rigor, academic selectivity, faculty experience, job placement/post-graduation results, educational value, accreditation, and financial aid availability.

Ohio Wesleyan students visit Lady Shri Ram College for Women in New Delhi, India, to study “Gandhi Today: Perspectives and Possibilities.”

April

Ohio Wesleyan is ranked among the nation’s top colleges for return on investment by PayScale Inc. According to the study, an OWU bachelor’s degree provides a 9-percent annual return on the educational investment over 30 years.

OWU student Bradley Turnwald is named a 2012-2013 national Goldwater Scholar. The biochemistry major is one of only 282 college students nationwide selected for the honor.

OWU student Iftekhar Showpnil earns the University’s 8th consecutive Charles J. Ping Student Community Service Award for outstanding leadership and commitment to community service.

Ohio Wesleyan celebrates the legacy of 1920 alumnus the Rev. Dr. Norman Vincent Peale. Peale is credited with improving millions of lives during his lifetime with his uplifting sermons and books, including “The Power of Positive Thinking,” and Guideposts magazine, which he founded in 1945.

May

Ohio Wesleyan and Columbus State Community College sign an articulation agreement that guarantees OWU admission to any Columbus State student who has earned an associate degree, has achieved a grade point average of at least 3.0, and is in good academic standing without disciplinary violations.

Ohio Wesleyan receives a $1 million estate gift from 1931 alumnus Junius Allen and his wife, Zella. Their gift will be used to support the university endowment.

OWU student Jenna Ortega is appointed to NCAA Division III Advisory Committee. The field hockey and women’s lacrosse player will serve a three-year term, working to “enhance the total student-athlete experience by promoting opportunity, protecting student-athlete welfare and fostering a positive student-athlete image.”

June

Ohio Wesleyan’s Department of Education earns continuing accreditation from the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), indicating that OWU’s teacher-education programs meet the “rigorous standards set forth by the professional education community.”

Ohio Wesleyan student Kassel Galaty is named a 2012 Junior Fellow for the Library of Congress. Galaty, a double major in history and pre-medicine, is one of 38 college students selected from more than 600 applicants nationwide to participate in the summer internship program.

OWU alumna Alison Drake, Class of 2003, is recognized with a 2011 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching—the nation’s highest honor for teachers in the two fields.

July

A contingent of OWU students and administrators travel to Washington, D.C., to present at the President’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge and Summer Gathering. Ohio Wesleyan is a founding partner of the presidential program.

August

Ohio Wesleyan University is featured in the new edition of “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About Colleges.” In the book, released today, Ohio Wesleyan is described as “a shining beacon of what happens when a campus embraces collaboration in the context of liberal learning. … This is the stuff of higher education.”

September

Ohio Wesleyan University completes a 15-month, $14 million renovation of Stuyvesant Hall, its oldest residential facility. The donor-funded project updates the entire three-story, 74,000-square-foot building, including the restoration of its signature bell tower and carillon of chimes.

October

Ohio Wesleyan earns a three-year, $600,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support continued development of the “OWU Connection” curricular plan, including an expansion of its Course Connections networks. Although the Course Connections are less than a year old, they already involve nearly 50 faculty members, 120 students, and 101 courses.

Ohio Wesleyan hosts a free month-long Spanish Film Festival, screening five contemporary Spanish and Latin American feature films. The University was one of 44 colleges nationwide selected to receive a 2012 Spanish Film Club Grant to support the festival.

November

Ohio Wesleyan is selected to host the 2014 NCAA Division III outdoor track & field championships. OWU’s Selby Stadium and George Gauthier Track served as the site for the 2011 NCAA Division III outdoor track & field championships, with nearly 15,000 spectators attending the three-day event.

The Battling Bishop men’s soccer advances to the first-round NCAA Division III tournament – making its NCAA-record 35th Division III playoff appearance.

Ohio Wesleyan is welcomed into the CFA Institute University Recognition Program, acknowledging that OWU’s Economics with Management major incorporates program guidelines for preparing students to obtain the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation, widely regarded as the world’s most respected and recognized investment credential.

Ohio Wesleyan receives a $100,000 grant from the Austin E. Knowlton Foundation, Inc., to create a new endowed student scholarship. The Knowlton Scholarship will be awarded beginning in 2013, with preference given to a Logan County, Ohio, freshman applicant with an interest in mathematics or related fields.

December

Battling Bishop head football coach Tom Watts is named a Regional Coach of the Year by the American Football Coaches Association, earning honors as the Region 2 Coach of the Year in NCAA Division III. Watts guided the Bishops to a 9-1 record and a share of the North Coast Athletic Conference championship this season, Ohio Wesleyan’s first conference championship since 1989.

Senior guard Andy Winters posts the first triple-double by an Ohio Wesleyan men’s basketball player in history when the Bishops defeat Allegheny in the North Coast Athletic Conference opener for both teams. The win also marks the 200th victory at Ohio Wesleyan for head coach Mike DeWitt.

Senior Hannah Benzing sets an OWU women’s track & field record, winning the weight throw at Marietta College’s First Glimpse meet with a heave of 51-9½. Benzing breaks the school record of 48-4¾ set by Sharon Rymut in 2009.