Taylor University

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Taylor University:
Motto: Lux et Fides[1]
Established: 1846 (details)
Type: private coeducational Christian
Endowment: $48.5 million[2]
President: Eugene Habecker
Faculty: 142
Students: 1,887
Undergraduates: 1,868
Postgraduates: 19
Location: Upland, IN, USA
Campus: small town: 250 acres (1.0 km²) and 668 acres (2.7 km²) on "west campus" still under development
Athletics: 17 NAIA teams,
called Trojans
Colors: Purple and Gold
Affiliations: None
Website: www.taylor.edu

Taylor University is a private, interdenominational, evangelical Christian college with campuses located in Upland, Indiana and Fort Wayne, Indiana. Founded in 1846, it is one of the oldest evangelical Christian colleges in America.

The 918-acre (3.7 km²) Upland campus is the main campus, housing over 1,855 students from 44 states and 23 countries.[3] Taylor also operates Taylor University Fort Wayne, a 30-acre campus with over 1,040 students from 24 states and six countries.[4]

Taylor University was ranked by U.S. News and World Report’s 2008 guide to America’s Best Colleges #1 in the Midwest Region of Baccalaureate Colleges which includes 95 schools.[2]

Taylor University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools and is a member of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities and the Christian College Consortium.[5]

Contents

[edit] Academics

Students can select from over 90 undergraduate majors with popular programs including education, business, new media and exercise science.

In 2003, Taylor began offering graduate-level programs again after having dropped such degrees nearly 60 years earlier.[6] Current graduate programs include a Master of Environmental Science and a Master of Business Administration. In 2007, Taylor will begin offering two additional programs, a Master of Arts in Higher Education and Student Development and a Master of Arts in Religious Studies.

The concept of "The Integration of Faith and Learning," the idea that knowledge and faith meet their highest potential when coupled together, is a central educational theme at Taylor. The two distinct columns of the Rice Bell Tower on campus and the spotlights that shine up from each of them symbolize this theme to the campus community.[3]

[edit] Campus life

[edit] Life Together Covenant

Students, faculty and staff are required to sign the "Life Together Covenant" (LTC) upon joining the University.[7] Community members pledge to adhere to certain standards of conduct and refrain from certain behaviors, including social dancing (excepting marriages taking place off of school property and choreographed or folk dance), premarital sex, homosexuality, smoking, and the consumption of alcohol, with the intention of strengthening the community as a whole. Students cannot register for classes or housing unless they have signed the LTC pledge each semester. The LTC is viewed as not only a covenant, but as a binding contract as well. Penalties for not adhering to the LTC range from "citizenship probation" to expulsion from the university. In addition, those found to be in violation of the LTC usually must also sign in to chapel services held every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

The Life Together Covenant covers activities and behaviors not only on the Taylor campus, but off-campus as well. The purpose is to stengthen the Christian community and to maintain a sense of maturity and accountability.

Chapel services are held three times a week, from 10:00 to 10:50 a.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Services generally follow a modern nontraditional Christian theme. Chapel attendance is required but attendance is on the honor system. In spite of this, chapel is nearly always close to full.[8]

[edit] Traditions

Taylor also has a plethora of long-lasting traditions including the Taylathon, My Generation Night, Nostalgia Night, the Boxer Run, Trojan Film Fest, Air Band, Silent Night, Melon and Gourd week, Fight Night, Tonight We Ride, Youth Conference and Court.[9].

[edit] Multicultural development

American Ethnic students, International students, and Third Culture students are supported by the director of Multicultural Student Development and other faculty and staff through various student leadership groups, social clubs, and programs on campus:

  • Multi-Ethnic Student Association(MESA)
  • AHANA
  • International Student Society
  • Mu Kappa
  • Asian Awareness Association (AAA)
  • Taylor Black Men (TBM)

These groups and their subsequent events and programs play a significant role the University's goal of promoting that promote diversity awareness, social justice, and globally-minded Christianity throughout the campus.[10]

[edit] Mu Kappa

Taylor has been a pioneer in dealing with the unique challenges that face Missionary Kids in their adjustment to American life. The first chapter of Mu Kappa International,[11] a fraternal support organization for Missionary Kids, was founded at Taylor in 1985.

Rice Bell Tower symbolizing the integration of faith and learning
Rice Bell Tower symbolizing the integration of faith and learning

[edit] Campus facilities

The campus contains eight dormitories. Three dorms are co-educational, with the genders separated by floor: Evan Bergwall Hall, Les Gerig Hall and Swallow-Robin Hall. Three dorms are all-female: Mary Tower English Hall, Haakonsen Hall, and Grace Olson Hall. Two dorms are all male: Samuel Morris Hall and John C. Wengatz Hall.[12] Swallow Robin Hall was built by Samuel Plato, an architect of the early 20th century.[13]

Newer buildings include the Kesler Student Activities Center, and Modelle Metcalf Visual Arts Center. The Kesler Center, named after president emeritus Jay Kesler, features an indoor track, multi-purpose courts used for intramurals, an exercise room, an aerobics room, and multiple locker rooms.[14]

[edit] History

[edit] Fort Wayne

What is now Taylor University whose main campus is in Upland, Indiana began during 1846 as Fort Wayne Female College in Fort Wayne, Indiana.[15] Fort Wayne Female College was founded by the Methodist Church as an all-female school. During 1855 Fort Wayne Female College started admitting men coeducationally and hence changed its name to Fort Wayne College. During 1890, Fort Wayne College acquired the former facilities of nearby Fort Wayne Medical College that were vacated after Fort Wayne Medical College's merger with Indiana Asbury College, which is another Methodist-affiliated college. Upon completing this acquisition, Fort Wayne College changed its name to Taylor University, in honor of Bishop William Taylor. This explains the otherwise mysterious origin of the name College Street for a street in Fort Wayne that has no apparent modern relation to a college, as this was the location of Fort Wayne Female College, Fort Wayne College, and the 19th-century presence in Fort Wayne of Taylor University, which relocated in 1893.

[edit] Upland

Taylor University moved to their 250-acre (1 km²) campus in Upland, Indiana in 1893. This campus now serves as the main campus in the Taylor University system. The campus has expanded by acquisition of 668 acres (2.7 km²) west of the original campus.

History at a glance
Fort Wayne Female College Established 1846
Affiliations Methodist
Type all-female
Location Fort Wayne IN USA
Fort Wayne College Renamed 1855[15]
Type coeducational
Taylor University Renamed 1890
Taylor University Relocated 1893
Location Upland IN USA
Taylor University Fort Wayne Acquired 1992 from Summit Christian College Renamed 1989
Location Fort Wayne IN USA
Fort Wayne Bible College Renamed 1950[16]
Fort Wayne Bible Insititute Established 1904[17]
Affiliations Missionary Church[18]

[edit] Taylor University Fort Wayne

In 1992, ninety-nine years after moving to Upland, Taylor University acquired Summit Christian College. Summit Christian College was previously named Fort Wayne Bible College (from 1950 to 1989) and Fort Wayne Bible Institute (from its establishment in 1904 to 1989). Prior to acquisition by Taylor University, Summit Christian College was affiliated with the Missionary Church[18]

Taylor University Fort Wayne (TUFW) became an extension campus of Taylor University in 1992.[19] With the urban setting of Fort Wayne, Indiana, this campus' academic programs tend to be more vocational and its student body more non-traditional. Reflecting this, of TUFW's 1,040 member student body, approximately 224 students live on campus with the rest commuting or taking courses online.[4]

Popular majors include Professional Writing, Biblical Studies, Christian Ministries, Education, English, and Business.[20]

[edit] 2006 Van Accident

On April 26, 2006, Taylor received national attention when a University van was involved in a fatal accident outside Marion, Indiana, while traveling between the Fort Wayne and Upland campuses. The accident happened when a northbound semi-trailer truck driver fell asleep at the wheel, crossed the median and struck the southbound passenger van on I-69. Four students and one staff member were killed, and three staff members and one student were injured. The accident occurred two days before current University president, Eugene Habecker's inauguration ceremony. The truck driver was convicted of reckless, involuntary manslaughter and received a four year prison sentence.

However, because the Grant County coroner and Taylor officials failed to positively identify all the victims, the incident later made international headlines when there was a shocking case of mistaken identity between two of the victims[21]. Senior Laura Van Ryn, who actually died on the scene, was mistaken for surviving freshman Whitney Cerak. This was initially thought to be due to Cerak being in a coma for several weeks, a minor resemblance between the two women, swelling to Cerak's face, and Cerak's family being reluctant to personally identify the body. The Cerak (actually Van Ryn) funeral was conducted with a closed casket, and the mistake was not discovered until Cerak identified herself after waking up from a coma over a month later. Neither family spoke publicly about the incident for nearly two years.[22][23]

In the fall of 2007, the popular Fox television series House, aired the first episode of the show's fourth season entitled "Alone," which was inspired by the Van Ryn-Cerak case of mistaken identity.

The families' silence was broken when their story was chronicled in a recent book, Mistaken Identity: Two Families, One Survivor, Unwavering Hope, written by Whitney Cerak, her parents Newell and Colleen, Don and Susie Van Ryn and Mark Tabb, which was released on March 25, 2008. On March 27th and 28th, the Ceraks and Van Ryns were interviewed on NBC's The Today Show and were also profiled on a two-hour episode of Dateline on the 28th.

For the first time, during the interview, it was revealed by the Van Ryns that they had suspected that Whitney was not their daughter for several days prior to informing officials. In addition, soon after the accident, the Van Ryns noticed several key indicators that Whitney was not Laura, such as discovering the difference in Cerak's teeth and navel piercing (which Van Ryn did not have), and Cerak later stating that her name was Whitney, not Laura, after coming out of her coma. The Van Ryns revealed that family friends eventually had expressed concerns that the woman they were caring for was not their daughter. Don Van Ryn also revealed that Cerak had accused them of being "false parents." Finally, when Cerak told Laura's sister the name of her parents, Newell and Colleen, the Van Ryns notified officials of the tragic mistake - more than a month after the accident. The Van Ryns explained their actions by stating that they were convinced by medical personnel that Cerak was their daughter and that emotional distress kept them from realizing the truth. It is believed that this admission, along with possible resulting public criticism, is one of the reasons the families had not publicly spoken about the incident for two years.[24]

As a result of this incident, Indiana changed the procedure for identifying victims involved in accidents. Cerak is currently a senior at Taylor, and the two families remain close. On April 26, 2008, the two year anniversary of the accident, the University dedicated the $2.4 million Memorial Prayer Chapel as a memorial to the victims: students Laurel Erb, Brad Larson, Betsy Smith and Laura Van Ryn, along with Taylor employee Monica Felver.[25]

[edit] Notable alumni and people associated with Taylor University

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ About Us. Taylor University. Retrieved on 2007-02-15.
  2. ^ a b America's Best Colleges 2008. U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved on 2007-08-22.
  3. ^ a b Taylor Today - Taylor University
  4. ^ a b Quick Facts - Taylor University Fort Wayne
  5. ^ Accreditations and Memberships - Taylor University
  6. ^ http://www.taylor.edu/academics/gradprograms/
  7. ^ Life Together Covenant - Taylor University
  8. ^ Chapel - Taylor University
  9. ^ Tonight We Ride
  10. ^ Page 55 of the Taylor University 2007-2008 Student Life Handbook & Odyssey
  11. ^ Mu Kappa International - for MKs
  12. ^ Residence Halls - Taylor University
  13. ^ The Taylor Magazine - Finding Plato
  14. ^ Kesler Student Activities Center - Taylor University
  15. ^ a b History and Heritage - Taylor University
  16. ^ Missionary Worker magazine. October 1950 issue. Published by Missionary Church.
  17. ^ Fort Wayne, Indiana
  18. ^ a b Welcome to Bethel College
  19. ^ About Us - Taylor University Fort Wayne
  20. ^ http://www.taylor.edu/shared/shared_tuupresident/pdf/2003-04_annual_report.pdf
  21. ^ http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article670863.ece
  22. ^ USATODAY.com - Case of mistaken identity stuns families
  23. ^ In Loving Memory - Taylor University
  24. ^ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23824767/
  25. ^ http://www.taylor.edu/community/news/news_detail.shtml?inode=51049&pageTitle=Prayer%20Chapel%20Dedication%20Set%20for%20Heritage%20Weekend
v • d • e
Christian College Consortium
Asbury • Bethel • George Fox • Gordon • Greenville • Houghton • Malone • Messiah • Seattle Pacific • Taylor • Trinity International • Westmont • Wheaton
v • d • e
Mid-Central College Conference (NAIA)