Asbury University

The Old Asbury Building (in white) was the first building, serving as the single schoolhouse for education. It is now used for prayer and meditation. The administration building The Kinlaw Library Miller Center for Media Communications The Student Center Asbury College was established on September 2, 1890, by John Wesley Hughes in Wilmore, Kentucky . [ 7 ] It was originally called Kentucky Holiness College , but the following year was renamed after Bishop Francis Asbury , a circuit-riding evangelist known as the "Father of American Methodism". Bishop Asbury had established the first Methodist school in the United States west of the Appalachians, Bethel Academy , in 1790; its site lies near High Bridge , only about four miles (6 km) south of Wilmore. [ 8 ] After being pushed out as President of Asbury College in 1905, Hughes went on to found another college, Kingswood College , in Breckinridge County, Kentucky . Kingswood College no longer exists. Despite his disappointment over being removed at Asbury, Hughes wrote in his 1923 autobiography: Being sure I was led of God to establish (Asbury College), it being my college child born in poverty, mental perplexity, and soul agony, I loved it from its birth better than my own life. As the days have come and gone, with many sad and broken-hearted experiences, my love has increased. My appreciation of what it has done, what it is doing, and what it promises to do in the future, is such that I am willing to lay down my life for its perpetuation. In 1928, Hughes was invited to break ground for Asbury College's new chapel, Hughes Auditorium, which is still in use today. [ 9 ] In 2001 The Kinlaw Library was completed. It was named in honor of Dennis F. Kinlaw and his wife Elsie. It contains over 150,000 items in several collections. There are three floors and most of the collections are on the main and top floors. [ 10 ] The college's immediate past president, Sandra C.

Gray, was inaugurated as the seventeenth president of Asbury on October 5, 2007. [ 11 ] She was the institution's first female president. On March 5, 2010, Asbury College became Asbury University . The current president is Kevin Brown, a former faculty member of the university's Dayton School of Business. [ 12 ] He was inaugurated as the eighteenth president on March 6, 2020. [ 13 ] Presidents Presidents of the institution include: [ 14 ] John Wesley Hughes (1890–1905) Francis F. Fitch (1905) Benjamin Franklin Haynes (1905–1908) Newton Wray (1908–1909) Aaron S. Watkins (1909–1910) Henry Clay Morrison (1910–1925; 1933–1940) Lewis Robeson Akers (1925–1933) Z.T. Johnson (1940–1966) Karl K. Wilson (1966–1967) Cornelius R. Hager (1967–1968; 1981–1983; 1992–1993) Dennis F. Kinlaw (1968–1981; 1986–1991) John N. Oswalt (1983–1986) Edwin G. Blue (1991–1992) David J. Gyertson (1993–2000) Paul A. Rader (2000–2006) William C. Crothers (2006–2007) Sandra C. Gray (2007–2019) Kevin J. Brown (2019–present)

Undergraduate admissions Asbury students come from 44 states and 43 countries. A required essay or personal statement and letters of recommendation are considered for admission. [ 15 ] In 2024, Asbury University accepted 64.1% of undergraduate applicants, with admission standards considered "challenging" and those admitted having an average 3.65 high school GPA . The university does not require submission of standardized test scores, Asbury being test blind school such that standardized scores are "not considered for admission, even if submitted." Those accepted that obtained test scores had an average 1080–1320 SAT score or average 21–28 ACT score. [ 16 ]

Eighty-two percent of the school's faculty hold terminal degrees in their field of study. The university has 59 undergraduate majors and multiple minors and emphases. [ 17 ] Internships, exchange programs, study abroad, cross-culture opportunities, missions, and community service opportunities are available and are part of the curriculum in nearly every major. [ 18 ] Asbury has a large general education liberal arts requirement ranging from 39 to 57 semester hours. [ 19 ] The university also has an Honors Program [ 20 ] and online programs. [ 21 ] The university has a 12:1 student to faculty ratio and a retention rate of 82 percent on average. [ 22 ] Nearly 90 percent of the university's students live on campus. [ 15 ] Programs are divided into five units: College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences Dayton School of Business School of Communication Arts School of Education Shaw School of Sciences [ 23 ]