Elmhurst University

From proseminary to university In 1871, Jennie and Thomas Barbour Bryan gave land in Elmhurst to the German Evangelical Synod of the Northwest . This land was given for the purpose of establishing a school to prepare young men for the theological seminary and to train teachers for parochial schools, and was named the Elmhurst Proseminary. [ 5 ] The first students, who were all male, studied Latin, Greek, English, German, music, history, geography, mathematics, science, and religion. All classes were taught in German. It wasn't until 1917 that the catalog was published in English. In 1919, the name was changed to the Elmhurst Academy and Junior College, [ 6 ] [ 7 ] and the expanded curriculum included courses in public speaking, physical education, economics, psychology, and the history of education. In 1924, the school was renamed Elmhurst College [ 8 ] [ 9 ] and became a four-year college for men. The college seal was designed in the 1920s by Robert Leonhardt, [ 10 ] first registrar of the college, who also served as coach of the football team. Women first enrolled in 1930, and four years later, the college was accredited. [ 11 ] The college began its graduate programs in 1998, and in 2012 the School for Professional Studies (SPS) was established [ 12 ] [ 13 ] to offer a wide range of online programs, including undergraduate degrees, graduate degrees and certificate programs. [ 14 ] On June 15, 2019, the Elmhurst College Board of Trustees approved a name change to Elmhurst University , which took place July 1, 2020. [ 15 ] The Old Main building at Elmhurst University The campus is 48 acres (19.4 ha) in Elmhurst, Illinois , a Chicago suburb. It is a certified Level 2 Arboretum [ 16 ] and a member of Tree Campus USA, [ 17 ] with more than 950 different species from around the globe. [ 18 ]

The Frick Center houses lounges, a dining hall, E.C. Grille, Frick Center Café, the Game Room, the Spirit Shop (where university apparel and memorabilia is sold), the Central Printing and Mail Room, conference rooms, the university radio station WRSE -FM (88.7mHz) as well as The Niebuhr Center for Engagement and Reflection, whose stated mission is to provide engaging experiences and meaningful reflection for the community to cultivate a sense of purpose in life. The offices of the Student Government Association, Union Board, the Elms Yearbook, Student Affairs and Student Activities are also in the Frick Center. [ 19 ] Built in 1964 and formerly known as the College Union Building, it was renamed in 1994 to honor the university's eleventh president, Dr. Ivan E. Frick [ 20 ] and his wife Ruth Hudson Frick. [ 21 ] The Frick Center also houses the Blume Board Room, named in honor of former board of trustees member and graduate Allen C. Blume [ 22 ] (1955) and his wife Phyllis, [ 23 ] as well as the Brune Patio, named in honor of graduate and benefactor Joan Brune (1951) as a gift to the university from her husband, graduate and benefactor Lester H. Brune (1948). [ 24 ] The Barbara A. Kieft Accelerator ArtSpace houses a 750,000-volt Cockcroft-Walton [ 25 ] particle accelerator . Originally built by Dr. Sam Allison, professor of physics at University of Chicago, it was moved to Elmhurst in the late 1960s and became operational in 1973. The accelerator was deactivated when the building began its new life as an art exhibition space in 2004. [ 26 ] The A.C. Buehler Library, [ 27 ] [ 28 ] [ 29 ] named in honor of the former president of the Victor Comptometer Corporation [ 30 ] and board of trustees member, is home to over 237,000 volumes and a highly regarded collection of Chicago Imagists art. [ 31 ] [ 32 ] It opened in 1971 and was renovated in 1993 and again in 2002, due to a donation from the estate of graduate Gladys (1940) and Ray Robinson.

The library now has almost a hundred computers for general use and thousands of audio-visual materials. The library is also home for the Learning Center (tutoring and study skills assistance for students), the Center for Professional Excellence, [ 33 ] which provides career guidance, resume assistance, internships, networking, mentoring and job shadowing opportunities for all students, as well as the Rudolf G. Schade Archives and Special Collections [ 34 ] and the Honors Program student lounge. [ 35 ] Daniels Hall, renamed in 2008 in honor of former Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives and current Elmhurst University faculty member Lee A. Daniels , is home to the computer laboratories, the departments of Mathematics, Computer Science and Information Systems, World Languages, Literatures & Cultures, Intercultural Studies, and Geography and Geosciences. [ 36 ] [ 37 ] It opened in 1988 as the Computer Science and Technology Center. Daniels Hall is also home to the Graduate Admission office, as well as general classrooms, the Gretsch [ 38 ] Recording Studio. Constructed in 1911 as a dormitory and named for the fourth president, Daniel Irion, [ 39 ] Irion Hall now houses the Music department. [ 40 ] The building's 120-seat Buik Recital Hall (named in honor of The Buik family, including former board of trustees member Donald W. Buik [ 41 ] and his wife Betty, [ 42 ] as well as the John J. Roche family) is used for concerts, recitals and lectures. Buik was renovated in 2013 due to a donation from graduate and benefactor Lori Julian (2008). Irion Hall housed the college's first official library from 1912 to 1922. The building was fully renovated in 1979 and has its own recording studio as well as a choir room, [ 43 ] rehearsal hall, [ 44 ] percussion room, listening room, two music classrooms, extensive music libraries and individual practice rooms.

[ 45 ] Kranz Forum is the site of a statue of Reinhold Niebuhr , a preeminent 20th-century theologian and 1910 graduate of the Elmhurst Proseminary, and the former site of Kranz Hall, [ 46 ] constructed in 1873 and the first building on campus. The Niebuhr statue [ 47 ] was sculpted by Robert Berks and has Niebuhr's Serenity Prayer etched on it in two places. [ 48 ] Kranz Hall was razed in 1981, [ 49 ] and Kranz Forum dedicated in 1982. The plaque noting the location of Kranz Hall is mounted on a base built with stone blocks salvaged from the original building. Memorial Hall houses the Deicke Center for Nursing Education. Formerly Memorial Library, the building was named in honor of the 900 young men of the Evangelical Synod who lost their lives in World War I. The original dedication plaques for those lost are still located in the main lobby, which remains as it was when the building opened in 1922. Memorial Library was renovated for its current use and renamed Memorial Hall when Buehler Library opened in 1971. In 2014, the Nursing Simulation Laboratory moved out of Memorial Hall and into its new facility at Elmhurst Memorial Hospital in a collaboration between the two institutions. [ 50 ] [ 51 ] Built in 1878 as a dormitory, Old Main (also known as Hauptgebaude ) is the oldest building on campus. It houses the departments of Art, Urban Studies, History, Religious Studies, Sociology & Criminal Justice, and Political Science, as well as art studios (including individual spaces for student artists) and general classrooms. Old Main is listed on the National Register of Historic Places . [ 52 ] It was renovated in 1920 after a major fire, and again in 1976 and 1995. [ 53 ] At one time or another, Old Main housed the science labs, the college cafeteria, a pipe organ, and a Fumatorium (smoking room) where students in the early 1900s smoked, talked and played chess.