Asbury University

Asbury College was established on September 2, 1890 by John Wesley Hughes in Wilmore, Kentucky.[6] It was originally called the Kentucky Holiness College, but was later renamed after Bishop Francis Asbury, the "Father of American Methodism" and a circuit-riding evangelist. Asbury College, which took on its new name in 1891, was instrumental in Methodist education in central Kentucky, having founded the state's first Methodist school, Bethel Academy, in 1790; its site lies near High Bridge, only about four miles (6 km) south of Wilmore.[7] 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.[8]

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.[9]

The college's immediate past president, Sandra C. Gray, was inaugurated as the seventeenth president of Asbury on October 5, 2007.[10] 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 Howard & Beverly Dayton School of Business.[11] He was inaugurated as the eighteenth president on March 6, 2020.[12]

Students come from 44 states and 43 countries. Nearly 90 percent of the university's students live on campus. Eighty-two percent of the school's faculty hold terminal degrees in their field of study. The university offers master's degrees in education and alternative certification programs. Internships, exchange programs, missions, and community service opportunities are available and are part of the curriculum in nearly every major.[18] Asbury has a large general education requirement ranging from 39 to 57 semester hours. The college has a 12:1 student to faculty ratio. The school has a retention rate of 82 percent on average.[19]

Undergraduate programs are divided into three distinct units:

• College of Arts and Sciences
• School of Communication
• School of Education

The School of Graduate and Professional Studies houses all graduate programs.[20]

The Asbury athletic teams are called the Eagles. The university is a member of the NCAA Division III ranks, primarily competing as an NCAA D-III Independent under provisional/reclassifying status since the 2021–22 academic year.[21] They are also a member of the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA), primarily competing as an independent in the Mid-East Region of the Division I level. The Eagles previously competed competing in the River States Conference (RSC; formerly known as the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (KIAC) until after the 2015–16 school year) of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 1971–72 to 2020–21.

Asbury competes in 17 intercollegiate varsity sports:[22] Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, swimming, tennis and track & field; while women's sports include basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track & field and volleyball; and co-ed sports include cheerleading. Club sports include roundnet, disc golf, and pickleball.

Track & field is the school's most recent varsity program and will begin competition in the 2023–24 academic year.[23]

• 
  The official colors for Asbury University are Purple and White, as worn by these students.
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  The administration building.
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  The arches overlooking the green provide cover from the elements and from snow during the winter months.
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  Miller Center for Media Communications.
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  The Student Center.
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  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.
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  The Kinlaw Library

There are more than 20,000 living alumni, who live in all 50 US states and at least 80 countries.[18] Notable alumni include:

• Frederick Bohn Fisher (Class of 1902) – Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church in India
• Andrew N. Johnson (Class of 1903) – Methodist minister, U.S. vice presidential candidate from the Prohibition Party (1944)
• Luther B. Bridgers (Class of 1906 – did not graduate, Honorary Doctorate 1921) – pastor, evangelist, hymnwriter ("He Keeps Me Singing")
• E. Stanley Jones (AB, 1907) – Missionary, Evangelist, Author, and Theologian
• J. Waskom Pickett (Class of 1907) – Missionary to India
• Lela G. McConnell (Class of 1924) – founder of the Kentucky Mountain Holiness Association
• Z.T. Johnson (Class of 1925) – Methodist minister, Asbury College President (1940–1966)
• Edward L.R. Elson (Class of 1928) – pastor of National Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C.; Chaplain of the United States Senate (1969–1981)
• Anna Talbott McPherson (Class of 1929) – author of more than 22 biographies, book illustrator and artist
• James B. Pritchard (Class of 1930) – Biblical archaeologist
• Mack B. Stokes (Class of 1932) – a Bishop of the United Methodist Church
• Cornelius R. Hager (Class of 1934) – three-time President of Asbury College (1967–1968; 1981–1983; 1992–1993)
• Laton E. Holmgren (Class of 1936) – General Secretary of the American Bible Society (1963–1978)
• Wayne K. Clymer (AB, 1939) – a Bishop of the United Methodist Church
• Dennis F. Kinlaw (Class of 1943) – Author, Theologian, Evangelist, Asbury College President (1968–81; 1986–91)
• Rosalind Rinker (Class of 1945) – Author of Prayer: Conversing with God, selected by Christianity Today magazine as the #1 most influential book shaping the way evangelicals think
• Ben Campbell Johnson (Class of 1953) - Professor Emeritus of Evangelism at Columbia Theological Seminary, Author
• Dean Jones (Class of 1953 – did not graduate, Honorary Degree 2002) – actor
• Ernie Steury (Class of 1953) – Missionary Doctor, Tenwek Hospital, Kenya
• Paul Rader (Class of 1956) – General of Salvation Army (1994–1999), Asbury College President (2000–2006)
• Joe Frank Harris (Class of 1958) – former Governor of Georgia
• Janice Shaw Crouse (Class of 1961) – Senior Fellow at the Beverly LaHaye Institute of Concerned Women for America
• Joseph R. Pitts (Class of 1961) – United States Representative from Pennsylvania
• Ted Strickland (AB, 1963) – former Democratic Governor of Ohio and former U.S. Representative
• Leopold Frade (Class of 1965 – did not graduate) – Third Bishop of Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida and former Bishop of Honduras
• David Hager (Class of 1968) – Physician, Author
• Stephen W. Wood (Class of 1973) – past member of the North Carolina General Assembly
• Steve Smith (Class of 1977) – Head Basketball Coach at Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, VA
• Sue Bell Cobb (Class of 1978) – former Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court (first woman to hold this position)
• Joe Hilley (Class of 1978) – New York Times best-selling author
• Jody Hice (Class of 1980) - United States Representative from Georgia
• Stevenson Kuartei (Class of 1980) - Senator, Palau National Congress;[25] Minister of Health, Republic of Palau (2008-12); Physician and Author[26]
• Gregory Van Tatenhove (Class of 1982) – Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky
• Andy Merrill (Class of 1990) – Voice artist, Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Cartoon Planet, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and The Brak Show
• Jessica Ditto (Class of 2004) – White House Deputy Director of Communications for the Donald J. Trump administration
• Nathan W. Pyle (Class of 2004) - cartoonist and writer

• Holiness movement – Set of beliefs and practices which emerged from 19th-century Methodism
• Ichthus Festival – Christian music festival in Kentucky

• Deuwel, Wesley (1995). Revival Fire. Zondervan.
• Hughes, John Wesley (1923). The Autobiography of John Wesley Hughes. Pentecostal Publishing.
• Jones, E. Stanley (1968). A Song of Ascents. Abingdon Press.
• McKinley, Edward H. "A History of Asbury College Chronology".
• Morrison, Henry Clay (1941). Some Chapters of My Life Story. Pentecostal Publishing.
• Thacker, Joseph A. Jr. (1990). Asbury College: Vision and Miracle. Evangel Press.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Asbury University.

• Official website
• Official athletics website