Founded in 1837, DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, is a selective private liberal arts college with a 2002 enrollment of 2,339. The school has a Methodist heritage. The school was originally known as Indiana Asbury College, after Francis Asbury, the first American bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church. It first admitted women in 1867. Indiana Asbury College changed its name to DePauw University in the 1870's, after Washington C. DePauw donated a very generous $600,000 to the University. The DePauw family took a further interest in the school by helping to establish the college's School of Music in 1884. It remains one of the oldest Schools of Music in the nation. DePauw University is also a member of the Great Lakes Colleges Association.

Campus

DePauw University consists of 36 major buildings spread out over a spacious 655 acre (2.7 km²) campus that includes a 480 acre (1.9 km²) nature park, and is located approximately 45 miles to the west of Indianapolis, Indiana. There are 11 residence halls, 4 theme houses, and 31 University-owned houses and apartments spread throughout the campus. The oldest building on campus, East College , was built in 1877 and is listed on the Register of Historic Landmarks. DePauw is also home to McKim Observatory .

Academic calendar

DePauw University's schedule is divided into an unique 4-1-4 calendar. Besides the 15-week Autumn and Spring Semesters, there is also a 4-week Winter Term. Students take only one course during the Winter Term and is either used as a laid-back period on campus or for students to participate in domestic or international internship programs.

Faculty

DePauw University prides itself on having a student-faculty ratio of 10:1 and not having a single class with more than 50 students. Among its faculty is mathematician Underwood Dudley, known for his humorous skeptical books, including Mathematical Cranks and The Trisectors.

Greek life

DePauw University has the largest Greek fraternity/sorority population per capita of any college in the United States. Twelve national social fraternities and 10 sororities have houses on campus. Formal recruitment for men and women is held early second semester.

Athletics

The DePauw Tigers compete in the NCAA Division III Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC). Every year since 1911, DePauw University has played its rival Wabash College in the Monon Bell Classic.

Technology

Based on a "criteria for the rankings included: number of school-owned computers available, breadth of the computer science curriculum, the sophistication of campus technology, availability of school-owned digital cameras and equipment for student use, wireless Internet access on campus, and support for handheld computing," DePauw University was ranked the third most connected school in the United States by the 2004 Princeton Review.

Notable alumni

• Dan Quayle - 44th Vice President of the United States under George H. W. Bush
• Vernon Jordan Jr. - noted broker and executive, fromer president of the National Urban League, personal friend and advisor to Bill Clinton
• Barbara Kingsolver - contemporary fiction writer, founder of Bellwether Prize for "literature of social change"
• John Jakes - novelist
• Lee Hamilton - vice chair of the 9-11 Commission and currently serves on the Homeland Security Advisory Council

External links and references

• Official website