Bishop Points of Pride

Take a look at Ohio Wesleyan and the University Advancement’s up-to-date stats, figures and accomplishments.

On the Campus

  • Faculty members continue their work to enhance the curriculum, adding majors in communication, data analytics, environmental science, film studies, Middle Eastern studies, nutrition, and social justice.

  • OWU adds the Bachelor of Science to its list of degrees, which also includes the Bachelor of Arts, Music, and Fine Arts.

  • OWU creates a Global Studies Institute utilizing a four-year, $135,000 Innovation Fund grant from the Global Crossroads Initiative of the Great Lakes Colleges Association  (GLCA).

  • OWU adds men’s wrestling and women’s rowing. Each will begin as a club sport in 2017-2018 and transition to varsity competition in 2018-2019. The additions increase Ohio Wesleyan’s complement of varsity sports to 25, with 13 for women and 12 for men.

  • OWU expands its extracurricular offerings by adding marching band for fall 2018.

  • The OWU New York Arts Program celebrates 50 years of providing a premier, immersive arts education experience and will debut in fall 2017 new student housing located within the New Yorker Hotel in midtown Manhattan.

Student, Faculty & Alumni Highlights

  • Michael Mora-Brenes ’17 earns a 2016-2017 Charles Ping Student Service Award for his work to address language and other issues affecting immigrants, migrants, and refugees. The Ping Award is presented by the Ohio Campus Compact to recognize undergraduate students for “outstanding leadership and contributions to community service or service-learning on their campus and within their community.”

  • Cirrus Robinson ’20 wins the championship in the high jump at the NCAA Division III indoor track & field meet. With the win, she becomes the second OWU woman to win an individual national championship. In 1982, Julie Bredenbeck ’84 won the national championship in the discus.

  • Battling Bishop point guard Nate Axelrod ’18 receives All- America and Academic All-America® honors, is named the North Coast Athletic Conference’s Offensive Player of the Year, and is a first-team All-NCAC selection.

  • Sarah Fowler ’17 is named Ohio Women’s Division III Runner of the Year for the second year in a row by the Ohio Intercollegiate Cross Country Coaches Association. She also becomes the first Ohio Wesleyan woman to win multiple All- America® citations in women’s cross country.

  • Randy Quaye, Ph.D., associate professor of Black World Studies, earns his second Fulbright Scholarship. He will conduct research into health care financing in East Africa and assist Tanzania’s University of Dar Es Salaam with its Master’s Degree program in Public Health.

  • Music professor Jennifer Jolley, D.M.A., earns national recognition for her composition “Prisoner of Conscience,” written about the Russian band Pussy Riot. For the piece, created in collaboration with librettist Kendall A of Cincinnati, Jolley is named a finalist in The American Prize in Composition – Choral competition.

  • History professor Michael W. Flamm, Ph.D., publishes “In the Heat of the Summer: The New York Riots of 1964 and the War on Crime.” The book examines the 1964 shooting death of a 15-year-old African American boy by a white, off-duty police officer igniting the first of the “long, hot summers” of protests.

  • English professor Amy Butcher, M.F.A., publishes works in Harper’s Magazine, The Washington Post, and The New York Times. Her Harper’s piece discusses Alaska, solitary travel, and contemporary feminism – the topic of her next book.

  • Byron Pitts ’82, “Nightline” co-anchor and “ABC News” chief national correspondent, earns the 2017 Horatio Alger Award, which “honors the achievements of outstanding leaders who have accomplished remarkable successes in spite of adversity.”

  • Maxim “Max” Razmakhin ’10 earns a spot on Forbes’ 2017 list of “30 Under 30” leaders in the food and drink category. In 2014, he co-founded Thirstie, Inc., an e-commerce platform for the retail alcohol industry, with fellow alumnus Devaraj Southworth ’94.

  • Noah Manskar ’15, assistant managing  editor and reporter for The Island Now in Williston Park, New York, earns five 2017 awards at the New York Press Association’s Better Newspaper contest.

Where we stand

  • Thanks to the generosity of alumni, parents, and friends, Ohio Wesleyan celebrated a third straight record fundraising year, with more than $30.67 million contributed. The OWU Fund and Team OWU exceeded goals, several new endowments were created, and important capital gifts were received.

  • City Challenge 2017 was a huge success with a total of 910 gifts and $565,418 in 48 hours. Thank you to everyone who participated and congratulations to Cleveland for most dollars raised and to Charlotte for highest participation rate.

  • The number of OWU Tower Society members reached 1,033, with 35 new members joining during the most recent fiscal year. The Tower Society, founded in 1990, recognizes those who include the University in their estate plans.

  • Ohio Wesleyan’s endowment stands at nearly $213 million as of June 30, 2016. The endowment provides income and support now and into the future for every aspect of the University’s operations, including helping to make tuition more affordable for students.

  • Ohio Wesleyan has approximately 39,700 living alumni.

Why your gifts matter

  • 96% of OWU students receive merit-based and/or need-based financial aid.

  • 44% of each student’s educational experience is financed by philanthropy.

  • More than 375 students receive tuition assistance from endowed scholarships.

  • Endowed funds support: scholarships, professorships, The OWU Connection, student internship/externship opportunities, student-faculty collaborative research projects, Theory-to-Practice Grants, facilities, maintenance, and lecture series.

  • $14 million is awarded in OWU grants and scholarships annually to first-year students.