Defiance College

Defiance College is an independent, co-educational, four-year liberal arts college located on a 150-acre campus in a residential area of small town Defiance, Ohio, United States. The campus includes eighteen buildings and access to the 200-acre Thoreau Wildlife Sanctuary.

The College's Mission Statement is:"We seek to inspire within our students a search for truth, a sensitivity to our world and the diverse cultures within it, the ability to lead in their chosen professions, and a spirit of service. We want them To Know, To Lead, To Serve, and To Understand."

Although a quiet small-town midwestern campus, the student body historically has drawn many students from the east coast and internationally. Although it is related to the United Church of Christ, and key administrative positions historically have been filled by trained clergy, the college does not prosetlyize, preferring to teach Christianity by example. The small-town atmosphere, student life, athletics, and the school's work in field of service learning, and pituresque campus helped the college to regognized as one of the best colleges for 2008 by U.S. News and World Report.

History

The school was founded as Defiance Female Seminary in 1850 by the Christian Church to provide schooling for young women. William Curtis Holgate, a local businessman, donated most of the Defiance College campus. In 1903 the Defiance Female Seminary formally became Defiance College, making it one of only two religious-affiliated colleges to begin operation in Ohio during the twentieth century.

The Christian Church was one of four denominations that united in 1957 to become the United Church of Christ, with which Defiance College continues to be affiliated. Both men and women of all religious backgrounds are welcomed at the institution. Defiance College emphasizes service learning and requires all of its students to participate in community-service activities in order to graduate.

McCann Era

In the early 1950s President Dwight D. Eisenhower paid two visits to Defiance College. On October 15, 1953, he laid the cornerstone for Anthony Wayne Library (more properly, the "Anthony Wayne Library of American Study". When he re-visited the campus on May 26, 1963 to deliver the commencement addressaddress, the college announced that one room in the library had been designated "the Eisenhower room", honoring the friendship between Eisenhower and Kevin C. McCann, the president of the college at the time.

Mysteries and Losses

Defiance College lost a number of buildings in the 1950s and 1960s to mysterious fires. The fire at Weston Hall was particularly devastating, as it contained many treasures.

On September 30th, 1963, when professor Erwin J. Urch failed to show up for classes, Dean Kurtz investigated to see if he was okay, as Urch lived alone. Urch was missing, as was his car and his car keys. The other objects one would normally find in a man's pockets--penknife, wallet, change--were lying openly on the table, and no signs of misadventure were present. His family was not close, and he had no known enemies. He did not communicate regularly with his family, and they claimed not to have heard from him. No withdrawals had been made from his bank savings. He was declared dead by the courts in 1970, but neither he, nor his car, were ever spotted again.

When enrollments bloomed in the mid-1960s, Defiance constructed five inexpensive one-story slab-construction dormitories called the Pilgrim Halls as honors housing. The buildings were built near a slope, and the ground underneath eroded, making the original use of the buildings unwise.

Defiance College is an independent, co-educational, four-year liberal arts college located on a 150-acre campus in a residential area of small town Defiance, Ohio, United States. The campus includes eighteen buildings and access to the 200-acre Thoreau Wildlife Sanctuary.

The College's Mission Statement is:"We seek to inspire within our students a search for truth, a sensitivity to our world and the diverse cultures within it, the ability to lead in their chosen professions, and a spirit of service. We want them To Know, To Lead, To Serve, and To Understand."