MidAmerica Nazarene University
Encyclopedia
MidAmerica Nazarene University (MNU) is a Christian liberal arts college
in Olathe, Kansas
. It was established in 1966 by the Church of the Nazarene
.
is located in Olathe, Kansas
, a suburban city southwest of Kansas City
, Missouri
. The land was donated by Robert R. Osborne, a retired banker. Proposed sites for the college also included Wichita
, Topeka, and Ottawa, Kansas
.
, the college receives financial backing from the Nazarene churches on its region; part of each church budget is paid into a fund for its regional school. Each college is also bound by a gentlemen's agreement
not to actively recruit outside its respective educational region. MNU is the college for the North Central Region of the United States, which comprises the Dakota-Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Kansas City, Joplin, and Missouri districts, which include North Dakota
, South Dakota
, Nebraska
, Kansas
, Minnesota
, Iowa
, and Missouri
.
MidAmerica Nazarene is a member of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities
(CCCU) and the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities
(NAICU). MNU has been accredited by the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
since 1974.
in 40 majors
, and seven graduate degrees in education and business. More than half of the full-time faculty at Mid-America Nazarene hold doctoral degrees. The academic calendar is on a semester system. There were 1,720 students at the college in 2007, 1,295 of whom were undergraduates. The 2007 acceptance rate for students who applied to the college was 81.1 percent.
The athletic nickname
is "Pioneers" and the colors are scarlet
, white
, and navy blue
. MNU has men's and women's varsity teams in eight different sports. The teams compete in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
(NAIA) Division I Heart of America Athletic Conference
(HAAC). MNU's athletic facilities include Cook Center (men's and women's volleyball, indoor track, volleyball, and basketball in the Bell Family Arena), Land Gym (volleyball, weight training), MNU Soccer Field, Pioneer Stadium (football, track and field), Robbie Jones Stadium (baseball), and Williams Field (softball).
The men's basketball team won the NAIA Division II basketball championship in 2007 and was the runner up in 2001. The team has been coached by Rocky Lamar (a 1976 MNU graduate) since 1986. It placed second in the NCCAA men's basketball championships
in 1997 and 1998. Including its NAIA title games it has appeared in the Final Four in 2001, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. It moved up to Division I in 2009. The court in the Bell Family Arena is named “Rocky Lamar Court.”.
is a noted author and historian. Vince Snowbarger
is a former U.S. Representative from Kansas and former MNU faculty member of note. In 2006 the school received national publicity when Mark Mangelsdorf pled guilty to participating in the February 28, 1982 murder of David Harmon. At the time of the murder Magelsdorf was president of the student body. In his plea he admitted to conspiring with Melinda Harmon, who was then secretary to the school’s dean of students, to kill her husband David Harmon. Melinda initially told police the murder was conducted by two black men who broke into her home. In 2001 she changed her story and was convicted of first degree murder and implicated Mangelsdorf who had gone on to get a Harvard MBA.
Liberal arts college
A liberal arts college is one with a primary emphasis on undergraduate study in the liberal arts and sciences.Students in the liberal arts generally major in a particular discipline while receiving exposure to a wide range of academic subjects, including sciences as well as the traditional...
in Olathe, Kansas
Olathe, Kansas
Olathe is a city in and the county seat of Johnson County, Kansas, United States. Located in northeastern Kansas, it is also the fifth most populous city in the state, with a population of 125,872 at the 2010 census. As a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri, Olathe is the fourth-largest city in the...
. It was established in 1966 by the Church of the Nazarene
Church of the Nazarene
The Church of the Nazarene is an evangelical Christian denomination that emerged from the 19th century Holiness movement in North America with its members colloquially referred to as Nazarenes. It is the largest Wesleyan-holiness denomination in the world. At the end of 2010, the Church of the...
.
History
Mid-America Nazarene College (MANC) was founded in 1966. In 1996, Mid-America Nazarene College formally changed its name to MidAmerica Nazarene University (MNU).Campus
The 105 acres (42.5 ha) campusCampus
A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls and park-like settings...
is located in Olathe, Kansas
Olathe, Kansas
Olathe is a city in and the county seat of Johnson County, Kansas, United States. Located in northeastern Kansas, it is also the fifth most populous city in the state, with a population of 125,872 at the 2010 census. As a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri, Olathe is the fourth-largest city in the...
, a suburban city southwest of Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
. The land was donated by Robert R. Osborne, a retired banker. Proposed sites for the college also included Wichita
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...
, Topeka, and Ottawa, Kansas
Ottawa, Kansas
Ottawa is a city situated along the Marais des Cygnes River in the central part of Franklin County, located in east-central Kansas, 50 miles southwest of Kansas City, Mo., in the central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 12,649. It is the county seat and most populous...
.
Affiliations
As one of eight U.S. liberal arts colleges affiliated with the Church of the NazareneChurch of the Nazarene
The Church of the Nazarene is an evangelical Christian denomination that emerged from the 19th century Holiness movement in North America with its members colloquially referred to as Nazarenes. It is the largest Wesleyan-holiness denomination in the world. At the end of 2010, the Church of the...
, the college receives financial backing from the Nazarene churches on its region; part of each church budget is paid into a fund for its regional school. Each college is also bound by a gentlemen's agreement
Gentlemen's agreement
A gentlemen's agreement is an informal agreement between two or more parties. It may be written, oral, or simply understood as part of an unspoken agreement by convention or through mutually beneficial etiquette. The essence of a gentlemen's agreement is that it relies upon the honor of the parties...
not to actively recruit outside its respective educational region. MNU is the college for the North Central Region of the United States, which comprises the Dakota-Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Kansas City, Joplin, and Missouri districts, which include North Dakota
North Dakota
North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....
, South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
, Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
, Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
, and Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
.
MidAmerica Nazarene is a member of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities
Council for Christian Colleges and Universities
The Council for Christian Colleges and Universities is an organization designed to help primarily Protestant and evangelical Christian institutions of higher education cooperate and communicate with one another...
(CCCU) and the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities
National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities
Founded in 1976, the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities is an organization of private US colleges and universities...
(NAICU). MNU has been accredited by the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
The North Central Association of Colleges and Schools , also known as the North Central Association, is a membership organization, consisting of colleges, universities, and schools in 19 U.S. states, that is engaged in educational accreditation...
since 1974.
Academics
MNU offers undergraduate degreesAcademic degree
An academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...
in 40 majors
Academic major
In the United States and Canada, an academic major or major concentration is the academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits....
, and seven graduate degrees in education and business. More than half of the full-time faculty at Mid-America Nazarene hold doctoral degrees. The academic calendar is on a semester system. There were 1,720 students at the college in 2007, 1,295 of whom were undergraduates. The 2007 acceptance rate for students who applied to the college was 81.1 percent.
Athletics
- For full article see MidAmerica Nazarene PioneersMidAmerica Nazarene PioneersMidAmerica Nazarene University athletic teams are known as the Pioneers. They participate in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics....
The athletic nickname
Athletic nickname
The athletic nickname, or equivalently athletic moniker, of a university or college within the United States is the name officially adopted by that institution for at least the members of its athletic teams...
is "Pioneers" and the colors are scarlet
Scarlet (color)
Scarlet is a bright red color with a hue that is somewhat toward the orange. It is redder than vermilion. It is a pure chroma on the color wheel one-fourth of the way between red and orange. Scarlet is sometimes used as the color of flame...
, white
White
White is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light that stimulates all three types of color sensitive cone cells in the human eye in nearly equal amounts and with high brightness compared to the surroundings. A white visual stimulation will be void of hue and grayness.White light can be...
, and navy blue
Navy blue
Navy blue is a very dark shade of the color blue which almost appears as black. Navy blue got its name from the dark blue worn by officers in the British Royal Navy since 1748 and subsequently adopted by other navies around the world....
. MNU has men's and women's varsity teams in eight different sports. The teams compete in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics is an athletic association that organizes college and university-level athletic programs. Membership in the NAIA consists of smaller colleges and universities across the United States. The NAIA allows colleges and universities outside the USA...
(NAIA) Division I Heart of America Athletic Conference
Heart of America Athletic Conference
The Heart of America Athletic Conference is a college athletic conference affiliated with the NAIA. Member institutions are located in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska in the United States....
(HAAC). MNU's athletic facilities include Cook Center (men's and women's volleyball, indoor track, volleyball, and basketball in the Bell Family Arena), Land Gym (volleyball, weight training), MNU Soccer Field, Pioneer Stadium (football, track and field), Robbie Jones Stadium (baseball), and Williams Field (softball).
Student life
Enrollment comprises approximately 1,300 undergraduate and 200 graduate students, mostly from the North Central United States. Men and women are fairly equal in number. Over 25 percent of undergraduate students are over 25 years old. Members of the traditional undergraduate population who do not live locally with relatives must reside in campus housing. Students also attend chapel services and must follow the college's policy of no smoking, drinking, or gambling. Students participate in religious and service organizations, musical and theatrical groups, publications, intramural sports, and varsity sports.The men's basketball team won the NAIA Division II basketball championship in 2007 and was the runner up in 2001. The team has been coached by Rocky Lamar (a 1976 MNU graduate) since 1986. It placed second in the NCCAA men's basketball championships
NCCAA men's basketball championships
The following is a list of National Christian College Athletic Association Men's Basketball champions:-Champions by year:...
in 1997 and 1998. Including its NAIA title games it has appeared in the Final Four in 2001, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. It moved up to Division I in 2009. The court in the Bell Family Arena is named “Rocky Lamar Court.”.
Notable people
Alumnus Randall J. StephensRandall J. Stephens
Randall J. Stephens is a noted author, editor, and historian of American religion.-Career:Stephens is the editor of the Journal of Southern Religion, for Florida State University, and of Historically Speaking from the Johns Hopkins University Press, for Boston University...
is a noted author and historian. Vince Snowbarger
Vince Snowbarger
Vincent K. "Vince" Snowbarger was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Kansas.Snowbarger was born in Kankakee, Illinois. He graduated from Southern Nazarene University in 1971 with a B.A., the University of Illinois in 1974 with an M.A., and he received a law...
is a former U.S. Representative from Kansas and former MNU faculty member of note. In 2006 the school received national publicity when Mark Mangelsdorf pled guilty to participating in the February 28, 1982 murder of David Harmon. At the time of the murder Magelsdorf was president of the student body. In his plea he admitted to conspiring with Melinda Harmon, who was then secretary to the school’s dean of students, to kill her husband David Harmon. Melinda initially told police the murder was conducted by two black men who broke into her home. In 2001 she changed her story and was convicted of first degree murder and implicated Mangelsdorf who had gone on to get a Harvard MBA.