There are a lot of schools in the U.S. with the word “Wesleyan” in them. That’s because the founder of Methodism was named John Wesley, prompting about 20 unrelated colleges and universities (some of which, like our University, are now secular) to incorporate his name.

In fact, most of the other “Wesleyan” schools could not be more different from this one (see Kansas Wesleyan University for example). Here’s a run-down of our fellow Wesleyans, including their locations, school colors, mascots, mottos, and random facts.

 

Dakota Wesleyan University

Location: Mitchell, S.D.

School colors: Royal blue and white.

Mascot: the Tigers.

Motto: “Sacrifice or Service.”

Fun fact: The nursing graduates at Dakota Wesleyan University have a 100-percent job-placement rate.

 

Illinois Wesleyan University

Location: Bloomington, Ill.

School colors: White and green.

Mascot: Tommy the Titan.

Motto: “Knowledge and Wisdom.”

Fun fact: The student newspaper of Illinois Wesleyan University is also called The Argus.

 

Indiana Wesleyan University

Location: Marion, Ind.

School colors: Red and gray.

Mascot: Wesley the Wildcat.

Motto: “Character. Scholarship. Leadership.”

Fun fact: Indiana Wesleyan University uses the Slate Standard font family as the primary sans serif type for its communications in all media, according to its website.

 

Iowa Wesleyan University

Location: Mt. Pleasant, Iowa.

School colors: Purple and white.

Mascot: the Tigers.

Motto: “Learning in Community: An Academic Vision.”

Fun fact: The Harlan-Lincoln House (named for Senator James Harlan, who befriended the Lincolns in the 1850s and 1860s, and whose daughter Mary married Lincoln’s son Robert), now a museum, contains a fragment of the coat that Abraham Lincoln was wearing when he was assassinated, as well as Mary Todd Lincoln’s mourning veil.

 

Kansas Wesleyan University

Location: Salina, Kan.

School colors: Purple and gold.

Mascot: the Coyotes.

Motto: “Victory not without Toil.”

Fun fact: According to the school’s website, Salina, Kan., which has a population of 50,000, is “the retail hub of north central Kansas.” The city’s Public Works Dept. has also put in place a snow rodeo contest.

 

Kentucky Wesleyan College

Location: Owensboro, Ky.

School colors: Purple and white.

Mascot: the Panthers.

Motto: “Find Yourself.”

Fun fact: In 1905, the main college building burned to the ground. The one surviving limestone ornament on the façade—the bust of Minerva, the Roman Goddess of Wisdom—is now mounted publicly on campus.

 

Nebraska Wesleyan University

Location: Lincoln, Neb.

School colors: Black and gold.

Mascot: the Prairie Wolves.

Motto: n/a

Fun fact: The first graduating class in 1890 was made up of four women. The next year, 1891, four men graduated.

 

North Carolina Wesleyan College

Location: Rocky Mount, N.C.

School colors: Blue and gold.

Mascot: the Battling Bishops.

Motto: “Wisdom and Courage through Christian Education.”

Fun fact: Only 650 students attend North Carolina Wesleyan College at its Rocky Mount campus, but it has additional campuses for degree-seeking adults in Goldsboro, Greenville, Raleigh-Durham, Brunswick, Washington, Greenville, Manteo, New Bern, and Wilmington.

 

Ohio Wesleyan University

Location: Delaware, Ohio

School colors: Red and black.

Mascot: the Battling Bishops.

Motto: “In Your Light We Shall See the Light.”

Fun fact: In 1841, Ohio Wesleyan University founders Adam Poe and Charles Elliott purchased the Mansion House Hotel in Delaware, Ohio, which served as a health resort because of its Sulfur Spring. The building is now called Elliott Hall, and it houses the International Studies, Politics and Government, History, Sociology, and Anthropology Departments.

 

Oklahoma Wesleyan University

Location: Bartlesville, Okla.

School colors: University navy and red.

Mascot: the Eagles.

Motto: “A university where Jesus is Lord.”

Fun fact: Oklahoma Wesleyan University recently filed a lawsuit against the Obama administration regarding the Affordable Healthcare Act’s mandate to provide insurance coverage for abortions and contraception.

In an article published by RedState.com, the president of Oklahoma Wesleyan University wrote, “We are filing suit because we believe in the dignity of women. We are tired of and offended by their objectification. We believe that girls should be honored and respected and not used as objects of sexual recreation and conquest. We believe that women should be respected and not treated as toys that can simply be purged of the ‘inconvenient’ and the ‘unwanted’ after men shamelessly use and abuse them for their own selfish whims.”

 

Roberts Wesleyan College

Location: North Chili, N.Y.

School color: Red.

Mascot: Reggie the Redhawk.

Motto: “Education for Character.”

Fun fact: Juan Pablo Galavis, a former professional soccer player and contestant on “The Bachelor,” graduated from RWC in 2001.

 

Southern Wesleyan University

Location: Central, S.C.

School color: Royal blue.

Mascots: the Warriors and the Lady Warriors.

Motto: n/a

Fun fact: Southern Wesleyan University has also called itself the Wesleyan Methodist Bible Institute (1906), Wesleyan Methodist College (1909), and Central Wesleyan College (1963). It switched to its current name in 1994.

 

Tennessee Wesleyan University

Location: Athens, Tenn.

School colors: Blue, gold, and white.

Mascot: the Bulldogs.

Motto: “Light and Truth.”

Fun fact: John T. Raulston, a judge in the 1925 Scopes Trial (the famous creationism-evolution debate that convicted a schoolteacher, John Scopes, for teaching evolution in the classroom) graduated from TWU, then called U.S. Grant University, in the 1890s.

 

Texas Wesleyan University

Location: Fort Worth, Texas

School colors: Blue and gold.

Mascots: Willie and Wilma the Rams.

Motto: “Knowledge and Vital Piety.”

Fun fact: Since the 1980s, Texas Wesleyan University has offered a graduate program in nurse anesthesia.

 

Virginia Wesleyan College

Location: Norfolk, Va.

School colors: Blue and silver.

Mascot: Bob Marlin.

Motto: “Coastal Virginia’s premier private national liberal arts college.”

Fun fact: VWU’s campus boasts an arboretum, named Wilson Arboretum.

 

Wesleyan College

Location: Macon, Ga.

School colors: Deep purple and lavender.

Mascot: the Wolves.

Motto: “First for Women.”

Fun fact: Each class at Wesleyan College is assigned a class name; the four class names cycle with the incoming classes. The classes are the Green Knights, the Purple Knights, the Red Pirates, and the Golden Hearts. The Green and Purple Knights are sister classes, as are the Golden Hearts and Red Pirates.

 

West Virginia Wesleyan College

Location: Buckhannon, W.Va.

School colors: Orange and black.

Mascots: the Bobcats and the Lady Bobcats.

Motto: n/a

Fun fact: Ted Cassidy, who played Lurch on “The Addams Family” and voiced Ben Grimm (a.k.a. “The Thing”) in “The New Fantastic Four,” as well as the opening of the TV series “The Incredible Hulk,” briefly attended West Virginia Wesleyan College.