Lindenwood University is a private university in St. Charles, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1832 by George Champlin Sibley and Mary Easton Sibley as The Lindenwood School for Girls, it is the second-oldest higher-education institution west of the Mississippi River. Lindenwood offers undergraduate and graduate degrees through nine colleges and schools. Its enrollment was 6,992 students in 2021. The main academic and residential campus is located northwest of St. Louis, Missouri, in St. Charles.

History

Founding and early history

thumb|right|alt=Tree-lined entrance of the Lindenwood University|Tree-lined entrance in the historic part of the Lindenwood University campus

Lindenwood University traces its roots back to George Champlin Sibley, an early 19th-century American explorer, soldier, Indian agent, and politician, and his wife Mary Easton Sibley, an educator. In 1808, Acting Governor and friend Frederick Bates promoted Sibley to the position of chief factor at Fort Osage in western Missouri, near present-day Kansas City, Missouri. While at Fort Osage, Sibley immediately set to work creating relationships with the neighboring Osage tribes. He also met Mary Easton, the daughter of Rufus Easton, a prominent St. Louis attorney and Missouri's second Attorney General. The couple were married in 1815. During the Sibleys' time at Fort Osage, Mary began teaching the children at the fort.

In 1813, Sibley opened a temporary trading post at Fort Sibley, now known as the town of Arrow Rock, Missouri, which remained in operation until 1822. After the trading post shut down, George and Mary remained at Fort Osage, with George serving as postmaster until the fort closed in 1825. Lindenwood University is now considered the second-oldest higher-education institution west of the Mississippi River, after Saint Louis University, as well as the first women's college west of the Mississippi. In 1829, the Sibleys purchased of land, known as the "Linden Wood" because of the numerous linden trees. The Sibleys borrowed money and began converting the propoerty into a farm with livestock brought from Fort Osage. They built a cabin and outhouses and moved into Linden Wood in December 1829. As the work on Linden Wood continued, the idea of opening a boarding school evolved.

thumb|left|alt=Sibley Hall 1912|Sibley Hall, as it appeared in 1912

By the 1840s, the boarding school had grown to 30 students. As the enrollment expanded, the Sibleys added new rooms to the cabin. The continued improvements created a financial strain on the school and Mary Sibley traveled to the East Coast to solicit additional funding.

George Sibley died in 1863. Following his death, the college charter was amended in 1870 to provide that the appointment of directors for the management of the college would be under the control of the Synod of Missouri instead of the Presbytery of St. Louis. The college used the funds to establish a permanent endowment and moved from a two-year to a four-year curriculum. In 1970, the college started offering evening classes and in 1976 began awarding master's degrees. Spellmann immediately began to implement changes, eliminating co-ed dorms, placing the emphasis on a "values-centered" approach in the classroom, and eliminating tenure.

The university began an extensive expansion of academic, residential, and athletic facilities starting in the mid-1990s which included construction of eight new residence halls, the Spellmann Campus Center, Lou Brock Sports Complex, and Harlen C. Hunter Stadium, as well as extensions to Ayres Hall and Harmon Hall. A change that caused controversy for the school was the "Pork for Tuition" program At the time, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals staged a small protest in Saint Charles in response to the program. In 2006, Dennis Spellmann died

Recent history

thumb|right|alt=Picture of J. Scheidegger Center for the Arts|J. Scheidegger Center for the Arts

Expansion continued under Evans. The J. Scheidegger Center for the Arts, a performance and fine arts center, opened in late 2008 at a cost of $32 million. The university also constructed new dormitories and began building a new home for university presidents. Construction of Evans Commons began in 2009 and was completed during the summer of 2011. In 2011, Lindenwood University became the Lindenwood University System. Lindenwood University-Belleville transitioned from a satellite campus to a separately accredited college. The university was notified of the accrediting decision in November by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. Under the new accreditation, Lindenwood University-Belleville will keep the same name and the same governing board as the St. Charles campus, now considered to be a sister school as part of the Lindenwood University System. By 2010, Lindenwood University's endowment had reached $148 million. Lindenwood plans to construct a new administrative building, as well as additional dorms and campus facilities, and expand enrollment to over 20,000 students. The university and the DESCO Group announced in February 2011 that the St. Charles City Council had approved a resolution supporting the Lindenwood Town Center, a planned $30 million development that includes a shopping center, retail/business plaza, hotel, and apartment-style student housing complexes.

In the fall of 2012, the university announced it had purchased the property that was previously home to the Barat Academy. The facility opened in 2007 and was used by the private high school until it was evicted in 2011 and relocated to a smaller property. Lindenwood purchased the facility for $8.1 million with plans to enlarge classrooms and add chemistry labs. The university hired Peggy Ellis as the dean of the program. Ellis had served since 2005 as the associate dean of graduate studies at the St. Louis University nursing school.

In May 2014, the Lindenwood University Board of Directors approved plans for a 100,000-square-foot Library and Academic Resources Center off First Capitol Drive, adjacent to the Welcome Center on the St. Charles campus. In 2015, Lindenwood announced the construction of the new facility, which will replace the 36,000-square-foot Margaret Leggat Butler Library, built in 1929. The new Academic Resources Center building will bring together a variety of student services under one roof, including the Writing Center, Student and Academic Support Services (SASS), Career Services, English as a Second Language, the Office of International Students and Scholars, and Lindenwood Online, all of which were involved in putting together the proposal for the new structure. The building will also include classroom space and an expanded coffee shop. Completion is expected in the latter part of 2016. The university formerly owned the Daniel Boone historic site in Defiance, Missouri southwest of the St. Charles campus. The historic site was donated to the people of St. Charles County in April 2016.

In 2023, the university acquired Dorsey College, a for-profit trade school with seven campuses in Michigan. The school also made large cutbacks removing nine staff positions and ten sports programs including men's tennis, lacrosse, and wrestling.

Campus

thumb|right|alt=Sibley Hall after snowfall|Historic Sibley Hall on the Lindenwood University campus after a fresh snowfall in 2011

The main campus is located in historic St. Charles, Missouri, on high ground overlooking downtown St. Charles and the Missouri River. Its buildings range from historic 19th-century buildings to modern on-going construction projects. The campus stretches roughly one mile from southwest to northeast and is divided by a meandering stream. To the west, the campus is bordered by Duchesne Drive with Droste Road and West Clay Street forming the southern boundary. First Capitol Drive runs along the eastern edge of the campus and Gamble St. adjoins its north side. The eastern part of campus is the location of many of the academic buildings and contains the Margaret Leggat Butler Library, the university's main academic library. It was the original building for the Linden Wood School for Girls, Numerous mysterious incidents have occurred over the years, and legends say that Sibley Hall is haunted by the ghost of Mary Sibley. The modern student center houses a cafeteria, a coffee shop, the Student Health Center, Student Activities Office, student media publications and student-run radio station, as well as office, classroom, and meeting spaces. The stadium is the home of Lindenwood Lions football, men's and women's soccer, women's field hockey, and both men's and women's lacrosse programs.

To the northwest of the stadium is the 3,270-seat Robert F. Hyland Performance Arena. This was built in 1997 and is home to both men's and women's basketball, volleyball, wrestling, table tennis, dance, and cheerleading teams. The facility also includes the athletic department offices and classroom space. Evans Commons is being constructed adjacent to the Hyland Arena. Construction for the $20 million student center began in May 2009.

thumb|right|alt=Southwestern portions of the Lindenwood University campus|Field House, various residence halls, and president's house in the southwestern portions of the campus

The southern and western areas of campus contain much of the new construction. The Scheidegger Center is also the home of the School of Fine and Performing Arts.

To the northwest of the Scheidegger Center is the Lou Brock Sports Complex. the university's 19 residence halls segregated into male and female facilities. Each residence hall has a live-in resident director and three assistant resident directors. a rapidly growing loft district in the city. Lindenwood also operates regional centers in Daniel Boone Campus, Florissant, Moscow Mills, O'Fallon, South County, Downtown St. Louis, Westport, Weldon Spring, Wildwood, and the former Southern Air Restaurant in Wentzville.

Lindenwood University – Belleville

In 2008, Lindenwood University announced plans to expand facilities at Lindenwood University – Belleville and increased academic programs from an adult continuing education structure to offer traditional daytime semester-based programs. Starting in the fall of 2009, LU–Belleville began offering courses in business administration, communications, criminal justice, and health management. The Lindenwood University at Belleville sports teams were known the "Lynx" and competed in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and its American Midwest Conference (AMC) until 2020. Previously, programs were only offered for junior- and senior-level students during the first semester of traditional daytime classes. These programs have now been extended to underclassman. Lindenwood expected to enroll 2,000 daytime students at the Belleville campus within the next 5 to 10 years of expanding it to a residential campus. In November 2011, Lindenwood University–Belleville completed the transition from satellite campus of Lindenwood University to a full-fledged, stand-alone college. Lindenwood University–Belleville was considered to be sister school of Lindenwood University in St. Charles, and while the two schools share a name and governing board, the Belleville campus was no longer under direct operation of the St. Charles campus.

On August 1, 2015, Brett Barger began serving as interim president of the Belleville campus. The interim title was removed and Barger was appointed president of the Lindenwood University Belleville campus in October 2015. Barger is a longtime member of the Lindenwood family, having first arrived at the St. Charles campus as a student in 1990. He was hired in 1994 and has three Lindenwood degrees – EdD, MBA, and BA. He previously served as the associate vice president for operations and finance. Barger replaced Jerry Bladdick, who left Lindenwood for a new position in Florida.

In 2019, citing "ongoing financial and enrollment challenges", the Lindenwood University Board of Trustees announced that LU–Belleville will cease to offer traditional semester-based undergraduate programs after the 2019–20 academic year. Students enrolled at the Belleville campus will be allowed to transfer to the St. Charles campus, who promised to honor all financial aid guarantees. The decision will revert the Belleville location back to an extension site for evening programs.

Academics

Lindenwood University offers 121 degree programs. The university is classified as a Master's college and university. In 2007, Lindenwood began offering doctoral programs, starting with a Doctorate of Education program that prepares students for the field of educational administration.

The Lindenwood University Press produces a number of publications in the fields of international and global studies, literary magazines, American studies, and American history.

LU is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC). Lindenwood has been accredited by HLC or its predecessor since 1921.

The university offers bachelor's degrees, master's degrees, and doctoral degrees through its colleges:

  • College of Arts and Humanities
  • Robert W. Plaster College of Business & Entrepreneurship
  • College of Education and Human Services
  • College of Science, Technology, and Health

Rankings

In the 2020 U.S. News & World Report Best College rankings, Lindenwood was ranked #293–381 among national universities. Lindenwood ranked 327 out of 395 in the National Universities category of The Washington Monthlys 2019 University Rankings.

Faculty and research

Lindenwood has a student-faculty ratio of 13:1 and an average class size of 25 students. Unlike many universities, Lindenwood does not use graduate students to teach classes.

Lindenwood is home to the John W. Hammond Institute for Free Enterprise, which was founded in 2013 and comprises three focus centers: the Center for Economics and the Environment, the Liberty and Ethics Center, and the Duree Center for Entrepreneurship. The Hammond Institute is under the direction of Howard J. Wall, a former vice president and economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, who joined Lindenwood in 2011 as director of the Institute for the Study of Economics and the Environment.

Speaker series and notable speakers

The university began the Lindenwood Speaker series in 2008 and conducts an annual speaker series throughout the fall and spring semesters in which notable figures in literature, arts, entertainment, science, business, and politics present various issues and topics to students, faculty, and the community. Past speakers include: Tamim Ansary author and Islamic expert; Dan Cathy, President and COO of Chick-fil-A restaurants; Arun Gandhi, peace activist and grandson of Mahatma Gandhi; Temple Grandin, doctor of animal science and Autism advocate; Stanley Andrisse, endocrinologist and campaigner for education for incarcerated people; former Navy SEAL, disgraced former Missouri Governor, and author, Eric Greitens; former MLB pitcher Jim Morris; P. J. O'Rourke, political satirist, journalist, and writer;

Along with the speaker series, Lindenwood has hosted various speakers and political candidates throughout its history. Robert A. Taft, United States Senator from Ohio and son of President William H. Taft spoke at Lindenwood in 1948 to discuss the Taft–Hartley Act and his candidacy for the 1948 GOP nomination.

Library

thumb|right|alt=Butler Library|Butler Library

The Margaret Leggat Butler Library was constructed in 1929 and is located in the historic eastern region of campus. The Butler Library remained the university's library for 90 years until 2017. August 2017 marked the official opening of Lindenwood's new library building the Library and Academic Resources Center (LARC). The 100,000 square-foot and $24.5 million library features three-stories, a coffee shop, and a writing center. In addition to over 100,000 books and periodicals the Library and Academic Resource Center features 17 classrooms, study spaces, computer labs, and a media and gaming lab.

The Library is home to the Mary Ambler Archives. The archives were founded in 1993 and are part of the Missouri Digital Heritage Initiative and the State Historical Society of Missouri. They include a collection of historical documents, official records, and special collections from the 185-year history of the university.

The Lindenwood University Honors College offers students an opportunity to be recognized for academic excellence at graduation and on official transcripts and diplomas. Eligible students must have a score of 29 or above on the ACT to apply as an incoming freshman and maintain at least a 3.3 GPA for upperclass and transfer students. Lindenwood has yet to announce a future conference affiliation for any of these sports, none of which the OVC sponsors. Even before Lindenwood's OVC move, it sponsored four de facto NCAA Division I sports. Women's ice hockey competes in College Hockey America (CHA), women's gymnastics competes as a member of the Midwest Independent Conference (MIC), men's volleyball competes in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA), and women's wrestling, recognized by the NCAA as part of its Emerging Sports for Women program but without an official NCAA championship event, competes as an independent. Lindenwood also sponsors other sports that compete in various other sport organizations for non-NCAA sports.

Prior joining to NCAA Division I, The Lions previously competed in the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) of the NCAA Division II ranks from 2019–20 to 2021–22; while women's lacrosse competed in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC), its men's and women's swimming teams competed in the New South Intercollegiate Swim Conference, and its field hockey team competed as a member of the ECAC Division II; and in the D-II Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) from 2013–14 to 2018–19.

Prior joining to NCAA Division II, Lindenwood was previously a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and competed within the Heart of America Conference (HAAC) as its primary conference from 1996–97 to 2010–11, in addition to other athletic organizations for sports not sponsored by the HAAC; as well as in the American Midwest Conference from 1993–94 to 1995–96. During the university's time in the NAIA it had a total of 46 varsity sports teams making LU one of the largest athletic departments in the United States. Lindenwood University competed in NAIA athletics for nearly 40 years before beginning the transition process for NCAA D-II membership. On July 12, 2010, Lindenwood was accepted into NCAA Division II and was approved as a member of the MIAA on September 24, 2010, with the affiliation taking place in 2012–2013 academic year. LU plans included the 21 sports that then competed in the NAIA to move to NCAA Division II along with non-NAIA sports field hockey, men's lacrosse, and women's lacrosse. Women's ice hockey and men's volleyball would compete in NCAA Division I, and all other sports would remain in their non-NCAA and non-NAIA sport organizations. Lindenwood officially concluded its NAIA and HAAC membership at the conclusion of the 2010–11 academic year. During the university's 15 seasons as a member of the HAAC the Lions set a conference record, winning 128 HAAC titles. Lindenwood averaged 8.5 conference titles a year and won at least one conference championship in sport sponsored by the conference.

Lindenwood has won national championships in skeet, trap, and clay shooting.

Lindenwood Athletics has been honoring previous student-athletes or contributors of the athletic department since 2007 with the Lindenwood Sports Hall of Fame.

In 2023, the university discontinued 10 athletic teams.

Student life

200px|thumb|right|alt=interior of Evans Commons|Main promenade inside The Evans Commons student and rec center.

Lindenwood's student body comes from various locations across the United States, Canada, and other worldwide locations. Approximately 64% of student body is from Missouri with the majority of in-state students from St. Charles and St. Louis counties. Out-of-state students represent 22% of undergraduate enrollment and are made up of students from 45 of the 50 US states. In addition, 13% of students are from 60 foreign countries.

The university has over 70 clubs and student organizations under the direction of Student Involvement. CAB (Campus Activities Board) hosts lectures, movie nights, dances, performances, and a wide variety of other events. Lindenwood also offers over 20 Intramural sports. The student organizations at Lindenwood include the student government, various academic, service, religious, Greek, and common interest organizations, and service organizations. The Gateway Battalion is the local chapter of the Army ROTC based out Washington University in St. Louis. ROTC provides officer training and education for LU students in conjunction with WashU and a number of other universities that make up the Battalion. Officially founded in 1919 and with roots tracing to the 1890s, it is one of the oldest such programs in the nation.

Sibley Day has been held since 2009 and is a new tradition at Lindenwood. The event includes special events and activities for students and faculty, guest speakers, presentations, and other social and educational activities. Past guest speakers has included: Arun Gandhi. Today, there are numerous fraternities and sororities on campus. There is, however, no Greek housing on campus. Each social fraternity/sorority currently has dormitory rooms reserved for brothers or sisters who wish to live together.

Student media and publications

Lindenwood University has a number of student media outlets that serve the campus and surrounding communities of St. Charles County. The official student magazine The Legacy. The magazine is published once a month. The university hosts a student-operated educational cable station, known as LUTV. It is available on Charter Cable and on AT&T U-Verse throughout Greater St. Louis, as well as streaming live online. LUTV runs educational and cultural, and LU athletic programming and serves as a learning experience for communications students. 89.1 The Wood is KCLC, an FCC-licensed college radio station broadcasting in the St. Louis Metro Area.

Notable alumni

  • Greg Amsinger, sportcaster
  • Alice Baber, painter
  • Wesley Bell, politician
  • Lee Daniels, actor, film producer, and director
  • Pierre Desir, professional football player
  • Thom Donovan, musician and songwriter
  • DeDe Dorsey, professional football player
  • Marjorie Finlay, television personality and grandmother of Taylor Swift
  • Shandi Finnessey, beauty pageant contestant
  • Nicole Hensley, professional hockey player
  • Esmeralda Johnson, politician
  • Priyadharshan Kannappan, chess player
  • Andrew Koenig, politician
  • Dan McLaughlin, sportscaster
  • Nell Donnelly Reed, fashion designer
  • John Salter, professional mixed martial artist
  • Brian Schaefering, professional football player
  • Gary W. Schenkel, civil servant
  • Kyle Sherman, professional bowler and TV commentator
  • Daniel Walcott, professional hockey player
  • Alexander Wright, professional football player

Footnotes

References

  • Athletics website