Articles Tagged: Iowa Wesleyan University

Two years after several of Iowa’s small private universities asked Gov. Kim Reynolds for $12 million each from the state’s share of pandemic relief funds “to help prepare rural Iowa for a brighter economic future” — and four months after Iowa’s deadline for obligating the money — campus officials say they never heard back.

With the higher education landscape still challenging small private colleges and universities regionally and nationally, Iowa lawmakers this session proposed a measure to make sure the state has more involvement, interaction, and information about any future closures like Wesleyan’s.

Three months into its post-collegiate life, the future of the vacated Iowa Wesleyan University campus is starting to take shape thanks to Mount Pleasant Community School District’s $1.25 million offer to buy portions of the 60-acre property.

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Although no decisions have been made about the future of the 60-acre campus Iowa Wesleyan University called home for 181 years, much of the equipment and amenities that filled its historic halls and supported students and faculty in their academic and athletic endeavors will go up for auction next month.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development office over the years has lent billions to colleges and universities — including at least seven in Iowa since 2013 — often because it wants the smaller communities in which they reside to thrive. Now, with Iowa Wesleyan — one of those loan recipients — closing, the community and the USDA are working to decide the best future use for the campus.

Northeast Iowa’s 166-year-old Upper Iowa University is cutting 37 positions and closing seven of its more than 20 regional education centers due to dropping enrollment, shifting student needs, and headwinds facing all of higher education.

As Wesleyan heads toward its last commencement Saturday, nearly 100 will cross the stage to collect a diploma.

The orchestra will continue, whether Wesleyan forces it out or not, but the musicians would like to come to an arrangement to keep using the Iowa Wesleyan University chapel in Mount Pleasant. “We've had other offers already from other entities.”

While in the weight room on a typical Tuesday morning in late March, several members of the Iowa Wesleyan University volleyball team saw their Apple Watches light up. It was an alert about an email calling the entire school to a mandatory meeting. And the board of trustees would be there.

Nearly two months after Iowa Wesleyan University President Christine Plunkett in February asked Gov. Kim Reynolds for $12 million in federal COVID-relief funds to help her campus stay open, Plunkett in March sent another email telling the governor – who had yet to decide – that time was up.

Photos from Coe’s annual Rittgers Invitational track meet.

Iowa Wesleyan University — the state’s second oldest college now careening toward closure next month — wasn’t the only higher education institution in February to ask Gov. Kim Reynolds for a cut of Iowa’s billions in federal COVID-relief funds to help overcome “significant obstacles” and stay open.

A month before Iowa Wesleyan University on Tuesday announced its closing in May, an independent audit in February reported trustees and administrators believed they had plans in place to “continue operations into FY24 and beyond.”

Iowa Wesleyan University students and community members on Tuesday responded to news their institution is closing in May. Students are expected to complete their studies as planned this spring semester.