Washington University in St Louis . . . Wash U is an American success story!
Wash U, as the school is most commonly called, is truly one of the great success stories among America’s elite universities. Founded in the mid 1800’s to be a Midwest answer to the growing list of top universities on the East Coast, Wash U was a mediocre college for many years. Unlike most colleges of the day, when it was founded in 1853 there was no fabulously wealthy benefactor or religious group promoting Wash U. Hoping to garner the support of a particularly successful St Louis businessman, the college’s trustees even decided change the name to “The O’Fallon Institute” before cooler heads prevailed.
Building a college in a border state during the time leading up to the American Civil War was a difficult challenge. As late as the start of the 20th century, the university was nearly bankrupt and facing an uncertain future. From that modest and troubled beginning, an outstanding university began to emerge. First, the school raised money and restored its financial health. Then, Wash U began to construct an outstanding campus. A significant regional university, Wash U still lacked the social progress of Eastern schools until the undergraduate classes were finally integrated in 1952. From that time on, Wash U finally began to be recognized as the world class institution it has become.
Although slow to integrate a half century ago, today Wash U is known as a particularly progressive leader in all aspects of collegiate education. In fact, today Wash U is proud of its particularly diverse and academically talented student body. The days of Wash U as a ‘regional’ college are long gone. In fact, Wash U boasts students from every state and more than 100 foreign countries. More than half of the students at Wash U call “home” someplace at least 500 miles from St Louis. As if to endorse the school’s success, Wash U has been chosen to host more presidential debates than any other institution!
In recent years, Wash U has catapulted to the top of most national rankings and has earned a position among the “New Ivy’s”. Today, this college superstar with such a modest begining, is one of America’s most difficult acceptance letters!
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