1. Although Baylor University, where I worked for 11.5 years, likes to claim that they are the oldest college in the state, the truth is that Southwestern University was the chosen name of 4 regional Methodist colleges in Texas that combined in 1872. Two of these four colleges, Rutersville College (1840) and Wesleyan College (1844), were started before Baylor was in 1845. At Commencement, the Rutersville College Bell rings 5 times – once for each of the 4 original colleges and once for Southwestern.
Southwestern also has a good foundation for claiming to have the first collegiate Homecoming in the U.S. (and world). Baylor also says that it had the first Homecoming but their argument rests on the argument that Homecoming must include a football game. Southwestern held the first (non-football) Homecoming on Wednesday, April 21, 1909, in San Gabriel Park – 7 months before Baylor’s Homecoming. At Southwestern’s Homecoming, former students raised funds, provided homes, prepared and served a barbecue supper, and decorated the town buildings. Members of the senior class waited tables.
2. Southwestern University is one of 173 universities in the U.S., and the 2nd in Texas, to sign the Talloires Declaration. The Talloires Declaration is a declaration for sustainability, created for and by presidents of institutions of higher learning in 1990 in Talloires, France. This document declares that institutions of higher learning will be world leaders in developing, creating, supporting and maintaining sustainability. While Baylor, TCU, and SMU have not signed it (others places in Texas where I have worked), Appalachian State and the U. of the Virgina, two places I spent 16 years at combined, have signed it. In 2009 Southwestern also signed the College and University Presidents Climate Commitment.
3. Southwestern was a charter member of the Southwest Conference in 1915 (this conference closed in 1996 with the creation of the Big XII. Southern Methodist University was Southwestern’s main rival for several decades since SMU’s founders had attempted to relocate Southwestern U. to Dallas which, when it failed, resulted in the establishment of SMU in 1911.
4. Southwestern is a member of the NCAA Division III Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) and competes in 20 varsity sports, including football, basketball, cross country, track & field, golf, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis, lacrosse, men’s baseball, women’s volleyball and women’s softball.
Southwestern reinstated football in 2013 after a 62-year hiatus. The institution previously fielded football teams from 1908 to 1951, winning the Sun Bowl in 1944 and 1945. Their win in 1945 was the only time in the history of college football bowl games that a non-U.S. college competed.
5. Southwestern University has ~1,500 students, 36% who are under-represented students. 39% of students who apply are offered admission, 86% of students hail from Texas while the remaining come from 37 other states and 22 countries.
6. Southwestern is ranked among the top 90 liberal arts colleges in the U.S. Within Texas, Southwestern is only behind Trinity University in San Antonio. It is also 1 of only 44 colleges in the U.S., and 1 of 2 in Texas, included in the Colleges that Change Lives ranking. These colleges “have one primary mission: educate the undergraduate. They all share a mission to raise students’ trajectories and develop thinkers, leaders, and moral citizens. The little-known truth is that these colleges have been on the cutting edge of higher education for decades. Many of them have outperformed most of the ranking sweethearts in the percentages of graduates who become America’s scientists and scholars.”
7. Using data released on Fall 2023, the first to second year retention percentage of Southwestern students was 83%, and 69% graduate within 6 years. ~25% of the students receive Pell Grants and 97% receive some sort of financial aid. 28% of the students are Hispanic and 55% are female. Their top 5 majors are business, psychology, kinesiology, communication studies, and political science.
8. 35% of Southwestern’s faculty are of-color (higher than most private Texas universities) and 59% are women. 83% of the faculty either have tenure (57%) or are on the tenure track (26%). There are 128 full-time equivalent faculty.
9. Compared to Southwestern’s peer group (38%), almost 2X as many Southwestern first year students (71%) are involved in AAC&U High Impact Practices – involvements students choose to engage in that result in greater learning and life impact.
10. When compared to their peer group, first year students at Southwestern were much more engaged in community-based learning, talking to faculty about their career plans, and having quality interactions with faculty and staff.
When compared to their peer group, senior year students at Southwestern were much more likely to rate their faculty as providing good feedback on their work, participating in internships, and believing Southwestern provided overall well-being support.
Deep Thoughts on Higher Ed 