Methodist University history

In June 1957, the trustees named L. Stacy Weaver, superintendent of the Durham City Schools and an active Methodist lay leader, the first president of Methodist College.

Site preparation for the campus and construction of the first four buildings began in the fall of 1958.

In September 1960, Methodist College opened for business with 88 full-time students, 40 part-time students, 12 faculty members, and four buildings: the Classroom Building (later named the Trustees Building), the Student Union (later named in honor of Mr. and Mrs.

In 1961, the Board of Curators changed the College's name from Central College to Central Methodist College.

Included are campus newspaper editorials from the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963, and publications from the SMU 50th Anniversary celebrations.

On April 10, 1964, Weaver was inaugurated as the school’s founding president.

By 1965, Methodist had two new residence halls ready for occupancy, and the young institution had begun to establish the traditions that stand today.

At a special assembly in 1967, Methodist College students selected a musical composition by Lois Lambie, a music teacher at Seventy-First High School in Fayetteville, as the College’s alma mater, and the Trustees adopted it as such later that year.

The Fleishman Fountain and Hensdale Chapel were built in 1969.

Declining enrollment, which bottomed out at 610 in 1973, forced the college to lay off faculty and staff, borrow from local banks for current operations, and default on federal loans used to build the first four residence halls.

Doctor Pearce established a President’s List to recognize students who earned an “A” average each semester, and during his tenure, Shelley Baseball Field (now called Armstrong-Shelley Field) was completed and dedicated in 1974, as well as tennis courts and a track.

It was at Doctor Pearce’s behest that a home for the president was constructed on campus in 1975, built with the proceeds from the sale of the president’s former house in downtown Fayetteville.

In 1978, Methodist College began offering associate’s degrees.

MU began its 25th school year in 1984-85 with Sadler (left) as its first female academic dean.

In March 1986, Methodist College established the Charles M. Reeves School of Business and Economics to honor the Sanford, N.C. businessman, trustee, and benefactor.

Doctor Wearden had previously lived in North Carolina when he obtained his Ph.D. in Mass Communication Research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1987.

Methodist College began the 1990-91 school year with an enrollment of 1,447—969 day students and 343 evening students.

A mentoring/tutoring program was started in the fall of 1991.

In May 1992, the college contracted with EUA/Highland Partners for a $1.5 million, two-year energy savings plan involving installation of new heating and lighting systems with electronic controls.

In June 1993, the Methodist College Board of Trustees approved a series of important planning recommendations presented by a Strategic Concepts Committee appointed by the president.

In 1994, Central Methodist College, in cooperation with East Central College in Union, Missouri, began baccalaureate degree completion programs at ECC so that citizens of that region could earn a bachelor's degree.

During 1995-96, West Hall was opened and the main entrance to the campus was realigned to meet a proposed stoplight.

In 1996 the College began offering the Master of Education degree on all three campuses.

She joined the board in 1997 and, after stepping down as board chair, had an endowed professorship created in her name.

Fall 2000 saw the completion of Cape Fear Commons, the college’s first apartment-style, co-educational, residence hall.

Davenport is a Fayetteville native who began her career at Methodist University in 2002.

In December 2003, Methodist awarded its first master’s degrees to seven graduates of the Physician Assistant Program.

In May 2004, the Board of Trustees voted to change the name of the institution to Central Methodist University.

In 2005, the College launched the Professional MBA at Pinehurst, a hybrid online/weekend program taught in cooperation with the nearby Pinehurst Resort.

Creekside Apartments, two new apartment-style residence halls opened in August 2006, bringing total residential capacity to 956 students.

Doctor Wenda Johnson, interim academic dean, was slated to become associate dean to Doctor Crisp, but died of a heart attack early in 2007.

The University’s Physician Assistant Program added state-of-the-art facilities in 2010, when the Medical Lecture Hall and the Human Anatomy Lab opened.

Fagan started teaching at Methodist University in 2011 and brought along with her more than 30 years of experience in areas such as juvenile justice, child welfare, AIDS services, nursing home services, and nephrology social work.

Bryan served from 2012-17 as the first elected female chair of the Board of Trustees at Methodist University.

In 2014, she transitioned into a new role in the Career Services Office to help the University build its internship program.

Taylor, an ordained elder in The United Methodist Church who has served as a pastor in rural, downtown, and urban churches and as college faculty, joined the MU President’s Cabinet in 2015.

Moore joined Methodist’s ENM Department in 2017.

In October 2018, the Presidential Search Committee announced that Doctor Stanley T. Wearden, senior vice president and provost of Columbia College Chicago, would become the fifth president of Methodist University on Jan.

In January 2019, she also began teaching many of the Reeves School of Business internship classes.

Doctor Suzanne Blum Malley assumed the duties of provost in January 2020, joining Wearden from Columbia College Chicago.