History
The university was founded in 1899 as Central Mennonite College but in its early years functioned as an academy and junior college. When the first president, Noah Hirschy, resigned in 1908, the college had only one building.
In 1913, under President Samuel Mosiman (1910–1935), the college reorganized as Bluffton College with support from five Mennonite groups. The first baccalaureate degrees were confirmed in 1915.
By 1930 enrollment had increased to 371 students, but it fell to 185 by 1936 as the college was battered by the Great Depression and by charges from some of its Mennonite constituency that it promoted theological liberalism. The college had a seemingly successful raising drive in 1929 in an effort to increase its endowment to $500,000 and qualify for accreditation from the North Central Association. However, donors were unable to make good on their pledges after the stock market crash; the college failed to gain accreditation and fell into financial crisis.
In 1931, Witmarsum Theological Seminary, which had been affiliated with the college, closed its doors for good.
Musselman Library was completed in 1930, joining College Hall (1900) and Science Hall (1913, later renamed Berky Hall) as the primary academic buildings.
After the brief presidency of Arthur Rosenberger (1935–1938), Lloyd Ramseyer assumed the Bluffton College presidency in 1938 and served until 1965. Although enrollment plummeted to as low as 77 students during World War II, Ramseyer's tenure was marked by growth and expansion. Enrollment surpassed 300 in 1957 and 400 in 1960. The college finally received NCA accreditation in 1953.
Under presidents Ramseyer and Robert Kreider (1965–1972) the college also underwent a building boom. Since 1924, Bluffton had had just two residence halls, Ropp Hall (1914) for women and Lincoln Hall (1924) for men. Ropp Annex was completed in 1958 followed by four others (Bren-Dell Hall, Hirschy Hall, Hirschy Annex and Ropp Addition) by 1967.
Other new buildings during this period included Founders Hall/Burky Addition (1951/1971), a sports facility with a 2,000-seat auditorium; Mosiman Hall (1960), the music building; a four-story expansion to the library (1966); Marbeck Center (1968), a student union with dining facilities, book store and other student facilities; and Riley Court (1969), a five-building complex that now house administrative offices.
There were plans for future expansion and growth, but the 1970s instead were a time of retrenchment and conflict. Enrollment peaked at 789 in 1969 but dropped below 700 by 1972 and below 600 by 1975. The college fell deep into debt and made significant cut-backs.
Bluffton's sixth president, Ben Sprunger (1972–1977), proposed increasing enrollment by transforming Bluffton into an evangelical college. This proposal was resisted by faculty, leading to Sprunger's resignation. However, during Sprunger's term, the college managed to balance the budget, conduct a successful capital campaign and construct Shoker Science Center (1978).
Enrollment at Bluffton was below 600 for most of the 1980s, but the college experienced another era of growth and expansion in the 1990s under presidents Elmer Neufeld (1978–1996) and Lee F. Snyder (1996–2006), the first female president at Bluffton or any other Mennonite college. By 1995, the enrollment surpassed 1,000 for the first time.
The college built two new residence halls, Ramseyer Hall (1994) and Neufeld Hall (2003), to meet housing demand. Other building projects included Sauder Visual Arts Center (1991), which houses an art gallery and studios for painting, drawing, sculpture and other arts; Yoder Recital Hall (1994), a 300-seat, state-of-the-art performance facility; and Centennial Hall (2000), a new academic building.
Another major addition was the Emery Sears Athletic Complex, which includes 2,600-seat Dwight Salzman Stadium (1993) plus a baseball diamond, all-weather track, and soccer field.
In 1995, Bluffton began a masters program in education, the first of its graduate programs.
In 2004, the college, which now had three graduate programs, became Bluffton University.
In 2006, James Harder became Bluffton's ninth president.
WBWH-LP 99.3 FM serves as the campus and community radio station.
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