(Disciples of Christ), although it was never controlled by that church. The university's charter called for "a non-sectarian institution free from the taint of slavery, offering instruction in every branch of liberal and professional education". The university was the second in Indiana and the third in the United States to admit both men and women.
The university established the first professorship in English literature and the first Department of English in the state of Indiana. In 1869, Ovid Butler endowed the Demia Butler Chair of English Literature in honor of his daughter, who was the first woman to graduate from the Classical course at the university and had died in 1867. The chair was the first endowed position at an American university designated for a female professor. Catharine Merrill, was the first to occupy the chair in 1869. Merrill was just the second female university professor in the country.
The university moved to a new 25-acre (10 ha) campus in the community of Irvington on the east side …
