Huntington University

of higher learning in Huntington, Indiana. This came soon after the closure of Hartsville College, the denomination's college in Hartsville, Indiana. United Brethren Bishop Milton Wright, father of Orville and Wilbur Wright, served as professor of theology at Hartsville in 1868–1869 and later presided over the dedication ceremony of Central College on September 21, 1897. Hartsville supplied the initial faculty and students for Central College, which offered a coeducational program for both men and women and attracted international students from Sierra Leone, Japan, and elsewhere.
In its earliest decades, the college developed a curriculum in the liberal arts tradition, with courses leading to the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, and Bachelor of Philosophy degrees. Programs in the fields of oratory, music, education, and business were included as well. The college's approach to education was both classical and progressive, as reflected in early endeavors such as a campus performance of Shakespeare's "As …