University of Northwestern – St. Paul Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! == History == The predecessor to the current university was first established in 1902 as the '''Northwestern Bible and Missionary Training School''' by [[William Bell Riley]], a pastor at [[First Baptist Church of Minneapolis]].<ref> Randall Herbert Balmer, ''Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism: Revised and expanded edition'', Baylor University Press, USA, 2004, p. 500-501</ref> The school separately opened a seminar, the '''Northwestern Theological Seminary''', in 1933 before merging into one singular unit, the '''Northwestern Theological Seminary and the Bible School''' in 1944. In 1951, the school began offering baccalaureate programs and, five years later in 1956, changed its name to just '''Northwestern College'''.<ref>{{cite web |title=1948-1966 |url=https://unwsp.edu/about-us/history-heritage/1948-1966/ |website=www.unwsp.edu |publisher=Northwestern University St. Paul |access-date=23 October 2023}}</ref> The school briefly closed from 1966 to 1972 after failing to earn accreditation from the [[North Central Association]], although it was able eventually reopen after the purchase of the former [[Nazareth Hall Preparatory Seminary]] from the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis|Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis]] and the sale of its former campus in [[Loring Park]]. Accreditation was finally received in 1978.<ref>{{cite web |title=1967-1999 |url=https://unwsp.edu/about-us/history-heritage/1967-1999/ |website=www.unwsp.edu |publisher=Northwestern University St. Paul |access-date=23 October 2023}}</ref> UNW also owns a chain of radio stations across the Midwest and Eastern United States, broadcasting listener-supported [[Christian radio|Christian music and teaching]] programs. Noted [[evangelism|evangelist]] [[Billy Graham (evangelist)|Billy Graham]] served as the school's second president from 1948 to 1952.<ref>[https://unwsp.edu/about-us/history-heritage/northwestern-history UNW-SP History]</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://unwsp.edu/about-us/history-heritage/1948-1966|title=UNW {{!}} 1948-1966|date=2018-10-09|website=unwsp.edu|language=en|others=UNW|access-date=2018-10-10}}</ref> The college gained university status in 2013, officially becoming the '''University of Northwestern – St. Paul''' on July 1. The university was granted an exemption to [[Title IX]] in 2016 which allows it to legally discriminate against LGBT students for religious reasons.<ref name="CampusPride">{{cite web |url=https://www.campuspride.org/worstlist/ |title=Worst List: The Absolute Worst Campuses for LGBTQ Youth |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=Campus Pride |date=17 May 2019 |access-date=August 23, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Birkey |first1=Andy |title=Eight Minnesota colleges discriminate against LGBT students, staff, and faculty |url=http://thecolu.mn/16845/eight-minnesota-colleges-discriminate-against-lgbt-students-staff-and-faculty |website=colu.mn |date=15 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230526144309/http://thecolu.mn/16845/eight-minnesota-colleges-discriminate-against-lgbt-students-staff-and-faculty |access-date=August 10, 2023|archive-date=2023-05-26 }}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page