Hamline Pipers men's basketball

Hamline University

Seal of Hamline University
Motto	Religio, Literae, Libertas
Motto in English	Divinity, Writing, Liberty
Type	Private
Established	1854
Affiliation	United Methodist Church
President	Dr. Fayneese Miller
Academic staff	185 full time, 297 part time
Undergraduates	2,100
Postgraduates	2,800
Location	Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S.
Campus	Urban (residential), 77 acres (31 ha)
Endowment	$82.3 million (2016)
Colors	Burgundy and gray
Mascot	The Piper
Website	www.hamline.edu

University Hall-Old Main, Hamline University
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
University Hall-Old Main from the north
Location	1536 Hewitt Avenue Saint Paul, Minnesota
Coordinates	44°57′57″N 93°09′55″W / 44.9658°N 93.1654°W / 44.9658; -93.1654Coordinates: 44°57′57″N 93°09′55″W / 44.9658°N 93.1654°W / 44.9658; -93.1654
Built	1883
Architect	Warren H. Hayes
Architectural style	Ruskinian Victorian Gothic
NRHP reference #	77000767
Added to NRHP	September 22, 1977

Hamline University is an American private liberal arts college in Saint Paul, Minnesota, founded in 1854 and named after Bishop Leonidas Lent Hamline of the United Methodist Church. Hamline was the first institution of higher learning in Minnesota and is one of five Associated Colleges of the Twin Cities.

The university is composed of the College of Liberal Arts, School of Education, School of Business, and The Creative Writing Programs. Hamline is an intimate community of 2,100 undergraduate students and 1,600 graduate students. Dr. Fayneese Miller is the university's 20th and first African American president. Dr. Fayneese Miller became president on July 1, 2015 succeeding Linda N. Hanson.

Hamline was named in honor of Leonidas Lent Hamline, a bishop of the Methodist Church whose interest in the frontier led him to donate $25,000 toward the building of an institution of higher learning in what was then the territory of Minnesota. Today, a statue of Bishop Hamline sculpted by the late professor of art Michael Price stands on campus. Hamline is also distinct for being founded as a coeducational institution, a rarity in 19th-century America. Hamline’s first home was in Red Wing, Minnesota. The school’s charter stipulated that Hamline be located "at some point on the Mississippi between St. Paul and Lake Pepin." The city of Red Wing pledged about $10,000 to enable construction of a building and the beginning of an endowment, and it also donated a tract of land on a hillside overlooking the Mississippi River.

Hamline University holds the title of the oldest university in Minnesota. It was charted in 1854 and began offering collegiate courses in 1857. While the University of Minnesota was chartered by the territorial authorities in 1851, it did not operate as a place of higher education until nearly two decades later.