Tennessee Wesleyan College

Tennessee Wesleyan University

Motto	Lux et Veritas
Motto in English	Light and Truth
Type	Private liberal arts college
Established	1857
Religious affiliation	United Methodist Church
President	Harley Knowles
Academic staff	184
Undergraduates	1,116
Location	Athens, Tennessee, United States
Campus	Small city
Colors	Blue, gold, and white
Athletics	NAIA – AAC
Sports	17 varsity teams
Nickname	Bulldogs
Affiliations	NAICU IAMSCU
Website	www.tnwesleyan.edu

Tennessee Wesleyan University (TWU) is a small university founded in 1857, located in the city of Athens in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is affiliated with the Holston of the United Methodist Church. Current enrollment is over 1,100 students, and the student-to-faculty ratio is 12:1. In February 2016, the school announced that they would change their name to Tennessee Wesleyan University, effective July 1, 2016.

The college is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award baccalaureate and master's degrees of business, fine arts, humanities, natural and social sciences as well as nursing, other career-related areas, and teacher certification. Through these several academic offerings, the college has developed a close relationship with its region and produces a large number of local teachers, police officers, lawyers and local government officials.

Tennessee Wesleyan also maintains a branch campus in Knoxville, where it offers evening programs in business administration. It also conducts its nursing classes in Knoxville.

Tennessee Wesleyan offers ten varsity sports. The Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs compete in the Appalachian Athletic Conference of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics in baseball, basketball, soccer, cross country, tennis, volleyball, cheerleading, softball, and lacrosse. Athletics are a very important part of the school, and a very large portion of the student population play on one of the school's teams.

Tennessee Wesleyan was founded in 1857 as Athens Female College. It consisted solely of one building (now Old College). In 1866 the name was altered to East Tennessee Wesleyan College, and in 1867 it became East Tennessee Wesleyan University. At that time, the college was one of only a handful of coeducational colleges in the Southern United States.