Westmar University
Coordinates: 42°46′47″N 96°09′46″W / 42.779632°N 96.162763°W
Westmar University was a private four-year liberal arts college in Le Mars, Iowa, U.S. It permanently closed on November 21, 1997.
Westmar University was founded in 1887 as the Northwestern Normal School and Business College by Jacob Wernli, the Plymouth County Superintendent of Schools. Wernli severed his association with the school in 1891, and in 1892 it was taken over by the Le Mars Normal Association, an organization of local businessmen who saw value in having a college in the town, and renamed Le Mars Normal School. In 1900, ownership of the college was transferred to the United Evangelical Church and it was once again renamed, becoming Western Union College. During World War II WU College trained Navel Air cadets in primary flight, at first with three Bi-planes and later in piper-Cub aircraft.
The college changed its name again in 1948, to Westmar College. In 1954, Westmar merged with York College of Nebraska, making it the only college west of the Mississippi River affiliated with the Evangelical United Brethren Church, the successor institution to the United Evangelical Church. As such, it attracted students from a wide geographical area and grew to an enrollment of more than 1,000 students. It lost this distinction when the Evangelical United Brethren Church merged with The Methodist Church to form the United Methodist Church in 1968, and Westmar found it increasingly difficult to attract students and began to accumulate debt.
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