Simpson College

Simpson College

Former names	Indianola Male and Female Seminary (1860-1865)[1] Des Moines Conference Seminary (1865-1867)[1] Simpson Centenary College (1867-1885)[1]
Type	Private college
Established	1860; 164 years ago (1860)
Accreditation	HLC[2]
Religious affiliation	United Methodist Church
Academic affiliations	CIC[3] NASM[4]
Endowment	$78.6 million[5]
President	Jay Byers[6]
Dean	John Woell[7]
Academic staff	75 full-time & 113 part-time[8]
Students	1,151 (fall 2022)[8]
Undergraduates	1,127 (fall 2022[8]
Postgraduates	24 (fall 2022[8]
Location	Indianola , Iowa , United States 41°21′52.2″N 93°33′54.0″W / 41.364500°N 93.565000°W / 41.364500; -93.565000
Campus	85 acres (34 ha)
Colors	Red   Gold
Nickname	The Storm
Sporting affiliations	American Rivers Conference[9]
Mascot	Thunder the Elephant[10]
Website	www.simpson.edu

Simpson College is a private Methodist college in Indianola, Iowa. It is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and enrolled 1,151 students in fall 2022.^[11]

Simpson is known for its commitment to civic engagement and non-partisan education on public issues, exemplified by the John C. Culver Public Policy Center and its two Pi Kappa Delta debate national championships from 2016 and 2018.^[12][13]

Indianola Male and Female Seminary was opened on September 24, 1860, and the name was changed to the Des Moines Conference Seminary in September 1865. On September 21, 1867, the school was upgraded to a college and renamed Simpson Centenary College to honor Methodism's most renowned living bishop, Bishop Matthew Simpson (1811-1884), and to celebrate the centennial of American Methodism. (Simpson is best known as the minister who spoke a eulogy at Abraham Lincoln's funeral in Springfield, Illinois in 1865; he was known as a great pulpit preacher.) Simpson himself gave the commencement address at Simpson in 1882. In June 1885, "Centenary" was dropped from the name, becoming simply Simpson College.

September 28, 2010, marked the 150th anniversary of the school's founding as an educational institution. Students and alums held a ceremony in front of the college gates to celebrate the event, where a time capsule was buried with pictures and memorabilia submitted by students. The capsule will be uncovered in 2060, on Simpson's 200th anniversary.

• Jay Byers (2023-Present)
• Marsha Kelliher (2020–2023)^[14]
• Jay Simmons (2013-2019)^[15]
• John Byrd (2005-2013)^[15]
• Kevin LaGree (1999-2005)^[15]
• Stephen G. Jennings (1987-1998)^[15]
• Robert Edward McBride (1979-1987)^[15]
• Richard Bailey Lancaster (1972-1979)^[15]
• Ralph Candler John (1963-1972)
• William Edward Kerstetter (1953-1963)
• Edwin Edgar Voigt (1942-1952)
• Earl Enyeart Harper (1936-1938)
• John Linnaeus Hillman (1919-1936)
• James Watson Campbell (1916-1919)
• William Ennis Hamilton (1915-1916)
• Charles Eldred Shelton (1899-1910)
• Joseph Benton Harris (1898-1899)
• Another Simpson (1892-1898)
• Edmund Meek Holmes (1889-1892)
• William Ennis Hamilton (1886-1889)
• Edward Lamay Parks (1880-1886)
• Thomas S. Berry (1878-1880)
• Alexander Burns (1868-1878)
• Samuel Milton Vernon (1866-1868)

The 85-acre (340,000 m²) tree-lined campus is bordered on the north by Buxton Park Arboretum. The architecture blends tradition with modernity. The theater building, an example of the Brutalist architecture that dominated American campus construction in the 1970s, was renovated and added on to in 2010–11, softening its features.

Other notable construction includes the Kent Family Campus Center, which replaced the old Brenton Student Center as the center of student life. The 55,000-square-foot campus center houses meeting rooms and offices for student groups, a student activities theatre, comfortable living room settings, a grille and snack bar, a coffee house, a new bookstore and post office, and new professional space for the Student Development staff.

Simpson also renovated its outdoor track and football field. In addition to rebuilding the entrances and fences surrounding Bill Buxton stadium, the school invested in what has been dubbed the most innovative artificial turf system in the world, FieldTurf Revolution. The new-era Beynon BSS 1000 running track, similar to the new tracks installed at the University of Virginia and The University of Iowa, was also installed for the 2011–12 school year.^[16] The renovation of Simpson's athletic facilities concluded in 2014 with the construction of a new bi-level weight room in the former pool area. This move was made possible by constructing the Indianola YMCA, which has a 25-yard pool and hosts swimming meets for Simpson College, Indianola High School, and the YMCA Tide swim team.

Simpson offers a variety of residential housing options, including two first-year-only residence halls, other traditional residence halls, apartment-style living, theme houses, and an active Greek system. All Simpson living facilities include air conditioning, lofted beds, carpet, furniture, social lounges, and wireless internet.

The college had an endowment of $78.6 million as of February 10, 2017.^[17]

Simpson's curriculum includes over 70 majors, minors, and pre-professional programs. Coursework is structured in a 4-4-1 format, with classes running September–December and January–April before the three-week May Term. This provides students with unique learning opportunities, including internship programs, career observations, and various Study Abroad programs over the May Term.

Beginning in Fall 2011, most courses at Simpson are four-credit courses. Simpson also implemented their new Engaged Citizenship Curriculum, which is primarily based on the AAC&U Liberal Education and America's Promise (LEAP) initiative. The new curriculum attempts to build seven different Embedded Skills into all courses. The seven skills are:

• Collaborative leadership
• Critical thinking
• Information literacy
• Intercultural communication
• Oral communication
• Quantitative reasoning
• Written communication

In addition to classes in their major, students are required to take courses in seven specified Areas of Engagement:

• The Arts
• Civic Engagement
• Diversity and Power in the United States
• Ethics and Values Inquiry
• Global Perspectives
• Historical Perspectives on Western Culture
• Scientific Reasoning

To meet the global perspectives Area of Engagement, many students will take an overseas course, which may be completed throughout an entire semester (with exchange programs in London, Germany, Chile, Thailand, and Tahiti) or over the May Term, providing different selections yearly. Recent May Term travel courses include trips to China, Thailand, Italy, London, Paris, Ghana, Belize, and the Netherlands. Simpson ranks among the nation's top 100 colleges in the percentage of students who study abroad, according to U.S. News & World Report.^[18]

In addition to these requirements, students also take two courses to bookend their Simpson Experience: the Simpson Colloquium and the Senior Capstone. The Simpson Colloquium is taken during the first semester of college and is designed to help students transition to college life. The Senior Capstone is a culminating project in each student's major, demonstrating their proficiency in a chosen field of study.

Simpson is notable for being the only college in the United States with an entirely student-cast undergraduate opera program supported by a largely professional orchestra. Two fully staged productions a year, with admission open to the public and free to all students, are staples of the Simpson calendar. Alumni are at the highest levels in opera performance, artistic administration, and music education.

Music at Simpson has been fully accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music since 1947. It confers the degrees of Bachelor of Music in performance and in music education and the Bachelor of Arts in music. It is widely recognized as offering a premier education for vocal, piano, and instrumental students. Simpson develops the unique gifts of each student through a combination of one-to-one music instruction, classroom teaching, and countless performance opportunities. Aspects of the program have been cited as "outstanding" by U.S. News & World Report and the program in voice as "exceptional" by the National Association of Teachers of Singing.

Simpson College enjoys a historic close partnership with the Des Moines Metro Opera, which makes it home on the Simpson campus over the summer, with performances in Simpson's Blank Performing Arts Center. It provides Simpson students the invaluable opportunity to experience professional opera on their doorstep and serve as interns and production staff in the summer opera festival. Many singers from Simpson have taken part in the DMMO Apprenticeship Program, an opportunity afforded usually to only the most talented graduate students and young professional singers from all over the United States.

Simpson runs a comprehensive program where students discover which style of speech or debate event offered best aligns with their long-term goals. The team competes in the Public Forum, Parliamentary (NPDA & PLUM), International Public Debate (IPDA), NFA Lincoln-Douglas, Student Congress, and various speech events.^[19] It is coached by Spencer Waugh.^[20][21]

The team has won the Phi Kappa Delta Debate Championship five times: 2016, 2018, 2019, 2021, and 2022.^[22]

Simpson College athletic teams are nicknamed the Storm. They compete in the American Rivers Conference in NCAA Division III. Simpson fields men's teams in baseball, basketball, cross country, American football, golf, soccer, tennis, track and field, and wrestling. Women's teams include basketball, cross country, golf, gymnastics, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track & field, and volleyball. Simpson also fields cheerleading and dance squads.

The Simpson College softball team won the NCAA Division III National Championship in 1997 and 1999. Simpson's softball team appeared in one Women's College World Series in 1971.^[23]

The Gold Club is a non-profit organization founded in 1976, funded by the Indianola community and Simpson alums, that helps support Simpson College athletics. Gold Club members are former athletes, alumni, faculty, parents, and other athletic supporters who share the common interest of fostering the development and growth of Simpson College athletics.^[24]

The Simpsonian^[25] is the student newspaper, first published in 1870.^[26] Sequel is an annual Simpson literary arts magazine, assembled from student and faculty contributions including paintings, photographs, drawings, short fiction, and short non-fiction. KSTM, 88.9, is a student-operated radio station.

The Culver Center was established at Simpson College in 2010 to honor the service of John Culver, who served the people of Iowa for 16 years in the US House of Representatives and US Senate. The Culver Center is dedicated to encouraging civic engagement and public service. The program awards four-year scholarships to up to select incoming Simpson students who demonstrate a commitment to public service and civic engagement. The annual John C. Culver Lecture brings a prominent public service or political figure to campus to meet with students and deliver a lecture open to the public. Lectures have included Senator George McGovern, Political Journalist Mark Shields, Supreme Court Reporter Linda Greenhouse, and former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel.^[27]

Campus Day has been an annual tradition at Simpson College since at least 1911. The student body conceived the idea to suspend classes on one Tuesday of the year and put in a day of cleaning campus buildings and grounds. Faculty did not know until they arrived at the campus to start classes, but were glad to pitch in.^[28] The cleanup of campus became an annual tradition and eventually expanded to the Indianola community. Today, nearly 60% of Simpson students participate in campus day activities, including campus-assigned projects, a grill out, and a late-night dodgeball tournament. Historically, Campus Day was picked early in the year by the student government and reserved as a surprise to the rest of the student body, but today, it is announced ahead of time so that students can plan for it.^[29]

Simpson College has a deep-rooted Greek life history. It is home to several fraternities and sororities.

• 
  George Washington Carver
• 
  David Orr
• 
  Ruth Hinshaw Spray
• 
  Nate Boulton
• 
  Alice Bellvadore Sams Turner

• Simpson College was the first college attended by George Washington Carver.^[30] Carver entered Simpson as an art major, but became interested in the natural sciences after receiving advice from a fellow student. Carver once remarked that his time at Simpson taught him that he was "a human being." Carver left Simpson College to complete his undergraduate education at Iowa State College (now Iowa State University). Both schools have buildings named in his honor: Carver Science Hall at Simpson and Carver Hall at Iowa State University.
• Historian Avery Craven (1885-1980), who specialized in the study of the nineteenth-century United States and the American Civil War, received his B.A. from Simpson in 1908. The Avery O. Craven Room of Dunn Library at Simpson holds Craven's personal library of over 2,000 volumes, notes, manuscripts, correspondence, and memorabilia.^[31]
• Nick Ackerman attended Simpson College in the late 1990s and early 2000s. His wrestling performance, in which he won the 2001 NCAA Division III Championships, was named one of the top 25 moments in NCAA history. Nick lost his legs to bacterial meningitis as a baby.^[32]
• Former Chicago Alderman, 52nd Mayor of Chicago, and current Cook County Clerk David Orr also attended Simpson College for his undergraduate degree. Orr is an American Democratic Politician from Chicago, Illinois. He was Alderman of the 49th Ward in Chicago from 1979 to 1991. In 1987, he served briefly as Mayor of Chicago after the death of Mayor Harold Washington and was recognized for his strong and sensible leadership during one of the most tumultuous periods in Chicago's political history.^[33] Serving his 23rd year as the Clerk of Cook County, Orr is responsible for the third largest election district in the United States (among other duties).^[34]
• Mike Pearson, host of Market to Market on Iowa Public Television, is a graduate of the class of 2010.^[35]
• Ruth Hinshaw Spray (1848-1929), peace activist
• Evan Tanner (attended), retired professional MMA fighter, former UFC middleweight champion.
• Malcolm A. Love (1904–1990), former President of the University of Nevada (1950–51) and San Diego State University (1952-71). President Love was a graduate of the class of 1927.
• Nate Boulton received his BA in Political Science and History from Simpson College and is an Iowa state senator and former Iowa Democratic gubernatorial candidate.
• Alice Bellvadore Sams Turner (1859–1915), physician, writer
• Chad Buchanan, 1995 graduate, General Manager of the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association.
• Wanda Brownlee Paige (born 1956), member of Kansas House of Representatives (2024–present)^[36][37]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Simpson College (Indianola, Iowa).

• Official website
• Simpson College athletics website