Defiance College is celebrating 175 years.
The Ohio General Assembly voted to establish Defiance Female Seminary on March 23, 1850. Defiance College archivist Barb Sedlock told us that the state set aside canal lands in Paulding and Defiance counties to be sold to fund the college and it took until 1875 to raise enough money to buy 9 acres of land. In 1884, the first building, Defiance Hall, was erected. The first classes at the non-denominational, co-educational institution included English, music, elocution, shorthand, typewriting and art. The school affiliated with United Church of Christ in 1902 and the name was changed to Defiance College. DC President told us that the college has seen four big changes in the past two years: they moved their athletics from NCAA to NAIA; they have enacted a 25% reduction in tuition, now $28,500 per year; they are offering new student housing options; and they have announced the 1850 Promise - Debt FREE in which qualifying students from the 11 surrounding counties (including Allen County) who commute to class and have at least a 3.0 GPA, can go to school debt-free. All these changes are working for Defiance College, Dr. Mankey told us that this year they are serving more than 700 students, the third largest class since 2003.
Also at Monday's meeting, we awarded $1,000 scholarships to 13 non-traditional students who are attending an institute of higher learning in Allen County Our scholarship program has awarded 1,296 scholarships totaling $1,023,085 since 2001.
We also presented the proceeds from the third quarter Rottery drawings in the amount of $545 to the Ottawa River Coalition.
