Why I love Friends!

What was it like to be a student during the first few years at Friends University? Many of the conveniences students enjoy now were lacking 125 years ago.

The University Life publication recorded interesting information of life on the campus of Friends University through the years. There was enough interest in beginning a football team the first fall, 1898, for Professor Edward M. Williams, teacher of Physical Sciences, to begin practicing with a group of men.

The doors to Friends University opened on September 21, 1898 with 53 students and 12 faculty. Tuition was $14 for the fall semester and $13 for the winter and spring semesters for classes offered in literature, history, mathematics, astronomy, Bible, German, science, elocution and oratory, as well as music, including piano, harmony, theory and voice. In 1901 President Stanley recognized the first class of graduates at Friends University.

Friends University was officially founded in 1898, our history goes back to the mid-1880s when the Christian Churches of Kansas began to construct a building west of Wichita that would hold more floor space under one roof than any other educational facility west of the Mississippi River.

Music has been a part of the curriculum of the college from the beginning. The orchestra and vocal groups performed for various organizations in the community, a tradition that still carries on today.

The start of the 1918 school year brought President William O. Mendenhall. World War I was in effect and men were almost minus on the campus. The school closed on Oct. 2, 1918 for the afternoon as everyone went downtown to hear Teddy Roosevelt speak on the interests of the Fourth Liberty Loan.