Morningside College

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Morningside College is a liberal arts college in Sioux City, Iowa, affiliated with the United Methodist Church. It was founded on December 5, 1894, by a committee of 15 ministers and 12 laypersons. The college purchased the building from the University of the Northwest.

Contents 1 Morningside College Culture 2 Morningside Alumni 3 Morningside Campus Life 4 Morningside Athletics 5 Morningside Campus Organizations 6 External links for Morningside College

[edit] Morningside College Culture

Morningside is a private liberal arts institution. The values of its culture cultivate a passion for life-long learning in students. The Morningside experience fosters dedication to ethical leadership and civic responsibility. College yearbooks from the early and mid-1900s show that Morningside was one of the very first colleges to embrace racial and gender integration. Currently, Morningside is undertaking a massive five-year strategic restructuring and reorientation plan to streamline operations. The initiative has seen the renovation of the athletic stadium and construction of several new facilities on campus.

Morningside carries on several age-old traditions. Student groups frequently paint and re-paint the "spoonholder" - a curved bench named for the couples who used to sit nestled closely together in the early years. This bench is the inspiration of the "Spoonholder Cafe" within the nearby Johnson-Furrow Library. The cafe was added in 2006 as part of the "renovation and restructing" listed above. There is a yearly "run to the monument" that used to entail men running in their underwear but has evolved into a recreational 5k race.

[edit] Morningside Alumni

"Dear Abby" (Abigail Van Buren) and "Ask Ann" (Ann Landers), identical twin sisters, are Morningside College alumni. Known as the "Friedman twins" during their time at Morningside, they wrote for the school's long-running newspaper, the Collegian Reporter. Morningside is also the alma mater of Norman W. Waitt, Jr., founder of Gateway, Inc., although Waitt never completed his degree. Waitt has been very generous and has given large amounts of money to the college for things such as a new dormitory. It is not widely known that the original business proposal for Gateway computers started as a project for a business class Waitt was taking at Morningside College. The instructor who graded the project advised Waitt not to quit his day job and to only pursue the project part-time.^{[citation needed]}

Thomas C. Dorr, the current Under Secretary for Rural and Economic Development in the United States Department of Agriculture under former President George W. Bush, is a graduate of Morningside. http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/scrty/dorr.html

[edit] Morningside Campus Life

Morningside College is on a 68-acre campus in the established residential neighborhood of Morningside in Sioux City, Iowa. Students of all years run over 50 organizations including: student government, honor societies, service groups, religious organizations, musical ensembles, student publications, and three national fraternities and sororities. Six residential halls, 2 new apartment-style halls and a fully equipped Hindman-Hobbs Center give students many options for extracurricular activities.

[edit] Morningside Athletics

Until 2004, Morningside competed in NCAA Division II athletics as a member of the North Central Conference; after that year, the school left the conference. This pullout met with tremendous resistance—the president of the college received death threats^{[citation needed]}—but was, ultimately beneficial to the college because it allowed the members of the administration to reduce spending on athletic scholarships. (The football team had been running a deficit for a number of years.) Morningside athletic teams, known as the "Mustangs," now compete in the Great Plains Athletic Conference of the NAIA. The Mustangs compete in 10 men's sports (Baseball, Basketball, Cross-Country, Football, Golf, Soccer, Swimming, Tennis, Track & Field, and Wrestling) and 9 women's sports (Basketball, Cross-Country, Golf, Soccer, Softball, Swimming, Tennis, Track & Field, and Volleyball). The Lady Mustangs Basketball team won back-to-back NAIA Division II National Championships in 2004 and 2005. The football team was coached from 1948-1950 by future Pro Football Hall of Fame coach George Allen. The wrestling team, coached by Tim Jager, returned in 2004-05 after a 25-year layoff and made a strong showing in the NAIA national tournament, with freshman Jake Stevenson winning 4th place honors. The team looks to improve upon their first year with 20 new recruits in 2005-2006.

For most of its existence, Morningside has used the mascot "Chiefs" until met with resistance a number of years ago by local tribes (Sioux City is derivative of the Yankton Sioux Tribe, the surrounding environ is known as "Siouxland"). Faced with this pressure the college opted to switch to the "Mustang" which was supplemented with a new logo. This change has been met with varying reaction, those who disagree are typically alumni. Current students have readily adopted this identity. School colors have remained unchanged since inception.

[edit] Morningside Campus Organizations

Morningside's Department of Mass Communications has a weekly newspaper, the Collegian Reporter, a student-run radio station broadcasting 24 hours a day, KMSC and shares a cable access channel as MCTV.

Morningside is currently home to three Greek organizations, Alpha Omicron Pi sorority, Delta Sigma Phi, and Acacia Fraternity, although it has been home to many others over the years.

[edit] External links for Morningside College

• Morningside College Mainsite

Great Plains Athletic Conference
Briar Cliff • Concordia (Nebraska) • Dakota Wesleyan • Dana • Doane • Dordt† • Hastings • Midland Lutheran • Morningside • Mount Marty† • Nebraska Wesleyan • Northwestern (Iowa) • Sioux Falls † does not compete in football