Dakota Wesleyan University (DWU) is a four-year university located in Mitchell, South Dakota, founded in 1885, which is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The student body averages slightly fewer than 800 students. The campus of the university is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

History

In 1883, a small band of Methodist settlers meeting in the Dakota Territory secured a charter to found the college as Dakota University. These pioneers were driven to "build a college of stone while living in houses of sod," and had deep religious convictions about the education and future of their children. They envisioned an institution that epitomized the highest in Christian thought and deed, and so adopted the motto, "Sacrifice or Service". This is symbolized in the collegiate seal of the altar, the ox, and the plow.

On October 14, 1904, the institution assumed its present name of Dakota Wesleyan University.

By 1920, Dakota Wesleyan University was the largest independent college in the state, with an enrollment of more than 300. The Great Depression, which hit the prairie earlier, harder and longer than any region in the nation, evoked another regionally sensitive response from Dakota Wesleyan. The university accepted many students with few or no resources. Lacking adequate tuition revenues, the university and its personnel sacrificed their development and economic well-being in order to provide educational opportunities for students who had no other options. Farm produce was accepted for tuition. As part of their pay, teachers received housing in Graham Hall and coupons to purchase merchandise in town. As in earlier days, the faculty, townspeople and parishioners of the Methodist church sustained the university.