Southwestern Adventist University was founded in 1893 as Keene Industrial Academy. The purchase of property for the school was financed by Seventh-day Adventists in the Dallas area. Its first building, completed in 1894, was also used as a church. The school, which opened with 56 students, adopted its current name in 1996.[5]
On January 2, 1944, the West Hall boys' dormitory, which had undergone extensive repairs in the summer of 1943, was destroyed by fire.[6] 16-year-old student Reginald Maddison was awakened by a rumbling sound around 5:00 a.m. and saw flames emerging from a dust closet. He alerted students to the fire and activated the fire alarm. 12 students, including Maddison, escaped unharmed. One student was injured when jumping from a second story window. 2 students died during the fire. Curtis "Lee Roy" Birdwell, 15, was found in the basement underneath his dorm room. Virgil Dye, 17, was found near the chimney towards the center of the blaze.[7]
Southwestern Adventist University is located at the town of Keene, Texas, six miles northeast of Cleburne.[8][9] Keene has been described as an Adventist "company" town. On Saturdays, the Sabbath for Adventists, most stores in town are closed.[10]
The Keene Seventh-day Adventist Church has several thousand members. It is the Southwestern Adventist University church.[10]
The Seventh-day Adventist Church in America is divided into administrative units called unions, and most of these unions have a college. Most of these colleges were founded in the 1890s, a period of intense activity in Adventist history.[10]
The university evolved through several stages from Keene Industrial Academy to its present university status. At its beginning, it sold acreage to Adventist families and industries, and is now the largest Adventist community in the Southwestern Union, which includes Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and New Mexico.[10]
Academics
During Fall 2014, Southwestern began to offer a Fire Science degree. The program is the only one of its kind among Seventh-day Adventist colleges and universities. Graduates of this program will receive a degree, as well as several technical certifications that will allow them to become employed by fire departments around the nation.[11]
In June 2023 the university was placed on Warning status by its educational accreditor, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, after the accreditor's board found significant non-compliance with its standards of student achievement, student outcomes and employment of full-time faculty.[12]
SWAU competes in eight intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include basketball and soccer; while women's sports include basketball, soccer and volleyball; and co-ed sports include cross country, gymnastics and tennis.
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