Оливет Назарен Университеті: Тарихы мен қазіргі жағдайы

Private university in Bourbonnais, Illinois, US
In 1909, the liberal arts college was chartered and named Illinois Holiness University, with A. M. Hills from Texas Holiness University as its first president. and again in 1921 to Olivet College. The economic solvency of the school became a problem in the 1920s, and the trustees were forced to declare bankruptcy in 1926. The school's treasurer, T. W. Willingham, purchased the school back at an auction and was elected president. In 1939, the main building on campus was destroyed by fire. With the move, the school's name was changed to Olivet Nazarene College (ONC). with 30 buildings. Four buildings are original from St. Viator College, including Burke Administration, Chapman Hall, Miller Business Center, and Birchard Gymnasium. There are also satellite campuses for adult education in Rolling Meadows, Illinois and Hong Kong.

Since Olivet Nazarene University relocated to Bourbonnais, the campus has undergone several different waves of construction. In addition, within the past two years, there have been numerous construction projects including the construction of the Betty and Kenneth Hawkins Centennial Chapel, the largest theater in Kankakee County, which seats approximately 3,059 people, and the Student Life and Recreation Center, which opened in December 2012. In total, there are seven academic buildings (Burke, Wisner, Weber, Reed, Larsen, Forton Villa, and Leslie Parrott), two gymnasiums (Birchard and McHie), and six residence halls (Chapman, Hills, Nesbitt, Parrott, McClain, Howe and Williams). The university also has several off campus apartment buildings (Old Oak, Oak Run, University Place, Grand, Stadium, Stratford, and Bresee). Centennial Chapel has showcased many Christian artists including Bill Gaither and Chris Tomlin. The university has also completed their student life and recreation center which was opened on December 12, 2012. This building serves as central hub for the campus and features an Olympic sized pool, Jacuzzi, lazy river, resistance pool, indoor track, one of the tallest collegiate rock climbing walls in North America, various classrooms, offices, a fitness center, game room and coffee shop.

ONU is one of nine regional U. S. liberal arts colleges affiliated with the Church of the Nazarene. ONU is the college for the "Central USA Region" of the United States. In terms of the Church of the Nazarene, the "Central Region" comprises the Wisconsin, Northwestern Illinois, Illinois, Chicago Central, Northern Michigan, Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Northwest Indiana, Northeastern Indiana, Indianapolis, and Southwest Indiana districts, which include Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, and Indiana. Each college receives financial backing from the Nazarene churches on its region; part of each church budget is paid into a fund for its regional school. Each college or university is also bound by a gentlemen's agreement not to actively recruit outside its respective "educational region."

ONU has been accredited by the Higher Learning Commission since 1956 The School of Graduate and Continuing Studies offers master's degrees, nontraditional adult degree completion programs, and a doctor of education degree offered only at Bourbonnais main campus as well as a master of "professional counseling" degree offered at a site in Hong Kong and distance education for a master in education degree.

There were 4,636 students at the college in 2007, 3,190 of whom were undergraduates. ONU students are from 40 states and 20 countries, and represent 30 Christian denominations.

From 2002 to 2019, the Chicago Bears held their summer training camp at the school. Although the Bears had an agreement to continue practicing at the university through 2022, they moved the camp to Halas Hall for the 2020 season.

In 2007, President John C. Bowling prohibited ONU alumnus and faculty member Richard G. Colling from teaching the general education biology course which he had taught since 1991. President Bowling banned professors from assigning Colling's 2004 book: Random Designer: Created from Chaos to Connect with the Creator (Browning Press: ) The 2005 2009 Manual included an additional paragraph that was removed in 2009: "[T]he church accepts as valid all scientifically verifiable discoveries in geology and other natural phenomena, for we firmly believe that God is the Creator." In a chapel message delivered 11 January 2006, President Bowling stated: "The Christian faith and some understandings of evolution are not necessarily incompatible. However, I want to be very clear in saying that not every articulation of evolution will do; not at all. That is to say, evolution must be understood in certain ways to be compatible with Christian faith." In October 2007 the School of Theology and Christian Ministry and the Department of Biology issued a statement concerning creation and theistic evolution, which includes this statement: "We affirm the value of science as a way of exploring the revelation of the Creator God in nature. We think that the theory of evolution can be seen as a scientific explanation of the diversity of life on earth, rather than as a godless religion that denies God's hand in the processes of creation." In a September 15, 2007 article about the Colling controversy published in Newsweek, Bowling is quoted as saying: "In the last few months [objections to Colling] took on a new life and became a distraction, and things were deteriorating in terms of confidence in the university." Bowling further said that he banned Colling's book in order to "get the bull's eye off Colling and let the storm die down." found problems with shared governance at ONU and that Colling's rights had been violated when Bowling placed the concerns of the more conservative members of its Nazarene constituency higher than its principles of academic freedom. In 2009, Dr. Colling resigned from the Olivet Nazarene University faculty in an agreement with the school.

According to the 2009–2013 Manual of the Church of the Nazarene: "Homosexuality is one means by which human sexuality is perverted. We recognize the depth of the perversion that leads to homosexual acts but affirm the biblical position that such acts are sinful and subject to the wrath of God. We believe the grace of God sufficient to overcome the practice of homosexuality (1 Corinthians 6:9 11). We deplore any action or statement that would seem to imply compatibility between Christian morality and the practice of homosexuality. We urge clear preaching and teaching concerning Bible standards of sexual morality." Woody Webb, VP for Student Development, stated: "We want to talk about this issue with students, and we want them to feel safe doing so. If they come to us and want help understanding their same sex attractions, our offices are open. While we won't help a student accept [his or her] same sex attraction and enter a gay lifestyle, if they realize that their same sex attraction is contrary to God's will for them, we will walk with them on their journey." According to a controversial article published in the Olivet student newspaper, "[I]f a student needs counseling and indicates that he or she is gay on the application Olivet counselors are not permitted to counsel them according to University policy." According to The Daily Journal "[t]his prompted a small group of students at Olivet to petition for tolerance and an open discussion about homosexuality." On July 26, 2019, PEN America released a statement on the controversy: "A professor's dismissal on the basis of a work of fiction suggests a disturbing climate for open inquiry and creative expression at [Olivet Nazarene University]. Unfortunately, the circumstances of Martinson's dismissal give the impression that the institution is more committed to quelling potential criticism and controversy than it is committed to defending the academic freedom of its faculty. In this case, dismissing Martinson over the content of his novel, including the presence of a lesbian character, sends a message of exclusion to the ONU community and is likely to have a chilling effect on the free and creative expression of students and faculty."