| 1815 | Town of Greenville, Illinois, established. Several neighborhoods eventually began to be named,
such as New Jerusalem, Piety Hill, Buzzard Roost, and Cobtown. |
| 1840’s | Greenville begins to serve an informal role on the Underground Railroad. Numerous safe houses
provided. |
1855 | Almira College established by the Rev. John Brown White and Stephen Morse as one of the first
institutions of higher learning in the Midwest for the training of women (Oberlin, in Ohio, was the first in
1839). |
| 1858 | Both Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas give speeches during the senate campaign. |
| 1864 | “Old Main,” (later to be called Hogue Hall), the primary building for Almira College is completed. |
1891 | Members of the Central Illinois Conference of the Free Methodist Church acquire Almira College
and its properties. |
| 1892 | Greenville College is established and Wilson T. Hogue is called as its first President. The college
provides a “classical education,” with separate preparatory, music, and business curricula. |
| 1900 | Three degrees offered by the college: Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of
Philosophy. |
| 1904 | Hogue takes up full-time role as Bishop. Augustin Whitcomb, pastor of the Free Methodist
Church, named President. |
| 1906 |
Assembly Hall (later renamed LaDue Chapel) finished and used for Commencement Exercises. |
| 1907 | Student body has grown to more than 300, of which 75 (less than 25%) are in the college of the
liberal arts. |
| 1908 | Eldon Grant Burritt named President. Intramural sports begun. |
| 1912 | Beginning of “nut hunts,” later to morph into All-College Hike. |
| 1915 | Burritt Gymnasium completed. |
| 1917 | Enrollment begins to sag due to military enlistments. |
| 1920 | Registrations swell. Work begins on what will become Burritt Hall. |
| 1922 | Burritt Hall opens. |
1925 | Endowment Campaign launched. Campaign extends until Commencement 1927. |
1927 | Enrollment reaches 518. Preparatory program closes. President Burritt dies, with Professor John
LaDue shortly thereafter. Leslie Marston (class of 1916) named President. He turns down faculty
position at Columbia University and head of the U.S. Government Research Council, in order to do so.
Becomes the primary shaper of the modern curriculum. Robert Woods establishes choir. |
| 1932 | Tower Press established. Followed by Tower Products in 1933. |
| 1936 | H. J. Long, Professor of Chemistry, named President. Becomes Greenville’s longest-serving President (26 years). Brings innovation to campus, including housing for returning GI’s, intercollegiate sports, and training and certification for teachers. |
| 1947 | Greenville College attains regional accreditation. Bell now housed in Hogue Tower rung. Veterans swell the ranks of students due to GI Bill. Modular housing units established for married students with deal from Ft. Leonard Wood. |
| 1962 | Glenn Richardson, a businessman, named President. He becomes the builder of the modern campus (new gym, residence halls, Marston Hall). Major General Education revision, including Interterm, launches in 1967. |
| 1970 | Orley Herron becomes the first President to come from outside the denomination. He leads in the move towards a “principled” campus, and begins much of the work to see more faculty with doctoral degrees. Oversees the largest influx of students with the peak of the Baby Boom. |
| 1978 | W. Richard Stephens, serving as interim, named President of Greenville College. Oversees the building of library tower, Crum and Armington Centers. In the wake of declining enrollments with the end of the Baby Boomers in the mid-1980’s, initiates new program in Contemporary Christian Music and begins the football program. |
| 1993 | Robert (“Ish”) Smith becomes President during a time of fiscal struggle. Begins an adult degree completion program (GOAL) and graduate program in Ministry (LAMP). Faculty work for three to four years on new curriculum proposal. |
| 2000 | V. James Mannoia named President. New COR curriculum approved and launched Fall 2000 with incoming millennials. Academics restructured in three schools: Arts and Sciences, Professional Studies, Education. Greenville becomes the first wireless campus in the country. Summer science student research funded. Digital Media major launched. |
| 2007 | Hogue Hall demolished due to safety issues. Highest enrollment reached 2007-2008 (approximately 1150). |
| 2008 | Larry Linamen named President, moving the campus towards greater global awareness, transforming the former Bond County Health Department buildings into the University Pathways program with an Intensive English Language program. Junior Varsity sports initiative. Online education begins. Maves Art Center acquired. Gullies (on north end of campus) bought by the college. |
| 2012 | Ivan Filby, former Business Department Head and Faculty Moderator, becomes President. MBA developed and launched, with an international component. New ventures in Education undertaken, particularly through credentialing efforts via Advancement Courses. Briner and Bastian Schools named as GC becomes GU. Time of declining enrollment in traditional undergraduate program. Faculty revision of COR program (General Education) undertaken and implemented in 2016. Two significant downsizing efforts undertaken in 2016 and 2019. Full-time faculty reduced from 70-plus to around 50. Six programs (majors eliminated) due to under-enrollment. Hogue Tower construction. University, having been placed “on notice” by HLC in 2016-2017, restored to “clean” accreditation in 2020. |
| 2020 | Suzanne Davis named Greenville’s first female President. GU linked to University of Illinois system for COVID rapid-testing. Three competitor schools (MacMurray, Lincoln College, Lincoln Christian College—undergraduate) close. Enrollments begin to stabilize. Campaign begun, breaking through the $30 million mark. Work begun on four-story Kaufmann Hall and Athletic facilities. |
