Tennessee Wesleyan was originally founded in 1857 as Athens Female College, and consisted solely of one building (now called Old College). In 1866 the name was changed to East Tennessee Wesleyan College, and in 1867 the name was again altered to East Tennessee Wesleyan University. At that time, the college was one of only a handful of coeducational colleges in the Southern United States. In 1889, college president John F. Spence changed the name of the school to U.S. Grant Memorial University in an attempt to receive financial support from Northern benefactors. Seventeen years later, the college became a branch campus of the University of Chattanooga (now the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga) under the name Athens School of the University of Chattanooga. In 1925, the college split from Chattanooga to become Tennessee Wesleyan College and served as a junior college. Tennessee Wesleyan became a liberal arts college in 1957 when it began awarding bachelor�s degrees.

In keeping with the spirit of the liberal arts, Tennessee Wesleyan College seeks within the framework of the Judeo-Christian tradition to provide for students the highest quality educational experience; to promote personal responsibility, integrity, and purpose; and to prepare students for a life of leadership and service in an ever-changing global community.

Tom Browning, baseball player Ron Campbell, baseball player Chris Cattaneo, soccer player James Alexander Fowler, U.S. Assistant Attorney General and Knoxville mayor Leonard Lomell decorated soldier, attorney, businessman John T. Raulston judge in the 1925 Scopes trial. Robert C. Snyder, professor of English at Louisiana Tech University

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