Based in the town of Hickory, North Carolina, Lenoir-Rhyne is one of the premier liberal arts institutes in the state. Founded in 1891, it has grown from an initial class of 12 to a institution of a couple of thousand students today, while retaining its affiliation to the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Lenoir-Rhyne also has a campus for graduate studies in the town of Asheville and a theological seminary in Columbia, South Carolina.
Lenoir-Rhyne offers over 50 undergraduate majors and 25 graduate programmes, and courses are taught at the colleges of Arts & Sciences, Health Sciences, Education, and Professional & Mathematic Studies. A concise student to faculty ratio ensures both small class sizes and effective working relationships.
In 2015 after a seven year ＆University Rising＊ campaign, Lenoir-Rhyne was able to raise the $65 million necessary to begin construction on an extension to the Minges Science Building. As well as a complete renovation to the existing facility, the work saw the addition of 35,000 square feet of space, and new space for leading edge education areas in the fields of physic optics, biochemistry and microbiology.
Sports teams at LRU are known as the Bears, and compete in the university colours of red and white. There are a total of 20 teams competing in varsity competition in the NCAA Division II, and the flag bearing and cheerleading Spirit Teams in men＊s and women＊s departments. Bears Baseball Field was opened in 1922 with a current capacity of 500, and the men＊s team were the 2001 South Atlantic Conference Tournament Champions.
