History
Monmouth College was founded on April 18, 1853, by the Second Presbytery of Illinois, a frontier arm of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. The college celebrates this date annually as "Founders Day," cancelling classes for a day of celebration and an honors convocation. Founded as "Monmouth Academy," the school became Monmouth College after receiving a charter from the state legislature on September 3, 1856. The college remains affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and is a member of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest, a consortium of small, private liberal arts colleges. The college's motto "Sit Lux" ("Let there be Light") appears on its seal, but the college likes to describe itself as "What College Was Meant to Be."
The college's endowment as of June 30, 2011 was $78,624,000
Monmouth was one of the first institutions in the country to admit women from its inception. This increased the college's early popularity and logically made it the home of the women's sorority movement. Pi Beta Phi was founded on April 28, 1867 as I. C. Sorosis. Pi Beta Phi was the first national secret college society of women to be modeled after the Greek-letter fraternities of men. Kappa Kappa Gamma, founded in 1870, is another national sorority founded at Monmouth College.
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“Let us not underrate the value of a fact; it will one day flower in a truth. It is astonishing how few facts of importance are added in a century to the natural history of any animal. The natural history of man himself is still being gradually written.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“What would we not give for some great poem to read now, which would be in harmony with the scenery,—for if men read aright, methinks they would never read anything but poems. No history nor philosophy can supply their place.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The history of this country was made largely by people who wanted to be left alone. Those who could not thrive when left to themselves never felt at ease in America.”
—Eric Hoffer (1902–1983)