Our History, Our Future
North Central College was founded in 1861, during the Civil War. We were called Plainfield College then, and we were one of the few colleges welcoming women as well as men. From the very beginning we set ourselves apart as an institution committed to wisdom as well as knowledge. Our first president, A.A. Smith, said, “A college should be a great moral lighthouse, sending out a clear and steady light upon all subjects ... ”.
Plainfield College, 1861
The College opened with 40 students in a single two-story building in Plainfield, Illinois. Since then we’ve changed names twice (to North-Western, then North Central), moved once (from Plainfield to Naperville), and grown steadily (to about 3,000 students).
At that time it was not common for women to attend college and even less common for college to be coeducational. The 23-member board of trustees governing the College chose three faculty members: two men and one woman. They also selected a president: Augustine Austin (A.A.) Smith, an administrator from Oberlin College in Ohio. He and his family actively supported abolition, temperance and women’s rights while fighting against racial discrimination.
It is important to consider local and national context at that time. Black people were enslaved in the South. In April 1861, the Civil War broke out at Fort Sumter in South Carolina. President Abraham Lincoln occupied the White House. As a young man, he had served in the Illinois General Assembly with Joe Naper, who founded Naperville 30 years prior. In 1861, Chicago was the railroad capital of America, a crossroads for commerce, and a stronghold of abolitionist sentiment. Plainfield was a small farm town of 700 people with daily access by stagecoach to railroads in Joliet. Closer proximity to a railroad and the City of Chicago would be factors in the College moving to Naperville in 1867.
Over the years, thousands of dedicated students, alumni, faculty, staff, and friends have helped us thrive through the toughest challenges – wars, economic crises, social upheavals, and more – and build a future brilliant with hope and promise.
We’ve met the changing needs of students from Civil War veterans to millennial entrepreneurs. And we’ve always stayed true to our heritage of moral courage and forward thinking.
Today we’re a top-ranked private comprehensive college of the liberal arts and sciences. U.S. News & World Report counts us among “America’s Best Colleges,” one of the top 10 most innovative schools in the Midwest. Students choose from more than 90 undergraduate majors and 19 graduate programs.
Although the College originally discouraged organized athletics as a distraction from weightier matters, our 26 intercollegiate sports in NCAA Division III make our athletic department the largest in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW). North Central is proud of its 44 team national championships and 152 individual and relay national champions.
Though affiliated with the United Methodist Church, we welcome and encourage students and staff of all faiths. We are thoughtfully expanding our academic programs to respond to the needs of our ever-changing world. And we’re transforming our facilities – most dramatically with a new interdisciplinary health science & engineering center on Chicago Ave., right next to Downtown Naperville.
It’s been an amazing 160+ years. But it’s clear that the best is yet to come!