A global outlook, a desire for public service, practical idealism. They are components of American University nowadays, as it was in 1893, when American University was chartered by the Congress.
G. Washington had dreamed of establishing a “national university” in the capital. But this took J. F. Hurst to set a university embodying that dream.
Present’s students would discover a similar spirit in Hurst, studied overseas in the 1850s and ventured through the South Asia and Middle East, even writing a Sri Lanka’s cultural history. When ground was broken in year 1896, he was the honoured Methodist bishop of Washington with a dream of a university, which would educate future public servants.
The Iand Bishop Hurst selected for American University was on the country fringe of the capital, but it was rich with Washington history. A. Lincoln had visited the troops at Fort Gaines perched on the ground today held by the Katzen Arts Center and Ward Circle.
Presidential footsteps would go on echoing through the university’s history. In year 1902, President T. Roosevelt laid the stone of a building that was named for Hurst’s colleague, President W. McKinley. While the Methodist-affiliated institute opened in 1914, President W. Wilson gave the dedication.
Various scademic programs obtained high national rankings, and the students’ quality was reflected in numerous merit awards as well as prestigious national fellowships and scholarships like Presidential Management Fellowships and Fulbright awards.
The American University’s developing fame in the creative arts was underlined with the opening of the Harold & Sylvia Greenberg Theatre and the Katzen Arts Center.