Martin Luther College (MLC) is a private Lutheran college in New Ulm, Minnesota. It is operated by the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS). Martin Luther College was established in 1995, when Northwestern College (NWC) of Watertown, Wisconsin, combined with Dr. Martin Luther College (DMLC) of New Ulm on the latter's campus.
MLC offers several undergraduate and graduate degree programs, all of which train students for service in the WELS. Men who graduate from the college's pre-seminary program may enroll at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary. Men and women who graduate from its education programs may be assigned by the WELS as teachers and staff ministers to synod churches, schools, and missions. In 2019, MLC enrolled 731 undergraduate students and 129 graduate students.
Situated on a bluff above the Minnesota River, MLC's campus is a neighbor to Hermann Heights Monument and is home to the Chapel of the Christ. The college's Gothic Revival-inspired Old Main building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 for having state-level significance in the themes of architecture, education, and religion.
Martin Luther College's 16 varsity sports teams compete at the NCAA Division III level and are known as the Knights. The college is a member of the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference.
History
Martin Luther College was established in 1995 when Northwestern College (NWC), located in Watertown, Wisconsin, combined with Dr. Martin Luther College (DMLC) located in New Ulm, Minnesota, at the New Ulm campus.
Northwestern College
Northwestern College was established in 1865 to train pastors for the Wisconsin Synod.
After the Wisconsin Synod was founded in 1850, the church body had received its pastors from mission societies in Germany. However, as the synod developed a more confessional stance, a desire to train its own pastors grew. Furthermore, it was becoming more challenging to provide the church body with a sufficient number of pastors. In 1863, the Wisconsin Synod passed a resolution to establish a college and seminary in Watertown for the training of its own ministers in America.
Beginnings
Northwestern College began operation in 1865, when the first building was dedicated. The square-shaped building, topped by a small, square cupola, was affectionately called the , or coffee grinder, by Northwestern's early, mostly German-speaking, students. The building housed the college, its preparatory department, and a seminary.
Financial hardship marked the earliest years of Northwestern due to a lack of interest from Wisconsin Synod congregations, yet in 1868 the college built a new dormitory and added to its property.
The Wisconsin Synod also solidified its confessional stance during this time and entered into fellowship with the Missouri Synod. The seminary then combined with the Missouri Synod seminary in St. Louis. The college provided pre-seminary training for both synods.
Professor August Ernst was installed as a professor in 1869 and became college president. He redesigned the college's institutional structure to match the German Gymnasium system. The college and preparatory departments included seven class levels, each designated by a Latin name. The Latin names are still in use at Luther Preparatory School.
The teaching department left in 1892 for New Ulm when the Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan synods federated, leaving the pre-seminary department in Watertown.
On the night of July 30, 1894, the Kaffeemuehle was struck by lightning and set ablaze. The building was destroyed, and the college constructed the Recitation Building in its place by 1895.
In 1909 the Northwestern Club of Milwaukee, a group of alumni, decided to gift a gymnasium to their alma mater. At the gymnasium's dedication in 1912, St. Matthew's congregation of Milwaukee presented a statue representing a "Sprinter on His Marks", commonly called the Sprinter, and President William Taft sent a telegram of congratulations.
Later years
Through a special offering collected at WELS congregations, many improvements and building projects were completed at the campuses of Northwestern College and Dr. Martin Luther College, beginning in the 1950s. Additionally, Mrs. Meta Kilgas Michelson of Manitowoc, Wisconsin, bequeathed the funds to build a campus chapel at NWC, dedicated in 1956.
By 1974, the preparatory department began to operate apart from the college as Northwestern Preparatory School, today's Luther Preparatory School, but continued to share a campus with Northwestern College. Luther Preparatory School has remained on this campus since then.