Wilkes University

Wilkes University is a private, non-denominational American university located in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, with branch centers in Mesa, Arizona and Bartonsville, Pennsylvania. It has over 2,200 undergraduates and over 2,200 graduate students (both full and part-time). Wilkes was founded in 1933 as a satellite campus of Bucknell University, and became an independent institution in 1947, naming itself Wilkes College, after English radical politician John Wilkes. The school was granted university status in January 1990.

The school mascot, which was suggested by Wilkes student Joe Pringle (class of 1949), is a Colonel and the official colors are blue and yellow. The campus symbol is a letter "W" known as the "flying W" by students and alumni.

History

Wilkes University was first established in 1933 by Bucknell University under the name Bucknell University Junior College (BUJC) in Wilkes-Barre. BUJC attracted many students who were the first members of their families to benefit from higher education as the need for junior colleges arose in urban areas. The college opened in downtown Wilkes-Barre where the first classes were held on the third floor of the Wilkes-Barre Business College building. By 1934, the business college moved out of the building and BUJC had taken it over and continued to grow over the years acquiring old mansions for student housing, classrooms, and administration offices along the streets of South River and South Franklin. By 1945, the Board of Trustees formally moved to develop the junior college into a four-year institution.