Wesleyan University

Wesleyan University is a private university in the U.S. state of Connecticut with a campus in Middletown. It was founded by Methodists in 1831 and named after John Wesley, but became completely independent from the Methodist Church in 1937.

In 2006, it ranked 10th among U.S. liberal arts colleges in the U.S. News & World Report rankings.

As of 2015, there are 445 employees and approximately 3,180 students. The Foundation had funds of approximately $838 million in 2015.

The students publish their own newspaper (The Argus). The university is a member of the Little Three or Little Ivies in college sports, with Williams College and Amherst College. Their sports teams are called the Cardinals. The official school colors are red and black.

Famous alumni include screenwriter Zak Penn, writers Robert Ludlum and Robin Cook, former football player and New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, musicians from the indietronic band MGMT, director Michael Bay and psychologists David McClelland, Elliot Aronson and John William Atkinson. Wesleyan University was also the home of German journalist Domenika Ahlrichs, who was editor-in-chief of Netzeitung from August 2007 to late 2009 and later became deputy editor-in-chief of Zeit Online. Longtime Tagesthemen anchor Ulrich Wickert studied at Wesleyan for a year in 1962 on a Fulbright scholarship.