Listen Here
By Amy Rogan
As a University of Findlay professor, graduate, and mom of a UF graduate, my Oiler roots run deep. In fact, my mother told me that Findlay College offered her a scholarship when she graduated high school, 30 years before I decided to go to UF, but she decided to forego college at the time.
My husband played football for the legendary Dick Strahm and my son-in-law played football here as well. Our daughter got her three degrees here at UF and cheered for both football and basketball all four years. So, there’s no shortage of black-and-orange in our closets.
But you’ll also see a fair amount of purple there as well–and not just because it happens to be my favorite color. Our son got his degree from Bluffton University and spent four years playing baseball there.
Which means, this merger means something different to our family. It’s truly a merger of our college experiences and traditions.
The Churches of God and the City of Findlay came together in 1882 to form Findlay College. According to the UF website it began with a group of Findlay residents who offered $20,000 and 10 acres of land to the Church. Classes began in 1886 with 70 students. Nearly 140 years later the campus now spans approximately 350 acres including 86 acres for the main campus, and has approximately 3,400 students.
Bluffton University was founded in 1899 as Central Mennonite College. According to the Bluffton website, “The first building sat on land that was once a ten-acre cow pasture donated by a local townsman. Around 1913, the institution became officially known as Bluffton College and Mennonite Seminary.” It now sits on 234 acres with approximately 700 students.
While we obviously love UF and have great pride in Oiler Nation, we are also grateful for the role Bluffton played in our son’s life. He found lifelong friends there who continue to spend time together. From baseball season to planned golf and snowboarding trips, he was truly blessed with some awesome friends. And faculty and staff supported him as well.
One of his favorite traditions he remembers is a game day tradition. As a member of the baseball team, he and his teammates paid homage to the tragic past. On March 2, 2007, five members of the team were killed in a bus crash in Atlanta. He says on game days the team walked one by one to Bluffton University Memorial Field and circled around the Circle of Remembrance memorial and touched the baseball seams on the memorial, then walked onto the field and into the dugout. He says it was a great reminder that it was bigger than one’s self every day.
My daughter cherishes her time at UF as well. Her memories include walking in and out of the arch, which she calls surreal. She says you don’t realize while it’s happening your freshman year but walking back out at graduation really hits you.
I remember the story she told when I had neck surgery in 2019 and a professor, seeing the concern and stress my daughter was feeling about the surgery, stopped her after class and asked if he could pray with her. And the joy my current colleague and former professor, Dr. Diana Montague exclaimed when my daughter ended up in her speech class: “My first grandbaby!”
My son loved his time at Bluffton. And my daughter loved her time here at UF.
We are blessed that both of our children found their college “home.” And I do believe everyone finds their college home. As a professor it’s my honor to work with students who have chosen UF. As a parent, I’m grateful both of my kids found their college home with other professors equally committed to their education and growth as a young adult.
Knowing the inside experiences at both universities and being familiar with those roots, I truly see a bright and strong future ahead as we combine the strengths of these two historical institutions.
