The University will be closed December 19, 2024 to January 5, 2025. If you need assistance during that time, please call 1-855-OWU-1842 and leave a detailed voicemail along with your contact information. One of our colleagues will respond to your call as soon as possible.
If you would like to make a 2024 gift, please make your gift before midnight on December 31.
Ohio Wesleyan is committed to providing a supportive and richly diverse culture on our campus. That is where the liberal arts can flourish and students can best grow, succeed, and achieve.
We are invested in and dedicated to providing and improving services to help support the social and educational goals of all students. Our academic programs explore global issues and cultures from diverse and interdisciplinary perspectives. Social programs celebrate diverse experiences and cultures on campus.
We welcome students from all backgrounds, from across the nation, and from around the world. We provide services to help support the social and academic goals of our students. And we offer leadership opportunities through a wide range of student organizations.
In partnership with the I Know I Can college-access organization, Ohio Wesleyan provides 25 high school seniors annually with total financial aid of at least full tuition for up to four years while they pursue their OWU bachelor's degrees. To be eligible, the students must attend one of the four Central Ohio school districts served by I Know I Can -- Columbus City Schools, Reynoldsburg City Schools, South-Western City School District, or Whitehall City Schools.
With this commitment, Ohio Wesleyan is I Know I Can's most significant scholarship provider.
In recognition of I Know I Can's commitment to providing access and opportunity to promising students, Ohio Wesleyan is awarding its Dr. Charles Thomas Scholarship exclusively to I Know I Can students in celebration of the courage, character, and life of this former OWU student. (See the Inspiring Life of Dr. Charles Thomas below.)
The Dr. Charles Thomas Scholarship provides 25 I Know I Can high school seniors annually with total financial aid (comprised of federal, state, and institutional funds) of at least full tuition for up to eight semesters, as determined by their FAFSA results. To maintain the Thomas Scholarship, recipients must remain in good academic standing throughout their time at Ohio Wesleyan.
To be eligible for Ohio Wesleyan's Thomas Scholarship, applicants must:
Charles, nicknamed Tommy by his teammates, faced racial injustice whenever and wherever the team traveled.
During a 1903 road trip, the Ohio Wesleyan baseball team traveled to South Bend, Indiana, where Charles was denied lodging at a hotel with his white teammates. Head coach Branch Rickey was able to convince the front desk clerk to allow Charles to stay in his room.
When Coach Rickey arrived at his room, he found Charles sitting on the bed lamenting the color of his skin. As the story goes, this event and similar injustices Charles encountered remained vivid in Branch Rickey's mind and served as his inspiration in signing Jackie Robinson to a contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers, thus breaking the profession's color barrier, more than 40 years later.
The Ohio Wesleyan Transcript ended its 1905 baseball season review with the following line... "we can hardly hope to find a man who is as strong an all-around player as Tommy. Success to him in whatever he may do."
Charles Thomas studied dentistry at the Ohio State University Medical School, graduating in 1908. He practiced in St. Louis before moving to Albuquerque, New Mexico, as one of the first two Black dentists in the state. He practiced there for 40 years and kept in contact with his friend and fellow alumnus Branch Rickey until he died in 1965. Dr. Thomas died in 1971 at age 91.