Oakwood University was founded in 1896 as Oakwood Industrial School. Legend has it that the school was named for a stand of oak trees found on the campus. The school first opened in 1896 with 16 students. Classes were offered in various trades and skills. In 1904, the name was changed to Oakwood Manual Training School, and it was chartered to grant degrees in 1907. In 1917, the school offered its first instruction at the postsecondary level, and in that same year it changed its name to Oakwood Junior College. In 1944, the name Oakwood College was adopted. The first bachelor's degrees were awarded in 1945. Oakwood College received its initial accreditation from SACS in 1958, and in 2007, the college received approval to award graduate degrees. In response to this higher accreditation, the school's Board of Trustees and constituents voted to change the name of the institution again to Oakwood University of Seventh-day Adventists.
Campus
Oakwood University owns in Huntsville, Alabama. The main campus consists of 23 buildings spread across. Another 500 acres is under cultivation. Building developments are continuing. The J. L. Moran Hall, completed in 1944 and named after the first black president of Oakwood, stands with more recently erected buildings such as the McKee Business & Technology Complex, completed in 2002. The institution also houses a branch office of the Ellen G. White Estate. The Bradford-Cleveland-Brooks Leadership Center which opened in October 2007 houses a training center for evangelists and ministers as well as provide additional classroom space for the Department of Religion and Theology. This building is also home to the classes for the first master's degree program for the university. The newly completed Holland Hall accommodates about 300 males, primarily freshmen, and housed its first students in the 2008–2009 school year.
Student housing
Students at Oakwood, or "Oakwoodites" as they are sometimes called, either live on campus in any of the five residence halls/areas, rent an apartment from the school's own West Oaks Apartment Complex, or live off-campus in the surrounding area. Oakwood is a boarding institution, and any student under the age of 22 not living with an immediate family member over age 22 in the area is required to live on campus. Freshmen males live in the Holland Hall dormitory, which is a new residence hall for freshmen males and selected upperclass males, while freshmen women live in Carter Hall. There are two more residential complexes for women: Wade Hall and the Annex are for senior female students. Edwards Hall is the dormitory for senior male students. Two additional dormitories, Peterson Hall and Cunningham Hall, are currently vacant and awaiting renovation.
Academics
Oakwood University offers undergraduate and graduate degrees through the following schools:
Adventist Colleges Abroad is a program that allows Oakwood students to spend time studying at Adventist universities outside of the United States while earning credit for the degree they are pursuing at Oakwood. Some of the colleges participating in this program are in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, France, Spain, Austria, Italy, Greece, Germany, Ukraine, Thailand, and Japan. Most Oakwood students study in Argentina, France, Mexico, Spain, and Greece.
Student activities
Spiritual life
Oakwood University is committed to the spiritual nurture and character development of each student with the goal of ‘developing servant leaders’. The Office of Spiritual Life, in conjunction with the Oakwood University Church, the USM, and the residence halls offers numerous programs and services for spiritual enrichment including weekly chapel services, Sabbath church service, Adventist Youth Society, residence hall worships, student missionary program, and club and outreach activities. The institution extends to each student the opportunity to participate in the Literature Evangelism Training Center program. This program is designed to assist in helping students acquire scholarships for tuition and spread the Gospel in print to a world in need of a Savior.
Student organizations
Oakwood students have the option to be involved in many student organizations on campus. The most prominent student organization is The United Student Movement which seeks to promote a more perfect relationship among all sectors of the university community and to enhance the religious, academic, cultural, and social programs of the university. Greek social clubs are prohibited due to their level of exclusivity, initiation activities, and internal codes of performance and behavior that are often in conflict with Oakwood's philosophy and values.
Musical groups
The Aeolians, Oakwood University's premier touring ensemble, was founded in 1946 by former professor, Dr. Eva B. Dykes. This choir has 45–60 members from various disciplines, and the group travel nationally and internationally as musical ambassadors for the University. The choir has visited Romania, Great Britain, Poland, Jamaica, and Bermuda among other locations. The group has also performed at the White House for President Bill Clinton and at the Kennedy Center, both in Washington, D.C. The current conductor of the ensemble is Jason Max Ferdinand, M.M., a graduate of Oakwood University and Morgan State University and a former Aeolian. He is also the current conductor of the Oakwood University Choir. Other musical ensembles on campus include gospel choirs Dynamic Praise, Voices of Triumph, the group Serenity winners of the First Season of "Making The Group" reality show competition. Oakwood University is known for its legacy of great music. In 2010, an Oakwood-based vocal group, Committed, won the a capella TV competition The Sing-off. The group is featured in Jacob Collier's 2019 recording and video of Lionel Richie's song All Night Long. The university has a rich musical tradition and its musical alumni include singer and pastor Wintley Phipps, Natalie Cadet of the Cadet Sisters and the founding members of the a cappella gospel group Take 6.
Academic competitions
At the 2008 Honda Campus All-Star Challenge National Championship Tournament in Orlando, Florida, Oakwood University team members brought home the trophy. This competition featured 64 teams from historically black colleges and universities around the nation. In addition to winning the championship, Oakwood University received a grant of $50,000 from the American Honda Motor Company. Both the quiz bowl and basketball teams adjusted their playing schedules to not play on Saturday, the day observed as the Sabbath, and both teams still emerged as champions over Alcorn State University. At the 2009 Honda Campus All-Star Challenge National Championship Tournament, the team, led by captain Alesis Turner, returned to again be named the champions. In 2017, Oakwood for the third time won the HCASC Tournament, defeating Bowie State University in the finals without losing a game the entire tournament. 2017 marked the 28th season of the tournament. The school joins Tuskegee University, Florida A&M University, and Morehouse College, as the only schools to win back-to-back championships at HCASC.
Athletics
Oakwood University's athletic teams are known as the Ambassadors and Lady Ambassadors. The university competes as a member of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association. Oakwood fields 7 sports, men's teams include baseball, basketball, and soccer while women's teams include basketball, soccer, softball, and volleyball. The university also offers several intramural sport activities.
Men's basketball
The Ambassadors men's basketball team won the 2008 USCAA National Championship in the team's first season a member of the association. The Ambassadors won their second USCAA Division I National Championship in March 2012 against Rochester College, and their third in March 2016. The university became the first college or university in Alabama to win three men's basketball championships when the Ambassadors defeated Concordia College to win the 2019 Division I USAA Championship. The Ambassadors men's basketball team won the university's fourth title in 2019 with a 58-57 win against Bluefield State.
