Buena Vista University

Buena Vista University is a private four-year college in Storm Lake, Iowa. Founded in 1891 as Buena Vista College, it is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church. The university's 60-acre (240,000 m2) campus is situated on the shores of Storm Lake, a 3,200-acre (13 km2) natural lake. BVU's academic programs feature a balance between traditional liberal arts courses and hands-on learning opportunities, such as travel and internships. The average student-to-professor ratio is 13:1.

At its inception, the college was housed in the Storm Lake Opera House, where it remained for only a year. Old Main, the college's first building, opened in 1892, and was occupied by faculty and students until it burned down in 1956. Major construction projects in the 1950s and 1960s extended the college, which soon included three dormitories, a library, and a number of classroom buildings.

Buena Vista University competes in 19 intercollegiate sports at the varsity level. The university is a NCAA Division III institution and a member of the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Teams that compete at BVU include baseball, men's and women's basketball, cross country, football, men's and women's golf, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's tennis, track & field, volleyball, and wrestling. Roughly one out of every four BVU students participate in intercollegiate athletics.

Buena Vista's mascot is the Beaver. The origins of the Beaver as the Buena Vista mascot go back to the early 1900s, when the football team was called the BVers. In the spring of 1921, a Buena Vista student combined that nickname with then-popular soft drink Bevo to create the nickname the Beavers.

Buena Vista's softball team appeared in one Women's College World Series in 1971.