Wilson College

Wilson College, founded 1869, is a private, Presbyterian-related, liberal arts college located on a 300-acre (121.4 ha) campus in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded by two Presbyterian ministers, but named for its first major donor, Sarah Wilson of nearby St. Thomas Township, Pennsylvania. For 144 years, Wilson operated as a women's college. In 2013 the college's board of trustees voted to make the college coeducational beginning in the 2013-2014 academic year with male residential students beginning in fall 2014.

Wilson College has 1,098 students from 18 U.S. states and 16 foreign countries. At the time the Board of Trustees made the decision to go coed, the college had 316 undergraduate and 379 graduate students. It is known for its Single Parent Scholars program (formerly known as the Women with Children program), which allows single parents to bring their children to live with them on campus, as well as for its veterinary medical technician and equestrian programs, and the Fulton Center for Sustainability Studies, which operates a 7-acre (2.8 ha) organic farm and a CSA (community-supported agriculture) program that supplies community families and others with fresh, organic produce.

The college was founded by the Rev. Tryon Edwards and the Rev. James W. Wightman, pastors of Presbyterian churches in nearby Hagerstown, Maryland, and Greencastle, Pennsylvania. The original charter was granted by the Pennsylvania Legislature on March 24, 1869. Wilson was one of the first colleges in the U.S. to accept only female students and was named for Sarah Wilson (1795–1871), who gave two large donations used to purchase the campus land. Anna J. McKeag served as Wilson's first woman president from 1911 to 1915.

In 1967 the Wilson College sailing team won the first Intercollegiate Sailing Association national championship held in a women's event (dinghy).

The Wilson College campus is located at the edge of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, on both sides of the Conococheague Creek. The property was originally bought from Alexander McClure, whose home Norland, had been burnt in 1864 by Confederates under the orders of General Jubal Early. The home was rebuilt before being sold to the college.