Skip to main content
Union University

Bicentennial

Bicentennial Celebration at Union

Coffee Table Book

Coffee Table Book Cover

Donate $200 to receive "Union University: Two Centuries of Christian Leadership"

This book is dedicated to the glory of God, who has guided and sustained Union University over the past 200 years and to all the Union alumni, students, parents, employees, trustees, supporters, and friends who have helped make the institution what it is today.

Donate $200 to Receive Book See Sample of Book (.pdf)
(tax deduction amount: $170)

Over two centuries, Union University has grown from a small, regional school to a top-tier national university. But the journey to today is fraught with hardship and catastrophe, eclipsed only by the divine providence of Jesus Christ and the faithfulness of Union's faculty, staff, and students.

While Union University is nearly as old as Jackson, Tennessee, itself, the institution is the amalgamation of three different colleges with two distinct educational missions: religious studies and liberal arts education. Religio et eruditio. Jackson Male Academy was established in 1823 to provide the town's boys with a traditional liberal arts education. In 1844, the school was granted a new charter as West Tennessee College to attract a broader student population from throughout the region. Meanwhile, in Murfreesboro, a group of Baptists undertook the mission to educate and prepare students for careers in ministry. Intended to be a home for all of the state's fractured Baptist populations, they named the new institution Union University.

As the Civil War, its resulting financial pressures, and a cholera outbreak eventually upended each institution, God faithfully led the Tennessee Baptist Convention to negotiate a merger that combined the physical resources of West Tennessee College with the uniquely Baptist mission of Union University in Murfreesboro. In 1874, Southwestern Baptist University was established in Jackson — known since 1907 as Union University.

The story of Union University is one of perpetual renewal and restoration. It is the story of how God has directed faithful servants to navigate a whirlwind of change, hardship, and tragedy to light a beacon of hope through Christ-centered education. Celebrate 200 years of religio et eruditio with "Union University: Two Centuries of Christian Leadership."