Inclusion A History of

• Since its founding in 1844, Olivet College has believed education should be available to everyone regardless of gender, race or financial means.

• Women were admitted to Olivet College from day one.

• Women held faculty positions as early as the 1840s when many colleges didn’t even admit women.

• Students of color were welcome at Olivet College day one, well before the Emancipation Proclamation. The state of Michigan denied the College its state charter in 1845 due to its abolitionist beliefs.

• In 1863, the College honored its first graduating class, which consisted of three women: Mary N. Barber, Sara Benedict and Sophia A. Keyes.

• Hiram Archer, who attended the College from 1889 to 1905 and played varsity baseball, was one of the first African‐American intercollegiate athletes in the nation.

• In 2022, Juneteenth was designated as an official Olivet College holiday to celebrate and honor this important date in American history and the African American experience.