Editing Moravian University (section)

==History==
Moravian University is the sixth-oldest college in the United States<ref>{{cite web |title=Our History |url=https://www.moravian.edu/about/history |website=Moravian University |date=January 1982 |access-date=27 April 2025}}</ref> and the first to educate women in the original 13 colonies. It traces its roots to the [[Bethlehem Female Seminary]], which was founded in 1742, as the [[Timeline of women's colleges in the United States#First and oldest|second boarding school for young women in the U.S.]] behind just the [[Ursuline Academy (New Orleans)|Ursuline Academy in New Orleans]]. The seminary was created by Benigna, Countess von Zinzendorf, the daughter of Count [[Nikolaus Ludwig Zinzendorf]], who was the benefactor of the fledgling Moravian communities in [[Nazareth, Pennsylvania|Nazareth]] and [[Bethlehem, Pennsylvania]]. The "Moravian Female Seminary" was incorporated by the Pennsylvania State Legislature in 1863 and became the [[Women's colleges in the United States|women's college]], the "Moravian Seminary and College for Women" in 1913.<ref>[http://www.moravian.edu/default.aspx?pageid=37 College History] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614223131/http://www.moravian.edu/default.aspx?pageid=37 |date=2011-06-14 }} Moravian College</ref>

The university also traces its roots to the founding of two boys' schools, established in 1742 and 1743, which merged to become [[Nazareth Hall]] in 1759. Located in the town of Nazareth, [[Nazareth Hall]] became, in part, "Moravian College and Theological Seminary" in 1807. It was later incorporated by the Pennsylvania State Legislature in 1863 as a baccalaureate-granting institution, albeit with the same name. Beginning in 1858 and continuing to 1892, the seminary and college relocated from Nazareth to a former boys' school on Church Street in Bethlehem, located on the present site of the Bethlehem City Hall.<ref name="Kowalchik">{{cite web |last1=Kowalchik |first1=Claire |title=Innovation and the pursuit of excellence brought Moravian College to this moment. |url=https://www.moravian.edu/news/magazine/summer-2021/moravian-university |website=Moravian University |date=January 1982 |access-date=12 December 2024}}</ref>

The men's Moravian College and Theological Seminary then settled in the north end of the city (the present-day North Campus) as a result of a donation from the Bethlehem Congregation of the [[Moravian Church]] in 1888. The first buildings constructed at North Campus, Comenius Hall and Zinzendorf Hall, were completed in 1892 and joined the property's original brick farmhouse to form the new campus. The farmhouse was later named Hamilton Hall, which still stands today.<ref name="Kowalchik"/>

In 1954, the two schools combined to form the single, coeducational, modern institution of "Moravian College". The merger of the two institutions combined the North Campus (the location of the men's college from 1892 to 1954) and the South Campus (the location of the women's college) into a single collegiate campus. The distance between the North and South campuses is about {{convert|0.8|miles}} of Main Street, called the "Moravian Mile". First-year students traditionally walk the Moravian Mile as part of their orientation activities.<ref>{{Cite web |date=August 16, 2005 |title=Freshmen to Walk the Moravian Mile on August 27 |url=http://www.moravian.edu/default.aspx?pageid=597 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723230233/http://www.moravian.edu/default.aspx?pageid=597 |archive-date=2011-07-23 |website=Moravian College}}</ref>

In 2021, Moravian College received approval from the [[Pennsylvania Department of Education]] to become a university. The change to "Moravian University" became official on July 1, 2021.<ref>{{Cite press release |title=Moravian College announces it has received approval from the PA Department of Education for change to University status |location=Bethlehem, PA |url=https://www.moravian.edu/moravian-university-official#.YORo-BNKjjA |access-date=2021-07-06 |website=Moravian University}}</ref>