Aurora University originated in 1893 as Mendota College (Mendota, Illinois), founded by a Midwestern group of Advent Christians. The Advent Christian denomination was one of many outgrowths of the nineteenth-century Millerite Movement. In 1912, the school moved to Aurora, a larger town with a record of impressive economic development that promised the college greater opportunities. Initially Aurora College was a liberal arts school composed mostly of Advent Christians drawn from around the country. That began to change as the effects of the Great Depression and World War II created a more diverse student body and began to transform the college into more of a secular, regional liberal arts school with a growing emphasis on professional programs. In 1985, Aurora College became Aurora University. Today the university also has satellite professional programs in Chicago and Wisconsin.

Susan Palmer