We have a building in McPherson, Kansas, that is named Templeton Hall. Motor oil, metal shavings, and old leather are probably what it smells like. It’s 33,000 square feet. Inside, students aren’t writing economics papers or watching marketing theory PowerPoints. Engines are being fixed up. Making shapes out of metal. Putting new upholstery on seats from cars that were made before the interstate highway system. It’s not something you normally see on a college campus, and it says an interesting thing about McPherson College, which has never quite done things the way everyone else does.
McPherson College is a private school with ties to the Church of the Brethren. It was founded in 1887 and is located on 23 acres on the east side of the same-named Kansas city. At first, there were 60 students and seven teachers living in one building that was both a dorm and a library. By the end of the first school year, there were 200 students, almost three times as many as the previous year. Of course, that kind of early momentum didn’t mean anything for sure. During that time, a lot of small religious colleges have quietly gone away. McPherson didn’t, and it’s not always easy to explain why.
It stayed important in part because it was willing to try things that bigger, more cautious institutions wouldn’t. A professor named J. Willard Hershey is said to have made one of the first man-made diamonds right on the McPherson campus in 1926. One of the diamonds is now in the McPherson Museum in town. Scientists who study the past still argue about whether the experiments were fully successful. A small college in the middle of Kansas, quietly pushing the limits of what was scientifically possible. That’s the kind of detail that sticks with you.
The important part that stands out today is the Automotive Restoration Technology program. It began when a local businessman named Gaines H. “Smokey” Billue gave some of his classic cars to the museum in 1976. Since then, it has grown into something truly unique. In the United States, McPherson College is the only place that offers a Bachelor of Science in Automotive Restoration Technology over four years. The course covers a wide range of topics, such as technical drawing and CAD, as well as foundry work, metal shaping, chassis rebuilding, and upholstery trim. Jay Leno, who knows a lot about old cars, has been giving money to the program since 1997 and has been on its National Advisory Board since 1998. A famous person endorsing a press release is not the same thing. That’s almost 30 years of steady participation.
Then there was a moment in November 2022 that changed the school’s whole financial story. Someone gave two dollars for every dollar McPherson raised, up to a maximum of $500 million. The donor’s name was not given. The college had gotten $342 million in outside pledges by the end of the campaign period on June 30th. This made the full match possible. The same donor then said they would give an extra $500 million from their estate. Because of this, a gift of $1.59 billion was made, which at first glance looks like a mistake for a school this size. It means that McPherson is one of the best-funded small liberal arts colleges in the country.
There are still some questions about what that much money will mean for the school’s future. A lot of money can change an institution in ways that aren’t always welcome or even expected. In one version of this story, McPherson grows very quickly and loses the interesting part that made it interesting. In another version, the money just protects what is already there, like the 13-to-1 student-to-faculty ratio, the unique classes, and the feeling that a student might actually be seen.
It has never been easy to choose McPherson College. It’s not in a big city. Not many people know that name. But it has built something harder to make than prestige: a unique identity based on place and purpose that has lasted for more than one hundred years.
