The Director Emeritus of the Smithsonian Institution calls Hudson the most historic place in Ohio, one of 50 Great American Places, with “its New England Plan organized around the village green,” and “an enduring connection to small-town values, ideals, and traditions that shaped American democracy.” These ideals are in our DNA at WRA.
Of the 12 original incorporators of the College, five were graduates of Yale, one each from Dartmouth, Williams and Harvard, and the remaining four were not college-educated but had pioneering mindsets, like our principal founder, David Hudson. All lived in Connecticut before moving to the Western Reserve of Ohio with dreams of establishing the “Yale of the West.”
Western Reserve College, our campus today, established a reputation for academic excellence and for promoting the abolitionist movement. It was a pioneering place. These legacies continue today in our college-prep curriculum for a just and sustainable future.
Who We Are
Since the 1930s, we have called ourselves the Pioneers. According to an old issue of The Reserve Record, this nickname was submitted to a nickname contest by both John Richey ’36 and Sam Kipp ’35 and was chosen from more than 50 turned in to the judges, Dr. J. B. Hayden, “Tebby” Theibert, and C.T. Jones.
The nicknames submitted were divided by the judges into three classes: names of animals, names of historical aspect, and miscellaneous names. It was decided by the judges that a nickname be chosen from the historical group, because of Reserve’s background of tradition and history.
What is more appropriate than the name of Pioneers? Blazers of new trails, they pursue the horizon,
Headmaster Joel B. Hayden
The Pioneer, however, is not a mascot. It has no specific gender, no race, no creed — it is a spirit, an appetite, a light that burns inside all of us. But our community is full of symbols and visual markers: the Seal, the Chapel, the Victory Bell, a green blazer and our brightest beacon — our oak tree, strung up with 75,000 lights.
A 200-YEAR-OLD HISTORY
Past, Present & Future
Though much has changed over the last two centuries, the WRA community continues to embody the same ideals that inspired David Hudson and James Ellsworth. As we consider the future, it’s our history, our traditions and, most critically, our core values that define our path forward: intellectual curiosity and tenacity; transformational growth and wellbeing; belonging, respect and empathy; and citizenship and regional and global engagement. We stay true to these guiding principles, forever in pursuit of light and truth.