Hendrix College is a private liberal arts college in Conway, Arkansas. Approximately 1,000 students are enrolled, mostly undergraduates. While affiliated with the United Methodist Church, the college offers a secular curriculum and has a student body composed of people from many different religious backgrounds. Hendrix is a member of the Associated Colleges of the South. History Hendrix College was founded as a primary school called Central Institute in 1876 at Altus, Arkansas, by Rev. Isham L. Burrow. In 1881 it was renamed Central Collegiate Institute when secondary and collegiate departments were added. The next year the first graduating collegiate class, composed of three women, were awarded Mistress of English Literature degrees. In 1884, three conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South purchased the school. This began the school's relationship with the Methodist Episcopal Church, South and later The Methodist Church and the United Methodist Church. The Central Collegiate Institute was renamed Hendrix College in 1889 in honor of Rev. Eugene Russell Hendrix, a presiding bishop over three Arkansas Methodist conferences. This same year, the primary school was discontinued. Hendrix College was initially designated a male college, but by the time of the name change in 1889, the college allowed for the enrollment of women who were interested in the college's course of study. In 1890, after receiving bids from seven other Arkansas towns, the Hendrix Board of Trustees chose Conway as the new location for the college. College literary societies thrived at Hendrix from the 1890s through the 1930s, and they included the Harlan Literary Society, its rival—the Franklin Literary Society, and for women—the Hypatian Literary Society. Secondary education was discontinued in 1925. In 1929 the college merged with Henderson-Brown College, a private school in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, which briefly created Hendrix-Henderson College. Two years later the name reverted to Hendrix College. The merger resulted in Hendrix Bull Dogs becoming the Hendrix Warriors, and the college newspaper, the Bull Dog, being renamed the College Profile. The newly expanded college planned to move to Little Rock, Arkansas, but the city of Conway was able to raise $150,000 to keep the school. In 1930 the name was briefly changed to Trinity College but reverted to Hendrix College after opposition by students, alumni and townspeople. The financially troubled Galloway Woman's College in Searcy, Arkansas was absorbed by Hendrix in 1933 during the Great Depression. W. Ellis Arnold III became the college’s twelfth president on