two buildings have since been demolished. In May 2004, the university received approval to close Mound Street between College Avenue and Pleasant Ridge Avenue from the city of Bexley. In 2006, the university constructed a pedestrian mall on the closed portion of Mound Street which included parking, improved lighting, benches, and landscaping. The $2.5 million project unified the northern and southern portions of campus. Denvy A. Bowman, the university's 15th president retired on July 1, 2016, ending his ten-year tenure as president. On February 9, 2016, Elizabeth L. Paul was named as the 16th president of Capital and was the first woman to hold the position at the university; she subsequently resigned in 2020. David Kaufman became interim president in June 2020 and was named the 17th president on July 25, 2021. ELTS became independent of the university in 1959. It merged with the theological department known as Hamma Divinity School of nearby Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, in 1978, and reopened on the Bexley campus as Trinity Lutheran Seminary, where it continues today as a theological seminary of the ELCA. In the fall of 2016, Capital University and Trinity Lutheran Seminary announced that the two would reunite after 58 years of operating separately. The goal was to have the reunion plan completed by summer of 2017 with implementation to follow over the next two years. On July 13, 2020, the university Board of Trustees announced plans to retire the Crusader nickname and the “Cappy” mascot following a 15-month long study. The university formally adopted “Capital Comets” as the new mascot name on September 30, 2021. Academics Capital is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. It has more than 60 majors and 51 minors to choose from. The academic buildings on campus include Battelle Hall, Ruff Learning Center, Troutman Hall, Kerns Religious Life Center, Huber-Spielman Hall, Conservatory of Music, and Renner Hall. Capital University's ranking in the 2022 U.S. News & World Report edition of Best Colleges is Regional Universities Midwest, tied at #37. Law School Capital University Law School is an ABA-accredited private law school located in downtown Columbus. U.S. News & World Report listed Capital's full-time Juris Doctor program as "Rank Not Published" in 2018, but in 2022 it was ranked as tied for No. 147-193 out of 197 schools in Best Law Schools. Campus life Student organizations Capital University features more than 70 student organizations. This includes