Lenoir–Rhyne University is a private Lutheran university in Hickory, North Carolina. Founded in 1891, the university is affiliated with the North Carolina Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Academics The university is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bachelor's and master's degrees. In the fall of 2018, LRU offered its first doctorate program, the Family Nurse Practitioner/Doctor of Nursing Practice (FNP/DNP). Overall, Lenoir–Rhyne University has over 50 undergraduate majors and nearly 30 graduate programs. The university has campuses in Hickory, Asheville, and Columbia, South Carolina. Athletics Lenoir–Rhyne fields 20 intercollegiate teams and competes in National Collegiate Athletics Association Division II (NCAA Division II) as a member of the South Atlantic Conference. The school nickname is the Bears; its mascots are Joe and Josie Bear. The school's swimming programs compete in the Bluegrass Mountain Swimming Conference and the men's lacrosse program was a member of the Deep South Lacrosse Conference until the conference dissolved in 2013. The men's and women's track & field and women's lacrosse teams compete as NCAA Division II Independents. Prior to competing in the NCAA, the university was a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The LRU football team won the NAIA National Championship in 1960 and made three trips to the title game in four years. In 2013 the Lenoir Rhyne football team made it to the 2013 NCAA Division II Football Championship game. In 1980, the Bears' women's basketball team reached the NAIA Final Four while the men's basketball squad made it to the NAIA Elite Eight in 1992. Recently, the Lenoir–Rhyne softball team has seen six straight trips to the NCAA Division II Playoffs, and reached the Southeast Region Finals in 2010 and 2011. Also, the Bears' women's soccer team advanced to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight in 2010 after the program's most successful season to date. The LRU men's and women's basketball teams have both reached Division II NCAA postseason play several times in the 2000s, with the Bear women hosting the Southeast Region Tournament in 2009. Student life There are over 60 student clubs and organization on campus. Undergraduate students are required to live on campus for their first three years. The university designates Morgan Hall, Isenhour Hall, and half of Fritz-Conrad Hall exclusively for freshman students. Upperclassmen housing includes Hickory House, Price Village, and