Washburn University was established at
Topeka, Kansas, in February 1865 as "Lincoln College", by a
charter issued by the State of Kansas and the General Association of Congregational Ministers and Churches of Kansas; the land on which the college stood was donated by abolitionist
John Ritchie. The institution was renamed "Washburn College" in 1868, after
Ichabod Washburn pledged $25,000 to the school. Washburn was a church
deacon,
abolitionist, and industrialist who lived in
Worcester, Massachusetts. Washburn College adopted a variation of the Washbourne arms as its emblem, substituting the school colors for the tinctures of the arms. Since becoming a university, however, Washburn has abandoned use of the family arms. Instead, the university now employs a stylized "W" as the emblem of the institution. The school mascot, "The Ichabod", is still in use. "The Ichabod" honors the namesake and early benefactor of the institution, Ichabod Washburn. "The Ichabod" existed only in name until 1938, when alumnus (and later prominent graphic artist)
Bradbury Thompson (B.A., 1934) created the studious-looking, tailcoat-wearing figure the university uses today. The athletic teams are nicknamed "Ichabods", although women's teams did not use that nickname until the 2013–14 school year. As the news was being printed (eventually across the country), the governor, fearing riots, called out state troops to protect the school. Three of the doctors, including the dean of the school, and a student-janitor from the school were arrested, as was one man who was not a member of the school. Charges against the doctors were discharged, the janitor was convicted but had his conviction reversed on appeal, and the fifth man was convicted but later pardoned. On June 8, 1966, only a few days after classes were dismissed for the summer, much of the campus was demolished by a
tornado, and completely denuded of trees. Three months before the tornado struck, the Washburn board of trustees had reinsured every building on campus for the maximum amount. A week after the tornado struck, summer classes began at Topeka West High School. By the fall of 1966, Stoffer Hall was repaired. It took years to reconstruct the campus, with students attending classes in trailers well into the early 1970s. Formerly a
municipal university, the university's primary funding was moved from city property tax to county sales tax sources in 1999, with the school retaining status as a municipal subdivision of the state. Washburn is governed by its own nine-member Board of Regents. ==Organization and administration==