Ohio Northern University begins undergraduate classes on Tuesday, Sept. 9. Opening activities have been scheduled to welcome new and returning students to the University community.

New students move into their residence halls on Saturday, Sept. 6 starting at 8 a.m. A parent/family send-off will be held at 4 p.m. in front of Founders Hall, with a picnic for new students following immediately at 5 p.m. At 6:30 p.m., the annual Playfair begins in the Sports Center.

Ohio Northern University's Freed Center for the Performing Arts presents "Whose Live Anyway?" This improvised comedy show, starring internationally famous comedians Ryan Stiles, Greg Proops, Chip Esten and Jeff Davis, takes place Saturday, Sept. 20 at 8 p.m.

Ohio Northern University's T.J. Smull College of Engineering is ranked as one of the top 50 undergraduate engineering schools in the nation according to "America's Best Colleges 2009," which is published annually by U.S. News & World Report.

ONU tied for 38th place in a ranking of those undergraduate engineering colleges that do not offer a doctoral degree program. Across the nation, there are approximately 175 engineering colleges in this category and, in the state of Ohio, ONU is one of only two schools ranked in the top 50.

Ohio Northern University's Pettit College of Law welcomes 120 students to the 2008 entering law class. Nearly 1,400 applications were received between Sept. 1, 2007, and July 31, 2008, a 9 percent increase from 2007. Classes for all students, new and returning, begin Monday, Aug. 25. New students join 202 returning second- and third-year law students and eight LL.M. students.

Ohio Northern University maintained its No. 2 ranking among Midwest baccalaureate colleges in "America's Best Colleges 2009," which is published annually by U.S. News & World Report.

Northern on Main (NOM), Ohio Northern University's off-campus café and coffee shop, will open its doors on Tuesday, Sept. 2, after a six-week renovation project.

Remodeling work was done in the kitchen to enhance the menu, and additional work was done in the interior to provide additional seating options and more efficient service.

In just days, a building familiar to generations of Northern students, Hill Annex, will be demolished. For eight decades, the structure served as the university’s source of heat and electricity. Earlier engineering students recall it as a lab where they learned the intricacies of power generation. Most recently, it has housed Northern’s business and security offices and the campus mail room. It was originally erected to meet a critical need for public utilities.

Ohio Northern University has received a grant from the Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges (OFIC) to support Vision Builders, a minority recruitment program aimed at increasing diversity at ONU. This is the second consecutive year that ONU has received this grant.

Vision Builders is a mentoring program that pairs ONU students with multicultural students from the School of Multiple Intelligences at Lima Senior High School. The program provides academic mentoring, college-preparation workshops and monthly activities at ONU and in the Lima community.

Thirteen Ohio Northern University students will participate in the 2008 Democratic and Republican National Convention programs. These two-week seminars are organized through the Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars. The Democratic Convention seminar will take place Aug. 17-29 in Denver at Regis University, followed by the Republican Convention seminar Aug. 24-Sept. 5 in Minneapolis at Augsburg College.