Bacone College is a private four-year liberal arts college in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Founded in 1880 as the Indian University by Almon C. Bacone, Bacone College is the oldest continuously operated institution of higher education in Oklahoma. The college has strong historic ties to various tribal nations, including the Cherokee Nation and the Muscogee Creek Nation, and the American Baptist Churches USA. Bacone College is a member of the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, the Oklahoma Independent College Foundation and Universities, the Joint Review Commission for Radiography Education, the National League for Nursing, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, and an affiliate member of the Oklahoma Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. Its current president is Rev. Dr. Robert J. Duncan, Jr., a United Methodist minister from Drew University. Bacone College sports compete as the Warriors in the Red River Athletic Conference of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The college traces its origins to a request to the American Baptist Home Mission Society by Professor Almon C.