Dakota Wesleyan University (DWU) is a four-year university located in Mitchell, South Dakota, founded in 1885, that is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The student body averages slightly less than 800 students. The campus of the university is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1883, a small band of Methodist settlers meeting in the Dakota Territory secured a charter to found the college as Dakota University. These pioneers were driven to "build a college of stone while living in houses of sod," and had deep religious convictions about the education and future of their children. They envisioned an institution that epitomized the highest in Christian thought and deed, and so adopted the motto, “Sacrifice or Service”. This is symbolized in the collegiate seal of the altar, the ox, and the plow. On October 14, 1904, the institution assumed its present name of Dakota Wesleyan University. By 1920, Dakota Wesleyan University was the largest independent college in the state, with an enrollment of more than 300.