Religious Crusades

The first recorded visiting evangelist on campus was Reverend Dr. Rust of Nashville in 1901. The campus YMCA held, after World War I, an annual evangelistic campaign in February or March. “Dad” Elliott came in 1917 and J. Stitt Wilson, in 1920. The largest and most controversial crusade was the Billy Graham Crusade of 1970—not because of Billy Graham’s ministry, but because of President Richard Nixon’s appearance as a speaker.