Wesleyan University founded in 1831, is a private, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded by Methodist leaders and residents of Middletown, Wesleyan was the first university to be named after John Wesley, the founder of the Methodism and it shares a common Methodist heritage with about twenty other U.S. colleges and universities also named after Wesley.

With a class size of slightly over 700, Wesleyan accepts just 28% (class of 2008) of those who apply, making it one of the most selective colleges in the US (giving it a Princeton Review Admissions Selectivity Rating of 97 on a scale from 60 to 99). It was ranked 9th in the top Liberal Arts Colleges in the country by the US News. Wesleyan is well known for the diversity of its student population with students from 49 U.S. states, the District of Columbia and 45 foreign countries. 22% of the class of 2004 identified themselves as students of color.

Wesleyan is also famous for its activism, especially for its feminist and gay-rights organizations, and as such it was the main inspiration for the 1994 movie PCU, which satirized an exaggeratedly "Politically Correct University."