Atlantic Union College

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Atlantic Union College (AUC), established in 1882, is located in South Lancaster, MA. The College is a four-year accredited, coeducational, liberal-arts institution with a number of professional and pre-professional programs, several alternative education programs, and a masters degree program in education. AUC was established by the Seventh-day Adventist Church primarily to serve the needs of its constituents in the northeastern part of the United States and Bermuda.

1 History
2 Presidents
3 G. Eric Jones Library
4 Thayer Performing Arts Center
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] History

1882 On Feb 5th, organized as a preparatory school under the leadership of Stephen Nelson Haskell (1833-1922)
1882 On April 19th, first day of class for "that New England school"
1883 On Dec 12th, incorporated and formerly named as South Lancaster Academy
1918 Renamed Lancaster Junior College
1922 Renamed Atlantic Union College after offering a four-year theological course and being authorized degree-granting powers conferred by the Massachusetts legislature. The Academy and College became separate institutions with the Academy having its own board of trustees and faculty. Granted the Bachelor of Theology (B.Th.) and the Bachelor of Religious Education (B.R.E.) degrees.
1926 In October the name of the school paper The Student Idea was changed to Lancastrian
1927 On April 19th the Atlantic Union Alumni Association was formed
1933 On Feb 9th the Governor of Massachusetts Joseph Ely granted AUC the right to confer the Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree
1933 On Dec 3rd the E. E. Miles Science Memorial Building was dedicated
1942 Purchased William Kilbourn's farm, along with 100 acres along George Hill Road
1943 Dedication of Rachel Preston Hall for a women's dormitory
1943 Purchased the 42 room Thayer Mansion, originally built in 1798 by Rev. Nathaniel Thayer
1945 Accepted into membership with the New England Association of Schools and Colleges
1952 Dedication of Haskell Hall as an administration building
1954 Authorized to grant the Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree
1954 First class graduates in Machlan Auditorium, Haskell Hall
1990 Authorized to grant the Master of Education (M.Ed.) degree

[edit] Presidents

1917-1920 Mahlon Elsworth Olsen (1873-1952)
1920-1920 Otto Marion John (1883-1938)
1920-1921 George R. Lehman
1921-1928 Benjamin F. Machlan (1865-1928)
1928-1936 Otto Marion John (1883-1938)
1936-1948 G. Eric Jones (d.1978)
1948-1953 Lewis N. Holm (1892-1986)
1953-____ Lawrence M. Stump (1898-1988)
____-1967 Robert L. Reynolds (1917-2002)
1967-1970 Herbert E. Douglass (b. 1927)
1970-
1985-1993 Lawrence T. Geraty (b. 1940)
1993-1996 James J. Londis (b.1938)
1996-2003 Sylvan A. Lashley (b.1952)
2003-2003 N. Clifford Sorensen
2003-2007 George P. Babcock
2007-

[edit] G. Eric Jones Library

The G. Eric Jones Library building was dedicated on April 17, 1970. G. Eric Jones served as college president from 1936-1948. A contemporary structure of stone, brick and glass, the main and second floors house the library, while the basement level houses the Education/Psychology Department, English Language Institute and Modern Language program.

The Library contains a gift of a thousand volumes from the private library of poet Edwin Markham (1852-1940)

[edit] Thayer Performing Arts Center

In 1798 Reverend Nathaniel Thayer (July 11, 1769 - June 23, 1840) constructed his parsonage in South Lancaster. His sons enlarged the home in 1846, and again in 1902, to 42 rooms, transforming it into a palatial Victorian home with Mansard roof and the largest formal hall and staircase in New England.

After being sold out of the Thayer family and having its furnishings sold at auction, Thayer Mansion was sold to AUC in 1943 at a cost of $12,500.

Today the Music Department at Atlantic Union College is housed in this historic mansion, renamed the Thayer Performing Arts Center. The music faculty is comprised of some of the Greater Boston Area's finest performer-educators.