Concord University

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Concord University
Established 1887
Type Public, 4 year, Undergraduate, Graduate
President Dr. Jerry L. Beasley
Location Athens, West Virginia, USA
Affiliations West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission
Website http://www.concord.edu

Concord University is a comprehensive, public, liberal arts institution located in Athens, West Virginia founded on February 28, 1872, when the West Virginia Legislature passed "an Act to locate a Branch State Normal School, in Concord Church, in the County of Mercer".

Founded by veterans of both the Union and the Confederacy, Concord is named for the ideal of "harmony and sweet fellowship".

It is known for its picturesque campus which has been dubbed "The Campus Beautiful". The University also operates a center and conducts classes in Beckley, Raleigh County, West Virginia.

Contents

[edit] History

May 10, 1875, classes begin with 70 students. Captain James Harvey French was the first principal, and he served until his death in 1891.

1887 State appropriations for a new brick building were secured; the building was completed on the site of the present Athens Middle School, on State Street.

1896 Due to confusion with another West Virginia post office in Hampshire County called "Concord", the name of the town was changed to "Athens", an obvious choice of the old Greek city for a community that was a center of learning. But the school kept "Concord" as its name.

November 1910 A tragic fire destroyed the handsome school building on State Street.

1912 The campus was moved to its present site, on Vermillion Street and a new building was completed that currently is known as Marsh Hall.

1931 The institution achieves full national accreditation and is renamed Concord State Teachers College.

1932 President’s House completed.

1943 Name changed to Concord College.

1943 Concord housed the U.S. Army Air Corps 15th College Training Detachment. The program, which lasted throughout the war, brought classes of young soldiers in to train them as Army Pilots

1973 The West Virginia Board of Regents forces an administrative merger between Concord College and neighboring Bluefield State College.

1976 The highly unsuccessful administrative merger is discontinued.

2003 Concord begins to offer its first masters degree program in Education.

October 4, 2003 Concord named the 13th best public institution for pre-professional studies by The Wall Street Journal.

July 1, 2004 Concord granted university status by the state of West Virginia and renames itself Concord University

September 2004 Concord opens a state of the art Recombinant DNA Lab. Concord is named a Top Tier university in the U.S. south by U.S. News and World Report.

November 2006 Concord Pre-Law program wins a National Championship at the Phi Alpha Delta Prelaw Fraternity’s National Mock Trial Competition in Washington, D.C.

[edit] Leading programs

  • Education
  • Biology
  • Business
  • Chemistry
  • Pre-Law
  • Pre-Medicine
  • Mathematics
  • Psychology
  • Graphic Design
  • Computer Science / Information Systems
  • Social Work

[edit] Facilities

Concord University's campus features several buildings and facilties.

  • The Science Building, attached to Marsh Hall, houses science laboratories and the natural sciences division.
  • The Alexander Fine Arts Center, home to the fine arts division, features the Main Auditorium, art galleries, H.C. Paul Theatre, art laboratories, classrooms, and the office of the student newspaper.
  • The Carter Center houses the University's two gymnasiums, athletic offices, classrooms, racquetball courts, indoor athletic facilities, and the swimming pool.
  • The Bonner House houses the offices of the Bonner Scholars Program, a conference room, the counseling center, and faculty offices.
  • The Woodrum House is home to the University's honors program.
  • The Maintenance Building houses the public safety offices, receiving station, and maintenance facilities. Witherspoon Park features faculty housing.
  • The campus also features the largest library in southern West Virginia, the J. Frank Marsh Library, which is a depository for federal documents. The library offers computer labs and facilities, microfiche, copying services, a juvenile section, and the University's archives. In the basement of the library, the University has its Center for Academic Technologies, which features a television studio, radio station and studio, DNA laboratory, and distance education and technology classrooms.
  • Concord University features five main residence halls: The Twin Towers, North (women's) and South (men's), Laura A. Sarvay Hall (women's), Damarius O. Wilson Hall (women's), and W.S. "Woody" Wooddell Hall (men's).
  • White Hall was recently demolished to make room for a new technology center to be built on campus. The building is expected to be open before Fall 2008.
  • University Point, a new building to be constructed on campus, will feature an interfaith chapel, alumni center, and museum.

[edit] Other Campuses

Concord University's main campus is located in Athens, West Virginia. However, the University also operates a center in Beckley, Raleigh County. The office is located at 307 Prince Street in Beckley. The office coordinates classes at several other facilities in and surrounding Beckley.

In the future, the University will be included in the Southern West Virginia Higher Education Center, also to be located in Beckley.

[edit] Campus organizations

Concord sponsors nearly 200 on-campus organizations, including fraternities, sororities, religious and political organizations, an Art Society, chapters of Alpha Sigma Alpha, Alpha Phi Omega, Tau Kappa Epsilon, Phi Sigma Phi, Pi Kappa Phi, Sigma Tau Gamma, Alpha Sigma Tau, Delta Zeta, College Republicans, Young Democrats, The Progressive Alliance, and a chapter of Amtgard, the Shire of Nowhere Mountains. The most prominent local fraternity is Mu Xi Phi. In the winter of 2006, Alpha Kappa Alpha and Delta Sigma Theta were voted in as new sororities on campus, with a colonization date unknown as of December 9, 2006. In 2007, a new fraternity, Chi Omega Psi, was formed, mostly by track team members and members of APO.

The Concord University Student Government Association (SGA) is responsible for many changes on campus, and is active in every aspect of Concord life. Unlike at other universities, Greek organizations have only a minority of official representation in SGA, though Greeks may also serve as representatives for non-Greek orgranizations, senators, justices, and even executives. The Student Government at Concord University is especially influential compared to other SGAs in West Virginia, and is noted for its model juidical system wherein a student court, comprised entirely of students, handles the majority of adjudications for most student offenses.

[edit] Athletics

Concord University is home to many intercollegiate and intramural athletics teams. The intercollegiate men's teams include: football, basketball, baseball, golf, tennis, track and field, and cross country. The women's intercollegiate teams include basketball, softball, cheerleading, soccer, tennis, track and field, and cross country. Concord University is a NCAA Division II school, and a member of the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The Office of Student Affairs provides intramurals in many athletic activities, including flag football, volleyball, and basketball. The University's mascot is the Mountain Lion. The school's colors are maroon and gray.

[edit] Notable alumni

Freida J. Riley, (Alpha Sigma Alpha) - Teacher, her work as a teacher influenced the Rocket Boys, subjects of the movie October Sky.

[edit] Future

The Nick J. Rahall Technology Center This $14 million project will be a central location for McDowell, Wyoming, Raleigh, Fayette, Greenbrier, Summers, Mercer and Monroe Counties of West Virginia where existing business may obtain training/orientation to technologies which will make them more productive, competitive and profitable. The Center will serve as a central location where promising new businesses may use modern, attractive housing, clerical support, low-cost part-time employees, first-rate consulting, and cutting edge technologies without a full range of startup capital. The Center will also house the Concord University Entrepreneurial Studies Program, supported by a grant from the Hugh I. Shott Foundation. Incubator businesses, gifted Concord students, and professional Concord consulting faculty are brought together in the Rahall Center to use the area's "brain trust" to create entrepreneurial advantages for Southern West Virginia.

Interfaith Chapel at University Pointe The Concord Interfaith Chapel Foundation is working to convert the dream of a tolerant and open worship space for all faiths into reality, as plans are refined and gifts are received. Building and endowing the interfaith chapel has become a major goal of the new Campaign for Concord University.

[edit] External links


State universities in West Virginia
Bluefield State • Concord • Fairmont State • Glenville State  
Marshall • Shepherd • West Liberty State • WV State  
WV School of Osteopathic Medicine • WVU • WVU Tech  


West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Football: Charleston • Concord • Fairmont State • Glenville State • Shepherd • West Liberty State • West Virginia State • West Virginia Wesleyan
Non-football: Alderson–Broaddus • Bluefield State • Davis & Elkins • Ohio Valley • Salem International • Wheeling Jesuit
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