Peace College

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Peace College


Established	1857
Type	Private
President	Laura Carpenter Bingham '77
Undergraduates	662
Postgraduates	0
Location	Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
Campus	Urban
Colors	Green and white
Mascot	Pacer
Website	peace.edu

Peace College is a small liberal arts women's college located in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. It is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) and is a member of the Association of Presbyterian Colleges and Universities.[1] As of 2006, Peace College has a student body of 662 women and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.[2][3]

1 History
2 Academics
3 Rankings
4 Campus life
5 Traditions
6 External links

[edit] History

The college was founded in 1857 as the Peace Institute by prominent men within the Presbyterian Synod of North Carolina. The funding came from a $10,000 USD ($205,000 in 2005 dollars) donation from William Peace, a prominent local merchant.[4]

A member of the Women's College Coalition, Peace is one of the oldest institutions of higher education for women in the United States. It is the second-oldest in North Carolina, predated only by Salem College (the first school for girls in the United States, founded in 1772) [5].

[edit] Academics

Peace offers majors in the following areas: biology, business administration, child development, communication, English, graphic design, human resources, leadership studies, liberal studies, music performance, politics and public affairs, psychology, Spanish, History, and Anthropology .[6]

Minors offered include the following: anthropology, biology, business administration, chemistry, communication, English, French, history, human resources, information systems and services, music, psychology, religion, Spanish, theatre, and visual communication.[7]

As an exclusively undergraduate college, Peace offers only Bachelor's degrees. The most popular majors at the college are in the field of communications, where one quarter of all students focus their studies.[8] Peace also offers an honors program for academically-advanced students, as well as a teaching licensure program for aspiring educators.[9]

All Bachelor of Arts candidates must complete an internship while at Peace.[10] The college also encourages study abroad, paying 15% of all costs for qualified students looking to study outside of the United States.[11][12]

[edit] Rankings

U.S. News & World Report placed Peace 36th out of the 53 colleges in its "Comprehensive Colleges-Bachelor's (South)" category in their America's Best Colleges rankings for 2006, deeming it a "less selective" school in terms of admissions standards.[13] It was tied with Elizabeth City State University, also located in North Carolina.[14]

In November 2005, Peace was named one of the top schools out of 528 surveyed for Indiana University's annual National Survey of Student Engagement, ranking in the top 10% for student-faculty interaction, active and collaborative learning, and supportive campus environment.[15]

[edit] Campus life

There are approximately 30 student-run clubs and organizations at Peace. These groups include political clubs, like the College Democrats and College Republicans; religious clubs, like the Peace Student Christian Association; academic clubs, like the Psychology Club and the Technical Awareness Club; and arts clubs, like the Peace College Chamber Singers and the Peace College Theatre. There are also sports groups, governance committees, ethnic organizations, and various others.

The three student publications at Peace are The Peace Times, the student newspaper; The Lotus, the yearbook; and The Prism, a literary magazine.[16]

Peace competes in the USA South Athletic Conference as a Division III school in the NCAA. Teams are fielded in basketball, cross country, softball, soccer, tennis, and volleyball. Peace has been a full member of the NCAA since 2002 after having been granted provisional membership in 1995. Prior to that, Peace had competed in Region X of the NJCAA dating back to 1973. USA South membership was granted in 2003, making it the first women's college in the state to join a co-educational conference.[17]

[edit] Traditions

Like most women's colleges, Peace has a number of campus traditions. These include the Fall Cocktail, a formal dance held each year; Father/Daughter Weekend, Mother/Daughter Weekend, and Little Sister Weekend, held to encourage family ties and involvement while at Peace; Honor Day, when all first-year students sign the college's code of honor; and the Red Rose Ball, a formal dance held each spring.

Another tradition is the wearing of special colored robes at Commencement. Before the elimination of the Associate's degree at Peace, Women receiving them wore long white dresses and carried red roses. Currently, women receiving Bachelor's degrees wear green heirloom academic robes, with the names of the graduate who wore the robe previously embroidered on the sleeve. Additionally, upon graduation, all Peace College women are gifted with a personalized bible. [18]

[edit] External links

Peace College - official college website
Go Peace Pacers! - official athletics website

USA South Athletic Conference
Averett • Chowan • Christopher Newport • Ferrum • Greensboro • Mary Baldwin^†‡ • Meredith^†‡ • Methodist • North Carolina Wesleyan • Peace^† • Shenandoah ^† women's sports only • ^‡ joining during 2007