Coker College
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| Coker College | |
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| Established: | 1908 |
| Type: | private, co-educational, baccalaureate degree |
| President: | Dr. B. James Dawson |
| Faculty: | 50 full-time 70 adjunct |
| Students: | 1,197 (Fall 2007) |
| Location: | Hartsville, South Carolina, United States (=) |
| Former names: | Coker College for Women |
| Colors: | Navy and Gold |
| Nickname: | Cobras |
| Affiliations: | Conference Carolinas |
| Website: | [1] |
Coker College, founded in 1908, is a private, co-ed four year Liberal Arts college located in Hartsville, Darlington County, South Carolina. It is fully accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.[1] The NCAA-II team's official nickname is The Cobras.
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[edit] History
Coker College began in 1894 as Welsh Neck High School founded by a local businessman and Civil War veteran, Major James Lide Coker (1837-1918). In 1908, when South Carolina created a statewide public school system, Major Coker provided leadership for the conversion of the school to Coker College for Women.
From the 1920s until just after World War II, it was the only college between Columbia and Charleston, South Carolina accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
A liberal arts college, it was once affiliated with the South Carolina Baptist Convention, but has been non-denominational since 1944. It officially became co-ed in 1969 although men have been attending since World War II.
From 1988 to 2003, Coker students often interacted with students from SCGSSM high school who lived and took their own courses on campus. In 2003 the SCGSSM moved to its own dedicated campus a few blocks away.
[edit] Laurels
Coker's average class size is 12, one of the smallest in the nation; many classes have fewer than 10 students.[2]
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) has given Coker special commendations for the quality of interaction between faculty, students and staff and the attractiveness of the campus grounds and facilities.[3]
U.S. News & World Report ranks Coker #14 in the Top Baccalaureate Colleges in the South and a "Best Comprehensive College in the South" for 2008. The magazine has named Coker a "Best College" for 12 consecutive years.[4]
The Princeton Review selected Coker College a “Best Southeastern College” in its 2008 rankings based on academic excellence and student satisfaction; this is Coker's third consecutive selection to this honor.[5]
Barron’s consistently names Coker one of the nation's 300 Best Buys in College Education.
Major Coker's wisdom in giving Coker College an endowment, along with the generous donations of his heirs, Coker alumni, Hartsville citizens, and Sonoco employees, has permitted the college to have an endowment substanital enough to allow the school to award over $4 million annually in financial aid to students.[6]
[edit] Campus
[edit] Main
The 15 acre main campus contains mostly Georgian-style brick buildings, some of which (e.g., Davidson Hall, home to the college's famed round table classrooms) are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Alumni House (Drengaelen), The President's House, The Dean's & President's Offices (David & May Coker House), and The Registar's Offices (Lawton-Wilson House) are all located in old mansions along the northern edge of campus.
Hartsville and Coker College owe much to the generosity of the Coker family, founders of Sonoco and Coker's Pedigreed Seed Company. The Coker family's patronage of the college has led the vast majority of buildings on campus having Coker somewhere in the name. Students often joke to freshmen or visitors that they'll meet them "in the Coker" building, as a way to gently initiate newcomers to campus.
[edit] Residence Halls
There are several student residence halls including Memorial (1914), Belk (1916), Coker (1916) and Grannis (1969), which all adjoin the Linville Dining Hall (1916). Richard and Tuck Coker Hall (1988), commonly called the RTC, lies between the library and the other residence halls. Despite the age of these structures, most have been recently remodeled and are fully modernized. The Dining Hall offers three meals a day that range from light healthy fare to hearty "homecooking." Memorial Hall houses the Drawing Room, a ballroom/dining hall for special events.[7]
[edit] The Cobra Den
In the Coker Residence Hall's basement one finds The Cobra Den and The Cobra Pit — the on-campus spot for night life. Open nightly, The Pit offers students the luxury of playing pool, or watching television without having to leave the residence halls. The Cobra Den serves as the venue for the faculty Academic Karaoke lectures, and on the weekend, The Den has resident DJs spin the latest music!
[edit] Security
The residence halls are protected by locking rooms, id card swipe building entry, and 24-hour security guards that patrol the campus.[8]
[edit] Health Services
Coker Student Health Services is housed in the residence halls, near the Dining Hall. An RN is on-site to aid with general injuries and treatments, and to make referrals to physicians, as needed.[9]
[edit] Library
In January 2008, students began using the Charles W. and Joan S. Coker Library-Information Technology Center. This 40,000 sq ft (3,700 m²) state-of-the-art building replaces the James Lide Coker III Library, which will be remodeled into an upscale residence hall. The new library was built entirely from donations from a capital campaign, and is an example of Coker alumni generosity to the college.[10][11]
[edit] Athletics
Adjacent to the main campus is a 22 acre athletics complex with baseball, softball, soccer and tennis facilities. Near the athletics fields, on East Carolina Avenue, are the Saleeby House, home to Coker's athletics program, and the Department of Education Building.
[edit] Off-Campus
[edit] Sory Boathouse & Kalmia Gardens
Through generous donations, Coker also owns the Sory Boathouse on Prestwood Lake, and the Kalmia Gardens of Coker College. The Sory Boathouse is equipped with several canoes and tandem kayaks and associated equipment. Students can borrow the key and enjoy all South Carolina blackwater has to offer, free of charge. Kalmia Gardens is a mature botanical garden. It is home to the Hart House (built in 1820) and adjoins the 796-acre (3.22 km²) Segars-McKinnon Heritage Preserve, a blackwater swamp and forested wildlife reservation. The two properties comprise 831 acres (3.36 km²), roughly equal in size to New York City's Central Park. Kalmia Gardens hosts numerous community events and contains biking and walking trails that are open to the public.[12]
[edit] Vista Railyard Project
Along the campus's eastern edge, through the cooperation of several entities, the City of Hartsville will build the Vista Railyard Project. It will be filled with greenspace, a park, and municipal buildings. The project will connect Coker College and the Governor’s School for Science and Math to downtown Hartsville and provide an educational corridor when completed.[13]
[edit] Traditions
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[edit] Bonfire and Homecoming Court
Held in early October, Homecoming Week consists of a formal welcoming of the alumni, a homecoming soccer game, and a competition between classes. Some of the competition activities include class cheers, class comedian competitions, and the Hunk Contest. A bonfire is always held (drought-permitting) as a capstone event.
[edit] Winter Formal
A recent addition to campus traditions, the Winter Formal dance is held at the Hartsville Country Club.
[edit] C.O.W. Days
The Coker Olympics of Winter is a weeklong event held beginning at the first weekend in February. Events include the hotwing eating contest, tug-o-war, and the ever-popular musical water buckets. Competition is arranged by class (school year) and the winner earns the highly-coveted title of C.O.W. Days Champions.
[edit] Crew Race
Each Spring at the Sory Boathouse on Prestwood Lake (just blocks from Coker's campus), teams made up of sister classes race across the lake in canoes. Teams practice for weeks ahead of time to continue a tradition that dates back to 1919.
[edit] Late-Night Breakfast
Just before finals each semester, the faculty and staff cook a free late-night breakfast for resident students studying for their final exams. Aramark Corporation donates the food, and the college's employees provide the free labor. This popular event is attended by the majority of resident students.
[edit] Coffee at the Courtyard
During Fall and Spring semesters, in front of Davidson Hall at 8:30 AM every Thursday morning, Coker provides students, staff, and faculty with free coffee, hot chocolate, juice, and pastries. A brief ceremony is usually held to honor people's recent accomplishments, but the main benefit is a chance to chat and socialize with people outside one's normal sphere. The Evening School has a similar program, but it only happens once a semester.
[edit] BandFest
One of the students' favorite events is BandFest, a concert festival consisting of bands invited from around the country. BandFest usually lasts for an entire evening.
[edit] Demographics
[edit] Student Body
Coker College's Fall 2007 Day enrollment is 643 students. Combined enrollment of the Day and Evening programs is 1193. The average GPA is 3.2 and the average SAT is 1017.
Coker’s 2007-08 Day students hail from 28 different states and 10 foreign countries (Bulgaria, Canada, Cuba, Ecuador, England, Finland, Kenya, Lithuania, Costa Rica, Thailand); 59% are women and 41% are men. 26% of all students declare themselves as being from a minority ethnic group, with African-American holding the largest share at 21% of the student body.
[edit] Faculty
Coker has 56 full-time faculty, and 85% hold the highest degree in their field. In addition to these professors, Coker utilizes more than 70 adjunct and part-time faculty.
[edit] Academics
As a Liberal Arts institution, Coker declares that its mission is to be a student-centered, comprehensive, baccalaureate degree-granting college. It strives to provide every student with an academic curriculum based upon a liberal arts core, known as the Liberal Arts Studies Program (LASP).
[edit] LASP
The LASP is divided into different baskets of knowledge, and the student chooses the available classes from each basket that most interest them. The baskets are Core Skills (21 semester hours), Knowledge of the Arts (6 hours), Knowledge of the Behavioral Sciences (6 hours), Knowledge of the Humanities (6 hours), Knowledge of the Natural Sciences (7 hours), Knowledge of the United States (3 hours), and Knowldege of the Wider World (3 hours).[14] As the students progresses through school, they may select classes to fulfill basket requirements that are in tune with their interests. For example, in the Knowledge of the Wider World baskets, students could choose a class on Latin-American Literature, World Religions, International Politics, Musics of the World, Modernization and Social Change, or African Geography, among others.[15] The classes offered under each basket allow for a host of different options, with no two students ever really taking all the same classes.
[edit] Majors
Coker offers a wide variety of major areas of study that will prepare students for careers in any number of industries. Some, but not all, of the 45 currently-offered majors include: Education (several options), Business Administration, Communications, Spanish, French, Criminology, Social Work, Art, Photography, Fine Arts, Music (Voice, Piano, Musical Theater, Music Education), Dance, Pre-Law, Theatre (3 options), Physical Education, Sport Management, Medical Technology, Biology, Chemistry, and English.
[edit] Round Table Classrooms
Instituted in 1985, Coker’s unique, interactive "Round Table" teaching style is recognized as a model learning experience in Smart Parents Guide to College (© Peterson’s, 1997) for promoting the discussion of ideas while building leadership and communication skills.[16]
[edit] CRLCD
In May 2003, Coker established the Center for Research in Leadership and Community Development (CRLCD), a clearinghouse of information and a laboratory for community development and leadership programs.
The Center creates, implements, and evaluates models for partnerships between higher education, community organizations, local, state and national government entities, and funding agencies. It also assists communities with established development programs.[17]
[edit] Study Abroad
Coker encourages students to study abroad through its Center for International and Experiential Education (CIEE).[18] Coker views international experience as an essential part of any liberal arts education, and has established relationships with partner schools to facilitate students' desires to study abroad. In addition to student/advisor prepared individualized semester abroad programs, Coker offers faculty-led Spring Interim and Summer Term trips.[19]
Coker also boasts two endowed scholarships to aid students in their quests to study abroad. The Susan Coker Watson Scholarship awards money to rising juniors and seniors hoping to study in a European nation, while the Malcolm Doubles Scholarship awards funds to study anywhere in the world.
[edit] Coker Cobra Athletics
The college has 12 varsity athletics programs which compete in Conference Carolinas.[20] They include Basketball, Baseball, Softball, Volleyball, Tennis, Golf, Soccer and Cross Country. As Coker was originally a Women's college, there was no history of a football squad; this, along with the high costs of starting and maintaining a team, helps explain why Coker has no varsity football team today.
As part of its focus on the future, Coker plans to build a brand-new Athletics facility on the south side of campus (Carolina Ave). The current gymnasium may be converted into a new student center.
[edit] Alumni
Coker’s alumni giving percentage - a gauge of alumni satisfaction - recently reached 52%, highest among all of South Carolina's colleges and universities and equal to the top 25 liberal arts colleges nationally. Coker’s alumni giving percentage is typically 24% to 34% - higher than most of the South’s Best Comprehensive Colleges.[21]
[edit] Notable Coker Alumni
Dr. Ruth Patrick is a famous botanist who received her bachelors degree from Coker College in 1929. Her work has been widely published and she has received numerous awards for her scientific achievements, including the National Medal of Science in 1996. The Ruth Patrick Science Education Center is named after her. On April 4, 2008 she was named Coker College's Alumna of the Century.[22]
Poet Terrence Hayes, winner of the Kate Tufts Discovery Award, the Whiting Writers Award, a Pushcart Prize, a Best American Poetry selection, and a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, earned his B.A. from Coker.[23] He is the author of Wind in a Box (Penguin, 2006), Hip Logic (2002), which won the National Poetry Series, and Muscular Music (1999). Terrence is an Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Carnegie Mellon University.[24]
South Carolina State Representative Denny Woodall Neilson (Mrs. David S.), representing District 56, Chesterfield & Darlington counties. She is a member of both the Rules and the Ways & Means House committees.[25]
[edit] Community
Coker College founded, and still co-hosts, the annual and free Jazz! Carolina Festival.
The fourth weekend of every March, the RenoFest comes to Hartsville with excellent bluegrass music from a wide variety of bands from around the country.[26]
Because of the enormous wealth that Sonoco and other industries have brought to the town, there are many business that one would not normally find in a town of this size. Also, the college's students help invigorate the downtown economy, attracting businesses that lend it a young and vibrant atmosphere. Most notable among these locations is the Midnight Rooster, a downtown Hartsville coffeeshop.
[edit] References
- ^ Commission on Colleges
- ^ About Coker College
- ^ About Coker College
- ^ USNews.com: America's Best Colleges 2008: Coker College: At a glance
- ^ Coker College
- ^ About Coker College
- ^ Coker College Administration Building
- ^ http://www.coker.edu/campuslife/Campus_Serv/Security.html
- ^ http://www.coker.edu/campuslife/Campus_Serv/Health_serv.html
- ^ Coker College: Library-Information Technology Center
- ^ The Messenger's Local News
- ^ Welcome to Kalmia Gardens!
- ^ News - South Carolina Now (SCNow.com)
- ^ COKER COLLEGE: Evening Student Orientation
- ^ http://www.coker.edu/squid/LASP_PRES-04.swf
- ^ Coker College Round Table Learning
- ^ Center for Research in Leadership & Community Development
- ^ Coker College CIEE
- ^ Coker College Study Abroad
- ^ Conference Carolinas
- ^ About Coker College
- ^ http://www.coker.edu/alumna_of_the_century/
- ^ Poets.org - Poetry, Poems, Bios & More - Terrance Hayes
- ^ English Department - Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing
- ^ South Carolina Legislature Online
- ^ http://www.renofest.com/
| Presidents of Coker College | ||||||
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Major James Lide Coker (Founder) [edit] External links
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