College of Charleston

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College of Charleston
Motto: "Knowledge itself is liberty."
Established: 1770
Type: Public university
President: Dr. P. George Benson
Staff: 836
Undergraduates: 9866
Postgraduates: 1454
Location: Charleston, South Carolina, USA
Colors: Maroon and White         
Mascot: Cougar
Website: www.cofc.edu

The College of Charleston (C of C) is a public, sea-grant, and space-grant university located in historic downtown Charleston, South Carolina. The College was founded in 1770 and chartered in 1785, making it the oldest college or university in South Carolina, the 13th oldest institution of higher learning[citation needed] in the United States, and the oldest municipal college in the country[citation needed] . The founders of the college include three signers[citation needed] of the Declaration of Independence and three signers[citation needed] of the United States Constitution. It is said that the college was founded to, "encourage and institute youth in the several branches of liberal education." The College is in company with the Colonial Colleges as one of the oldest schools[citation needed] in the United States. Along with a group of other selective and innovative public liberal arts institutions, it is a member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges, the American Association of State Colleges and Universities and the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges.

Contents

[edit] History

College of Charleston Complex:Main Building, Library, and Gate Lodge
(U.S. National Historic Landmark)
Location: Glebe, George, St. Philip, and Green Sts., Charleston, South Carolina
Area: 4 acres[1]
Built/Founded: 1827
Architect: Edward B. White; George Walker; Et al.
Architectural style(s): Early Republic, Other
Designated as NHL: November 11, 1971[2]
Added to NRHP: November 11, 1971[3]
NRHP Reference#: 71000748
Governing body: Private

Founded in 1770 and chartered in 1785, the College of Charleston is the oldest institution of higher education in South Carolina, and the 13th oldest in the United States. During the colonial period, wealthy families sent their sons abroad for higher education. By the mid-18th century, many leading citizens supported the idea of establishing an institution of higher learning within the state. On January 30, 1770, Lieutenant Governor William Bull recommended to the colony’s general assembly the establishment of provincial college. However, internal disagreements, political rivalries, and the American Revolution delayed its progress. After the war, South Carolinians returned their attention to establishing a college. On March 19, 1785, the College of Charleston was chartered to “encourage and institute youth in the several branches of liberal education.”

Several of the College’s founders played key roles in the American Revolution and in the creation of the new republic. Three were signers of the Declaration of Independence and another three were framers of the U.S. Constitution. Other founders were past, present and future federal and state lawmakers[citation needed] and judges,[citation needed] state governors, diplomats, and Charleston councilmen and mayors. Robert Smith served as the College’s first president. Educated in England, he was ordained as a priest in the Anglican Church and relocated to Charleston, where he served as rector of St. Philip’s Church. During the American Revolution, he supported the patriot cause and even served as a soldier during the siege of the city. He later became the first Episcopal bishop of South Carolina.

The first classes were held on the ground floor of Reverend Smith’s home on Glebe Street (now the residence for College of Charleston presidents). Later, rooms for the College were fashioned out of an old military barracks located on public land at Charleston’s western edge. Instruction began there in January 1790. The College graduated its first class in 1794, which consisted of six students. By 1824, the College offered a curriculum broad enough to regularly grant degrees. During Reverend Jasper Adams’ tenure as president, he reorganized the College and orchestrated the construction of the first building specifically designed for teaching – today’s Randolph Hall.

In 1837, the College became the nation’s first municipal college[citation needed] when the City of Charleston assumed responsibility for its support. The city provided funds, for example, in 1850 to enlarge the main academic building (Randolph Hall), to construct Porters Lodge, and to fence in the Cistern yard, the block that is still the core of the campus. It remained a municipal college until the 1950s, when the College again became a private institution.

During the Civil War, many students and faculty left to serve the Confederacy. Despite dwindling student numbers and a long-running siege of the city by Federal troops, there was no suspension of classes until December 19, 1864, two months before the city was evacuated. Classes resumed on February 1, 1866, and over the next four decades, the College weathered several financial crises, Reconstruction, hurricanes, and the devastating earthquake of 1886. Until the twentieth century, students who attended the College were primarily Charlestonians.

Harrison Randolph (president, 1897–1945) changed that by building residence halls and creating scholarships to attract students from other parts of the state. Under President Randolph, women were admitted to the College and the enrollment increased from just 68 students in 1905 to more than 400 in 1935. For many institutions of higher education across the South, integration took place in the late 1960s. For the College, the first black students enrolled in 1967.

The enrollment remained at about 500 until the College became a state institution in 1970. During Theodore Stern’s presidency (1968–1979), the number of students increased to about 5,000 and the physical facilities expanded from fewer than 10 buildings to more than 100. Between 1979 and 2001, the enrollment continued to increase, climbing to more than 10,000, and attracting students from across the country and around the world.

Main Building, 1940 HABS photo
Main Building, 1940 HABS photo

The College of Charleston Complex: Main Building, Library, and Gate Lodge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and further declared a National Historic Landmark in 1971.[2][1] According to a description by the South Carolina Department of Archives and History, "The historic campus of the College of Charleston contains three structures, the Main Building, the Library, and Gate Lodge, situated in an attractive setting of evergreen oaks, that achieve a certain degree of unity by means of the prevailing Pompeian red coloring of their stuccoed walls."[4] The main building, as designed by William Strickland, was built in 1828-29, and was revised in 1850 by the work of Edward Brickell White which added "six giant Roman Ionic pillars" and otherwise developed a more "grandiose" vision. The Gates Lodge, designed by White, was built in 1852 in a matching Roman Revival style. The College Library was designed by George E. Walker and was built in 1854-56.[1]

Under the leadership of President Lee Higdon (2001-2006), the College embarked on an ambitious, multi-year plan designed to enhance the overall student experience, increase the faculty and student support staff, and upgrade and expand facilities. The College renovated many historic structures and opened several new buildings, including two new residence halls, the Beatty Center (School of Business and Economics), new facilities for the School of Education, Health, and Human Performance, and the Marlene and Nathan Addlestone Library. The building boom continues today, with construction under way on the Carolina First Center and John Kresse Arena sports complex, the Marion and Wayland H. Cato Jr. Center for the Arts, a new science center, a new research and residence facility at the Grice Marine Laboratory, and the first phase of construction at the Dixie Plantation site.

Recently, under the presidency of P. George Benson (2007-present), the College of Charleston embarked on a new strategic planning process designed to ensure the College retains its traditions in the liberal arts and sciences while responding to the needs of its evolving student population with cutting-edge academic programming and state-of-the-art facilities.

[edit] College of Charleston Today

Although existing as a small liberal arts college for much of its early history, once it became a state supported institution in 1970 the size of the College of Charleston's faculty and student body expanded exponentially, transforming it from a small regional college of about 400 students to a national master's level university with a combined graduate/undergraduate enrollment of over 11,000. Despite this growth into a university, the institution still retains its historical name of "College of Charleston" and actively cultivates an identity as a liberal arts institution. The liberal arts heritage is reflected in the core curriculum, which includes a heavy emphasis on languages, literature, history, sciences, and the arts. Under President Leo Higdon, the decision was made to cap undergraduate enrollment at 10,000 students and increase the size of the College's tenure-track faculty. This was done in order to create and maintain an institution which could uniquely offer the best of a small elite liberal arts college, such as small class size and individual attention, with the faculty resources, research and curricular opportunities of a large research institution.

The College of Charleston today is nationally recognized[citation needed] both for its focus on undergraduate education and faculty research contributions. The College of Charleston is one of the nation's leading institutions for undergraduate education according to the Princeton Review; U.S. News and World Report regularly ranks the College of Charleston among the best southern masters level universities. As one of the leading institutions of higher education in the Southeastern United States[citation needed] , the College of Charleston is celebrated nationally[citation needed] for its focus on undergraduate education.

The College is nationally known[citation needed] for departmental strengths across its six academic divisions known as 'schools.' These are the School of the Arts, School of Business and Economics, School of Education, Health, and Human Performance, School of Humanities & Social Sciences, School of Languages, Cultures, & World Affairs and the School of Science & Mathematics.

The Classics, Ancient Greek, Latin, and Classical Civilization, originally formed the core curriculum at the College of Charleston at its founding in 1770. As the College's 'original' program, today the College's Department of Classics continues that legacy and boasts the one of the nation's best undergraduate programs in Classical Languages and Civilizations.

According to the 1970 legislative decree that incorporated the College of Charleston into the South Carolina system, the College was given a mandate to develop the state's flagship programs in those academic areas that capitalize on Charleston's and the Lowcountry's unique natural and cultural strengths: Marine Biology and Fine Arts. Today, the College's Grice Marine Laboratory is one of the Eastern Seaboard's leading research centers in the marine sciences.[citation needed] In addition, Grice supports the College's graduate and undergraduate programs in Marine Biology.

The College of Charleston hosts South Carolina's flagship programs[citation needed] in the Arts. The College of Charleston's Department of Art History is one of an elite few[citation needed] independent art history departments in North America and is the only department[citation needed] that specializes in undergraduate education of the three independent art history departments in the Southeastern United States. The department supports programs in Art History and Historic Preservation and Community Planning and its faculty contribute to interdisciplinary programs in Archaeology, Asian and Latin American Studies. With Charleston's wealth of resources in the performing arts to draw on, not least of which is Charleston's Spoleto Festival, the College's Theatre and Music departments form South Carolina's best undergraduate performing arts programs.

The Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture at the College of Charleston was established in 1985 and is the foremost research center of its kind in the region. From its inception, the Center has served as a source of community outreach on African-American issues. Between 1700 and 1800, at the height of the Atlantic Slave trade, 40% of Africans who were forcibly shipped to mainland North America came to the shores of Charleston, South Carolina. The unparalleled impact of the skill, talent and leadership of enslaved and free blacks has produced an unprecedented history in Gullah and Sea Island culture, slavery, civil war and reconstruction, civil and women’s rights, education, business, and the arts. According to its mission statement, it is Avery’s mission to preserve this legacy.

In 1992, the University of Charleston, now called the Graduate School of the College of Charleston, was founded as the graduate program for the College. By 1999, the graduate program had over two thousand students. Today, the Graduate School of the College of Charleston offers seventeen degree and six certificate programs in addition to coordinating support for the College's many nationally recognized faculty research programs.

Although the core of the institution is in downtown Charleston, the College of Charleston has a satellite campus in nearby North Charleston, used mostly by its graduate and continuing education programs; Grice Marine Laboratory is located at Fort Johnson on neighboring James Island, across from peninsular Charleston on the Ashley River side of Charleston Harbor. Most of the College's athletic teams train and compete at Patriot's Point Athletic Complex in Mount Pleasant, located next to the confluence of the Cooper River and Charleston Harbor.

[edit] President

On October 26, 2006, the College of Charleston Board of Trustees announced that Dr. P. George Benson would succeed Dr. Conrad Festa, the interim president, as President of the College of Charleston. Dr. Benson is only the 21st president in the college's over 225 year history. He assumed the presidency on February 1, 2007. Prior to becoming President of the College of Charleston, Dr. Benson served as dean of the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia. He sits on numerous corporate boards and is an avid golfer. President Benson is a member of the board of directors of The Foundation for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. The Foundation is a nonprofit, private-sector organization that raises funds to endow the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.

[edit] Athletics

See also: College of Charleston Cougars men's basketball

The school's athletic teams, which participate in the NCAA Division I Southern Conference, are known as the Cougars. While the College lacks a football program, the College's student fans are known for their fanatical support.[citation needed] The College's best-known athletic program is men's basketball. The men's basketball team won the NAIA national title in 1983 and made four trips to the NCAA Tournament (1994, 1997, 1998 and 1999) under the leadership of former head coach John Kresse, for whom their arena is named. The College also boasts the 2004, 2005, 2006, & 2007 SoCon Champion Baseball team, 2004 SoCon Championship Men's Soccer team, 2003 & 2005 SoCon Championship Softball team, 2001-2007 SoCon Championship Women's Volleyball team, men's and women's swimming, men's and women's cross country, women's track & field,equestrian team, women's basketball team, a coed and women's sailing team, and both men's and women's student rugby clubs. The sailing team competes in the South Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association division and in 2006 the Cougars won the Intercollegiate Sailing Association National Championships, a regatta which they hosted. The next year in 2007 the College of Charleston Sailing Team repeated their victory at the Intercollegiate Sailing Association National Championships by edging out Dartmouth in the regatta held at The United States Naval Academy. In 2006 the school's baseball team won the Southern Conference Baseball Tournament and the Lexington NCAA tournament regional, defeating Big East champion Notre Dame and SEC champion Kentucky in the process. Also in 2006, college basketball coaching legend Bobby Cremins returned to the coaching ranks after he accepted a job as the Cougars' head basketball coach just days after Winthrop University coach and former College of Charleston assistant Gregg Marshall reneged on an oral acceptance to coach the basketball team. Making Volleyball history, Frances Wheeler was recognized in 2006 as an all American Christian Athlete Scholar. In February 2007, the College broke ground on the Carolina First Center, a state-of-the-art, 5,000 seat basketball arena that will be home to the basketball squad. On November 20, 2007, Joe Hull, senior associate athletics director at the University of Maryland, was named director of athletics.

[edit] Campus Development

Two new residence halls in the area between George St., St. Philips St. and Liberty Street opened in Fall 2007. Liberty Street Residence Hall is geared towards underclassmen and is similar to McAlister Residence Hall. The George Street Apartment Community is single occupancy and is geared towards upperclassman. It also contains a new dining hall, the Fresh Food Company, which is open to the public and specializes in fresh food prepared at various stations. Retail space is privately rented on the bottom floor of the two buildings.

On October 19, 2007, the College broke ground on a new Science Center located at the corner of Calhoun and Coming Streets, on the site of the former K-Lot surface parking lot. The new 130,000 GSF facility is expected to cost $58 million dollars and is the "largest and most expensive construction project ever undertaken by the College," according to the SSM News newsletter of the School of Science and Math. The center will house the Departments of Biology and Chemistry and Biochemistry, state-of-the art research and teaching laboratories, a NASA-supported geology museum, and a 600-square-foot greenhouse. The College is working with the architects of Ballinger, Inc. to design the structure. The existing Science Center will be renovated for Geology, Physics, Math, Computer Science and Psychology, and the projected costs of renovation is $25,000,000.

Last fall the College also opened the Stono Ferry Learning and Practice Range, a world-class golf complex. And the grand re-opening of the Athletic Complex at Patriots Point was held in February 2008, following a $3 million renovation to install new covered, chair-back seating, a hospitality deck and seating for 2,000 spectators. The complex also includees a 3,000-square-foot indoor practice facility.

The new School of Education, Health, and Human Performance complex was dedicated in April 2007. In February 2008, Dean Fran Welch and the school were honored with the Committee to Save the City’s Three Sisters Award for its distinguished architecture.

Other recently completed building projects include the Marlene and Nathan Addlestone Library and the Business School’s Beatty Center, both of which opened in 2005.

Projects in various stages of development include the Carolina First Center, a new basketball and volleyball arena scheduled to open in fall 2008, and the Marion and Wayland H. Cato Jr. Center for the Arts, scheduled to open in April 2009.

[edit] College of Charleston facts

The College of Charleston is ranked nationally as a 'most competitive' institution and has the highest percentage of students accepted in the top 10% of their class and highest average SAT scores of all South Carolina institutions.[5]

Due to the historic look and beauty of the campus, many movies and television shows have been filmed at the College of Charleston, including General Hospital, North and South, Cold Mountain, The Patriot, White Squall, Wife Swap, O, and The Notebook. The most popular scene location is Randolph Hall. In 2008, productions shooting on campus thus far include the television show Army Wives and feature film, The New Daughter, starring Kevin Costner.

In 2004, the first televised debate between U.S. Senate candidates Jim DeMint and Inez Tenenbaum was filmed in Alumni Hall. ABC's The View and CNN's Crossfire also took up residence on the College of Charleston Cistern Yard before the South Carolina presidential primary in 2000. John Kerry officially endorsed presidential candidate Barack Obama on the Cistern Yard in 2008.

The College of Charleston's Department of Art History is one of an elite number[citation needed] of independent art history departments in the United States. It is the second largest in the Southeast after Emory University and among the leading undergraduate art history programs in North America.

The College of Charleston's Historic Preservation program is the largest undergraduate program of its kind in the country.[citation needed]

The English Department at the College of Charleston publishes Crazyhorse, a national literary magazine.

In 1971, the College of Charleston was listed on the U.S. Department of the Interior's National Register of Historic Places.

In 1977, Prince Charles of Britain visited the College of Charleston.

"The Bully Pulpit Series: Reflections on Presidential Communication” is a series hosted by the College of Charleston and its Department of Communication that welcomes presidential candidates from the two major political parties to the College of Charleston campus to discuss the importance of presidential communication. Candidates speak with students and Charleston community members on such topics as the frequency of press conferences, the candidate’s relationship with journalists, and the power of the president to persuade. Major candidates appearing in the 2007-2008 series have included Senator John McCain, Congressman Ron Paul, Senator Barack Obama, and Senator John Edwards. Sponsored by the Allstate Insurance Company, the series has drawn over 6000 attendees and received national and international media coverage. Visit www.cofc.edu/bullypulpit for further information regarding the series.

[edit] Notable College of Charleston Alumni

  • John Charles Frémont (1813–1890), Class of 1836 - Known as the Great Pathfinder, Fremont explored the West in the 1830s and 1840s. In 1856, Fremont, an outspoken opponent of slavery, was the first Republican nominee for president. During the Civil War, he served as a major general for the Union, and in 1861, issued a proclamation (overturned by President Lincoln) freeing slaves. He later served as governor of Arizona.
  • Ludwig Lewisohn (1882–1955), Class of 1901 - Lewisohn was a novelist, a translator and a distinguished literary and drama critic. He was also one of the founding professors of Brandeis University.
  • Herbert Ravenel Sass (1884–1958), Class of 1905 - a significant figure in the Charleston Literary Renaissance (1920–1933). He wrote several novels, including War and Drums; Hear Me, My Chiefs!; and Emperor Brims.
  • Burnet R. Maybank (1899–1954), Class of 1919 - Maybank served as Mayor of Charleston, became governor of the state and served in the national legislature during the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Maybank chaired the Senate Finance Committee and played a key role in the development of the New Deal. Maybank Hall, one of the main academic buildings on campus, bears his name.
  • Frank Blair (1916–1995), Class of 1934 - Blair was an early cast member of NBC’s The Today Show, serving as a newsman and anchor from 1953 to 1974.
  • George Rogers (1922–1997), Class of 1943 - considered one of the preeminent historians of South Carolina.
  • Arthur Ravenel, Class of 1950 - member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1953 to 1958, a South Carolina senator from 1980 to 1986, and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1986. In 1996, he returned to the South Carolina Senate, serving until 2005. In 2006, at the age of 79, he was elected to the Charleston School Board. The bridge connecting Charleston to Mt. Pleasant bears his name.
  • Glenn McConnell, Class of 1969 - McConnell has been an influential force in South Carolina politics for more than two decades. Elected to public office in 1981, he has served as the president pro tempore of the South Carolina Senate since 2001.
  • Arlinda Locklear, Class of 1973 - Locklear is a nationally recognized legal expert on tribal land claims and treaty rights issues. She is the first Native American woman to appear before the U.S. Supreme Court.[6]
  • Padgett Powell, Class of 1974 - Powell is an award-winning writer and novelist. He has published four novels, including Edisto and Mrs. Hollingsworth’s Men.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Staff, National Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings (August 1971), National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: College of Charleston Complex: Main Building, Library, and Gate LodgePDF (32 KB), National Park Service  and Accompanying four photos, exterior and interior, from 1970PDF (32 KB)
  2. ^ a b College of Charleston. National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved on 2008-03-19.
  3. ^ National Register Information System. National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service (2007-01-23).
  4. ^ College of Charleston, Charleston County (includes 19 photos). National Register Properties in South Carolina listing. South Carolina Department of Archives and History. Retrieved on 2008-03-21.
  5. ^ College of Charleston Academic Affairs, Competition Analysis 03/192008
  6. ^ Raising the Bar: Pioneers in the Legal Profession. |PowWows.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-17.
  7. ^ NBA/ABA Players who attended College of Charleston. databaseSports.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.

[edit] External links

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