Mercer University

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Mercer University
Established: 1833
Type: Private
Endowment: US $200 Million
President: William D. Underwood
Staff: 570
Undergraduates: 5000
Postgraduates: 2300
Location: Macon, Georgia, USA
Campus: Urban
Colors: Orange and Black         
Nickname: Bears
Mascot: Toby (a Bear)
Athletics: NCAA Division I
Affiliations: Atlantic Sun
Website: www.mercer.edu
Mercer University

Mercer University is a private, coeducational university with a Baptist heritage, located in the U.S. state of Georgia.

Mercer is the only university of its size in the United States that offers programs in eleven diversified fields of study: liberal arts, business, education, music, engineering, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, law, theology, and continuing and professional studies. Mercer enrolls approximately 2,500 undergraduate students, 2,300 graduate students, and 2,500 extended education students in its eleven colleges and schools. Students come from approximately 40 states and 40 countries; more than 80% are Georgia residents.

Mercer has major campuses in Macon and Atlanta; regional academic centers for extended education students in Henry County, Douglas County, and Eastman; teaching hospitals in Macon and Savannah; a university press in Macon; an engineering research center in Warner Robins; and a NCAA Division I athletic program. Mercer's annual economic impact on Georgia exceeds $500 million. In addition to its current locations throughout Georgia, Mercer will open a new four-year medical school in Savannah in August 2008.

Mercer was affiliated with the Georgia Baptist Convention and the Southern Baptist Convention until 2006. Mercer is now an independent Baptist university. Mercer's School of Theology is affiliated with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Founding

Mercer University was founded in Penfield, Georgia as a boys' preparatory school under the leadership of Billington McCarthy Sanders, a physics professor who served as the first president, and Adiel Sherwood, a Baptist minister who had previously founded a boys' manual labor school that served as a model. Initially named "Mercer Institute", the school opened with 39 students on January 14, 1833. The school was named for Jesse Mercer, a prominent Baptist leader who provided a founding endowment and who served as the first chairman of the school's board of trustees. After several years as a preparatory school, the Georgia legislature granted a college charter in 1837. The university adopted its present name in 1838 and was one of the few Southern colleges or universities and the only college or university in Georgia to remain open throughout the American Civil War. In 1871, the university moved to Macon, which was then becoming a center of transportation and commerce in Georgia. In 1972, the university opened a second campus in Atlanta.

[edit] Advancing the Vision Campaign

Mercer is currently completing Phase III of the $350 million Advancing the Vision Campaign. Phases I and II were completed with more than $208 million received or pledged. For Phase II, Mercer received one of the largest gifts in the history of higher education when it received a large tract of developed real estate in Atlanta. The property, given to Mercer and to LaGrange College jointly, was valued at $124 million with Mercer's share being $62 million. As of November 2007, more than $320 million was received in Phases I, II, and III. The campaign has financed numerous projects including the construction and renovation of facilities and endowed scholarships for students. New facilities on the Macon campus include the University Center, a large multi-purpose facility that houses the university's athletics department, basketball arena, and student services; the Allan and Rosemary McCorkle Music Building that houses the Townsend School of Music; a new Science and Engineering Building; and the Greek Village with 18 fraternity and sorority houses. New facilities on the Atlanta campus include academic buildings for the College of Nursing, the College of Education, and the School of Theology and a large student housing complex.

[edit] Georgia Baptist Convention

In November 2005, the Georgia Baptist Convention voted to end the affiliation between Mercer and the convention. Mercer was founded by Georgia Baptists, but had an independent board of trustees and was not directly controlled by the convention. The convention, however, provided financial support used to fund scholarships for Baptist students and other special projects. The lack of convention control caused friction in recent years with Mercer exercising its independence to embrace the moderate Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. The convention also saw Mercer as becoming secularized and not falling inline with its values. The relationship came to a head in 2005 when Mercer allowed a student gay-rights group to hold a "Coming Out Day" forum on campus. An article about the group, Mercer Triangle Symposium, and the "Coming Out Day" forum was published in the convention's newsletter, the Christian Index, two weeks before the convention's annual meeting. At the meeting, then university president Dr. R. Kirby Godsey asked that the convention continue its affiliation with Mercer. He explained that the Mercer administration did not endorse homosexuality, but allowed students to discuss the topic. Despite Godsey's assurances, the convention voted to end the affiliation. In April 2006, Mercer's board of trustees approved changes to the university charter ending Mercer's relationship with the Georgia Baptist Convention.

[edit] Baptist affiliation

Mercer chose to remain Baptist when its affiliation with the Georgia Baptist Convention ended in 2006. Mercer has ties with individual churches in Georgia and provides scholarships to Baptist students through its Baptist Scholars Fund. Mercer's decision to become an independent Baptist university contrasts with other universities that became secular after severing ties with their state conventions. Such universities include Furman University, Stetson University, the University of Richmond, and Wake Forest University.

[edit] President Godsey retires

Dr. R. Kirby Godsey retired on June 30, 2006 after 27 years as Mercer's president. During Godsey's tenure, Mercer established seven new colleges and schools, growing from four to eleven, expanded its annual budget to more than $175 million, and increased the endowment to almost $200 million with an additional $200+ million pledged in planned gifts. Both houses of the Georgia legislature honored Godsey for his long service and Mercer's historic Administration Building was named the R. Kirby Godsey Administration Building. Godsey remains at Mercer as chancellor, professor, and special advisor to new president, William D. Underwood. Underwood, former interim president, Baylor University, was selected as Godsey's replacement in December 2005. Underwood took office on July 1, 2006.

[edit] New Strategic Plan

Mercer's board of trustees adopted a new 10-year strategic plan on April 18, 2008. The plan seeks to position Mercer among the most prestigious private universities in the Southeast along with Vanderbilt University, Duke University, Emory University, Wake Forest University, and Tulane University. Specific goals of the plan include increasing the student body from 7,300 to 8,500, enlarging the endowment to $1 billion, expanding the number of masters and doctoral programs, and constructing numerous new facilities including a medical education building in Savannah, a student center and an undergraduate sciences building in Macon, a chapel/performing arts center in Atlanta, and residence halls in Macon and Atlanta.

[edit] Presidents

Mercer's first President, Billington Sanders
Mercer's first President, Billington Sanders
  • Billington McCarthy Sanders (1833–1840)
  • Otis Smith (1840–1844)
  • John Leadley Dagg (1844–1854)
  • Nathaniel Macon Crawford(1854–1856)
  • Shelton Palmer Sanford (acting President; 1856–1858)
  • Nathaniel Macon Crawford (1858–1866)
  • Henry Holcombe Tucker (1866–1871)
  • Archibald John Battle (1872–1889)
  • Gustavus Alonzo Nunnally (1889–1893)
  • Joseph Edgerton Willet (acting President; 1893)
  • James Bruton Gambrell (1893–1896)
  • Pinckney Daniel Pollock (1896–1903)
  • Matthew Quinn Wetherington (acting President; 1903–1905)
  • Charles Lee Smith (1905–1906)
  • Samuel Young Jameson (1906–1913)
  • James Freeman Sellers (acting President; 1913–1914)
  • William Lowndes Pickard (1914–1918)
  • Rufus Washington Weaver (1918–1927)
  • Andrew Phillip Montague (acting President; 1927–1928)
  • Spright Dowell (1928–1953)
  • George Boyce Connell (1953–1959)
  • Spright Dowell (interim President; 1959–1960)
  • Rufus Carrollton Harris (1960–1979)
  • Raleigh Kirby Godsey (1979–2006)
  • William D. Underwood (2006– )

[edit] Location

[edit] Macon Campus

Mercer's R. Kirby Godsey Administration Building
Mercer's R. Kirby Godsey Administration Building

The historic main campus of Mercer University is in Macon; approximately 75 miles south of Atlanta. The College of Liberal Arts, the Eugene W. Stetson School of Business and Economics, the Tift College of Education, the Townsend School of Music, the School of Engineering, the School of Medicine, and programs of the College of Continuing and Professional Studies are located on the Macon campus. The R. Kirby Godsey Administration Building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

[edit] Law School

The Walter F. George School of Law is located on its own campus in Macon; one mile from the historic main campus. The Law School building is a three-story partial replica of Independence Hall in Philadelphia and is located on Coleman Hill overlooking downtown Macon. Adjacent to the Law School is the university-owned Woodruff House, also known as Overlook Mansion. The Law School building and the Woodruff House are two of Macon's most recognizable sites.

[edit] Atlanta Campus

The Cecil B. Day Graduate and Professional Campus of Mercer University is in Atlanta. The Georgia Baptist College of Nursing, the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, the James and Carolyn McAfee School of Theology, the College of Continuing and Professional Studies, and programs of the Tift College of Education (Masters and PhD programs), the Stetson School of Business and Economics (BBA, MBA and Executive MBA programs), and the School of Medicine (Masters program) are located on the Atlanta campus. Mercer's Atlanta campus was formerly the home of Atlanta Baptist College until it merged with Mercer in 1972. In 2004, Mercer enlarged the campus by acquiring the former headquarters of the Georgia Baptist Convention, located adjacent to the campus.

[edit] Regional academic centers

In addition to its campuses in Macon and Atlanta, Mercer has regional academic centers in Henry County, Douglas County, and Eastman, Georgia. The regional academic centers cater to non-traditional extended education students and offer various programs through the university's colleges and schools.

[edit] Teaching hospitals

Additional off-campus sites include the Medical Center of Central Georgia in Macon, and Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah, which serve as the School of Medicine's teaching hospitals.

[edit] Savannah Campus

Mercer will open a new four-year medical school in Savannah in August 2008. The school, a branch of the School of Medicine in Macon, will be located at Memorial Health University Medical Center, Mercer's teaching hospital in Savannah. Mercer's strategic plan calls for construction of a new medical education building in a separate location, which will be the university's third major campus in addition to those in Macon and Atlanta.

[edit] Colleges and schools

[edit] Liberal Arts

The College of Liberal Arts, founded in 1833, is the heart of the university offering undergraduate degrees in the arts, humanities, communications, natural sciences, and social sciences. The college, with more than 100 full-time faculty members, offers dozens of majors, minors, and concentrations, and has a Great Books Program for students who wish to study Western civilization from ancient time to the present by examining major works of literature. The Great Books Program, an eight semester sequence of courses, may be completed in lieu of the college's general education curriculum.

[edit] Business

The Eugene W. Stetson School of Business and Economics, founded in 1984, has the highest level of accreditation for business schools from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. The school, named for a Mercer alumnus who was a senior executive for The Coca-Cola Company, the Illinois Central Railroad, and JP Morgan, offers bachelor's degree (BBA) programs in Macon, Atlanta, and Douglas County; Evening MBA programs in Macon and Atlanta; Professional MBA programs in Henry County and Savannah; and an Executive MBA program in Atlanta.

The Mercer University Executive Forum, Georgia's premier business outreach program, is a part of the school. The program welcomes nationally known speakers who conduct management and leadership seminars in Macon and Atlanta. Speakers have included Lou Dobbs, Bob Dole, Steve Forbes, Lou Holtz, Jesse Jackson, Tom Ridge, George Tenet, George Will, Bob Woodward, and numerous other business, political, and social leaders.

[edit] Education

The Tift College of Education, founded in 1995 as the School of Education, was named in 2001 in honor of Tift College, a former Baptist women's college in Forsyth, Georgia. Tift College, founded in 1847, merged with Mercer in 1986 and was closed. Mercer adopted Tift's alumnae and maintains their records. The Tift College of Education offers undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs and is the largest private provider of teachers in Georgia. The college has the highest level of accreditation from the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education.

The Educational Leadership Program is the college's newest graduate offering; candidates earn a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in P-12 School Leadership or Higher Education Leadership. The program is offered on the Macon and Atlanta campuses.

[edit] Music

The Townsend School of Music opened on 1 July 2006. Mercer trustee Carolyn McAfee, wife of James T. McAfee, Jr., former chairman of Mercer's board of trustees, and her son and daughter-in-law, Tom and Julie McAfee, provided the founding endowment. The school, named in honor of Mrs. McAfee's parents, Raymond and Sophia Townsend, is housed in the Allan and Rosemary McCorkle Music Building, a state-of-the-art facility that opened in 2001 on the Macon campus. The Townsend School of Music offers undergraduate and graduate music degrees formerly offered by the College of Liberal Arts.

The Townsend-McAfee Institute, established in 2005, is a collaboration between the Townsend School of Music and the McAfee School of Theology offering graduate programs in church music that prepare musical artists for the ministry. The institute, located on the Macon campus with the School of Music, is preparing a new hymnal for Baptists and other Christian fellowships. Slated for release in 2009, the 400th anniversary of Baptists, the project demonstrates Mercer’s commitment to its church-related heritage and connects with the university’s namesake, Jesse Mercer, who authored Cluster of Spiritual Songs; a hymnal first published circa 1800 with 11 subsequent editions.

The Robert McDuffie Center for Strings offers conservatory-quality music training in a comprehensive university setting. Under the leadership of internationally renowned violinist Robert McDuffie, who has served as Distinguished University Professor of Music since 2004, the center will accept up to 12 string students for the 2007-2008 academic year. Total future enrollment will be limited to 26 students: 12 violinists, 6 violists, 6 cellists and 2 double bassists. The focus of the center, housed in the Townsend School of Music on the Macon campus, is to provide highly talented string students the opportunity to learn with some of the nation's renowned string musicians.

[edit] Engineering

The School of Engineering, founded in 1985, is the only private engineering school in Georgia and one of only two engineering schools in the state. The school offers undergraduate and graduate degrees and is the primary provider of engineers for Robins Air Force Base in Warner Robins, Georgia. The school is located on the Macon campus in a modern 62,000 square foot academic facility. Mercer dedicated a new $14 million Science and Engineering Building adjacent to the existing facility in 2007; the new building significantly expands the school's laboratory and classroom resources. Mercer Engineering Research Center (MERC), an extension of the school located in a state-of-the-art facility in Warner Robins, directly supports Robins AFB and offers significant research opportunities for students and faculty. In addition, the school's National Engineering Advisory Board, comprised of some of the nation's most respected corporate leaders including Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Boeing, and Georgia Pacific, provides premier research and career opportunities for students.

The School of Engineering and Robins Air Force Base maintain an educational partnership that provides on-base internships and other learning opportunities for aerospace engineering students. The partnership is separate from the Mercer Engineering and Research Center, which is located near the base in Warner Robins. The educational partnership is one of two maintained by Mercer University; the other involves the College of Nursing and Piedmont Healthcare of Atlanta.

[edit] Medicine

The School of Medicine, founded in 1982, is partially state funded and accepts only Georgia residents into the Doctor of Medicine program. The school's core mission is to train primary care physicians and other health professionals for service in rural and medically underserved areas of Georgia. The school is consistently recognized for its focus on family medicine, and in 2005, US News and World Report ranked the school 17th out of 126 accredited medical schools in the family medicine category. In addition to the Doctor of Medicine, the school offers Masters programs in public health, family therapy, and anesthesia. The School of Medicine's teaching hospitals are the Medical Center of Central Georgia in Macon and Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah.

The School of Medicine received additional state funding in 2007 to expand its existing partnership with Memorial Health University Medical Center by establishing a four-year medical school in Savannah, the first medical school in southern Georgia. Third and fourth year Mercer students have completed clinical rotations at Memorial Health since 1996; approximately 100 residents are trained each year in a number of specialities. The expanded program is scheduled to begin in August 2008 with 30 first year students. The School of Medicine's Macon and Savannah campuses will be administered by Senior Associate Deans who will report to one Dean. The new medical program furthers Mercer's mission to train primary care physicians for service in rural and medically underserved areas of Georgia.

The Center for Health and Learning is an educational partnership between the College of Nursing and Piedmont Healthcare of Atlanta. The School of Medicine will join the partnership in September 2007 when it partners with Piedmont to offer a Masters in family therapy on the Atlanta campus. Piedmont is a not-for-profit organization with several hospitals, including Piedmont Hospital and Piedmont Fayette Hospital, both recognized as among the best in the nation; a primary care physician group with approximately 20 clinics; and a physician network with approximately 500 members. Family therapy students will be provided learning experiences at various facilities throughout the Piedmont system.

[edit] Nursing

The Georgia Baptist College of Nursing, founded in 1901, was initially an independent school in Atlanta. The college merged with Mercer in 2001 and moved from its downtown location to Mercer's Atlanta campus in 2002. The college offers undergraduate and graduate programs and provides clinical experiences at numerous Atlanta-area hospitals and at other community facilities.

The Center for Health and Learning is an educational partnership between the College of Nursing and Piedmont Healthcare of Atlanta. Piedmont is a not-for-profit organization with several hospitals, including Piedmont Hospital and Piedmont Fayette Hospital, both recognized as among the best in the nation; a primary care physician group with approximately 20 clinics; and a physician network with approximately 500 members. Nursing students are provided clinical experiences at various facilities throughout the Piedmont system.

[edit] Pharmacy

The College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, founded in 1903, was initially an independent school in Atlanta. The college merged with Mercer in 1959 and moved from its downtown location to Mercer's Atlanta campus in 1991. In 1981, the college became the first in the southeast and the fifth in the nation to offer the Doctor of Pharmacy, the highest level of pharmacy education, as its sole professional degree. The college, formerly named the Southern School of Pharmacy, adopted its current name on 1 July 2006. The name change reflects additional health science programs, including a physician assistant program, offered by the college.

[edit] Law

The Walter F. George School of Law, founded in 1873, is one of the oldest law schools in the United States. The school is named for a Mercer alumnus; former United States Senator Walter F. George. Additional information is available on the school's Wikipedia entry.

[edit] Theology

The James and Carolyn McAfee School of Theology, founded in 1994, offers graduate theological programs and is affiliated with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. McAfee's curriculum is not directed by the Georgia Baptist Convention or Southern Baptist Convention. The school, located on the Atlanta campus, is named for James T. McAfee, Jr., former chairman of Mercer's board of trustees, and his wife Carolyn. The McAfees provided a founding endowment.

The McAfee School of Theology and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship are "identity partners"; announced in 2006, the CBF provides funding for operating costs, scholarships, and collaborative projects. The designation, which grants the highest level of CBF funding, is held by four theology schools; the McAfee School of Theology, the Truett Theological Seminary at Baylor University, the Divinity School at Campbell University, and the Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond.

The American Baptist Historical Society, with the largest and most diverse collection of Baptist historical materials and archives in the world, has announced it will relocate to the Atlanta campus; announced in 2006, the ABHS will occupy the former Georgia Baptist Convention headquarters building. The ABHS, consolidating from facilities in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania and Rochester, New York, provides tremendous research opportunities for Baptist scholars and positions Mercer University and the McAfee School of Theology as a national center of Baptist scholarship.

The Baptist History and Heritage Society, founded in 1938 as the Southern Baptist Historical Society, announced in 2007 that it will relocate from Brentwood, Tennessee to the Atlanta campus. The BHS, an independent organization with historic ties to the Southern Baptist Convention, will occupy the former Georgia Baptist Convention headquarters building along with the American Baptist Historical Society; the two societies will complement each other by providing resources on the American Baptist tradition and the Southern Baptist tradition. The move enhances Mercer's position as a national center of Baptist scholarship.

[edit] Continuing and Professional Studies

The School of Continuing and Professional Studies offers undergraduate and graduate degrees and lifelong learning opportunities for adults and non-traditional students. Courses are offered at the Regional Academic Centers in Henry County, Douglas County, and Eastman.

The Public Safety Leadership Institute on the Atlanta campus offers educational programs for professional law enforcement and other public safety officials. The curriculum focuses on processes for decision-making, human behavior, and management of human resources within governmental organizations in the rapidly changing post 9/11 world. The institute has been endorsed by numerous law enforcement organizations.

[edit] Other university divisions

[edit] Mercer libraries

Mercer University has four libraries, which are organized as a separate division alongside the eleven colleges and schools. The Jack Tarver Library, located on the Macon campus, is the largest. The Medical Library and Peyton T. Anderson Resources Center, located in the School of Medicine, and the Furman Smith Law Library, located in the Walter F. George School of Law, are also in Macon. The Monroe F. Swilley, Jr. Library is on the Atlanta campus. Each library has a wide variety of print and non-print resources.

[edit] Opera House

The Grand Opera House is Mercer's Performing Arts Center. Located in downtown Macon and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Grand opened in 1884 with the largest stage in the southeastern United States. The Grand has hosted vaudeville performances, Broadway touring companies, community theatre, concerts, movies, and numerous other events. Mercer has operated the Grand since 1995 through a lease agreement with Bibb County. The Grand has undergone extensive renovation and regularly hosts special events that are open to the community.

[edit] University Press

The Mercer University Press (MUP), established in 1979, is the only Baptist-related university press in the nation. MUP has published more than 1,000 books generally in the areas of theology, religion, Southern culture, biography, history, literature and music. MUP's annual Authors Luncheon, a book-signing event in Atlanta, is Georgia's premier literary event. Former President Jimmy Carter and civil rights activist Will D. Campbell are among MUP's published authors. Campbell's book The Stem of Jesse, a history of Mercer in the 1960's, discusses integration of the university. The book, named for university founder Jesse Mercer, profiles notable alumni including Samaria Mitcham Bailey and Sam Oni. Bailey was one of the first African-American female students at Mercer; Oni was one of the first African-American males.

[edit] Engineering Research Center

The Mercer Engineering and Research Center (MERC) is in Warner Robins, Georgia. Established in 1987 as an extension of the School of Engineering, MERC has extensive research agreements with Robins Air Force Base and the U.S. Department of Defense, as well as with private concerns.

[edit] Radio station

WMUM-FM, formerly WDCO-FM, is a partnership, established in 2006, between Mercer University and Georgia Public Broadcasting. The station provides local content to central Georgia public radio listeners from its broadcast studio on the Macon campus. The station's call letters were changed to WMUM-FM (Mercer University Macon) to identify the partnership with Mercer. The studio, constructed in 2006, offers various media-related educational opportunities for Mercer students.

[edit] Student life

[edit] Religious life

Mercer, a faith-based university with a Baptist heritage, has an active religious life program for students seeking that experience. Religion, however, is not overly prominent; students are not required to attend religious services. Mercer has an independent board of trustees and is not controlled by the church.

The only educational requirement for undergraduate students is that they take either a new or old testmant course.

[edit] Student organizations

Mercer has over 100 undergraduate student organizations that provide learning experiences outside the classroom. Students may choose from academic, pre-professional, religious, special-interest, and social organizations including a campus newspaper, a student-operated internet radio station, and 18 Greek organizations.

Mercer's Greek social organizations are:

Fraternities:

Sororities:

Traditional African-American Greek organizations:

Mercer's graduate and professional schools sponsor numerous student organizations as well.

Mercer's Computer Science Programming Team, the "Binary Bears," earned an Honorable Mention in the 2007 ACM World Finals Programming Competition held in Tokyo, Japan. Mercer was one of 88 teams out of more than 6,000 teams from 75 countries that advanced to the championship round; the team qualified for Mercer's first appearance in the event after finishing second in the Southeast regional competition.

[edit] Athletics

Mercer Bears logo
Mercer Bears logo

The Mercer University Bears are part of NCAA Division I and the Atlantic Sun Conference. Men's sports include air rifle (co-ed), baseball, basketball, cross-country, golf, soccer, and tennis. Women's sports include basketball, cross-country, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, and volleyball. Mercer teams have won 13 Atlantic Sun Conference championships (as of May 2007): three baseball, three men's basketball, two women's basketball, and five men's soccer.

[edit] Facilities

In 2004, Mercer opened the University Center on the Macon campus. The $40 million 230,000 square foot center houses Mercer's athletics department, a 3500-seat basketball arena, an indoor pool, work-out facilities, intramural basketball courts, an air rifle range, offices, a food court, and numerous meeting facilities. Mercer's baseball, softball, and intramural fields are next to the center along with the university's tennis complex. In 2007, a 101-room Hilton Garden Inn opened on university-owned land adjacent to the University Center.

[edit] Men's Basketball

Mark Slonaker, men's basketball head coach, was the 2002-03 Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year after leading Mercer to the best one season turnaround in NCAA history, improving from 6-23 to 23-6. The team won the Atlantic Sun regular season championship with a 14-2 conference record and made school history for number of wins (23); Mercer won 22 games in 1923-24 and 1984-85. The season ended with a loss in the Atlantic Sun tournament. Slonaker was the first National Coach of the Year to receive the award after it was named in honor of Jim Phelan. The four other finalists were Lute Olson (Arizona), Skip Prosser (Wake Forest), Bo Ryan (Wisconsin), and Tubby Smith (Kentucky).

Will Emerson, a forward on the men's basketball team, was the 2004-05 and 2005-06 Atlantic Sun Conference Male Student Athlete of the Year, only the third person to be selected twice for the award. Emerson was also named to ESPN the Magazine's Academic All-American first team in 2005 and 2006.

Mercer received national attention in November 2007 when it defeated the University of Southern California, which was ranked 18th in the nation at the time of the game.

Slonaker's contract was not renewed after the 2007-2008 season[1].

[edit] Women's Basketball

Jannell Jones was named women's basketball head coach in April 2007. Jones is a two-time NAIA National Coach of the Year; she was recognized at Oklahoma City University where she was a part of four NAIA national championship teams (two as head coach and two as an assistant). Jones is also the winningest coach in OCU history. Jones came to Mercer from the University of California, San Diego where she was head coach from 2005 to 2007 including an appearance in the 2007 NCAA Division II Final Four.

[edit] Football

Mercer does not compete in football; discontinued during World War II, the program was not revived. The final game was in 1942.

Mercer played the University of Georgia in UGA's first football game; UGA won 50-0 on 15 January 1892. Later the same year, Mercer played Georgia Tech in GT's first football game; Mercer won 12-6 on 5 November 1892. Wally Butts, arguably one of the greatest football personalities in Georgia history, played at Mercer. Butts later served as the head coach at the University of Georgia from 1939 to 1960 and as UGA athletic director from 1939 to 1963. He is a member of the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame.

In 2007, Mercer announced that it is studying the possibility of adding football along with other possible improvements to the athletics department. Mercer President William D. Underwood has indicated tentative support for football if the program is financially viable, enhances the academic mission of the university, and if the team can be competitive within those financial and academic constraints.

[edit] In the press

US News and World Report, in its college and university rankings, consistently ranks Mercer among the best universities in the United States; the 2008 edition ranks Mercer seventh in the Southern "Best Universities-Master's" category, marking the university's eighteenth consecutive year among the top 15 and ninth consecutive year in the top 10. Mercer is the only university in Georgia ranked in the top 30 in the Master's category. The 2008 edition also ranks Mercer among the "Great Schools, Great Prices" as the fifth best value in the South.

The Princeton Review, in its "Best 366 Colleges" guide, ranks Mercer in the top fifteen percent of all colleges and universities nationwide. The 2007 edition ranked Mercer's campus as the fifth most beautiful in the nation. In addition, in its "America's Best Value Colleges" guide, the Princeton Review lists Mercer as a "Best Value", one of 165 colleges and universities in the nation that combine excellent academics, generous financial aid packages, and a relatively low cost of attendance; in the 2008 edition, Mercer is one of 75 private institutions among the 165 "Best Values."

Mercer's professional programs are ranked favorably as well; US News and World Report ranks the School of Medicine in the top 20 of the nation's 126 accredited medical schools in the family medicine category, the school's primary focus, and ranks the Walter F. George School of Law among the nation's top 100 law schools. In the 2009 edition, the law school's legal writing program is again ranked first in the nation. The legal writing program has been ranked first or second in the nation since US News and World Report began the speciality ranking in 2006. The program was ranked first in 2006 (tied with one other school), second in 2007, and first in 2008.

The Princeton Review, in the 2008 edition of its "Best 290 Business Schools" guide, ranks the Eugene W. Stetson School of Business and Economics among the best in the nation and ranks the Atlanta MBA program first in the nation in the category of "Greatest Opportunity for Women".

In 1986, Playboy named Mercer a Top Party School; the university was ranked ninth and was described as a Southern Baptist school with a genteel party reputation. [2]

In 2007, Mercer was one of 141 colleges and universities in the nation selected for the first President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll; the honor roll is sponsored by several agencies including the United States Department of Education and the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development to recognize support for community service. In 2005, Mercer was one of 81 institutions of higher education named a “College with a Conscience” by the Princeton Review and College Compact, and in 2006, Mercer was ranked thirteenth in the nation in the first “Saviors of Our Cities” ranking by Evan Dobelle, president and CEO of the New England Board of Higher Education.

Mercer received a record number of freshman applications in 2007; over 5,800 for 620 openings. Approximately 45% of applicants were offered admission; as of April 2007, more than 630 had accepted and provided a deposit to guarantee enrollment.

[edit] Alumni

Mercer has more than 60,000 alumni who live in all 50 states and in more than 70 countries. Notable Mercer alumni include:

[edit] Arts, media, and industry

[edit] Law

  • A. Harris Adams - Judge, Georgia Court of Appeals
  • Griffin B. Bell - Federal Appeals Court Judge, 1962-1976; 72nd Attorney General of the United States, 1977-1979
  • John S. Bell - Judge, Georgia Court of Appeals, 1960-1979; Chief Judge, Georgia Court of Appeals, 1969-1979
  • Reason C. Bell - Chief Justice, Georgia Supreme Court, 1943-1946; Associate Justice, 1932-1943 and 1946-1949; Judge, Georgia Court of Appeals, 1922-1932
  • William Augustus Bootle - Federal District Judge, 1954-2005; ordered the first admission of an African-American to the University of Georgia in 1961
  • G. Harrold Carswell - Federal Appeals Court Judge, 1969-1970; unsuccessful nominee to the United States Supreme Court, 1970
  • Brainerd Currie - law professor; noted conflict of laws scholar who developed the characterisation concept of governmental interest analysis
  • Thomas Hoyt Davis - Senior Judge, Federal District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, 1945-1969
  • Beverly D. Evans, Jr. - Georgia Supreme Court Justice, 1904-1917; Federal District Judge for the Southern District of Georgia, 1917-1922
  • M. Yvette Miller - Judge, Georgia Court of Appeals; the first African-American woman to serve on the court
  • Carlton Mobley - Chief Justice, Georgia Supreme Court, 1972-1974; Associate Justice, 1954-1972; United States Representative, Georgia's 6th Congressional district, 1932-1933
  • W. Louis Sands - Chief Judge, Federal District Court for the Middle District of Georgia; the first African-American to serve on the court
  • Jay Sekulow - chief counsel, American Center for Law and Justice
  • Evett Simmons - former president, National Bar Association
  • Hugh Thompson - Georgia Supreme Court Justice
  • Additional Walter F. George School of Law alumni are listed on the school's Wikipedia entry

[edit] Politics

[edit] Military

[edit] Other public service

[edit] Athletics

[edit] External links

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Atlantic Sun Conference (A-Sun)
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Georgia private colleges and universities
Agnes Scott College • American Intercontinental University • Andrew College • Argosy University • Art Institute of Atlanta • Atlanta Christian College • Atlanta College of Art • Bauder College • Berry College • Brenau University • Brewton-Parker College • Clark Atlanta University • Columbia Theological Seminary • Covenant College • Emmanuel College • Emory University • Interdenominational Theological Center • LaGrange College • Life University • Mercer University • Morehouse College • Morehouse School of Medicine • Morris Brown College • Oglethorpe University • Oxford College of Emory University • Paine College • Piedmont College • Reinhardt College • Savannah College of Art and Design • Shorter College • South University • Spelman College • Thomas University • Toccoa Falls College • Truett-McConnell College • Wesleyan College • Westwood College • Young Harris College
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Educational Institutions in Macon, Georgia