Transylvania University

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Transylvania University
Transylvania University Logo
Motto: In Lumine Illo Tradimus Lumen (In That Light, We Pass On The Light)
Established: 1780
Type: Private Undergraduate liberal arts college
Endowment: $145.5 million[1]
President: Charles L. Shearer
Staff: 100
Students: 1,150
Location: Lexington, Kentucky, USA
Campus: Urban
Athletics: NCAA Division III
Mascot: Pioneer
Affiliations: Disciples of Christ
Website: http://www.transy.edu/

Transylvania University is a private liberal arts college related by covenant to the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) located in Lexington, Kentucky, with approximately 1,100 students.

Contents

[edit] History

Transylvania University has a long, notable and complicated history that touches a number of former and subsequent institutions of higher learning.

[edit] The Early Years: Transylvania University and Kentucky University

The school is named Transylvania (Latin for "across the woods") after the heavily forested region of western Virginia (as opposed to the historical region in central Romania), originally known as the Transylvania colony, which ultimately became the state of Kentucky in 1792.

Transylvania University opened at Danville, in 1780, and did not move to Lexington until 1789. The first site in Lexington was in the historic Gratz Park. The 1818 building burned in 1829 and the school was moved to its present location north of Third Street. In its early years, the University included a medical school, a law school, a divinity school, and a college of arts and sciences. During this early period many important figures in American history attended the school: Notable statesman Henry Clay taught at the school's college of law from 1805-07 before returning to politics and founding Whig Party. Stephen F. Austin, the "Father of Texas", graduated in 1810. In the early 1820s, Jefferson Davis the future first and only President of the Confederate States attended as a student, but chose to finish his studies at West Point. The first Supreme Court justice to have earned a modern law degree, John Marshall Harlan, earned it from Transylvania's law school in 1853. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Freeman Miller earned a degree from the medical school, practiced medicine in Barbourville, Kentucky, and then became a lawyer before being appointed to the Court by Abraham Lincoln in 1862.

Meanwhile, Kentucky University, the other major institution that would play role in the creation of the modern Transylvania University, was founded in 1836 in Georgetown, Kentucky as a spinoff of Georgetown College, a Baptist supported institution. This new school was launched by former Georgetown faculty members who were aligned with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Originally known as Bacon College (named after Sir Francis Bacon), the college was recharted as Kentucky University in 1858 upon a move to donated land in Harrodsburg, Kentucky.

[edit] After the Civil War: Kentucky University

The American Civil War wreaked havoc on the South, and the state of Kentucky was no exception. Kentucky University was devastated by fire and both it and Transylvania University were in dire financial straits. As a result, in 1865, both institutions secured permission to merge: The new institution utilized Transylvania's campus in Lexington while perpetuating the name Kentucky University.

The University was reorganized around several new colleges. Among them was the Agricultural and Mechanical College (A&M) of Kentucky, publicly chartered as a department of Kentucky University as a land-grant institution under the Morrill Act. However, due to questions regarding the appropriateness of a federally funded land-grant college controlled by a religious body, the A&M college was spun off in 1878 as an independent, state-run institution. A&M soon developed into the state's flagship public university, the University of Kentucky.

Kentucky University's College of the Bible, which traced its roots to Bacon College's Department of Hebrew Literature, also received its own charter in 1878. The Seminary became a separate institution, although it remained housed on the Kentucky University campus until 1950, later changing its name to the Lexington Theological Seminary. In 1903, Hamilton College, a Lexington-based women's college founded in 1869, merged into Kentucky University.

[edit] 20th century and beyond: Transylvania University

Due to confusion between Kentucky University and its daughter institution the University of Kentucky, the institution adopted the eldest name in its lineage "Transylvania University" in 1908.

The school remains affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

[edit] Rankings

Transylvania University is ranked 87th among the nation's Liberal arts colleges according to U.S. News & World Report. According to The Princeton Review, Transylvania ranks 11th among colleges with a "Major Frat and Sorority Scene," which indicates the prevalence of fraternity and sorority activities among students at Transylvania.

[edit] Campus

Commonly referred to as "Transy," the school is located on a 35 acre (142,000 m²) campus about 4 blocks north of downtown Lexington.

[edit] Academic buildings

[edit] Residential buildings

  • Forrer Hall - Mainly the women's dormitory, Forrer's front and back lobbies contain offices for Residence Life, Department of Public Safety, and others.
  • Henry Clay Hall - Men's dormitory primarily for freshmen.
  • Jefferson Davis Hall - Men's dormitory for upperclassmen. Each floor belongs to one of the four fraternities.
  • Rosenthal Residence Complex - Apartment complex for upperclassmen.
  • Poole Residence Center - Suite style residential building.
  • Hazelrigg Hall - Built as a freshmen dormitory, it was later converted to a multipurpose building. Contains a classroom, a computer lab, social science faculty offices, and two floors of "Honors" dormitories for students meeting GPA and other requirements. These rooms are single occupancy as opposed to double and have stricter rules regarding noise, and other rules to facilitate more intense studying.

[edit] Other buildings

Old Morrison College in 1987
Old Morrison College in 1987
  • Old Morrison - The administrative building, this building was built in the 1830s. The interior was gutted by fire in 1969 and was renovated and reopened in 1971. This building is featured on the city seal of Lexington and was named a National Historic Landmark in 1966.
  • Lucille C. Little Theater - Black box style theater allowing for very flexible stage and seating arrangements.
  • Clive M. Beck Athletic Center - Contains athletics offices, classrooms, fitness center, competition and recreational facilities. Completed in 2002.
  • Glenn Building - Completed in the fall of 2005, this building houses the new university bookstore as well as a coffee shop.

[edit] Fraternities and sororities

Transylvania has a thriving Greek life on campus, with four fraternities and four sororities on campus. Over half of the students are members of a Greek organization. Each chapter is represented on the Interfraternity Council or the Panhellenic Association. This community does provide a social outlet, but the “Animal House” image of the past is misleading.

Fraternities

Sororities

[edit] Notable alumni

[edit] Notable faculty

  • Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz, an unrecognized genius of botany and zoology from Europe, became the professor of botany at Transylvania University in 1819, teaching French and Italian as well. In the spring of 1826 he was dismissed from the university, either for having an affair with the university president's wife or for attending even fewer classes than his students. His tomb is on campus. Each Halloween, students celebrate "Rafinesque Week," which includes bonfires, mock awards, ghost tours of campus and as the culmination of the week, 3 students chosen from a lottery will spend the night in the tomb of Rafinesque in Old Morrison, the school's administration building.. An old legend suggests that he placed a curse on the school when it dismissed him.

[edit] Trivia

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ 2006 NACUBO endowment study. National Association of College and University Business Officers. Retrieved on 2007-04-26.
  2. ^ Governor's Information: Kentucky Governor Beriah Magoffin. Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives. Retrieved on 2007-05-03.

[edit] External links

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