| Brewton-Parker College | |
|---|---|
new college logo |
|
| Established | 1904 |
| Type | Private |
| Religious affiliation | Southern Baptist Convention |
| Endowment | $13.3 million[1] |
| President | Dr. Mike Simoneaux |
| Academic staff | 189[1] |
| Students | 1,119[1] |
| Location | Mount Vernon, GA, USA |
| Campus | Rural, 280 acres (1.13 km²) |
| Colors | Orange & Blue |
| Mascot | Barons |
| Affiliations | NAIA |
| Website | http://www.bpc.edu/ |
Brewton–Parker College is a private, Christian, coeducational college whose main campus is located in Mount Vernon, Georgia, USA. Brewton-Parker is affiliated with the Georgia Baptist Convention and celebrated their centennial in 2004.[2]
Contents |
In 1904, Reverend John Carter Brewton, pastor of the McRae Baptist Church, and Charles Benton Parker, a prominent businessman in McRae, resolved to establish a private boarding school to serve elementary and high school students from Montgomery County and the surrounding area. As there were no public high schools at that time, the school played an important role in furthering the education of the area’s youth. The Telfair and Daniell Baptist associations were enthusiastic supporters. The school was placed between Mount Vernon and Ailey, as working together the town bid more support than any either community. The Union Baptist Institute, chartered April 28, 1904, joined with other Baptist associations, with Rev. Brewton as elected president of its board of trustees.[2]
The co-ed Union Baptist Institute formally opened on September 12, 1905 with a four-building campus, serving 160 students in grades one through eleven. The school's first year was very successful and as word spread, enrollment more than doubled to 365. In 1912 the school was renamed to Brewton-Parker Institute; it was accredited in 1918 by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
Brewton-Parker Institute became a junior college after college freshmen and sophomore classes were added in 1923 and 1927. Elementary classes were removed in 1929. In 1948, high school classes were also removed. The school was renamed Brewton-Parker Junior College and transferred to the governance of the Georgia Baptist Convention. By the early 1980s, public two-year community colleges had been established throughout the state. At the same time, there was a greater demand for graduates of four-year colleges. In mind of these changes, the school evolved on December 9, 1986 into a four-year institution, Brewton–Parker College.
BPC now offers undergraduate degrees in seven academic departments with 19 majors. Most of its programs have internships, offering practical, hands-on experience as well as academic content. Further, in applicable areas, undergraduates are encouraged to participate with faculty in performing research and presenting papers.
As the only independent college in rural southeast Georgia, BPC plays an important educational role in one of the state’s poorest areas. It serves many first generation college students and provides learning assistance to other, non-traditional students seeking to improve their knowledge and skills. Among private colleges, Brewton-Parker enrolls three times as many minority students as the national average.
Scandal hit the college in the late 1990s over fraud in the school's financial aid department. A lawsuit against the school was brought about by Martha Faw, then the assistant director of financial aid. An investigation begun by the U.S. Department of Education confirmed that Pell grants had been given to ineligible students, payments had been made to non-U.S. citizens, and guidelines for work-study programs were not followed. In 1998, Brewton–Parker College agreed to repay the government $4 million dollars in what was said to be the largest qui tam recovery in Georgia history. College president Y. Lynn Holmes resigned.[3][4][5]
Dr. David R. Smith became college president in 1998, and at his first graduation address, Smith stated:
"To any and all who recognized inept policies and errant behavior, and who continued to speak out against such things even in the face of opposition from those who preferred not to hear it, you should be applauded, not ridiculed."[4]
The college briefly outsourced the administration of their financial aid program[4] until a new college policy and procedures manual was established in the Fall of 2000. A new position, Director of Financial Aid Compliance was established.[6]
The main college campus is in Mount Vernon on 270 acres (1.1 km2) and includes forty-six buildings, outdoor athletic properties, and a 5-acre (20,000 m2) lake. Brewton–Parker College also has a campus in Newnan, located between LaGrange and Atlanta.
Student demographics:
There is a 2:1 female-male student ratio and a 9:1 student-faculty ratio.
Brewton-Parker is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics and fields teams for baseball, men's and women's basketball, cheerleading, men's and women's soccer, softball, men's and women's cross country, and women's volleyball in intercollegiate competition. The men's baseball team won the NAIA championship in 1997.[4]
The 2010 Brewton–Parker College Barons Baseball team was declared co-champions of the Southeastern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) Championship Monday, May 3. In 2010, the Barons ranked as high as 15 nationally. The Barons share this co-championship title with then-No. 4-ranked Lee University Flames. The Barons won four straight games before losing to the Flames Sunday night, 8-0. They defeated Lee (46-11) in earlier rounds. The co-championship was declared when the deciding game was canceled due to inclement weather. Coach Greg "Boo" Mullins led the 2010 Barons Baseball team as head coach, and was named 2010 Coach of the Year by the Georgia Dugout Club.
Intramural sports include basketball, football, softball, table tennis, tennis, ultimate Frisbee, and volleyball.
Student groups at the school include a drama/theater group, a choral group, Council of Intramural Activities, Student Activities Council, Rotaract, Circle K, Alpha Omega Campus Ministry, Student Government Association, and a Baptist Campus Ministry (Baptist Collegiate Ministries, a.k.a. BCM).
The college also recently created an in-depth Creative Expressions BFA, which brought with it several extracurricular opportunities in creative writing, film production and analysis, visual art and musical theatre.
Sonja Sepulveda, DMA Choral Conducting – The University of South Carolina Assistant Professor of Music, Director of Choral activities – Concert Choir, Choral Society, Jazz Voices
Kandie K. Smith, DMA Vocal Performance - The University of Cincinnati Associate Professor of Voice - Director of Lyric Theatre
Pierce Dickens, DMA Organ Performance - The University of Alabama Associate Professor of Keyboard Studies
Glenn Eernisse, DMM Church Music – The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Professor of Music, Chair
David W. Moffett, EdD Educational Leadership/ Curriculum & Instruction- Indiana University: President, Georgia Association of Independent Colleges of Teacher Education (GAICTE) and Treasurer, Georgia Association of Colleges of Teacher Education (GACTE), 2008 Bryan E. Rampey Faculty Member of the Year.
|
||||||||
|
|||||