Philander Smith College

Philander Smith College
Established	1877: Walden Seminary 1882: Philander Smith College
Type	Private, HBCU
Endowment	$3 million
President	Roderick L. Smothers, Ph.D.
Students	600
Location	Little Rock, Arkansas, United States
Colors	Green & Gold
Affiliations	United Methodist Church UNCF
Website	philander.edu

Philander Smith College is a private historically black college, four-year undergraduate liberal arts institution, located in Little Rock, Arkansas. Philander Smith College is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and a founding member of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF). Philander Smith College is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. The Mission of Philander Smith College is, "To graduate academically accomplished students who are grounded as advocates for social justice, determined to change the world for the better." ^[1]

History

Philander Smith College was officially founded in 1877 under the name of Walden Seminary as a means of providing education opportunities for freed slaves west of the Mississippi River. The school was renamed Philander Smith College in 1882 to recognize the financial contributions of Adeline Smith, the widow of Philander Smith. The college was chartered as a four-year college in 1883 and conferred its first bachelor’s degree in 1888. In 1933, it merged the assets of the George R. Smith College in Sedalia, Missouri, which burned down in 1925.^[2] In 1943, Philander Smith was accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.

Philander Smith College was a pioneer during the civil rights movement as many of its students engaged in nonviolent resistance against segregation laws (such as sitting in at "whites-only" lunch counters).

Dr. Walter M. Kimbrough became the 12th and current president of Philander Smith College in 2004 at the age of 37. At that time, he was dubbed the first college president from the hip-hop generation, and was the youngest HBCU president and one of the youngest college presidents in the nation.

Rankings and Education Conservancy

Kimbrough joined the Education Conservancy in its criticism of U.S. News and World Report college rankings by signing a letter circulating among college presidents that asks them not to participate in the peer assessment portion of the survey.^[3]^[4]

On Feb. 21, 1989 - Philander Smith ended the longest home-court winning streak in NCAA Division III women's basketball history with a 92-89 victory over Rust College of Holly Springs, Mississippi.

Athletics

Philander Smith teams, nicknamed the Panthers, are part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), primarily competing in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC). Men's sports include basketball and track & field; while women's sports include basketball, cheerleading, track & field and volleyball.

Philander Smith College Panther 2012-2013 Men's basketball team made history by bringing home their 1st Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC) tournament title.^[5]

Notable alumni

Name	Class year	Notability	Reference(s)
"Geese" Ausbie		former Harlem Globetrotters player and coach
James Hal Cone	1958	major figure in systematic theology and liberation theology
Joycelyn Elders	1952	former Surgeon General of the United States
Stephanie Flowers		Arkansas State Senator since 2011 and former member of the Arkansas House of Representatives from Pine Bluff	^[6]
Calvin King	1975	farm developmer, and the President of the Arkansas Land and Farm Development Corp
Lottie Shackelford		former mayor of Little Rock, Arkansas
Elijah Pitts	1961	former Green Bay Packers player
Al Bell		founder of Stax Records and former president of Motown Records
Robert L. Williams	1953	prominent figure in the history of African-American psychology
Scipio Africanus Jones	coursework before transfer to Shorter College	lawyer and businessman

Notable faculty

Name	Department	Notability	Reference
Lee Lorch		mathematician and civil rights activist

Notes

↑ "About Philander". Retrieved 12 June 2013.
↑
↑ Kamara, Margaret (28 June 2007). "Are U.S. News Rankings Inherently Biased Against Black Colleges?". Diverse Issues in Higher Education.
↑ "Growing Challenge to ‘U.S. News’". Inside Higher Ed. 18 May 2007.
↑ "Panthers Bring the GCAC Championship Home". Retrieved 12 June 2013.
↑ "Stephanie Anne Flowers". intelius.com. Retrieved April 17, 2015.

External links

International Association of Methodist-related Schools, Colleges, and Universities

Colleges and universities in Arkansas

Public institutions	Arkansas State Arkansas Tech Henderson State Southern Arkansas University of Arkansas, Fayetteville University of Arkansas at Fort Smith University of Arkansas at Little Rock University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences University of Arkansas at Monticello University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff University of Central Arkansas

Private institutions	Arkansas Baptist Central Baptist Crowley's Ridge Ecclesia Harding Hendrix John Brown Lyon Ouachita Baptist Ozarks Philander Smith Shorter Williams Baptist

Community colleges	Arkansas Northeastern ASU Beebe ASU Mountain Home ASU Newport Black River Tech Cossatot East Arkansas Mid-South National Park North Arkansas Northwest Arkansas Ouachita Tech Ozarka Phillips Pulaski Tech Rich Mountain South Arkansas Southeast Arkansas Southern Arkansas Tech UACC Batesville UACC Hope UACC Morrilton

Historically black colleges and universities

Public institutions	Alabama A&M Alabama State Albany State Alcorn State Arkansas–Pine Bluff Bishop State CC Bluefield State Bowie State Central State Cheyney Coahoma CC Coppin State Delaware State Elizabeth City State Fayetteville State Florida A&M Fort Valley State Gadsden State CC Grambling State Harris–Stowe Hinds CC Jackson State Kentucky State Langston Lincoln, Missouri Lincoln, Pennsylvania Maryland, Eastern Shore Mississippi Valley State Morgan State Norfolk State North Carolina A&T North Carolina Central Prairie View A&M Savannah State Shelton State CC South Carolina State Southern Southern–New Orleans Southern–Shreveport Tennessee State Texas Southern UDC UVI Virginia State West Virginia State Winston-Salem State

Private institutions	Allen Arkansas Baptist Barber–Scotia Benedict Bennett Bethune-Cookman Claflin Clark Atlanta Concordia Alabama Dillard Edward Waters Fisk Florida Memorial University Hampton Howard Huston–Tillotson Interdenominational Theological Center Jarvis Christian Johnson C. Smith Knoxville Lane LeMoyne–Owen Livingstone Meharry Miles Morehouse Morehouse School of Medicine Morris Brown Morris Oakwood Paine Paul Quinn Philander Smith Rust Selma Shaw Simmons College (Ky.) Southwestern Christian Spelman Stillman St. Augustine's Talladega Texas College Tougaloo Tuskegee Virginia Union Virginia University Voorhees Wilberforce Wiley Xavier (La.)

Defunct institutions	Bishop Daniel Payne Guadalupe Kittrell Lewis College of Business Mississippi Industrial College Mount Hermon Female Seminary Saint Paul's Storer Straight Western

Coordinates: 34°44′13″N 92°16′57″W / 34.73686°N 92.28249°W / 34.73686; -92.28249