Erskine College
 | |
| Motto | Scienta cum Moribus Conjuncta |
|---|---|
Motto in English | Knowledge joined with Morals |
| Type | Private |
| Established | 1839 |
| Endowment | US$40.52 million |
| President | Dr. Paul Kooistra |
Academic staff | 40 full time |
| Students | 575 |
| Address |
Erskine College Two Washington Street P.O. Box 338 Due West, SC 29639, Due West, SC, USA |
| Campus | Rural |
| Colors | Maroon and Gold |
| Nickname | Flying Fleet |
| Affiliations | Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church |
| Website | erskine.edu |
Erskine College is a private Christian college in Due West, South Carolina. It offers an undergraduate liberal arts college and a graduate theological seminary. The college was founded in 1839 by the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, and its sports teams compete in NCAA Division II as a member of Conference Carolinas.
Early history
Established in 1839 by the Associate Reformed Synod of the South as an academy for men, the college became the first four-year, church-related college in South Carolina It was named for Ebenezer Erskine, one of the founders of one of the antecedent bodies of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church and a pastor. Erskine had led a group of separatists from the Church of Scotland to found an Associate Presbytery. Erskine began to admit women in 1894 and officially became coeducational in 1899. In 1927, it merged with Women's College of Due West, founded in 1859. In 1929, Bryson College closed and merged with Erskine College.[1][2]
Recent history
In 1999, Rev. John Carson became president of the college. Upon his installation he noted: "I do not intend to add anything new, not one new straw on the backs of faculty or staff or students. But I do intend to be consistent in making this vision a reality. Erskine College will be, by God's grace, what it has been called to be—a Christian liberal arts college open to all students." Dr. Randall T. Ruble was voted in as the President of Erskine College and Seminary on October 26, 2006. He was inaugurated April 10, 2007.
In April 2011, David A. Norman was inaugurated into the office of President. On June 1, 2013, Dr. Norman resigned, and Dr. N. Bradley Christie was appointed Acting President. On July 18, 2014, it was announced that Erskine College and Seminary called Dr. Paul Kooistra, an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church in America, as their president.[3]
On March 11, 2014, a website article on Outsports detailed the coming out of two male players on the college's volleyball team.[4] On February 27, 2015, Erskine College released statement that students are expected to "follow the teachings of scripture concerning matters of human sexuality."[5][6][7][8]
Academics
Erskine College offers Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science. Minors are offered in several other fields of study. A Christian Education concentration is offered within the Bible and Religion major and special minors are offered in Family Studies, Computer Science, Non-Western Studies, Theater, and Information Technology. The college also offers pre-professional programs in medicine, law, pharmacy, and dentistry. The student to faculty ratio is 12:1.[9]
Although Erskine is regionally accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, it was placed on "Warning" status following its most recent decennial accreditation review in December 2013.[10] The College's status was reviewed in December 2014, and the sanction was then escalated to "Probation" status, due to continued failure to comply with accreditation standards related to fiscal stability and institutional effectiveness in student learning outcomes.[11]SACSCOC removed all accreditation sanctions and reaffirmed Erskine’s regional accreditation in December 2015.
Athletics
Erksine College teams participate as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division II. The Flying Fleet are a member of the Conference Carolinas. Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, tennis and volleyball; while women's sports include basketball, cross country, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, tennis and volleyball.
Major buildings
- Administrative offices: Belk Hall, Watkins Student Center
- Art buildings: Bowie Arts Center, Memorial Hall (music), Print Shop
- Classrooms: Belk Hall, Reid Hall, Daniel Moultrie Science Center (DMSC)
- Recreation: Galloway Center, the Hangar (under Lesesne Auditorium), pavilion, swimming pool, volleyball court
- Male housing: Grier (freshmen), Pressly, Robinson
- Female housing: Carnegie (freshmen), Bonner, Kennedy
- Dining services: Java City, Moffatt Dining Hall and Snappers
- Erskine Towers: Flagship Building, old astral observatory and clock tower
- Computer Lab and library: McCain Library, Reid Hall (archives)
Notable alumni
Will
- Susan Audé - WIS-TV news anchor
- Erskine Caldwell - American author (attended, but did not graduate)
- Beth Couture - head coach of the Butler Bulldogs women's basketball team
- Tom Ervin - member of the South Carolina House of Representatives[12]
- Thomas S. Gettys - U.S. Congressman from South Carolina
- Ira B. Jones - former South Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice and gubernatorial candidate
- Thomas G. Long - Brandy Professor of Preaching at Candler School of Theology at Emory University
- Benjamin Meek Miller - Governor of Alabama, 1931–1935
- William Bell Montgomery - founder of Southern Farm Gazette (now known as the Progressive Farmer) and Mississippi State University
- Joseph Rodney Moss - former Associate Justice and Chief Justice on the South Carolina Supreme Court[13]
- Lemuel P. Padgett - U.S. Congressman from Tennessee
- Charles Bryson Simonton - U.S. Congressman from Tennessee
- Tom Verlaine - lead singer/guitarist of proto-punk rock band Television (attended, but did not graduate)
See also
References
- ↑ "Bryson College Memorial". Retrieved 2010-06-01.
- ↑ "Erskine College: Hard To Find, Harder To Leave". Retrieved 2010-07-18.
- ↑ "Erskine Board Calls Paul Kooistra as President". The Aquila Report. July 18, 2014. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
- ↑ Zeigler, Cyd (2014-03-11). "Rural South Carolina Div. II volleyball team has two out gay players". outsports.com. Retrieved 2015-02-27.
- ↑ Samantha Laine (27 Feb 2015). "South Carolina college comes out against homosexuality". Christian Science Monitor.
- ↑ "South Carolina college denounces homosexuality after two volleyball players come out as gay". msn.com/Washington Post.
- ↑ Patrick Foster (27 Feb 2015). "South Carolina college's statement ignites homosexuality furor". USA Today.
- ↑ Sasha Geffen (27 Feb 2015). "This College In South Carolina Is Trying To Ban Students From Being Gay". mtv.com.
- ↑ "Academic Excellence". Erskine College. Erskine College. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
- ↑ Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (December 19, 2013). "Disclosure Statement Regarding the Status of ERSKINE COLLEGE" (PDF). Retrieved July 17, 2014.
- ↑ Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (December 7, 2014). "Actions taken by the SACSCOC Board of Trustees December 7, 2014" (PDF). Retrieved March 1, 2014. line feed character in
|title=at position 47 (help) - ↑ WSPA Staff. "Greenville Attorney Ervin To Face Gov. Haley In Republican Primary". WSPA.com. Retrieved 2014-04-01.
- ↑ "Joseph Rodney Moss : Memory Hold The Door | University of South Carolina School of Law". law.sc.edu. 2014. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
External links
Coordinates: 34°19′49.72″N 82°23′25.63″W / 34.3304778°N 82.3904528°W