Benedict College

Infobox University
name = Benedict College
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latin_name =
motto = "A Power for Good in Society"
mottoeng =
established = 1870
closed =
type = Private, HBCU
affiliation = American Baptist Churches USA
endowment =
officer_in_charge =
chairman =
chancellor =
president = Dr. David H. Swinton
vice-president =
superintendent =
provost =
vice_chancellor =
rector =
principal =
dean =
director =
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faculty =
staff =
students = 2,500
undergrad =
postgrad =
doctoral =
other =
city = Columbia
state = South Carolina
province =
country =
United States
coor =
campus = 110 acre
former_names = Benedict Institute
free_label =
free =
sports = football
basketball
baseball
softball
track and field
cross country
golf
handball
soccer
tennis
volleyball
cheerleading
colors = Purple and Gold
color box|purple color box|gold
colours =
nickname = Tigers
mascot =
athletics = NCAA Division II
affiliations = Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
website = [http://www.benedict.edu benedict.edu]

footnotes =

Benedict College is an historically black, liberal arts college located in Columbia, South Carolina. Founded in 1870 by northern Baptists, it was originally a teacher's college. It has since expanded into a four-year college.

History

Benedict College was founded in 1870 on an 110-acre plantation in Columbia, South Carolina. Under the auspices of the American Baptist Home Mission Society, Mrs. Bathsheba A. Benedict of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, provided the amount of $13,000.00 to purchase the land to open Benedict Institute on December 12, 1870. This new school was established for the recently emancipated peo­ple of African descent.

Benedict's first class consisted of ten recently emancipated people of African descent and one teacher, the Reverend Timothy L. Dodge, D.D. He was a college-trained preacher from the North, who became president of the Institute. Benedict Institute set out from humble beginnings in a dilapadated former slave master's mansion to prepare men and women to be "powers for good in society." The dilapadated mansion, built in 1839, served as the first schoolhouse where grammar school subjects, along with Bible and theology, were taught. Eventually other subjects were added to the curriculum to address the original objective of the school: to train teachers and preachers.

On November 2, 1894, the institution was chartered as a liberal arts college by the South Carolina Legislature and the name Benedict Institute was changed to Benedict College.

From 1870 to 1930, Benedict College was led by seven northern white Baptist ministers, all college trained. On April 10, 1930, the Reverend John J. Starks, who earned his bachelor's degree from the college in 1891, became the first African American president of the college. Five African-American presidents have succeeded him.

In 1994 with a strategic planning process in place, Benedict College set an enrollment goal of "2000 by the year 2000". The goal was achieved in 1996 with an enrollment of 2,138 students. The fall 2002 enrollment was 3,005. Benedict College is engaged in an on-going strategic planning process, which will guide the College in the twenty-first century.

The college is currently implementing a $50 million campus improvement plan, which includes land acquisition and the completion of a comprehensive athletics complex. Campus facilities improvements over the past nine years have included installation of air-conditioning, fire sprinkler systems, and secu­rity systems in residence halls; completion of an activities field and community park; renovation of his­toric Antisdel Chapel, Bacoats and Alumni Halls, and restoration of historic Morgan, Pratt, and Starks Halls, including the Student Leadership Development Center. During this period, new construction has included three residence halls, a parking garage, a campus center/dining hall, an Administration Building, and a Business Development Center. Additionally buildings were acquired to house a fitness center, and the Division of Community Development/Center for Excellence. Three apartment complexes have been purchased for student housing. As a part of the college's community development thrust, more than 50 dilapidated properties in the adjacent community have been renovated.

Two Benedict College science professors were fired after an academic scandal in 2004. [citeweb|url=http://www.settingtheworldtorights.com/node/395|title=Another Faked Grade Scandal|work=Setting The World To Rights|date=2004-10-13]

Academics

Maintaining a liberal arts tradition, Benedict College now offers bachelor degree programs in twenty-nine major areas of study to meet the needs of a complex and technological society at home and world-wide as the twenty-first century sets new parameters for peoples across the universe.

Benedict College, a fully accredited institution, is located in Columbia, SC (adjacent to Allen University). Benedict offers 29 degrees from 12 departments. [citeweb|url=http://www.benedict.edu/divisions/acadaf/office/general/bc-academic-degrees_n_majors.html|title=Degree Programs and Majors] [citeweb|url=http://www.benedict.edu/academics.html|title=Academics|publisher=Benedict College] In addition to offering traditional education, the college also offers continuing education for those "non traditional students".

Accreditation

Benedict College is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award baccalaureate degrees.

The Teacher Education Program is fully approved by the South Carolina Department of Education and the Program in Social Work is accredited by the Council on Social Work Education. The Environmental Health Science Program is fully accredited by the National Environmental Health Science and Protection Accreditation Council (EHAC).

tudent activities

Athletics

Notable alumni

References

External links

* [http://www.benedict.edu/ www.benedict.edu] - Official web site