- Freed–Hardeman University
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"FHU" redirects here. For the Foundation of Human Understanding, see Roy Masters (commentator).
Freed-Hardeman University 
Motto Teaching How to Live and How to Make a Living Established 1869 Type Private Endowment $24.4 million[1] President Joe Wiley Students 1,972 Undergraduates 1,490 Postgraduates 482 Location map Campus Rural, 96 acres (388,000 m²) Nickname Lions Website www.fhu.edu Freed-Hardeman University is a primarily undergraduate university in Henderson, Tennessee. The university is located within a short distance of the town's central area. The university traces its heritage to the members of the Churches of Christ who helped build it. Freed-Hardeman is primarily undergraduate and residential, meaning it enrolls full time students of traditional college age. The university also serves some commuting, part-time, and adult students on-campus and through distance-learning programs. The university offers a limited number of master's-level graduate programs including Bible, Business, Counseling and Education. Arts, science, and professional degrees are conferred.
The university is governed by a board of trustees, all of whom are required to be members of churches of Christ. Courses are offered by 12 academic departments organized into six schools – Arts and Humanities, Biblical Studies, Business, Education, Sciences and Mathematics, and the Honors College. The Loden-Daniel Library services the undergraduate and graduate students, as well as faculty and staff.
Freed-Hardeman offers European study abroad programs based out of the FHU facility in Verviers, Belgium during the fall and spring semesters. A study abroad and Spanish-language intensive program is offered in Mexico during most summer semesters. Other opportunities include two and three week study programs in Bermuda; Stratford, Canada; New York City; and London and Paris.
Contents
History
The Bell Tower
Freed-Hardeman traces its origin to the 1869 charter of a private high school and college for Henderson, the Henderson Male Institute. It was known at various times as the Henderson Masonic Male and Female Institute, West Tennessee Christian College and Georgie Robertson Christian College. It was named Georgie Robertson Christian College after George Ann "Georgie" Robertson, the daughter of J. F. Robertson and his wife the former Lucy Alice Hamlett. When Georgie died at age 21 her parents donated $5000 to West Tennessee Christian College in her memory and so the school was renamed after her.[2]
In the spring term of 1907 Georgie Robertson Christian College closed down. N. B. Hardeman, a Georgie Robertson Christian College alumni and A. G. Freed worked together to establish a new school, the National Teachers' Normal and Business College to fill the educational void created in Henderson by the closing of GRCC. The NTNBC was incorporated on May 21, 1907 but classes did not start until the fall of 1908. In 1919 it was renamed Freed-Hardeman College in honor of its founders. In February 1990, it became Freed-Hardeman University.[3]
Dormitories
The late Milan-Sitka Building, 1904, during which it was Georgie Robertson Christian College.The university has five women's dormitories. Hall-Roland Hall (originally Oakland Hall) is the oldest residence hall. The ground floor houses a Personal Counseling Center, Graduate Studies in Counseling, and the Department of Behavioral and Consumer Sciences. H. A. Dixon Hall is a four story dormitory opened in 1958. It can house 136 residents. Thomas E. and LaVonne B. Scott Hall opened in 1971 and can house 152 students. In 1973 W. A. Bradfield Hall opened, housing 144 students. Porter-Terry Hall opened in 1977 and can house 156 students.
There are four men's dormitories. Paul Gray Hall was built in 1929 and can house 128 men on four floors. Opened in 1970, George S. Benson Hall can accommodate 152 students. Farrow Hall opened in 1973 and has a capacity for 178 men. Sewell Hall opened on January 13, 2007 and can house 200 men. Upon the opening of Sewell Hall, L. L. Brigance Hall, which could house 78 men, was closed.
Two additional residence halls were built in 2003: Tyler Residence Hall (for Women) and the Woods-East Residence Hall (for Men). These Residence halls are considered Privileged housing. Privileged housing is open only to upperclassmen. Students wishing to live in Privileged housing must complete an application and meet certain requirements including a 3.1 GPA. The rooms in these residence halls have four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen (with a microwave, oven, stove, and refrigerator), a washer and dryer, and a living room. Four students share this living space, each one with their own bedroom, and sharing a bathroom with one roommate.
Campus buildings
The Commons at Freed-Hardeman UniversityThe Student Center opened in 1966 and houses a variety of food services and recreational rooms. The first floor houses the Burks Center. The center contains a food center, post office, Career Resource Center, Student Association office, Student Services office, and Office of Student Life and Development. The main cafeteria, Wallace-Gano Dining Hall, is located on the second floor. The food service is operated by Sodexo.
Clayton Chapel, a red brick and stained glass building located on University Street, opened in 1992. It has a capacity of approximately 100. It may be reserved for devotionals and weddings.
The Brown-Kopel Business Center, which is the newest academic building on campus, was built in 2003. This building was the start of many technology additions to the classroom that eventually began to be added to classrooms in other buildings.
The new Bulliner-Clayton Visual Arts Center opened in Fall 2007.
Future plans include building a new Library, Science and Mathematics facility, and expansion and renovation of the Associates Science Center to facilitate and house the new nursing program.
Student life
Full-time students are required to take at least one Bible class every semester and attend a daily chapel service.
Freed-Hardeman does not have fraternities and sororities in the traditional sense. Instead the university has co-ed social clubs. These social clubs are local only to Freed-Hardeman and have no connection to any national Greek system.
Other University Organizations include: Student Government Association, "The Pride", Campus Delegate Team, University Program Council, Student Alumni Association, University Chorale, University Singers, Ambassadors, FHU Band, Art Guild, Students in Free Enterprise, Law Society, Lambda Pi Eta, Society for Future Accountants, Social Work Students in Action, National Broadcast Society, Communications Majors and Minors Association (COMMA), Pied Pipers, For Heaven's Sake, Pi Epsilon, Alpha Chi, Dactylology Club, Right to Life, Tabitha Club, Preacher's Club, Evangelism Forum, Psychological Affiliation, Math & Computer Science Club, Biology Club, WFHU 91.5 FM, TV40 and the Treasure Chest.
The school's newspaper was originally called the Skyrocket and was begun in 1923. The newspaper was renamed the New Edition briefly in 1972. After a name selection contest, it was renamed the Bell Tower and is published 12 times throughout the year. The school's yearbook is called the Treasure Chest. The yearbook is now issued in the form of a DVD and is accompanied by a photo directory. The University's radio station, WFHU, 91-FIVE, is the 10,500-watt FM stereo station.
Spiritual life
Campus-Wide devotionals are held every Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at 10:30 pm.
Dorm devotionals are held in the dorm lobbies at 10:30 pm every Tuesday night.
Gazebo singings are organized every Sunday night at 10:00 pm in the gazebo on Main Street.
Every other Wednesday Night at 10:00 pm, students meet in Clayton Chapel for Clayton Chapel Singing.
Every other Tuesday on the weeks opposite the Clayton Chapel Singing, Xi Chi Delta hosts campus-wide raquetball singings in the Sports Center at 11:00 pm.
Every year the University hosts the FHU Lectureship on campus. Several other lectures and forums are given throughout the year. On Monday, during Lectureship week, there is a dinner to honor a person of importance to Freed-Hardeman and the Churches of Christ. Although a large portion of the attendees are visitors and alumni of the university, students are encouraged to attend as many lectures as possible. A separate Student Lectureship is also held during the Fall and Spring semesters.
Rankings
U.S. News & World Report ranked Freed-Hardeman 39th among Southern master's degree-granting universities in its 2009 overall rankings. It also included the school in its separate affordability ranking ("Great Schools, Great Prices"), listing it 13th among Southern master's degree-granting universities.
Walking Tall movies
The campus was used as a filming location for the 1973 movie, Walking Tall.
Annual benefit dinner and speaker
Each year, around the first weekend in December, the university has a fundraising dinner featuring well-known speakers, such as Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken, Jr., former Presidents Gerald R. Ford and George H. W. Bush, TV personality Regis Philbin, retired General Norman Schwarzkopf, Olympic gold medalist Mary Lou Retton, Senator Elizabeth Dole, former US Senate Majority Leader and physician, Dr. Bill Frist, popular radio commentator Paul Harvey, NBC Today Show weatherman Willard Scott, NFL football player, commentator & actor Merlin Olsen, country comedian Jerry Clower, former Alabama head coach Gene Stallings, historic CBS-TV News anchor and reporter Walter Cronkite, former First Lady Barbara Bush, former NBC News Anchor and former Meet the Press moderator Tom Brokaw and most recently Emmy Award winning comedian Tim Conway. On Saturday, May 15, 2010, Freed-Hardeman University announced that the featured speaker for the 2010 Annual Benefit Dinner would be former President George W. Bush, 43rd president of the United States of America (January 20, 2001-January 20, 2009).
Notable alumni and faculty
- T. Jeff Busby, Democratic congressman from Mississippi
- John Dale, minister
- Todd Farmer, screenwriter and actor (Jason X, My Bloody Valentine)
- Hugo McCord, preacher and Bible scholar (taught at Freed-Hardeman)
- Dianne Odell, iron lung survivor
- Charles P. Roland, historian[4]
- Rubel Shelly, author, minister and president of Rochester College
- Thomas B. Warren, FHU faculty member, Restoration theologian, and religious philosopher
- Mary Winkler, wife of minister Matthew Winkler, whom she killed in 2006
- Matthew Winkler, minister and murder victim
References
- ^ As of June 30, 2009. "U.S. and Canadian Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year 2009 Endowment Market Value and Percentage Change in Endowment Market Value from FY 2008 to FY 2009" (PDF). 2009 NACUBO-Commonfund Study of Endowments. National Association of College and University Business Officers. http://www.nacubo.org/Documents/research/2009_NCSE_Public_Tables_Endowment_Market_Values.pdf. Retrieved February 10, 2010.
- ^ page about Georgie Robertson
- ^ "history and mission" page from Freed-Hardeman University website
- ^ Who's Who in America, 1982-1983 (Chicago, [Illinois]]: Marquis Who's Who, 1982), p. 2844
External links
TranSouth Athletic Conference Bethel • Blue Mountain • Crichton • Cumberland • Freed–Hardeman • Lambuth • Lyon • Martin Methodist • Mid-Continent • Trevecca Nazarene • Union
Universities and colleges affiliated with the Churches of Christ Abilene Christian University • Amberton University • Amridge University • Austin Graduate School of Theology • Cascade College • Crowley's Ridge College • Faulkner University • Florida College • Freed-Hardeman University • Harding University • Harding University Graduate School of Religion • Heritage Christian University • Lipscomb University • Lubbock Christian University • Memphis School of Preaching • Nations University • Ohio Valley University • Oklahoma Christian University • Pepperdine University • Rochester College • Southwestern Christian College • Tennessee Bible College • Western Christian College • York CollegeCoordinates: 35°26′18″N 88°38′19″W / 35.43844°N 88.63864°W
Categories:- Universities and colleges affiliated with the Churches of Christ
- Universities and colleges in Tennessee
- Education in Chester County, Tennessee
- Educational institutions established in 1869
- Council of Independent Colleges
- National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities members
- Universities and colleges accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
- Buildings and structures in Chester County, Tennessee
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