Guilford College

Not to be confused with Guildford College.

Guilford College

Former name	New Garden Boarding School (1837–1888)
Motto	Sapientium atque virtutum molior
Motto in English	I am striving for wisdom and virtue [1]
Type	Private liberal arts college
Established	1837;188 years ago (1837)
Accreditation	SACSCOC
Affiliation	Quakers [2]
Endowment	$92.7 million (2021) [3]
President	Jean Parvin Bordewich (acting) [4]
Academic staff	85
Students	1,429
Location	Greensboro, North Carolina , U.S.
Campus	Suburban, 340 acres (1.37 km2)
Colors	Crimson and Gray
Nickname	Quakers
Sporting affiliations	NCAA Division III — ODAC
Mascot	Nathan the Quaker
Website	www.guilford.edu

Guilford College
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
Brick walkway through Guilford College
Nearest city	Greensboro, North Carolina
Coordinates	36°5′43″N79°53′19″W / 36.09528°N 79.88861°W / 36.09528; -79.88861
Built	1885
Architectural style	Colonial Revival, Classical Revival, Late Gothic Revival
NRHP reference No.	90000855 [5] 01000676  (decrease)
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	June 21, 1990
Boundary decrease	June 27, 2001

Guilford College is a private liberal arts college in Greensboro, North Carolina. ^[6] It was founded in 1837 by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Guilford has both traditional students and students who attend its Center for Continuing Education (CCE).

Guilford's program offerings include such majors as Peace and Conflict Studies and Community and Justice Studies, both rooted in the college's history as a Quaker institution. Its campus has been considered a National Historic District by the United States Department of the Interior since 1990. ^[7] The college is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges but was placed on probation in 2023 due to severe, ongoing financial challenges.

History

Guilford College is the only Quaker-founded college in the southeastern United States and the first co-ed college in the South. ^[8] Opening in 1837 as New Garden Boarding School, the institution became a four-year liberal arts college under its current name, Guilford College, in 1888. ^[9] Levi Coffin, a well-known abolitionist, Quaker, and political dissenter grew up on the land, which is now considered a historical site. ^[9] The woods of New Garden, which still exist on campus today, were used as a meeting point for the Underground Railroad in the 19th century, run by Coffin. ^[9]

2020s financial challenges

Jane Fernandes, having served as president since 2014, chose to furlough and lay off colleagues during the COVID-19 pandemic and announced that she would leave office on June 30, 2020, followed by a one-year sabbatical and transition to a tenured faculty position in English. Carol Moore was appointed the interim president and she began a "program prioritization" process that would significantly reduce the number of majors offered once approved. ^[10] The college announced in November 2020 that it would likely discontinue 19 out of its 42 majors and cut 16 tenured professors. ^[11] In November 2020, as a response to this plan, the faculty voted no confidence in Moore and the Board of Trustees' leadership, the first no-confidence vote in the college's history. ^[12] Moore subsequently left the college and Jim Hood, a faculty member, was selected as the new interim president at the end of February 2021. ^[13]

In early 2021, the college paused the November 2020 layoff plans and began significant fundraising effort, placing a hold on the layoff question until after the spring semester. ^[14] As of late March 2021, the fundraising plan was slightly ahead of schedule. ^[15] On January 1, 2022, Kyle Farmbry became Guilford's 10th president. ^[16]

In late 2023, the college's accreditor, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, placed the college on probation due to its ongoing, severe financial challenges. The probation was initially for one year but in late 2024 it was extended for another year. ^[17] In December 2024, while the college was on probation, president Farmbry resigned and the college's board of trustees appointed one of their own, Jean Parvin Bordewich, acting president. ^[4]

Athletics

Main article: Guilford Quakers

Guilford athletic teams are the Quakers. The college is a member at the Division III level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing as a member of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) since the 1988–89 academic year. ^[18] The Quakers previously competed in the Carolinas Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (CIAC, now Conference Carolinas) of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 1930–31 to 1987–88.

Guilford competes in 20 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, lacrosse, soccer, tennis and track & field; while women's sports include basketball, cross country, lacrosse, rugby, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track & field, triathlon and volleyball.

Accomplishments

The school has won five national championships, including the NAIA men's basketball championship in 1973, the 1981 NAIA women's tennis title and the 1989 (NAIA), 2002 and 2005 (NCAA Division III) men's golf titles.

Campus events

• Bryan Series: In the past decade, Guilford's Bryan Series ^[18] has brought many notable speakers to the campus and city for an annual public lecture series. Past speakers have included Desmond Tutu, Mikhail Gorbachev, Colin Powell, Madeleine Albright, Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, Ken Burns, Mary Robinson, David McCullough, Toni Morrison, and Venus Williams.
• Eastern Music Festival (EMF): Every summer, the college hosts the five-week-long Eastern Music Festival (EMF), where professional and student musicians come together for seminars and public performances. Each year, EMF features more than 70 concerts and music-related events on- and off-campus.
• Serendipity: The largest campus-wide event of the year is "Serendipity", held annually in the spring. It began in 1972 as a replacement to the somewhat antiquated May Day festivities, and has featured games, musical performances, and "general mayhem." During its peak in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the weekend festival was attended by Guilford students and alumni and thousands of students from other local institutions in the Triad area. Musical acts have included Dave Matthews Band, Widespread Panic, Hootie & The Blowfish, Common, Talib Kweli, De La Soul, Luscious Jackson, The Violent Femmes, Man Man, The Village People, and The Squirrel Nut Zippers.
• WTH?! Con: This event has occurred annually since 2001. Major guests include a host of webcomic creators and wrock bands. The 2018 event attracted around 300 attendees. Peak attendance has been around 500 people. ^[19] The most recent con was held the weekend of March 15, 2019. ^[20]

Early College at Guilford

The Early College at Guilford (ECG) has approximately 200 students and is located in Greensboro, North Carolina. The school was started in 2002 as a partnership between Guilford College and Guilford County Schools as the first early college high school in North Carolina, allowing students to graduate with a high school diploma and up to two years of college credit from Guilford College.

Notable faculty

• David Hammond — director and acting teacher, former professor of theatre studies at Guilford
• Mary Mendenhall Hobbs — wife of Guilford President L.L. Hobbs, raised funds for women's education
• David Newton — American sculpture artist, worked at Guilford as an art professor
• Adam Daniel Beittel — minister and former president of Tougaloo College

Notable alumni

• Mary Ann Akers: reporter for Roll Call
• William "Bill" Lindsay: professional baseball player
• M. L. Carr: professional basketball player, head coach and executive
• Howard Coble: member of U.S. House of Representatives (6th District, N.C.) ^[21]
• Joseph M. Dixon: U.S. representative, Senator and Governor of Montana ^[22]
• Rick Elmore: judge, North Carolina Court of Appeals
• Rick Ferrell: professional baseball player
• John Hamlin Folger: U.S. representative ^[23]
• World B. Free (formerly Lloyd Free): professional basketball player
• Griff Garrison: professional wrestler ^[24]
• Rick Goings: CEO of Tupperware
• Greg Jackson: professional basketball player
• Bob Kauffman: professional basketball player, coach, and manager
• Jennifer King: professional football coach
• Penelope W. Kyle: president of Radford University
• Junior Lord: professional football player
• Warren Mitofsky: inventor of the exit poll
• Dave Odom: college basketball coach
• Thomas Gilbert Pearson: secretary and later president of the National Audubon Society ^[25]
• Carolyn Pfeiffer: film producer
• William Queen: author
• Doc Searls: journalist and author
• Ernie Shore: professional baseball player and Guilford professor ^[26]
• D. H. Starbuck: North Carolina lawyer, judge, and political figure
• Ben Strong, professional basketball player
• Sam Venuto: professional football player and high school athletic director and football coach ^[27]
• Tony Womack: professional baseball player ^[28] and Olympic athlete
• Hunter Yurachek: college athletic director
• Tom Zachary: professional baseball player

See also

• WQFS

References

1. "Photographic image" (PJPG). Intranet.guilford.edu. Retrieved September 17, 2016.
2. "Quaker Colleges, Universities and Study Centers". Archived from the original on December 14, 2012.
3. As of June 30, 2021. U.S. and Canadian Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year 2020 Endowment Market Value and Change in Endowment Market Value from FY19 to FY20 (Report). National Association of College and University Business Officers and TIAA. February 19, 2021. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
4. Hudson, Walter (January 4, 2025). "Guilford College President Steps Down Amid Financial Challenges". Diverse: Issues In Higher Education . Retrieved January 4, 2025.
5. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
6. "Mission and Core Values – Guilford College". Guilford.edu. Archived from the original on August 13, 2011. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
7. "National Archives NextGen Catalog". catalog.archives.gov. Retrieved December 31, 2022.
8. "Who We Are". Guilford College. March 27, 2017. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
9. "About Guilford - Guilford College". Archived from the original on December 21, 2009. Retrieved 2010-01-15.
10. "Guilford College Program Prioritization". www.giving.guilford.edu. Archived from the original on November 1, 2020. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
11. Newsom, John (November 12, 2020). "Guilford College to make deep cuts to its academic majors and faculty". Greensboro News & Record. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
12. Whitford, Emma (November 23, 2021). "Deep Budget and Program Cuts Roil Guilford". Inside Higher Ed . Retrieved December 20, 2021.
13. Newsom, John (February 23, 2021). "Guilford College names its second new president in less than a year". News & Record. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
14. Newsom, John (January 6, 2021). "Amid pressure from alumni, Guilford College trustees reversed plans to slash academic majors and faculty jobs". News & Record. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
15. "Ahead of schedule: Guilford College hits first fundraising goal almost two weeks early". John Newsom, News&Record (Greensboro, NC), March 19, 2021. March 19, 2021. Retrieved September 18, 2021.
16. "Guilford College Appoints Kyle Farmbry as President". Guilford College. October 6, 2021. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
17. Ratliff, Michaela (December 11, 2024). "Guilford College gets 1 more year of accreditation probation for 'good cause'". WGHP . Retrieved January 4, 2025.
18. "Guilford College" . Retrieved September 15, 2016.
19. Lindberg, Alex. "The Guilfordian : What the hell?! It's What the Hell Con" . Retrieved September 15, 2016.
20. Ettinger, Savi (March 21, 2019). "New leaders keep quirky legacy alive at Guilford's WTHell?! Con". The NC Triad's altweekly. Retrieved March 28, 2019.
21. "COBLE, Howard, (1931 - )". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
22. "Montana Governor Joseph Moore Dixon". National Governors Association. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
23. "John Hamlin Folger". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved October 15, 2012.
24. Davis, Chanel (December 22, 2021). "Triad wrestler rises to professional wrestling fame". Yes! Weekly . Archived from the original on February 1, 2022. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
25. Stoesen, Alexander R. (1987). Guilford College: On the Strength of 150 Years. Greensboro, N.C.: Walnut Circle Press. p. 21.
26. Cox, Joe (February 1, 2017). Almost Perfect: The Heartbreaking Pursuit of Pitching's Holy Grail. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 16. ISBN   978-1-4930-1951-9 . Retrieved October 20, 2022.
27. "Sam Venuto". Pro-Football-Reference.Com. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
28. "Tony Womack". Baseball-Reference.Com. Retrieved October 14, 2012.

External links

• Media related to Guilford College at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website
• Official athletics website