Motto | Let There Be Light |
---|---|
Motto in English | Guided by Faith. Inspired by Knowledge |
Type | Private historically black college |
Established | December 16, 1875 |
Affiliation | Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) |
Endowment | $1 million (appx.) [1] |
Chairman | Jessica Thrasher Wilson |
President | Leonard L. Adams Jr. |
Vice-president | Dasha Lundy |
Academic staff | 35 [2] |
Students | 11 [3] |
Location | , Tennessee , United States 35°58′12″N83°56′45″W / 35.97000°N 83.94583°W |
Campus | Urban, 39 acres (16 ha) |
Colors | Garnet and blue |
Nickname | Bulldogs |
Website | www |
Knoxville College is an unaccredited private historically black college in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. It was founded in 1875 by the United Presbyterian Church of North America. The college is a United Negro College Fund member school.
A slow period of decline began in the 1970s and by 2015 the school had an enrollment of just 11 students. In May 2015, the college suspended classes until Fall 2016 term in hopes of reorganizing. On May 17, 2018, the Tennessee Higher Education Commission gave its approval for Knoxville College to once again reopen its doors and offer classes. On July 1, 2018, Knoxville College website announced resumption of enrolling students for fall 2018 semester. In May 2022, three students graduated.
Knoxville College is rooted in a mission school established in Knoxville in 1864 by R. J. Creswell of the United Presbyterian Church to educate the city's free Black and formerly enslaved people. [4] This school initially met in the First Baptist Church building (which at the time was located on Gay Street) before moving to a permanent facility in East Knoxville in 1866. [4] In spite of general apathy from the city's leaders and threats from poor whites, the school's enrollment gradually grew to over 100. [4] In addition to black students, the school also had many white students until 1901, when Tennessee passed a law forcibly segregating all schools. [5]
In the 1870s, the church's Freedmen's Mission, which had established mission schools for freed slaves across the South, decided to refocus its efforts on building a larger, better-equipped school in Knoxville, in part due to stiff competition from other denominations in Nashville. [4] In 1875, the church sold its East Knoxville property and purchased its current property, which at the time consisted of a hill that had been occupied by a Confederate battery during the Civil War. [6] The school's first building, McKee Hall, named for O.S. McKee, was completed in 1876, and the school opened in December of that year. [4] Former governor William G. Brownlow and gubernatorial candidate William F. Yardley spoke at the opening ceremonies. [7]
John Schouller McCulloch was named the school's first principal and Eliza B. Wallace was named the school's principal of female students. [4] [8] The new school was primarily a normal school, which trained teachers, but also operated an academy for the education of local children. In 1877, the school was designated a college by the state, to the surprise of McCulloch, as few of the school's students were ready for a college-level curriculum. [4] In 1890, the state designated the school the recipient of its Morrill Act funds for blacks, with which the school established mechanical and agricultural departments. [9]
There were no medical schools for African Americans prior to the American Civil War, which lasted to 1865. [10] Knoxville College had an early medical department for black students, open from 1895 until 1900. [11] [10] The Knoxville College medical department was created through the donation of the "Colored Department" at the University of Tennessee; the "Colored Department" had been founded by the United Presbyterian Church in 1887 for the use of medical training. [10] William Wallace Derrick had been an African American faculty member at Knoxville College and helped establish the short lived medical department. [10] The Knoxville College Hospital was opened in 1907 at 1825 College Street. [12]
After the department closure, the city of Knoxville organized as a replacement black medical school in winter 1900, named the Knoxville Medical College; which was led by the city physician, Henry Morgan Green. [10] [13]
In 1901, Knoxville College finally received a charter from the State of Tennessee. [4] Six years later, the school established the Eliza B. Wallace Hospital, which served a dual purpose of training nurses and tending to the health needs of the local black community. This proved invaluable during the city's Influenza outbreak of 1918. [4]
In 1913, John Henry Michael, the head of the school's mechanical department, designed the "Negro Building" for the National Conservation Exposition, which was held across town at Chilhowee Park. [14] The building, which is no longer standing, was constructed with the help of Knoxville College students.
During World War I, Knoxville College students helped raise money for liberty bonds and the Red Cross. [4] In the aftermath of the Riot of 1919, one of the city's worst racial episodes, the school's administration (comprising black and white members) staunchly defended the city's African American community, and praised its students' restraint. [4] In 1925, Knoxville College students staged a month-long boycott of classes to protest the school's strict behavioral code, culminating in an all-night negotiating session between student leaders and the school's dean, Herbert Telford. Telford agreed to relax some rules, and allowed the creation of a student council. [4]
In 1957, Knoxville College became one of the first group of predominantly black institutions admitted to full membership in the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). [9] Throughout the summer of 1960, Knoxville College students engaged in a series of sit-ins to protest segregation at lunch counters in downtown Knoxville, eventually convincing most downtown businesses to end the practice. [15] The school's charter was amended in 1962 to allow the admission of white students. [4]
Beginning in the 1970s, Knoxville College began to struggle financially, leading to a gradual decline. In 1997, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools withdrew Knoxville College's accreditation; enrollment dropped precipitously and the school's financial situation became dire. [1] As enrollment plummeted, the school's debt skyrocketed and it was soon unable to pay its faculty or electric bills. Throughout the rest of the 1990s, as enrollment plummeted, most campus buildings were shuttered and abandoned, with most degree programs being discontinued. In August 2005, the school's Board of Trustees fired the school's president, Barbara Hatton. [1]
Following Hatton's removal, the school's alumni association embarked on an aggressive fundraising campaign in 2006 and 2007 to save the college and return it to solvency. [1] In January 2010, the school hired Horace A. Judson as interim president. Judson implemented a new strategic plan with the following goals: (1) regain accreditation, (2) achieve fiscal stability, (3) develop academic program distinctiveness, (4) develop a department of enrollment management, (5) develop a quality student-centered living and learning environment, and (6) establish new relationships and strengthen former ones among key constituents. [16]
However, Judson soon left and the college continued to struggle. On June 9, 2014, the Environmental Protection Agency seized control of the long-shuttered A.K. Stewart Science Hall to conduct an emergency clean-up of toxic chemicals that the college had improperly stored in laboratories; [17] In early 2015 state accreditation for the college was withdrawn, further complicating the college's already strained finances. [18] In April 2015, the school announced it was suspending classes for the Fall 2015 term in hopes of reorganizing. Enrollment had dwindled to just 11 students, and the college was struggling to pay back a $4.5 million loan from 2003 and more than $425,000 to the federal government for the Stewart Science Hall cleanup. [19] In May 2015, the school announced classes would resume in the Fall 2016 term. [20]
In May 2016, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation recommended the college become a state Superfund site due to ongoing contamination concerns from the Stewart Science Hall. [21] In September 2016, the City of Knoxville demanded that Knoxville College make repairs to fourteen of its buildings within 90 days or face condemnation. [22] City crews subsequently boarded up the buildings. The Knoxville Fire Department responded to between four and five fires at abandoned buildings on campus in 2016, and estimated that since the buildings began falling into disuse after 1997, they had responded to twenty or thirty such fires there. [23]
As of August 2018 [update] , most of the campus sits abandoned, in an advanced state of disrepair. Most buildings are open to vagrants and vandals. This has caused severe damage to the buildings. The former college center has been set on fire twice. Since early 2018, the college administrative offices are back on campus again, occupying the college Annex which is next to McMillan Chapel. Plans have been made to renovate McMillan Chapel and the Alumni Library. [24] [25]
In 2023, Knoxville College's Vice President Dasha Lundy has been on a team working in collaboration with the University of Tennessee, Morris Brown College in Atlanta and other schools, to regain their accreditation by 2024 which is Knoxville College’s main priority now. [26] In August 2024, the college applied for accreditation with the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools. [27]
Knoxville College Historic District | |
Area | 14.5 acres (5.9 ha) |
---|---|
NRHP reference No. | 80003841 [28] |
Added to NRHP | May 1, 1980 |
Knoxville College is situated on a 17-building, 39-acre (16 ha) campus, located atop a hill overlooking the Mechanicsville neighborhood, just northwest of Knoxville's downtown area. Along with administration and classroom buildings, the campus includes a performing arts center, a gymnasium, a library, a chapel, and a student center. The school maintains dormitories for on-campus students, as well as a president's house, and cottages and apartments for faculty. [29]
In 1980, eight buildings on the Knoxville College campus received recognition for having a role in minority education on the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district. [30] Many of the earliest buildings were constructed using student labor, student-made bricks, and lumber donated by alumni. [31] The district includes the following buildings:
In 2016, the preservationist group Knox Heritage placed the Knoxville College Historic District on its "Fragile Fifteen," a list of endangered Knoxville-area historic properties. [34]
The Freedmen's Mission Historic Cemetery, at the corner of Booker and College, is a historic African-American burial ground on the campus. [35]
A 16-member board of trustees oversees Knoxville College. Its chairman is Michael V. Bowie. [19] The board includes representatives from the Knoxville College National Alumni Association.
The board appoints the president, who is the school's chief administrator. The most recently appointed president, Jacob Savage, was fired by the board of trustees on January 23, 2015, three months after he had been hired to replace Evelyn Hallman. He had agreed to take no salary for his position. In July 2017, the board appointed Keith E. Lindsey as Interim President to guide the rebuilding of the college. [19] The president is assisted by the academic dean, dean of students, director of admissions, and recruitment officer. [2]
As of 2010 [update] , Knoxville College offered two degrees: the four-year Bachelor of Liberal Studies, and the two year Associate of Arts. The Bachelor of Liberal Studies includes one of four areas of concentration: Humanities, Business and Computer Sciences, Natural Sciences and Mathematics, or Social and Behavioral Sciences. [2] The curriculum further requires 15 to 18 semester hours of specialization within each concentration, providing for a more in-depth understanding of a particular field. [2]
Knoxville College followed a debt-free policy that allowed students to complete the degree program without the accumulation of debt. This was accomplished primarily through its College Work Program, which allowed students to offset much of their tuition costs by working for several hours per week. This program involved a mix of performing various tasks around campus, community involvement, and internship programs. [2]
Knoxville College's Student Government Association (SGA), which was elected by the student body, acted as a liaison between students and campus administration. The SGA was led by a president, elected for one term. [36]
Student activities included a dance team, a debate team, a choir, and a trivia team (which competed with other HBCUs in the Honda Bowl Competition). The school's newspaper, The Aurora, was published for over a century. The college also maintained a student ambassador program and wellness program that provided volunteer services for the surrounding community. [36]
After 1997, Knoxville College dropped most athletics programs due to declining enrollment, but as part of its reorganization, hopes to re-establish men's and women's basketball teams, as well as a cheerleading squad. [36]
Name | Class year | Notability | Reference(s) |
---|---|---|---|
William Coffee | Cryptographer | [37] | |
George E. Curry | Editor-in-chief of the National Newspaper Publishers Association news service (NNPA) and BlackPressUSA.com, and is chairman of the board of trustees at Knoxville College | ||
Michael Eric Dyson | Attended, but transferred | Professor of sociology at Georgetown University, author, media commentator, talk radio show host | [38] |
Lillie England Lovinggood | 1889? | Writer and teacher | [39] |
C. Virginia Fields | 1967 | Social worker and former Borough President of Manhattan, New York | |
Johnny Ford | Mayor of Tuskegee, Alabama | ||
Jake Gaither | 1927 | Florida A&M University football coach who won more than 85 percent of his games over a 24-year period, from 1945 to 1969. Member of College Football Hall of Fame | |
Grady Jackson | 1997 | Former defensive tackle in the National Football League | |
Vernon Jarrett | 1941 | First African-American columnist for the Chicago Tribune and former president of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) | [40] |
Ken Johnson | Former defensive end in the National Football League | ||
Lyman T. Johnson | Educator and influential leader of racial desegregation in the state of Kentucky during the 1940s | ||
Edith Irby Jones | First female president of the National Medical Association | ||
Mildred Kelly | 1949 | First Black woman to serve as a US Army sergeant major and command sergeant major | |
Willie E. May | 1968 | Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology | [41] |
Ralph Wiley | Noted author, speaker, and sports columnist for The Oakland Tribune, Sports Illustrated, and ESPN | ||
Palmer Williams Jr. | Actor, recurring role in Tyler Perry's House of Payne | [42] |
Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Tennessee, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state's third-most-populous city after Nashville and Memphis. It is the principal city of the Knoxville metropolitan area, which had a population of 879,773 in 2020.
Fisk University is a private historically black liberal arts college in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1866 and its 40-acre (16 ha) campus is a historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Tuskegee University is a private, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama. It was founded on July 4th in 1881 by Lewis Adams, and Booker T. Washington with help from the Alabama legislature via funding from two politicians seeking black votes.
Barber–Scotia College is a private unaccredited historically black college in Concord, North Carolina. It began as a seminary in 1867 before becoming a college in 1916. It is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA).
Bethel University is a private Cumberland Presbyterian-affiliated university in McKenzie, Tennessee with satellite campuses in Jackson, and Paris. It is accredited to award degrees up to the master's level.
The University of Tennessee at Martin is a public university in Martin, Tennessee. It is one of the five campuses of the University of Tennessee system. UTM is the only public university in West Tennessee outside of Memphis.
Bennett College is a private historically black liberal arts college for women in Greensboro, North Carolina. It was founded in 1873 as a normal school to educate freedmen and train both men and women as teachers. Originally coed, in 1926 it became a four-year women's college. It is one of two historically black colleges that enroll only women, the other being Spelman College.
Lincoln Memorial University (LMU) is a private university in Harrogate, Tennessee. LMU's 1,000-acre (4.0 km2) campus borders on Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. As of fall 2023, it had 1,605 undergraduate and 4,200 graduate and professional students.
The University of Tennessee System is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is one of two public university systems, the other being the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR). It consists of four primary campuses in Knoxville, Chattanooga, Pulaski and Martin; a health sciences campus in Memphis; a research institute in Tullahoma; and various extensions throughout the state.
The University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) is a public medical school in Memphis, Tennessee. It includes the Colleges of Health Professions, Dentistry, Graduate Health Sciences, Medicine, Nursing, and Pharmacy. Since 1911, the University of Tennessee Health Science Center has educated nearly 57,000 health care professionals. As of 2010, U.S. News & World Report ranked the College of Pharmacy 17th among American pharmacy schools.
Johnson University is a private Christian university headquartered in Kimberlin Heights, Tennessee, with an additional campus in Kissimmee, Florida. Rooted in the tenets of the Restoration Movement, it maintains affiliation with the Christian churches and churches of Christ.
Morris Brown College (MBC) is a private Methodist historically black liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded January 5, 1881, Morris Brown is the first educational institution in Georgia to be owned and operated entirely by African Americans.
Hiwassee College was a private liberal arts college in Madisonville, Tennessee. Founded in 1849, the college offered associate degrees as well as bachelor's degrees. The majority of its associate degree graduates went on to complete bachelor's degrees elsewhere. The college closed on May 10, 2019 due to financial issues.
Judson University is a private Baptist university in Elgin, Illinois. It is affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA. Judson was formed out of the liberal arts component of Northern Baptist Theological Seminary. When the seminary moved from Chicago to Lombard, Illinois, it was decided to make the college separate from the seminary. Originally known as Judson College, it was named after Adoniram Judson, the first American Baptist missionary to foreign shores. The university has campuses in Elgin and Rockford, Illinois, and a student body of approximately 1,300. Judson College became Judson University on August 28, 2007.
Benedict College is a private historically black college in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1870 by northern Baptists, it was originally a teachers' college. It has since expanded to offer majors in many disciplines across the liberal arts. The campus includes buildings in the Benedict College Historic District, a historic area listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Saint Augustine's University is a private historically black Christian college in Raleigh, North Carolina. It was founded by Episcopal clergy in 1867 for the education of freed slaves.
Knoxville Christian School (KCS) is a private 18 months–12th grade Christian school in Farragut, Tennessee, near Knoxville.
Morristown College was an African American higher education institution located in Morristown, the seat of Hamblen County, Tennessee. It was founded in 1881 by the national Freedman's Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The school was renamed Knoxville College-Morristown Campus in 1989 and closed in 1996. Prior to the civil rights movement, the college held the distinction of being one of only two institutions in East Tennessee for African Americans, the other being Knoxville College, founded in 1875.
Knoxville High School was a public high school in Knoxville, Tennessee, that operated from 1910 to 1951, enrolling grades 10 to 12. Its building is a contributing property in the Emory Place Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The building was more recently used for adult education programs offered by Knox County Schools.
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, it is the flagship campus of the University of Tennessee system, with ten undergraduate colleges and eleven graduate colleges. It hosts more than 30,000 students from all 50 states and more than 100 foreign countries. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity".