Former names | Paine Institute (1882–1903) |
---|---|
Motto | "Emerging Anew" |
Type | Private historically black college |
Established | November 1, 1882 |
Religious affiliation | United Methodist Church, Christian Methodist Episcopal Church |
President | Cheryl Evans Jones |
Students | 241 (2023) [1] |
Location | , , United States |
Campus | Urban 64.4-acre (260,617.6 m2) |
Colors | Purple and white |
Nickname | Lions |
Sporting affiliations | NCCAA |
Website | www |
Paine College is a private, historically black Methodist college in Augusta, Georgia. [2] It is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. Paine College offers undergraduate degrees in the liberal arts, business administration, and education through residential, commuter, and off-site programs. [3] The college is accredited by the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools (TRACS). [4]
Bishop Lucius Henry Holsey started planning for the school in 1869, and asked for leadership help through Methodist Episcopal Church South (MECS). [5] [6] The new school was named after the late Bishop Robert Paine. [5] Paine College was founded on November 1, 1882 by the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church (now Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, a historically black denomination), and the Methodist Episcopal Church South (now United Methodist Church, a historically white denomination). [5] According to The Augusta Chronicle , "The Paine College Board of Trustees is the oldest interracial body in the nation". [7]
The first president was Morgan Callaway, who worked hard for fundraising. [5] Classes started in 1884 in a rented space at 10th and Broad Street in Augusta, and in 1886 Paine was moved to its current location, which at the time was rural land outside of the city. [5] [6] It also functioned as a high school until 1945, when the first public high school opened for African Americans in Augusta. [6]
The college is experiencing financial issues and had its regional accreditation revoked by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) in 2016. [8]
In November 2015, following an initial recommendation from SACS to revoke its accreditation, Paine College launched the "Build it Back Campaign", which raised over half a million dollars in six months. [9] This was to support its fundraising goal of $3.5 million, of which $2.5 million in cash was raised. The college plans to use the money to offset the debt of $5.4 million. [10] Following a March 2016 onsite visit, SACS found the college in compliance with one of the standards that was previously problematic, leaving a total of three standards in question: financial resources, financial stability, and control of sponsored research/external funds. [9] In May, the college celebrated meeting its fundraising goal. However, one month later SACS recommended that the college lose its regional accreditation. [11] The college unsuccessfully appealed to the accreditor [12] and federal courts. [13] [14]
The college subsequently applied for and was granted candidate status with the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools (TRACS) in 2018. [15]
Paine College has a 64.4-acre (260,617.6 m2) campus in the heart of Augusta. Most of its buildings, including residence halls, classroom buildings, and the library, are located in the main campus area. The athletic field, gymnasium, tennis court, and the chapel/music building are included in the rear campus area. The Collins-Calloway Library and Resources Center houses the Paine College Digital Collections, which feature historical images of Paine College and oral history interviews of Paine College alumni and presidents.
A historic district within the campus was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 26, 2012, for its contributions to education and African-American heritage. [27]
Paine College's athletic teams are nicknamed as the Lions. The college currently competes as a member of the National Christian Collegiate Athletic Association (NCCAA). Men's sports include baseball and basketball; women's sports include basketball, softball, and volleyball.
Paine formerly competed in the Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) from 1985–86 to 2020–21.
The college's football team was dropped after the 1963 season, but returned to play in 2014. [28] In their first season back, the football team finished 2-8 [29] before the program was again shut down. [30]
This is a list of notable alumni of Paine Institute and/or Paine College.
Name | Class year | Notability | Reference(s) |
---|---|---|---|
William Augustus Bell | 1906 | president of Miles College in Alabama for two terms | [31] [32] |
John Wesley Gilbert | 1886 | first African-American archaeologist | [33] |
Emma R. Gresham | 1953 | mayor of Keysville, Georgia (1985-2005) and the second African American female to be elected as a chief official in Georgia | [34] |
Louis Lomax | 1942 | journalist, first African American to appear on television as a newsman | [35] |
Joseph Lowery | president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference 1977-1997 | [36] | |
Mike Thurmond | 1975 | attorney and first African-American elected as Georgia Labor Commissioner | [37] |
Channing Tobias | 1902 | civil rights activist and appointee on the President's Committee on Civil Rights | [38] |
Pastor Troy | rapper | [39] | |
Woodie W. White | 1958 | bishop of the United Methodist Church | [37] |
Frank Yerby | 1937 | author and film writer | [40] |
The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a Methodist Black church. It adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology and has a connexional polity. The first independent Protestant denomination to be founded by Black people, AME welcomes and has members of all ethnicities.
The Christian Methodist Episcopal (C.M.E.) Church is a historically black denomination that branched from earlier Methodist groups in the United States. It is considered to be a mainline denomination. The CME Church was organized on December 16, 1870, in Jackson, Tennessee, by 41 former enslaved congregants with the full support of their white sponsors in their former Methodist Episcopal Church, South who met to form an organization that would allow them to establish and maintain their own polity. They ordained their own bishops and ministers without their being officially endorsed or appointed by the white-dominated body. They called this fellowship the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church in America, which it remained until their successors adopted the current name in 1954. The Christian Methodist Episcopal today has a church membership of people from all racial backgrounds. It adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology.
Lane College is a private historically black college associated with the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church and located in Jackson, Tennessee. It offers associate and baccalaureate degrees in the arts and sciences.
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.
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.
Edward Waters University is a private Christian historically Black university in Jacksonville, Florida. It was founded in 1866 by members of the African Methodist Episcopal Church as a school to educate freedmen and their children. It was the first independent institution of higher education and the first historically black college in the State of Florida. It continues to be affiliated with the AME Church and is a member of the Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida.
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Texas College is a private, historically black Christian Methodist Episcopal college in Tyler, Texas. It is affiliated with the United Negro College Fund. It was founded in 1894 by a group of ministers affiliated with the Christian Methodist Episcopal (CME) Church, a predominantly black denomination which was at the time known as the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church in America. They planned to provide for education of African-American students, who were excluded from the segregated university system of Texas. They planned a full literary, scientific and classical education for theology, normal training of lower school teachers, music, commercial and industrial training, and agricultural and mechanical sciences.
Warren Akin Candler was an American bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, elected in 1898. He was the tenth president of Emory University.
Channing Heggie Tobias was a civil rights activist and 1948 Spingarn Medalist. In 1946 he was appointed to the President's Committee on Civil Rights. He has been called "the Booker T. Washington of his day".
Ray Silver Tomlin was an American Methodist minister, educator, academic administrator, and college president. He served as the president of Paine College in Augusta, Georgia, from 1921 to 1923 and from 1923 until 1929.
John Wesley Gilbert was an American archaeologist, educator, and Methodist missionary to the Congo. Gilbert was the first graduate of Paine College, its first African-American professor, and the first African-American to receive an advanced degree from Brown University.
Lucius Hosley Pitts Sr. was an American minister, theologian, educator, and academic administrator. Pitts served as president of Miles College in Fairfield, Alabama from 1961 to 1970. Followed by Pitts serving as the first African American president of Paine College in 1971. He was active in Birmingham, Alabama during the Civil Rights movement, and was a leader within Black educational institutions for many years.
Lucius Henry Holsey was an American bishop.
Dominion Robert Glass was an African-American educator, academic administrator, and college president. He was the president of Texas College, a historically black college in Tyler, Texas, from 1931 until 1961. He also went by the name D. R. Glass.
Julius Samuel Scott Jr. was an American Methodist minister, sociologist, community leader, teacher, and academic administrator. He served as presidents of Paine College and Wiley College (1996–1998).
William Augustus Bell (1882–1961) was an American businessman, educator, academic administrator, and university president. He served two terms as president of Miles College, a private historically black college in Fairfield, Alabama.