Limestone College

Limestone College
Type Private
Established 1845 (1845)
President Walt Griffin
Academic staff
 75
Undergraduates 3,500
Location Gaffney, South Carolina, U.S.
Campus suburban
Colors Blue and Gold[1]
         
Nickname Saints
Mascot St. Bernard
Website www.limestone.edu

Limestone College is a private four-year, coeducational liberal arts college located in Gaffney, South Carolina. Limestone College is a Christian non-denominational college with programs leading to the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Social Work, Associate of Arts, Associate of Science, and Masters in Business Administration (MBA) degrees.

Limestone was established in 1845 by Thomas Curtis and his son, William Curtis, distinguished scholars born and educated in England. Limestone was the first women's college in South Carolina, and one of the first in the nation. Ten buildings on the campus, as well as the Limestone Springs and limestone quarry itself, are on the National Register of Historic Places. In the 1960s, Limestone became fully coeducational, and today student enrollment is about 55:45 male:female. It is the third-oldest college in South Carolina.

The college has expanded with branch campuses in Yemassee, Greer, Charleston, Kingstree, Graniteville, Florence, and Columbia that offer evening classes.[2]

Student body

A building on campus

Limestone enrolls approximately 1100 traditional day students. However, its total student population numbers over 3500 when including evening and distance learning students in its innovative Extended Campus program, making it the largest private accredited undergraduate institution in the state of South Carolina. The school primarily serves students from South Carolina and the Eastern seaboard, but with an increasing number of students from all over the world in its evening and Extended Campus programs.

Academics

81% of the faculty at Limestone hold the terminal degree in their field,[3] and the student/faculty ratio is a very low 12:1. Limestone offers students 38 majors in four different divisions of study: Arts and Letters, Natural Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences, and Professional Studies. An innovative and comprehensive Program for Alternative Learning Styles (PALS) serves a growing number of college age students with specific learning disabilities (LD) such as AD/HD, dyslexia, etc. in the day campus program.

As of 2008–2009, 56% of living alumni graduated from Extended Campus programs while the college itself has the largest undergraduate enrollment of any private accredited college in SC, at 3,273 (Fall 2009).[3]

Athletics

Main article: Limestone Saints

Limestone plays sports in the 12-school Conference Carolinas, offering competitive opportunities at the NCAA Division II level for men in soccer, basketball, baseball, wrestling, lacrosse, golf, cross country, swimming, tennis, track and field, and volleyball and for women in golf, volleyball, basketball, softball, tennis, soccer, swimming, cross country, lacrosse, track and field, and field hockey. Limestone has an indoor Olympic-size pool for swim team and recreational use, along with a newly constructed (2005) campus Physical Education facility containing modern classrooms, offices, locker rooms, Athletic Training Education facilities for the school's fully accredited Athletic Training program, a state of the art fitness center, and a wrestling practice facility.

Clubs and organizations

There are over twenty student clubs and organizations at Limestone College ranging in academics, religious, leadership, musical, theatre, and special interest affiliations. Students also contribute to The Calciid, the Limestone College yearbook, and The Candelabra, the student literary magazine of poems, essays, short stories, and art. LC also offers an ROTC program for students interested in serving in the military or reserves.

Notable alumni

In popular media

In Season 4, Episode 3, of the popular series, House of Cards, Frank Underwood mentions to Claire that he will be attending an event at Limestone College while campaigning in Gaffney, SC.[5]

In the same episode, we see a crowd of Limestone College students being addressed in auditorium by soon-to-be Texas congressman Celia Jones.[6] In her speech, Celia admits that she recently learned, "Limestone College was the first women's college in South Carolina and one of the first in the nation". She goes on to extol the virtues of the ethnic diversity of Limestone and ends her speech with: "A young eager community of men and women of all races and backgrounds--a true reflection of America's future."[7]

References

  1. ↑ https://sites.google.com/site/limestonebrand/home
  2. ↑ "Campuses". Limestone College. Retrieved July 31, 2010.
  3. 1 2 "Facts and Statistics". Limestone College. Retrieved July 31, 2010.
  4. ↑ "Lois Collier To Spend Wednesday In City, College". The Gaffney Ledger. April 24, 1956. p. 5. Retrieved August 19, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ Donnelly, Erin. "R29 Binge Club: House Of Cards Season 4 Recaps".
  6. ↑ Parra, Sara. "House of Cards Season 4 Live Blog!".
  7. ↑ "http://transcripts.foreverdreaming.org/viewtopic.php?f=218&t=25759". External link in |title= (help)

External links

Coordinates: 35°03′17″N 81°38′55″W / 35.0548131°N 81.6487135°W / 35.0548131; -81.6487135

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