Philander Smith College
Type | Private, HBCU |
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Established |
1877: Walden Seminary 1882: Philander Smith College |
Endowment | $3 million |
President | Roderick L. Smothers, Ph.D. |
Students | 600 |
Location | Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S. |
Colors | Green & Gold |
Affiliations |
United Methodist Church UNCF |
Website | philander.edu |
Philander Smith College is a private historically black college, four-year undergraduate liberal arts institution, located in Little Rock, Arkansas . Philander Smith College is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and a founding member of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF). Philander Smith College is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. The Mission of Philander Smith College is, "To graduate academically accomplished students who are grounded as advocates for social justice, determined to change the world for the better." [1]
History
Philander Smith College was officially founded in 1877 under the name of Walden Seminary as a means of providing education opportunities for freed slaves west of the Mississippi River. The school was renamed Philander Smith College in 1882 to recognize the financial contributions of Adeline Smith, the widow of Philander Smith. The college was chartered as a four-year college in 1883 and conferred its first bachelor's degree in 1888. In 1933, it merged the assets of the George R. Smith College in Sedalia, Missouri, which burned down in 1925.[2] In 1943, Philander Smith was accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.
Philander Smith College was a pioneer during the civil rights movement as many of its students engaged in nonviolent resistance against segregation laws (such as sitting in at "whites-only" lunch counters).
Dr. Walter M. Kimbrough became the 12th and current president of Philander Smith College in 2004 at the age of 37. At that time, he was dubbed the first college president from the hip-hop generation, and was the youngest HBCU president and one of the youngest college presidents in the nation.
Rankings and Education Conservancy
Kimbrough joined the Education Conservancy in its criticism of U.S. News and World Report college rankings by signing a letter circulating among college presidents that asks them not to participate in the peer assessment portion of the survey.[3][4]
On Feb. 21, 1989 - Philander Smith ended the longest home-court winning streak in NCAA Division III women's basketball history with a 92-89 victory over Rust College of Holly Springs, Mississippi.
Campus
Philander Smith College Historic District | |
Location | Roughly bounded by 13th, 11th, Izard, and State Sts., Little Rock, Arkansas |
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Area | less than one acre |
Architect | Almand, John Parks |
Architectural style | Colonial Revival, Bungalow/Craftsman, et al |
NRHP Reference # | 99000229[5] |
Added to NRHP | September 13, 1999 |
The school campus is located in central Little Rock, just south of Interstate 630 (the Mills Freeway), and is bounded by 10th and 14th Streets to the north and south, and Gaines and Chester Streets to the east and west. The core of the campus was originally built for Little Rock Junior College (now the University of Arkansas at Little Rock), and a two-block section of it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. One of its centerpieces is the former U.M. Rose School building, now the Cox Administration Building, designed by the noted Arkansas architect John Parks Almand in 1915, when he was working for Charles L. Thompson. The campus also includes the "Old Gym", a WPA-built gymnasium, and a former barracks building of the Camp Robinson Air Force Base, which was moved here in 1948.[6]
Athletics
Philander Smith teams, nicknamed the Panthers, are part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), primarily competing in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC). Men's sports include basketball and track & field; while women's sports include basketball, cheerleading, track & field and volleyball.
Philander Smith College Panther 2012-2013 Men's basketball team made history by bringing home their 1st Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC) tournament title.[7]
Notable alumni
Name | Class year | Notability | Reference(s) |
---|---|---|---|
"Geese" Ausbie | former Harlem Globetrotters player and coach | ||
James Hal Cone | 1958 | major figure in systematic theology and liberation theology | |
Joycelyn Elders | 1952 | former Surgeon General of the United States | |
Stephanie Flowers | Arkansas State Senator since 2011 and former member of the Arkansas House of Representatives from Pine Bluff | [8] | |
Calvin King | 1975 | farm developmer, and the President of the Arkansas Land and Farm Development Corp | |
Lottie Shackelford | former mayor of Little Rock, Arkansas | ||
Elijah Pitts | 1961 | former Green Bay Packers player | |
Al Bell | founder of Stax Records and former president of Motown Records | ||
Robert L. Williams | 1953 | prominent figure in the history of African-American psychology | |
Scipio Africanus Jones | coursework before transfer to Shorter College | lawyer and businessman |
Notable faculty
Name | Department | Notability | Reference |
---|---|---|---|
Lee Lorch | mathematician and civil rights activist |
See also
Notes
- ↑ "About Philander". Retrieved 12 June 2013.
- ↑
- ↑ Kamara, Margaret (28 June 2007). "Are U.S. News Rankings Inherently Biased Against Black Colleges?". Diverse Issues in Higher Education.
- ↑ "Growing Challenge to ‘U.S. News’". Inside Higher Ed. 18 May 2007.
- ↑ Staff (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
- ↑ "NRHP nomination for Philander Smith College Historic District" (PDF). Arkansas Preservation. Retrieved 2015-12-09.
- ↑ "Panthers Bring the GCAC Championship Home". Retrieved 12 June 2013.
- ↑ "Stephanie Anne Flowers". intelius.com. Retrieved April 17, 2015.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Philander Smith College. |
- Official website
- Official athletics website
- Philander Smith College on Twitter
- http://philandersmithalum.ning.com
- http://therealpscdays.ning.com
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Coordinates: 34°44′13″N 92°16′57″W / 34.73686°N 92.28249°W