Carson–Newman University
{{Short description|Baptist university in Jefferson City, Tennessee, US}}
{{Use American English|date = April 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{Infobox university
|name = Carson-Newman University
|image = Carson-Newman seal.png
|image_upright = 0.9
|motto = Truth, Beauty, Goodness
|established = {{start date and age|1851}}
|type = Private university
|former_names = Mossy Creek Missionary Baptist Seminary (1851–1880)
Carson College (1880–1889)
Newman College (1880–1889)
Carson and Newman College (1889–1941)
Carson-Newman College (1941–2012)
|religious_affiliation = Tennessee Baptist Mission Board
|president = Charles Fowler
|city = Jefferson City
|state = Tennessee
|country = United States
|faculty = 122 (Full-Time) and 109 (Part-Time){{Cite web|url=https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=Carson+Newman+University&s=all&id=219806|title = College Navigator - Carson-Newman University}}
|undergrad = 1,669 (Fall 2023)
|administrative_staff = 199
|endowment = $62.7 million (2023)
|campus = Suburban, circa 200 acre (roughly 1 mi wide by .4 mi deep)
|sporting_affiliations = NCAA Division II – SAC
|sports_nickname = Eagles
|colors = {{color box|#0C2340}}{{color box|#FF671F}} Orange & blue
|academic_affiliations = CIC
|website = {{url|www.cn.edu}}
|logo = Carson-Newman_University_Logo,_August_2022.png
|logo_size = 250px
}}
Carson-Newman University is a private university in Jefferson City, Tennessee, United States. Carson-Newman is affiliated with the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board. Founded in 1851, the university enrolls about 2,500 students.{{cite web|url=http://www.cn.edu/news?view=1004|title=Carson-Newman sees historic enrollment|date=September 8, 2015|website=Carson–Newman University|access-date=September 8, 2015}} Studies are offered in approximately 90 different academic programs.
History
{{Infobox US university ranking
| Wamo_NU = 198 of 438
| USNWR_NU = 361 (tie) of 394
}}
File:Burke-Tarr from softball stadium 2.0.JPG
Following a ten-year effort of five early East Tennessee Baptists, the school was established and chartered with the state of Tennessee as Mossy Creek Missionary Baptist Seminary in 1851, and construction began that summer on the first building on the west bank of the creek. While this was ongoing, the school held classes in a local Baptist church located near the old zinc mine on the current Allen and Phyllis Morgan East Campus. Within a year the school occupied its own building between the current Silver Diamond Baseball Complex and the East Campus. The campus gradually grew to the west, and is now a mile wide stretching across the northern end of Jefferson City.
In 1880, the institution was named Carson College for James Harvey Carson, who left $15,000 of his estate to the school.{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hQGdmfjqBP0C&pg=PA238|title=Higher Education in Tennessee|website=Google.com|access-date=September 7, 2015|last1=Merriam|first1=Lucius Salisbury|year=1893}}[http://www.tnhillbillie.net/tn/jefferson/articles/jbmalone.html]{{dead link|date=November 2016|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}} For several years it existed alongside Newman College, a separate facility for the education of women named for William Cate Newman, who had donated money to the women's college. In 1889, the two colleges united as one of the first coeducational institutions in the South. The institution operated as Carson-Newman College until 2012 when the board of trustees voted to acknowledge recent organizational changes by changing the name to Carson-Newman University.{{cite web|url=http://www.cn.edu/news?view=437|title=C-N trustees vote to begin process of name change to "University"|date=October 19, 2012|website=Carson-Newman University|access-date=April 1, 2017}}
In 1919, Carson-Newman became officially affiliated with the Tennessee Baptist Convention. The college was admitted to membership in the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools in 1927 and the Association of American Colleges in 1928.
During World War II, Carson-Newman was one of 131 colleges and universities nationally that took part in the V-12 Navy College Training Program which offered students a path to a Navy commission.{{cite web |url=http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/Admin-Hist/115-8thND/115-8ND-23.html |title=U.S. Naval Administration in World War II |publisher=HyperWar Foundation|access-date=September 29, 2011 |year=2011}}
In 2015 the school applied for and received a Title IX exemption so that it could maintain its status as a private Christian institution and also granting it the right to turn away "gay students, unwed mothers, women who've had an abortion and even students who may be pregnant" should it so choose to do so.{{cite web|url=http://www.local8now.com/home/headlines/Carson-Newman-University-granted-exemption-from-discrimination-laws-360521761.html|title=Carson-Newman University granted exemption from discrimination laws|last=Davis|first=Lauren|date=December 3, 2015|website=WVLT-TV|access-date=April 1, 2017}} Then-President Randall O'Brien stated that the decision was made based on the advice of legal counsel and that the school does not discriminate and does not plan to.{{cite web|url=http://wate.com/2015/12/11/carson-newman-university-gets-title-ix-exemption/|title=Carson-Newman University gets Title IX exemption|last=Holloway|first=Hailey|date=December 11, 2015|website=WATE-TV|access-date=April 1, 2017}}
Through an alumni donation in 2007, the university acquired an overgrown wooded area of land along Mossy Creek, known as a dead creek. The property was turned into a park called Allen and Phyllis Morgan East Campus. In Fall 2017, the creek started showing fresh signs of life once again.{{cite web|url=http://www.citizentribune.com/news/local/carson-newman-ad-turns-overgrown-donated-land-into-scenic-park/article_0c7c0274-0968-11e8-b329-ef6833b86125.html|title=Carson-Newman AD turns overgrown, donated land into scenic park|last=Hightower|first=Cliff|date=February 4, 2018|website=Citizen Tribune|access-date=February 20, 2018}} In 2019, the university completed construction on a 250-seat open air amphitheater on the East Campus.
On June 7, 2019, the trustees appointed Charles A. Fowler as the 23rd president of the university. Fowler began his tenure July 1, 2019.{{cn|date=November 2023}}
=Presidents=
- Mossy Creek Missionary Baptist Seminary (1851–1859)
- William Rogers (1851–1851)
- R.R. Bryan (1851–1853)
- Matthew Hillsman (1857–1859)
- Mossy Creek Baptist College (1866–1881)
- R. R. Bryan (1866–1868)
- Jesse Baker (1869–1870)
- N.B. Goforth (1870–1881)
- Carson College and Newman College (1882-1889)
- W.T. Russell (1882–1889){{efn|Russell was the first and only president of Newman College.}}
- W.A. Montgomery (1888–1892)
- Carson and Newman College (1889-1941)
- W.A. Montgomery (1888–1892)
- John T. Henderson (1892–1903)
- M. D. Jeffries (1903–1912)
- J.M. Burnett (1912–1917)
- W. L. Gentry (1917–1919)
- Oscar L. Sams (1920–1927)
- James T. Warren (1927–1948)
- Carson-Newman College (1941-2012)
- James T. Warren (1927–1948)
- I.N. Carr (interim, 1948)
- D. Harley Fite (1948–1968)
- John A. Fincher (1968–1977)
- J. Cordell Maddox (1977–2000)
- James S. Netherton (2000–2007)
- Joe Bill Sloan (interim, 2007–2008){{efn|Sloan was appointed interim President after Netherton's departure to serve as Executive Vice President for Administration and Finance at Mercer University in May 2007. Netherton left following a no-confidence vote of faculty}}
- J. Randall O'Brien (2008–2012)
- Carson-Newman University (2012–present)
- J. Randall O'Brien (2012–2018)
- Paul Percy (interim, 2019){{efn|Percy was named interim President after O'Brien's retirement in 2018}}
- Charles A. Fowler (2019–present)
{{Notelist}}
Athletics
{{Main|Carson-Newman Eagles}}
Carson-Newman is a member of the South Atlantic Conference (SAC) and fields 21 varsity teams in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II competition. Men's varsity sports at Carson-Newman are: baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, swimming, tennis, and track & field (indoor and outdoor). Women's sports are: basketball, beach volleyball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track & tield (indoor and outdoor), and volleyball.
Notable alumni and faculty
{{Main|List of Carson-Newman University people}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|http://www.cn.edu}}
- [http://www.cneagles.com Carson-Newman Athletics website]
{{Tennessee private colleges and universities}}
{{Southern Baptist Colleges}}
{{South Atlantic Conference navbox}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Coord|36|07|19|N|83|29|32|W|type:edu_source:kolossus-kowiki|display=title}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carson-Newman College}}
Category:Carson–Newman University
Category:Baptist Christianity in Tennessee
Category:Universities and colleges affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention
Category:Universities and colleges established in 1851
Category:Universities and colleges accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
Category:Private universities and colleges in Tennessee
Category:Education in Jefferson County, Tennessee
Category:Buildings and structures in Jefferson County, Tennessee
Category:Schools in Jefferson County, Tennessee
Category:1851 establishments in Tennessee
Category:Universities and colleges formed by merger in the United States