College of Charleston

{{Short description|Public college in Charleston, South Carolina, US}}

{{Distinguish|text = the University of Charleston in Charleston, West Virginia}}

{{Infobox university

| name = College of Charleston

| image = CoCharleston seal.png

| image_upright = 0.7

| motto = Sapientia Ipsa Libertas (Latin)
Ædes Mores Juraque Curat (Latin)

| mottoeng = "Wisdom Itself is Liberty"
"She Cares for Her Temples, Customs and Rights"

| established = {{start date and age|1770}}

| type = Public university

| president = Andrew Hsu

| city = Charleston

| state = South Carolina

| country = United States

| campus = Midsize city{{cite web|url=https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=College+of+charleston&s=all&id=217819|title=IPEDS-College of Charleston}}

| campus_size = {{cvt|80|acre|km2}}

| students = 11,729 (fall 2023){{cite web|url=https://charleston.edu/institutional-research/files/documents/common-data/enrollment-persistence.pdf |title=Common Data Set 2023-2024 {{!}} College of Charleston |website=charleston.edu}}

| undergrad = 10,660 (fall 2023)

| postgrad = 1,069 (fall 2023)

| administrative_staff = 836

| endowment = $135.9 million (2021){{cite report |url=https://foundation.cofc.edu/foundation-fy2021-annual-report/ |title=College of Charleston Foundation 2021}}

| sporting_affiliations = {{hlist|NCAA Division I – CAA|Sun Belt|NCEA|SAISA}}

| sports_nickname = Cougars

| free_label = Newspaper

| free = The College Today

| mascot = Cougar

| colors = Maroon and white
{{color box|#660000}} {{color box|#FFFFFF}}{{Cite web |url=http://marcomm.cofc.edu/brandmanual/bychapter/visualidentity/colorpalette.php |title=Color Palette - College of Charleston |access-date=2018-03-13 |archive-date=2018-03-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180313092901/http://marcomm.cofc.edu/brandmanual/bychapter/visualidentity/colorpalette.php |url-status=dead }}

| accreditation = SACS

| academic_affiliations = {{hlist|ORAU|Sea-grant|Space-grant}}

| website = {{URL|https://cofc.edu/}}

| logo = College of Charleston.svg

| logo_upright = 1.0

| embedded = {{Infobox NRHP

| embed = yes

| name = College of Charleston

| nrhp_type = nhl

| location = Glebe, George, St. Philip and Green streets, Charleston, South Carolina

| area = {{convert|4|acre|ha|1}}{{cite journal|url={{NHLS url|id=71000748}}|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: College of Charleston Complex: Main Building, Library and Gate Lodge|date=August 1971 |format=PDF |author=Staff, National Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=2009-06-22}} and {{NHLS url|id=71000748|title=Accompanying four photos, exterior and interior, from 1970|photos=y}} (1.43 MB)

| built = 1827

| architect = Edward B. White; George E. Walker

| architecture = Early Republic

| designated_nrhp_type = November 11, 1971{{cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1143&ResourceType=Building|title=College of Charleston|access-date=2008-03-19|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071023075913/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1143&ResourceType=Building|archive-date=2007-10-23|url-status=dead}}

| added = November 11, 1971{{NRISref|2007a}}

| refnum = 71000748

}}

The College of Charleston (CofC or Charleston) is a public university in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1770 and chartered in 1785, it is the oldest university in South Carolina, the 13th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States, and the country's oldest municipal college.

The founders of the College of Charleston included six Founding Fathers of the United States, including three who signed the Declaration of Independence: Thomas Heyward Jr., Arthur Middleton, and Edward Rutledge; and three who signed the Constitution of the United States: Charles Pinckney, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, and John Rutledge.

History

The College of Charleston was founded in 1770, making it the 13th-oldest institution of higher education and oldest municipal college in the nation.{{Cite web|title=A Brief History of the College - College of Charleston|url=http://www.cofc.edu/about/historyandtraditions/briefhistory.php|access-date=2017-08-16|website=www.cofc.edu|language=en}}Municipal college; Easterby, J.H. (1935)"Appendix I: Charters and Other Documents in A History of the College of Charleston, pp. 252. USA: The Scribner Press The college's original structure, located at the site of what is now Randolph Hall, was designed similar to a barracks. In March 1785, the South Carolina General Assembly issued a charter to the college, which officially opened in 1790 and hosted its first commencement in 1794. The first president of the college was Robert Smith, who served in the position from 1790 to 1797.

A second charter was issued by the general assembly in 1791 stipulating that the college would not discriminate on the basis of religion. During the Antebellum era, further development efforts in the college resulted in the construction of Randolph Hall and the President's House, both of which were built using slave labor.

In 1837, the Charleston municipal government assumed control over the college. During the mid-20th century, several African Americans attempted to apply to the racially segregated college as part of the Double V campaign against racism in the United States, but they were all rejected. Though the college became a private institution to avoid being racially integrated during the civil rights movement, black students were admitted starting in 1967 as a result of external pressure.Ileana Strauch and Katina Strauch,The College History Series - College of Charleston(Arcadia Publishing:Library of Congress Catalog Card: 00-106473) 2000 p6.{{cite web |last=Hansen |first=Victoria |date=2020-02-06 |url=https://www.southcarolinapublicradio.org/sc-news/2020-02-06/college-of-charleston-acknowledges-its-past-with-the-center-for-the-study-of-slavery |title=College of Charleston Acknowledges its Past with the Center for the Study of Slavery |website=South Carolina Public Radio |access-date=2023-01-14}}

Campus

File:Randolph hall college of charleston.JPG

File:College of Charleston campus, February 2014 - 7.jpg

The College of Charleston's main campus in downtown Charleston, South Carolina, includes 156 buildings, a mix of modern and historic buildings built between 1770 and 2009. The average building is over 100 years old, and 20 buildings are under historic, protective easements. The College of Charleston downtown campus is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, as is William Blacklock House.

Outside of downtown Charleston, the campus includes the Grice Marine Lab on James Island, the J. Stewart Walker Sailing Center and the Patriots Point Athletic Complex in Mount Pleasant and the {{convert|881|acre|ha|adj=on|abbr=}} Stono Preserve.{{Cite web|last=Behre|first=Robert|title=Nixing Dixie: College of Charleston renames its plantation 'Stono Preserve'|url=https://www.postandcourier.com/news/nixing-dixie-college-of-charleston-renames-its-plantation-stono-preserve/article_e13e578e-765c-11e9-99b4-bbebe736d5d0.html|access-date=2019-10-25|website=Post and Courier|date=May 15, 2019 |language=en}}

In 2017, Travel + Leisure magazine named it "America's Most Beautiful College Campus."{{cite web| url = https://www.travelandleisure.com/attractions/colleges-universities/college-of-charleston-most-beautiful| title = College of Charleston, America's Most Beautiful College Campus, in Photos {{!}} Travel + Leisure}}

The Mace Brown Museum of Natural History is a public natural history museum located on the campus. The collection's focus is on the paleontology of North American mammals, and specifically the South Carolina Lowcountry. The museum has more than 30,000 vertebrate and invertebrate fossils.{{cite news |title=Digging into the Past |url=https://issuu.com/azaleamagazine/docs/azalea_summer_2015_web/82 |access-date=June 24, 2021 |publisher=Azalea Summer 2015 |date=June 1, 2015}}

Academics

{{Infobox US university ranking

| Forbes = 294

| THE_WSJ = 501–600

| USNWR_REG = 8

| Wamo_MASTERSU = 302

}}

The College of Charleston consists of eight academic schools, as well as the Honors College and the Graduate School.

School of the Arts
School of Business
School of Education
School of Health Sciences
School of Humanities and Social Sciences
School of Languages, Cultures, and World Affairs
School of Natural and Environmental Sciences
School of Sciences, Mathematics, and Engineering
Honors College
Graduate School

=Bully Pulpit Series=

The Bully Pulpit Series is hosted jointly by the College of Charleston's Departments of Political Science and Communication. The series welcomes U.S. presidential candidates from the two major political parties to the campus.

In the 2020 presidential campaign, the series hosted Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Julian Castro, Tulsi Gabbard, Amy Klobuchar, Beto O'Rourke, and Bernie Sanders.{{Cite web|title=The Bully Pulpit Series at the College of Charleston|url=http://www.bullypulpitseries.org/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200406133520/https://bullypulpitseries.org/|archive-date=2020-04-06|access-date=2020-07-25}}

Athletics

The institution's 19 varsity sports teams participate in the NCAA Division I Coastal Athletic Association and are known as the Cougars. The Cougars compete at a variety of athletics facilities in the Charleston area, including the TD Arena,{{cite web |last=Whetzel |first=Melissa |url=http://news.cofc.edu/2011/08/23/college-td-bank-sign-naming-agreement-for-arena/ |title=College, TD Bank Sign Naming Agreement for Arena - College of Charleston News : College of Charleston News |publisher=News.cofc.edu |date=2011-08-23 |access-date=2014-08-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203034509/http://news.cofc.edu/2011/08/23/college-td-bank-sign-naming-agreement-for-arena/ |archive-date=2013-12-03 |url-status=dead }} the J. Stewart Walker Sailing Complex, Johnson Center Squash Courts, Patriots Point Athletic Complex, and the Links at Stono Ferry.

College of Charleston athletics are supported by the College of Charleston Athletic Club,{{Cite web|title=College of Charleston Athletic Fund|url=https://www.cofcathleticfund.com/about/cougar-club.html|access-date=2022-01-04|website=www.cofcathleticfund.com}} which was established in 1974. During the 1970–71 school year, College of Charleston students voted to change the nickname from the Maroons to the Cougars, in honor of a cougar that had recently arrived at the Charles Towne Landing zoo. Clyde the Cougar is the current mascot.{{Cite web |url=http://www.cofcsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=14800&ATCLID=205818527 |title=College of Charleston To Join Colonial Athletic Association, 11/30/2012 |access-date=2013-01-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203011922/http://www.cofcsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=14800&ATCLID=205818527 |archive-date=2013-12-03 |url-status=dead }}

The men's basketball team is ranked No. 6 for the highest winning percentage in NCAA Division I men's college basketball.

Oliver Marmol, the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, is a former College of Charleston baseball player.