Converse University

{{Short description|Private university in Spartanburg, South Carolina, US}}

{{Infobox university

|name = Converse University

|native_name =

|image = Converse univ seal.png

|image_size = 120

|former_name = Converse College (1889–2021)

|caption =

|latin_name =

|motto =

|mottoeng =

|established = {{start date and age|1889}}

|closed =

|type = Private university

|affiliation =

|endowment = $91.7 million (2024)

|officer_in_charge =

|chairman =

|chancellor =

|president = Boone Hopkins

|vice-president =

|superintendent =

|provost = William Case

|vice_chancellor =

|rector =

|principal =

|dean =

|director =

|head_label =

|head =

|faculty = 90 Full-time (2022){{cite web | url=https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=Converse+University&s=all&id=217961#general | title=College Navigator - Converse University }}

|staff =

|students = 1,284

|undergrad = 804

|postgrad = 480

|doctoral =

|other =

|city = Spartanburg, South Carolina

|province =

|country = U.S.

|coor = {{coord|34|57|16.59|N|81|55|01.51|W|type:edu}}

|campus = Urban, {{convert|70|acre}}

|former_names =

|free_label =

|free =

|sports =

|colors = Purple and gold
{{color box|582A8A}} {{Color box|FFC40C}}

|colours =

|sports_nickname = Valkyries

|mascot = Val the Valkyrie

|athletics_affiliations = NCAA Division II – Carolinas

|website = {{URL|https://www.converse.edu/|converse.edu}}

|logo = Convere_University_Logo_2023.png

| logo_size = 200

|footnotes =

{{Infobox NRHP

| name = Converse College Historic District

| nrhp_type = hd

| nocat = yes

| image = Converse College main building.jpg

| caption =

| location = 580 E. Main St., Spartanburg, South Carolina

| locmapin = South Carolina#USA

| built = {{Start date|1891}}-1915

| architect = Hook, Charles

| architecture = Late Gothic Revival, Romanesque, Richardson Romanesque

| added = November 12, 1975

| area = {{convert|20|acre}}

| refnum = 75001706{{NRISref |refnum=75001706|version=2010a}}

}}

Converse University is a private university in Spartanburg, South Carolina. It was established in 1889 by a group of Spartanburg residents and named after textile pioneer Dexter Edgar Converse. It was originally a women's college but now admits men.

History

Converse College opened on October 1, 1890, with a student body of 168 women and 16 faculty members. The college only admitted women students and operated as a "stock company" with the board of directors composed entirely of residents of Spartanburg. Dexter Edgar Converse, a native of Vermont who had settled in Spartanburg before the American Civil War and had become a successful pioneer in the cotton mill industry, served as the head of the first board of directors. On January 2, 1892, fire destroyed the college's main building. The building was enlarged during its reconstruction. In 1896, the college was incorporated in South Carolina and a self-perpetuating board of trustees was named. In 1964, the college introduced graduate programs.

The Converse College Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. It encompasses eight contributing buildings dated between 1891 and 1915. They are the Main Building (Wilson Hall) (1892), Annex (Pell Hall, 1891), Twichell Auditorium (1898–1899), Carnegie Library (1905), Cleveland House ({{Circa|1905}}), Judd Science Hall (1915), Dexter Hall (1899) and Towne House (1898). The buildings are representative of the Romanesque Revival, Gothic Revival, and Neo-Classical styles.{{cite web |author = Mary Ann Eaddy and Georgianna Graham | title =Converse Heights Historic District| work = National Register of Historic Places – Nomination and Inventory | date = May 1975| url = http://www.nationalregister.sc.gov/spartanburg/S10817742013/S10817742013.pdf | access-date = 2014-07-01}}{{cite web | title =Converse College Historic District, Spartanburg County (Spartanburg)| work = National Register Properties in South Carolina | publisher = South Carolina Department of Archives and History | url = http://www.nationalregister.sc.gov/spartanburg/S10817742013/index.htm | access-date =2014-07-01}} and [http://www.palmettohistory.org/hpdistricts/converse-college-historic-.html accompanying map]

The college changed its name to "Converse University" in the summer of 2021. The college also "expanded its undergraduate residential program from single-gender to co-ed" by admitting male undergraduate students in the fall of 2021.{{cite web |url=https://www.converse.edu/coed-university/ |title=Converse College Board of Trustees Announces Dynamic Changes |publisher=Converse College |date=February 7, 2020 |access-date=February 10, 2020}}

Presidents

class="wikitable"
Name	Years served
Benjamin F. Wilson \| 1890–1902
Robert Paine Pell \| 1902–1932
Edward Moseley Gwathmey \| 1933–1955
Oliver Cromwell Carmichael, Jr. \| 1956–1960
Robert T. Coleman, Jr. \| 1961–1989
Ellen Wood Hall \| 1989–1993
Sandra C. Thomas \| 1994–1998
Nancy Oliver Gray \| 1999–2005
Elizabeth A. Fleming \| 2006–2016
Krista L. Newkirk \|2016–2021
Jeffrey H. Barker{{cite news \|last1=Duncan \|first1=Holly \|title=Converse University Mourns the Death of President Jeffrey H. Barker \|url=https://www.converse.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/FOR-RELEASE-6-22-21-Converse-University-Mourns-the-Death-of-President-Jeffrey-H.-Barker.pdf \|access-date=23 July 2021 \|date=22 July 2021}} \|2021–2021
Boone J. Hopkins {{cite web \|url=https://www.converse.edu/announcement/2022/02/boone-hopkins-twelfth-president/ \|title=Converse Announces Appointment of Boone J. Hopkins as Twelfth President \|publisher=Converse University \|date= February 25, 2022\|access-date=2022-03-03}} \| 2022–present

class="wikitable"

Name

Years served

Benjamin F. Wilson

| 1890–1902

Robert Paine Pell

| 1902–1932

Edward Moseley Gwathmey

| 1933–1955

Oliver Cromwell Carmichael, Jr.

| 1956–1960

Robert T. Coleman, Jr.

| 1961–1989

Ellen Wood Hall

| 1989–1993

Sandra C. Thomas

| 1994–1998

Nancy Oliver Gray

| 1999–2005

Elizabeth A. Fleming

| 2006–2016

Krista L. Newkirk

|2016–2021

Jeffrey H. Barker{{cite news |last1=Duncan |first1=Holly |title=Converse University Mourns the Death of President Jeffrey H. Barker |url=https://www.converse.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/FOR-RELEASE-6-22-21-Converse-University-Mourns-the-Death-of-President-Jeffrey-H.-Barker.pdf |access-date=23 July 2021 |date=22 July 2021}}

|2021–2021

Boone J. Hopkins {{cite web |url=https://www.converse.edu/announcement/2022/02/boone-hopkins-twelfth-president/ |title=Converse Announces Appointment of Boone J. Hopkins as Twelfth President |publisher=Converse University |date= February 25, 2022|access-date=2022-03-03}}

| 2022–present

Academics

{{Infobox US university ranking

| USNWR_REG = 46 (tie) of 103

| Wamo_MASTERSU = 76 of 603

}}

{{as of|August 2023}}, Converse offers 44 undergraduate degree programs and 28 graduate programs. The university's undergraduate program also awards certificates.{{Cite web |last=University |first=Converse |title=Programs Archive |url=https://www.converse.edu/programs/ |access-date=2023-08-11 |website=Converse University |language=en-US}} The University also has a presence at University Center of Greenville, a center that houses satellite campuses of several South Carolina colleges offering higher education programs.{{Cite web |title=FAQ |url=https://greenville.org/faq/ |access-date=2023-08-11 |website=University Center of Greenville |language=en-US}} Converse offers two undergraduate and three graduate degree programs at the center.{{Cite web |title=Bachelors Degree Program Near Spartanburg, SC |url=https://greenville.org/degrees-programs/ |access-date=2023-08-11 |website=University Center of Greenville |language=en-US}}

The Nisbet Honors Program, established in 2000, is the university's undergraduate honors program.{{Cite web |title=Nisbet Honors Program {{!}} Converse University |url=https://catalog.converse.edu/nisbet-honors-program/nisbet-honors-program |access-date=2023-08-11 |website=catalog.converse.edu}}

Converse has a Model Programs team who participate in Model Arab League and the annual International Model NATO conference hosted by Howard University.{{Cite web |title=Home |url=https://internationalmodelnato.org/ |access-date=2023-08-11 |website=International Model Nato |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=University |first=Converse |title=Model Programs |url=https://www.converse.edu/academics/history-and-politics/model-programs/ |access-date=2023-08-11 |website=Converse University |language=en-US}} Converse's Model Programs annually hosts the Southeastern Regional Model Arab League (SERMAL) conference.{{Cite web |title=Southeast Regional Model Arab League – Model Arab League Youth Leadership Development Program |url=https://ncusar.org/modelarableague/conferences/sermal/ |access-date=2023-08-11 |website=ncusar.org}}

Athletics

The Converse athletic teams are called the Valkyries. The university is a member of the Division II ranks of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the Conference Carolinas (CC) since the 2007–08 academic year.{{citation needed|date=August 2023}} The Valkyries previously competed as an Division II Independent from 2002–03 to 2006–07.{{citation needed|date=March 2025}}

Women's sports include acrobatics and tumbling, basketball, cross country, equestrian, field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball, track and field (indoor and outdoor), golf, tennis, swimming and volleyball.{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}

The inaugural men's sports are basketball, cross country, soccer, tennis, track and field (indoor and outdoor) and volleyball. Converse's equestrian program is coeducational, though only women participate in NCAA-recognized competition. The university also has a coeducational varsity esports team.{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}

Notable alumni

Kimilee Bryant, Broadway actress and Miss South Carolina 1989{{cite web|url=http://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/entertainment/arts/paul-hyde/2015/06/10/broadway-actress-kimilee-bryant-returns-greenville/71006434/|title=Broadway actress Kimilee Bryant returns to Greenville|date=10 June 2015|work=The Greenville News|access-date=17 February 2016}}
Lynette Eason, Christian novelist and teacher
Margaret Moffett Law, artist
Ruth Perry, civil rights activist
Fatemeh Pahlavi, royal member of the Pahlavi dynasty of Iran.{{Cite magazine |date=1950-04-24 |title=Milestones, Apr. 24, 1950 |language=en-US |magazine=Time |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,812269,00.html |access-date=2023-06-15 |issn=0040-781X}}Converse College, Y's and other Y's (Spartanburg, SC: 1948), 78, Spartanburg County Public Libraries, https://cdm17281.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p17281coll8/id/766/rec/50 , Accessed 14 June 2023.
Julia Peterkin, class of 1896 and winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1929.
Sutton Stracke 1993, socialite and television personality{{Cite web|date=2000-05-14|title=WEDDINGS; Sutton Brown, Christian Stracke|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/14/style/weddings-sutton-brown-christian-stracke.html|access-date=2022-07-26|website=New York Times|language=en-US}}
Kokab Moarefi, class of 1950. Former lady-in-waiting to Fatemeh Pahlavi, and deputy minister of the Ministries of Labor, Social Welfare, and Health.{{Cite news |last=Atkins |first=Nancy |date=April 12, 1972 |title=Shah of Iran's Sister Attended Converse in 1947-1948 |pages=1 |work=Spartanburg Herald}}{{Cite web |date=January 30, 2020 |title=به مناسبت در گذشت شادروان دکتر کوکب معارفی الهی |trans-title=On the occasion of the happy passing of Dr. Kokab Maarefhi Elahi |url=https://farahpahlavi.org/fa/kokab-moarefi-elahi/ |access-date=15 August 2023 |website=The Official Website of Farah Pahlavi}}

Notable faculty

Julia Klumpke, concert violinist and composer
Radiana Pazmor, contralto and music therapist{{cite book|title=The Grove Dictionary of American Music|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UQiiDAEACAAJ|date=January 2013|publisher=OUP USA|isbn=978-0-19-531428-1}}
Steven Graff, concert pianist

== References ==

External links

{{Official website}}
[https://govalkyries.com/ Athletics website]
[https://www.rootsandrecall.com/spartanburg/buildings/wilson-hall-at-converse-college/ History and Photos – Converse College, Spartanburg, S.C.]

Category:Liberal arts colleges in South Carolina

Category:Conference Carolinas schools

Category:Private universities and colleges in South Carolina

Category:Former women's universities and colleges in the United States

Category:Universities and colleges accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools

Category:1889 establishments in South Carolina

Category:University and college buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in South Carolina

Category:Romanesque Revival architecture in South Carolina

Category:Gothic Revival architecture in South Carolina

Category:Neoclassical architecture in South Carolina

Category:National Register of Historic Places in Spartanburg, South Carolina

Category:Universities and colleges established in 1889

Category:Universities and colleges in Spartanburg County, South Carolina