Type Private Religious affiliation Baptist Undergraduate tuition and fees 24,460 USD (2015) President J. Randall O'Brien Graduation rate 48.7% (2014) | Established 1851 Endowment $49 million Acceptance rate 62.4% (2014) Phone +1 865-471-2000 Colors Blue, Orange | |
Former names Mossy Creek Missionary Baptist Seminary
Carson College
Newman College
Carson and Newman consolidate to form Carson–Newman College Motto Truth, Beauty, Goodness Address 1646 Russell Ave, Jefferson City, TN 37760, USA Notable alumni Michael Eric Dyson, Steve Cishek, Clayton Holmes, Clyde Wright, Dana X Bible Similar Tusculum College, Lenoir–Rhyne University, Mars Hill University, Wingate University, Lincoln Memorial University Profiles | ||
Carson–Newman University is a historically Baptist liberal arts college located in Jefferson City, Tennessee, United States. A new enrollment record of 2,528 was set in August 2015. Studies are offered in approximately 90 different academic programs. The university has a current retention rate of 70%. Recent rankings include: Best College in the Southeast (The Princeton Review), 7th Best Baccalaureate College in the U.S., and America's number 2 ranked baccalaureate college for community service (Washington Monthly). Currently, the five most popular majors are: Nursing, Education, Business, Pre-Medicine/Biology, and Psychology. The school holds overall institutional accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
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Administration
On July 8, 2008, the trustees appointed Baylor University Provost Dr. J. Randall O'Brien as the 22nd president of the college.
History
Following a ten-year effort of five early East Tennessee Baptists, the school was established as Mossy Creek Missionary Baptist Seminary in 1851, the school began by holding classes in a local Baptist church. Within a few years the institution became Mossy Creek Baptist College and occupied its own buildings on the site of the present campus.
In 1880, the university was named Carson College for James Harvey Carson (1801–1880), who left $15,000 of his estate to the school. 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.
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.
During most of its history, Carson–Newman University has served as a residential four-year, liberal arts college with courses of study leading to the baccalaureate degree.
More recently, the university has been recognized for its student based Hunger Games. In keeping with its commitment to service learning, Carson–Newman has held the Hunger Games each fall since 2011 in order to raise funds for local charities. In 2014, over 12,000 USD was raised from the games.
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 reject "gay students, unwed mothers, women who've had an abortion and even students who may be pregnant" should it so choose to do so. President O'Brien states that the decision was made based on the advice of legal counsel and that the school does not discriminate and does not plan to.
Academics
Carson–Newman's Mathematics program is home to American statistician Kenneth Massey. The Army ROTC Nursing program is the largest in Tennessee.
Campus
The campus is located in Jefferson City, Tennessee, between Overlook Ave (West) and Meadow Spring Ave (East), and between Ellis St (South) and Deborah St (North).
Athletics
Carson–Newman is a member of the South Atlantic Conference (SAC) and fields 18 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. Women's sports are: Basketball, Cross Country, Golf, Soccer, Softball, Swimming, Tennis, Track & Field, and Volleyball. In the spring of 2015 the volleyball program expanded to include a beach volleyball program, being one of around 40 schools in the United States to offer the sport.