Piedmont College

History

The college opened as the J.S. Green Collegiate Institute in 1897, founded by residents of the Habersham County, Georgia. The first president was Rev. Charles C. Spence. The American Mission Board of the New England Congregational Churches operated the college from 1901 to 1948 and changed the name to Piedmont College to represent the geographic region. In 1948, under president James Walter, the college became an independent institution, although it maintains an affiliation with the United Church of Christ (UCC) and the related National Association of Congregational Christian Churches (NACCC). Congregationalists took over the school from the Methodists in the early 20th century.

From the 1950s to the 1990s, Piedmont grew slowly and developed a reputation as a small college with high academic standards. The college graduated a large number of teachers who went on to distinguished careers in education across the state. In 1994 the college began to expand, adding schools for Business and Nursing & Health Sciences to its existing programs in the Arts and Sciences and Education. The college also opened a campus in Athens, Georgia, and began offering off-campus graduate education courses across the state. The Demorest campus grew substantially with the addition of the Arrendale Library; Stewart Center for Mathematics, Science and Technology; Swanson Center for Communications and the Performing Arts, Mize Athletic Center, the Smith-Williams Art Studios, and in 2015 the Student Commons. The college also added five new dormitories and 48 apartment-style residences.

Today Piedmont is one of the most dynamic small colleges in the Southeast, known equally for its academic programs in education, business, nursing and health sciences, and the arts and sciences. As a member of the USA South Conference of the NCAA Division III, Piedmont competes in 17 men’s and women’s sports.

Piedmont has a history of more than 120 years of providing education to people from across the world. There have been eleven different presidents of the college who have each helped Piedmont get to where it is now.

Campuses

Piedmont has two campuses, the original one in Demorest and the newer expansion in Athens. Piedmont's Demorest campus is located on roughly 300 acres (121.4 ha) in Habersham County. The Athens campus is located on Prince Avenue near downtown Athens, on the site of the original Prince Avenue Baptist Church.

Demorest

The Demorest campus is primarily a residential campus, with ten dormitories, including Getman-Babcock, Purcell, Wallace, Swanson, Johnson, Mayflower, New Bedford, Plymouth and Ipswich halls that together house about 600 students. The Piedmont Village (apartment-style living which opened in 2015) houses an additional 180 students.

The Academic buildings include Daniel Hall, which houses the R.H. Daniel School of Nursing, the humanities Department, and administrative offices. Stewart Hall houses the science and math departments. The School of Education is located in the Arrendale Library. The Walker School of Business is located in Camp Hall, which is adjacent to the President’s Home. The Music department is located in the Center for Worship and Music, which includes classroom and performance space, as well as the Sewell Pipe Organ, a 3,675-pipe organ built by the Casavant Frères company of Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec.

The Art department is located in the Smith-Williams Studios and adjacent Martens Hall. The Mason-Scharfenstein Museum of Art is located in downtown Demorest. It features a large permanent collection and hosts numerous exhibits throughout the year.

The Mass Communications and Theatre departments are located in the Swanson Center for Performing Arts and Communication, a $14-million building which features two theaters and editing rooms for print, video and web productions. Next door is the Arrendale Amphitheater, a 500-seat outdoor venue. WPCZ, the student-run radio station, is housed in the Swanson Center, along with the student-run TV station, PC60.

The campus also includes Walker Fields for softball, soccer and lacrosse, as well as Loudermilk Baseball Stadium for baseball. The Johnny Mize Athletic Center houses the O’Neal Cave Arena for basketball and volleyball. The Mize Center includes a museum featuring displays of Mize’s baseball memorabilia collected during his career at Piedmont and as a Hall of Fame player in the major leagues with the St. Louis Cardinals, San Francisco Giants (New York Giants) and New York Yankees.

There are also a few general purpose buildings. Lane Hall, which faces the quad, is the remodeled old gym, which houses the Student Success Center. There is also the President's House, the Admissions building and the pedestrian bridge which crosses Historic U.S. 441. The bridge was assembled off-site and lowered into place by crane and was modeled after the Vanderbilt University 21st Avenue Pedestrian Bridge. The installation of the bridge was a joint project of the Georgia Department of Transportation, Piedmont College and the city of Demorest.

Much of Piedmont's Demorest property is now wetlands. The wetlands area was once the site of Lake Demorest from 1890-2008. The Lake was drained due to an irreparable dam, and the property was turned into a wetlands for students and faculty to use in their studies.

The heart of student life at Piedmont is the brand new Student Commons, which opened in Fall 2015. The 58,000 square foot Student Commons features the campus dining hall, fitness center (complete with a full-size basketball court with a walking track, a rock-climbing wall and a racquetball court), the official Piedmont College bookstore and a Starbucks cafe. The Student Commons also is home to Student Services and has a state-of-the-art conference room and study rooms as well as staff offices.

Athens

The College opened a small outreach facility in 1996 and now occupies seven buildings near the heart of downtown Athens on Prince Avenue. The campus offers four-year undergraduate programs designed for both traditional and non-traditional students. For graduate students, there are programs in business (M.B.A.), nursing (B.S.N. and M.S.N.), and education. (MA, MAT, EDS, and EDD).

The Athens campus includes Commons Hall, which houses the majority of classrooms and faculty offices, as well as a large assembly room and dining hall. The School of Business is located in Rogers Hall, and there is a large recreation center for intramural and fitness activities. Lane Hall on North Milledge Avenue houses the library and facilities for the School of Nursing and Health Sciences.

Academic profile

Piedmont is known for providing individual attention and one-on-one instruction from professors whose first commitment is teaching. The student-faculty ratio is 14:1, and most professors hold a doctorate or terminal degree in their field. Piedmont is accredited by the following boards: Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS); National League of Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC); and the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP).

Schools

Piedmont College is composed of four schools: the School of Arts & Sciences, the School of Education, the Harry W. Walker School of Business, and the R.H. Daniel School of Nursing & Health Sciences.

School of Arts and Sciences

Students can take courses in 9 departments that comprise the School of Arts and Sciences. These departments include: Art, Humanities, Interdisciplinary Studies, Mass Communications, Mathematics & Physics, Music, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, and Theatre. Through these departments, students can earn the following degrees: Bachelor of Arts, B.A., Bachelor of Fine Arts, B.F.A, and Bachelor of Science, B.S.

Walker School of Business

The Harry W. Walker School of Business received national accreditation in November 2007 from the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) for the undergraduate and graduate business programs at both Piedmont’s Demorest and Athens Campuses. Through the School of Business, students can earn a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in Business Administration or a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree. The BA program includes concentrations in accounting, finance, general business, management, and marketing. The MBA program is a lock-step 12-course program that offers the convenience of evening courses and can be completed in as little as 18 months.

School of Education

The School of Education offers bachelor's degree programs in fields including Early Childhood, Middle Grades, Drama, Secondary, and Spanish education. Students can also earn Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) or Master of Arts (MA) degrees in a variety of areas. Beyond the master's degree, the school offers Education Specialist (EdS) and Doctor of Education (EdD) degree programs.

Daniel School of Nursing

The R.H. Daniel School of Nursing & Health Sciences offers the B.S.N. degree for students preparing for initial licensure. Separate BSN tracks are also available for students who already hold RN or LPN degrees.

Every spring semester, the nursing department conducts a disaster drill where the senior nursing majors have to diagnose a large group of patients. Past themes for the drill have including a boiler explosion, a car accident at an outdoor concert, a small plane crash and a gas tank explosion.

Student life

In addition to clubs and service organizations, Piedmont offers a number of creative outlets for singers, musicians, and actors. All students can be part of the 100-voice Piedmont Chorale, which performs several concerts each year. The Piedmont Singers is a 50-member ensemble of selected students that performs on campus and each year tours in the U.S. or abroad. Performance groups also include the 10-member Cantabile a cappella singers, Piedmont Camerata chamber ensemble, a Wind Ensemble, Percussion Ensemble, and a String Ensemble.

Students interested in theatre may join the Piedmont College Theatre and the Alpha Psi Omega theatre honor society, which together performs a succession of plays each year from Shakespeare to children’s theatre.

Students interested in writing, photography, radio, television, and web production can also participate in a number of student-run organizations including the student newspaper and media channel, "The Roar" [formerly The Navigator]; the Yonahian yearbook, and student radio and TV stations.

Magazine

The first publication for the college was The Mountain Lantern, which was named for a common firefly in the surrounding area. The Lantern started out as a monthly magazine in 1912. In 1913, The Lantern became the college's yearbook. There would not be a magazine again until spring semester of 2006, when a mass communications major published PC Magazine as her senior capstone project. In fall of 2007, the magazine was renamed Pause, which came out twice each semester; two print and two online. "Pause" has since been out of production.

Yearbook

The Mountain Lantern lasted for only a short period until 1915. A yearbook was again issued in 1920, and the name was changed to the Yonahian. The odd-sounding name was derived from nearby Mount Yonah. Since 1920, the Yonahian has been published every year and provides a general record of students and faculty over the years.

Newspaper

The first newspaper of Piedmont was The Hustler, which lasted from 1908 to 1909. There was no newspaper until 1917, when a bi-weekly newspaper named The Padded Hammer appeared in September. Later in 1917, after a vote on the name of the paper, it was changed to The Piedmont Owl. The name "Piedmont Owl" was chosen as a reference to the concept of wisdom. This name became the name of Piedmont's athletic teams as well, until 1921, when the Student Association adopted the name Mountain Lions, later shortened to Lions.

The Piedmont Owl lasted for 67 years until the name was changed to match Piedmont's newer mascot. The paper became The Lion's Roar for 21 years until 2005, when it was changed to The Navigator. The name is a reference to the Mayflower ship of the Pilgrims, honoring Piedmont's relationship to American Congregationalism. In fall 2015, all the college's media outlets were consolidated under the umbrella name of "The Roar."

Spiritual Life

The Office of the Chaplain provides a variety of opportunities for religious expression among students. As a church-related college, Piedmont recognizes that faith and learning are frequently intertwined. In keeping with Congregationalism, the college acknowledges that each individual understands and relates to God in a unique way and that the student body will always represent a breadth of religious backgrounds, beliefs, and experiences. Spiritual life at Piedmont exists to nurture and nourish the spiritual health and well-being of the students, faculty, and staff. The campus minister supports student-initiated programs, creates space for a variety of spiritual groups, collaborates with academic departments on spiritual programming, and continues to foster relationships with our church partners the United Church of Christ (UCC) and the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches (NACCC) as well as local faith communities and social service agencies.

Athletics

Piedmont College teams participate as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division III. The Lions are a member of the USA South Athletic Conference. Intercollegiate sports include men’s and women’s basketball, cross country, golf, lacrosse, soccer, tennis, and track and field; women’s volleyball and softball; and men’s baseball. In 2016, Piedmont introduced men's and women's cycling as well. The college also offers a wide range of intramural sports competitions each year.

Piedmont was a charter member of the Great South Athletic Conference (GSAC) until the 2012-13 school year.

Alumni

Faculty