From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Belhaven University ("Belhaven" or "BC") is a
private Christian liberal arts college located in Jackson,
Mississippi. Founded by the now defunct Presbyterian
Church in the United States, the school is independently run by
a Board of Trustees. Belhaven is accredited by the Commission on
Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to
award associate, baccalaureate, and masters degrees. Eight
bachelor's degrees and four master’s degrees are offered. In
addition to traditional majors, programs of general studies are
available. There are also pre-professional programs in Christian
ministry, medicine, dentistry, law, nursing, and medical
technology.
The school sponsors intercollegiate athletic teams which compete
in the NAIA's
Mid-South Conference in football
and the NAIA's Gulf Coast Athletic
Conference in other sports. Belhaven maintains satellite
campuses for graduate and undergraduate studies
in Houston, Texas, Memphis,
Tennessee and Orlando, Florida, and also conducts
online programs.
Belhaven teaches from a "Christian Worldview Curriculum" and
defines its mission as preparing "students academically and
spiritually to serve Jesus Christ in their careers, in human
relationships, and in the world of ideas."[1]
Early
history
In 1894, Belhaven College was chartered by Lewis Fitzhugh as the
"Belhaven College for Young Ladies" in a house in Jackson,
Mississippi. Belhaven was the ancestral home in Scotland of Jones
S. Hamilton, the former owner of the house. A fire destroyed the
main building in February, 1895, but with the help of Jackson
citizens, the College reopened in the fall of 1896 at the same
site.
In 1911, the Central Mississippi Presbytery reopened the school
at a new site as Belhaven Collegiate and Industrial Institute and
merged it with McComb Female Institute. R. V. Lancaster of McComb
became the third president as the two institutions merged. In 1939,
Belhaven was merged with the Mississippi Synodical College, which
had been opened in 1883. This date was adopted by the Board of
Trustees as the official founding date of Belhaven College.
1921-Present
In 1921, the Reverend Guy T. Gillespie of Lexington,
Mississippi, began a 33-year presidency during which Belhaven was
first accredited, an endowment fund begun, and scholarship aid made
available. In 1954, the Board of Trustees voted to make Belhaven
fully co-educational. In 1972, the Synod of Mississippi transferred ownership of the
college to the Board of Trustees.
In January 1996, Roger Parrott became the tenth president of the
college, with about 1,300 enrolled students. Today, faculty and
staff members are drawn from various Presbyterian
denominations, primarily the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the
Presbyterian Church in America, and the Evangelical Presbyterian
Church. The college receives both financial support and students
from these three denominations.
Name
Change
In December 2009, President Parrott announced that the Board of
Trustees had voted unanimously to change the name of Belhaven
College to Belhaven University, effective on January 1, 2010.
Fine arts
Belhaven is nationally accredited by
the National
Association of Schools of Art and Design,[2] the National
Association of Schools of Music,[3] the
National Association of Schools of Dance and the National
Association of Schools of Theatre. Belhaven is also the only
Christian university in the U.S. offering a Bachelor of Fine Arts
(BFA) in creative writing.
Athletics
The Belhaven University athletics teams compete in the National
Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. The football
program began in 1998 under head coach Norman Joseph. Belhaven offers other
athletic programs for both men and women including baseball,
basketball, softball, volleyball, cross country, golf, soccer and
tennis.
Notable
alumni
References
External
links
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Private Colleges and
Universities in Mississippi |
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