LeMoyne-Owen College
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| LeMoyne-Owen College | |
|---|---|
| Established | 1968
LeMoyne College 1871 Owen College 1947 |
| Type: | Private |
| President: | Johnnie B. Watson (interim) |
| Location | Memphis, TN, USA |
| Campus: | Urban |
| Nickname: | Magicians |
| Website: | www.loc.edu |
LeMoyne-Owen College is a fully-accredited, four-year private historically black college located in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. It was founded in 1862 to provide then-recently-freed blacks an educational opportunity. It sponsors athletic teams that participate in the NCAA.
[edit] History
LeMoyne-Owen College was formed through the 1968 merger of LeMoyne College and Owen College, both private, historically black church-related colleges.[1]
LeMoyne Normal and Commercial School traces its history to 1862 when the American Missionary Association sent Lucinda Humphrey to open an elementary school at Camp Shiloh for freedmen and escaped slaves soon after the occupation of Memphis by Federal troops during the Civil War. Then known as Lincoln Chapel, the school relocated to Memphis in 1863, but was destroyed in 1866 during race riots that followed the withdrawal of federal troops. The school was rebuilt and in 1867 it reopened with 150 students and six teachers.
Then, in 1870, Francis Julius LeMoyne (1798-1879), a Washington, Pennsylvania doctor, donated $20,000 to the American Missionary Association to build an elementary and secondary school for prospective teachers. LeMoyne, who was a notable abolitionist traveled from his Pennsylvania home to visit the new school, and donated a clock for the school's tower. The Memphis yellow fever epidemics came shortly after and took a toll on many school personnel, but under the leadership of the third principal, Andrew J. Steele, the institution experienced three decades of growth and development.[2]
The school moved from Orleans Street to its present site on Walker Avenue in 1914. Steele Hall, the first building on the new campus, was erected that same year. LeMoyne became a junior college in 1924 and then a four-year college in 1930. The LeMoyne College was chartered by the State of Tennessee just four years later.
Owen College traces its history as a junior college to 1947, when the Tennessee Baptist Missionary and Educational Convention bought property on Vance Avenue. S. A. Owen Junior College opened at that location in 1954.
[edit] Recent debt and accreditation Issues
According to a 2007 AP article, [1] LeMoyne-Owen has suffered from management, debt and accreditation issues. Its accreditation has been in jeopardy, with Southern Association of Colleges and Schools placing it on probation for the last two years. In August 2007, in a controversial move, the City of Memphis ensured the college would open for the fall 2007 semester by pledging $3 million in taxpayer funds to be added to other substantial pledges that came from the United Negro College Fund, Cummins Inc., radio host Tom Joyner and the United Church of Christ.
LeMoyne-Owen keeps accreditation School's fund-raising efforts influenced SACS By Jody Callahan
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Continuing its recovery from serious financial problems, LeMoyne-Owen College has had its accreditation re-affirmed.
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), the area's accrediting body, will announce that decision today at its annual meeting, held in New Orleans this year.
School officials learned of the decision Monday night, though, to much applause.
"We worked so hard on this the last year and a half, under great stress," LeMoyne-Owen board president Robert Lipscomb said. "I feel really good about this. I think the whole community should feel good about it."
For now, this ends an ongoing saga that saw SACS place the school on probation each of the last two years as officials grew increasingly concerned over LeMoyne's worsening financial situation.
In the last decade, the college's debt nearly doubled -- from about $5.3 million in 1997 to about $9.75 million in 2005 -- while its enrollment dropped by more than 40 percent.
In 1999, LeMoyne-Owen also suffered through an accounting fiasco that reduced the school's net assets by $3.3 million.
After two straight years of probation, SACS officials had one of two choices this year: re-affirm the school or yank its accreditation, SACS head Dr. Belle Wheelan said.
If the accreditation had been pulled, the school would have been crippled because students could no longer qualify for federal funds.
Instead, the school won't have to endure the lengthy accreditation process until the next cycle, which comes around every 10 years.
Wheelan declined to comment on Monday's decision, but SACS was clearly influenced by the school's recent fund-raising efforts.
Contributions from the state, county and city will total $4 million over the next three years. Private donations have also been pledged to help the school erase its debt and rebuild its endowment.
"I think the dollars from the state, county and city, that did it. It was that broad-based support," Lipscomb said.
Lipscomb also said the decision should help increase student enrollment, which stands at less than 600 now.
"I think it means that people will now believe that the cloud is gone," he said. "For a lot of students, it hurt our efforts to recruit. They didn't know if we would be accredited."
Interim school president Johnnie Watson, who traveled to New Orleans with Lipscomb to attend the SACS meeting, could not be reached for comment Monday night. rnal links==
[edit] References
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference |
|---|
| Albany State • Benedict • Clark Atlanta • Fort Valley State • Kentucky State • Lane • LeMoyne–Owen† • Miles • Morehouse • Paine† • Stillman • Tuskegee † non-football member |
Colleges and universities in the Memphis Metro Area |
|---|
| Baptist College of Health Sciences • Christian Brothers University • Crichton College • LeMoyne-Owen College • Memphis College of Art • Memphis Theological Seminary • Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary • Mid-South Community College • Rhodes College • Southern College of Optometry • Southwest Tennessee Community College • Union University • University of Memphis • University of Tennessee Health Science Center |
