Georgetown College (Kentucky)

For the institution located in Washington, D.C., see Georgetown University.

Georgetown College
Motto	Live, Learn, Believe. Vim Promovet Insitiam (Latin)
Motto in English	Learning Promotes One's Innate Power
Established	1829
Type	Private Liberal Arts
Endowment	US $47 Million
President	Dr. William H. Crouch Jr.
Academic staff	167
Undergraduates	1,284
Postgraduates	567
Location	Georgetown, KY, USA
Campus	Suburban
Colors	Orange, Purple and Black
Mascot	Tigers
Website	www.georgetowncollege.edu

Georgetown College is a small, private liberal arts college located in Georgetown, Kentucky, United States. Chartered as a college in 1829, Georgetown College was the first Baptist college west of the Allegheny Mountains. The school offers many undergraduate degrees and a Master of Arts in Education.

History

In 1829, the Kentucky Legislature chartered the Kentucky Baptist Education Society with the purpose of establishing a Baptist college in the state. Twenty-four trustees under the leadership of Silas Noel selected the town of Georgetown as the site for the new school. Georgetown was selected because the community agreed to raise $20,000 and to donate the assets of Rittenhouse Academy, a failed land-grant school that had recently closed. Rittenhouse Academy was the predecessor of Royal Springs School.

Early history

Giddings Hall

Georgetown College had numerous difficulties and changing leadership in its early years. The first president hired for the college in 1829, William D. Staughton, died before assuming his duties. The second president, Rev. Joel Smith Bacon, stayed two years (1830-1832) fighting court cases to release funding for the college before leaving out of frustration. The funds were not released until 1836, when Benjamin Franklin Farnsworth became the third president hired. By then there was a power struggle in progress, and Farnsworth had been hired by the Baptists to frustrate the Campbellites who were attempting to take control of the college. After the Campbellites founded a rival college only blocks away, Farnsworth found his attempts to build up Georgetown College stymied, and resigned in 1837.

In 1838, Rev. Rockwood Giddings became the fourth president hired for the college. During his short tenure, Giddings began construction on Recitation Hall, the first permanent building for the school. He made many other advances that put the college on sound footing. Giddings died of exhaustion after a year in office and was replaced by Rev. Howard Malcolm in 1840. Malcolm oversaw the completion of the construction of the building, now known as Giddings Hall. He also expanded the educational offerings beyond the classics and encouraged the founding of literary societies and the Georgetown Female Academy. He resigned in 1849 when his anti-slavery vote at Kentucky's third constitutional convention resulted in much criticism from slavery proponents and a threat on his life.

Recent history

As the student population grew the administration sought out ways to diversify the campus, as such in 2005, Georgetown College and the Kentucky Baptist Convention ended their formal relationship. With the approval of the new agreement by the Convention, the College reverted to its original arrangement with Kentucky Baptists. From 1829 to 1942, the College had an independent, self-perpetuating board of trustees and was designated as the senior, liberal arts college for Kentucky Baptists until the 1960s, when Campbellsville College and Cumberland College became senior colleges. Under a 1942 agreement, the Convention chose the College’s trustees. The College’s board submitted candidates to the Convention’s Committee on Nominations and delegates to the annual meeting of the Convention elected them. Georgetown College also received an annual contribution from the Convention for all of the Twentieth Century. Under the new agreement, the Convention’s annual contribution will be phased out, the trustee board will elect its members, and at least 75 percent of the board’s membership will be Kentucky Baptists. However, the College will continue to work cooperatively in ministry with the Convention, which will be coordinated through the Campus Minister, a Convention funded position. The College also has a partnership with Regent’s Park College, a Baptist institution of the University of Oxford, has joined the Baptist World Alliance, and has an agreement with the International Baptist Convention, which allows Georgetown students to work as interns in European Baptist churches.

This has allowed for non-baptist and non-christian professors to be considered for tenure, diversifying the teaching body.

Recognitions

America's Best 100 College Buys, America's Best Christian Colleges; Institutional Research & Evaluation, Inc.

Ranked among the top Southeastern Colleges; The Princeton Review

Tier 1 Liberal Arts College, Sixth best in percentage of students accepted to graduate school within one year; U.S. News & World Report

Student organizations

Georgetown College has four national fraternities (Kappa Alpha Order, Lambda Chi Alpha, Phi Kappa Tau and Pi Kappa Alpha) and four national sororities (Alpha Gamma Delta, Kappa Delta, Phi Mu and Sigma Kappa) on campus. It also has an independent brotherhood known as the President's House Association, which was formed in 1964 as an alternative to the traditional fraternity system. The college also traditionally has a number of students who remain independent, competing in events such as songfest and intramurals against other independents as well as members of the Greek organizations.

Religious affiliation

Georgetown College, historically linked with the Kentucky Baptist Convention, has recently changed its relationship with the Convention. The college retains its Baptist heritage, and is still affiliated with the KBC, but no longer receives money from the Convention. It has the right to elect its own trustees independently, without the Convention's approval.

Athletics

The school's sports teams are called the Tigers and they participate in the NAIA and the Mid-South Conference. The football and basketball programs have long been regarded as perennial powerhouses. The Georgetown football program takes pride in its state-of-the-art football facilities that doubled as the former summer training camp home of the Cincinnati Bengals. Until recently plans for a turf field has been released.

Toyota Stadium

Football

Main article: Georgetown Tigers football

Accomplishments

• National Champions - 1991, 2000, 2001
• National Finalist - 1991, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
• National Semi-Finalist - 2004, 2011
• 17 Mid-South Conference Champions - 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2011

Basketball

• 1998 National Champions
• 30 appearances in NAIA National Tournament
• 52 wins in National Tournament History
• 20 Sweet Sixteen appearances
• 13 Elite Eight appearances
• 11 Fab Four appearances
• 4 National Title games
• Georgetown Baseball - Notable Alumnus - Billy Ray Cyrus

Maskrafters

The Georgetown College Maskrafter theatre group is the oldest collegiate theatre company in Kentucky and offers traditional theatre, an emphasis on creating original work, and new initiatives in digital motion picture art. As of 2007, the Maskrafters have produced a feature-length movie entitled "Surviving Guthrie", and have put on the musical "She Loves Me". The Maskrafters have also done recent plays including Proof,The Fantasticks, Grease, and Shakespeare's The Tempest. The Maskrafters are primarily students at Georgetown, and are guided by staff.

Student events

Georgetown College offers several events every year that give students the option to participate. The biggest of these is Songfest, a stage performance put together by the individual dorm houses, including (but not limited to) the fraternities and sororities. It is part of Georgetown's homecoming celebration. Other events include the Belle of the Blue, a scholarship pageant, and Greek Week, part of the rush and pledging tradition.

Notable alumni

• LaVerne Butler, Southern Baptist pastor and former president of Mid-Continent University in Mayfield, Kentucky
• Forest Shely, physician and long-time trustee of Campbellsville University in Campbellsville, Kentucky
• Blanton Collier, National Football League head coach of the Cleveland Browns, 1963-1970.

External links

• Official website