Philander Smith College

Philander Smith College
Established	1877: Walden Seminary 1882: Philander Smith College
Type	Private, HBCU
Endowment	$3 million
President	Walter M. Kimbrough
Students	800
Location	Little Rock, Arkansas, United States
Affiliations	United Methodist Church UNCF
Website	philander.edu

Philander Smith College is a private, historically black college that is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. It is located in Little Rock, Arkansas. The student body averages around 850 attendees, with around 30% of that figure attending part-time. Although known historically as a school for African Americans, it accepts students of all races. However, the vast majority of its students are black.

History

Philander Smith College was officially founded in 1877 under the name of Walden Seminary as a means of providing education opportunities for freed slaves west of the Mississippi River. The school was renamed Philander Smith College in 1882 to recognize the financial contributions of Adeline Smith, the widow of Philander Smith. The college was chartered as a four-year college in 1883 and conferred its first bachelor’s degree in 1888. In 1933, it merged the assets of the George R. Smith College in Sedalia, Missouri, which burned down in 1925. In 1943, Philander Smith was accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.

Philander Smith College was a pioneer during the civil rights movement as many of its students engaged in nonviolent resistance against segregation laws (such as sitting in at "whites-only" lunch counters).^{[citation needed]}

Dr. Walter M. Kimbrough became the 12th and current president of Philander Smith College in 2004 at the age of 37. At that time, he was dubbed the first college president from the hip-hop generation, and was the youngest HBCU president and one of the youngest college presidents in the nation.^{[citation needed]}

Rankings and Education Conservancy

Kimbrough joined the Education Conservancy in its criticism of U.S. News and World Report college rankings by signing a letter circulating among college presidents that asks them not to participate in the peer assessment portion of the survey. George W. Russel Gray is the current Director of Admissions.

On Feb. 21, 1989 - Philander Smith ended the longest home-court winning streak in NCAA Division III women's basketball history with a 92-89 victory over Rust College of Holly Springs, Mississippi.

Athletics

Philander Smith teams, nicknamed athletically as the Panthers, are part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), primarily competing in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC). Men's sports include basketball and track & field; while women's sports include basketball, cheerleading, track & field and volleyball.

Notable alumni

Name	Class year	Notability	References
"Geese" Ausbie		former Harlem Globetrotters player and coach
James Hal Cone		major figure in systematic theology and liberation theology
Joycelyn Elders		former Surgeon General of the United States
Calvin King	1975	farm developmer, and the President of the Arkansas Land and Farm Development Corp
Lottie Shackelford		former mayor of Little Rock, Arkansas
Elijah Pitts		former Green Bay Packers player
Al Bell		founder of Stax Records and former president of Motown Records
Robert L. Williams	1953	prominent figure in the history of African-American psychology

Notable faculty

Name	Department	Notability	Reference
Lee Lorch		mathematician and civil rights activist

See also

• Philander Smith College Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places

External links

• Official website
• Official athletics website
• Philander Smith College on Twitter
• http://philandersmithalum.ning.com
• http://therealpscdays.ning.com