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Transylvania University

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For other uses of the name Transylvania, see Transylvania (disambiguation).
Transylvania University
Transylvania University Logo
MottoIn Lumine Illo Tradimus Lumen
TypePrivate Undergraduate Liberal Arts
Established1780
PresidentCharles L. Shearer
Students1,120
Location
Lexington
,
Kentucky
,
USA
CampusUrban
AthleticsNCAA Division III
AffiliationsDisciples of Christ
MascotPioneer
Websitehttp://www.transy.edu/

Transylvania University is a private liberal arts college related by covenant to the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) located in Lexington, Kentucky, with approximately 1,100 students.

History

Transylvania University has a long, notable and complicated history that touches a number of former and subsequent institutions of higher learning.

The Early Years: Transylvania University and Kentucky University

The school is named Transylvania (Latin for "across the woods") after the heavily forested region of western Virginia that became Kentucky in 1792.

Transylvania University opened at Danville, Kentucky, in 1780, and did not move to Lexington until 1789. In its early years, the University included a medical school, a law school, a divinity school, and a college of arts and sciences. During this early period many important figures in American history attended the school: Notable statesman Henry Clay, himself a graduate, taught at the school's college of law from 1805-07 before returning to politics and founding Whig Party. Stephen F. Austin, the "Father of Texas", graduated in 1810. In the early 1820s, Jefferson Davis the future first and only President of the Confederate States attended as a student. The first Supreme Court justice to have earned a modern law degree, John Marshall Harlan, earned it from Transylvania's law school in 1853. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Freeman Miller earned a degree from the medical school, practiced medicine in Barbourville, Kentucky, and then became a lawyer before being appointed to the Court by Abraham Lincoln in 1862.

Meanwhile, Kentucky University, the other major institution that would play role in the creation of the modern Transylvania University, was founded in 1836 in Georgetown, Kentucky as a spinoff of Georgetown College, a Baptist supported institution. This new school was launched by former Georgetown faculty members who were aligned with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Originally known as Bacon College (named after Sir Francis Bacon), the college was recharted as Kentucky University in 1858 upon a move to donated land in Harrodsburg, Kentucky.

After the Civil War: Kentucky University

The American Civil War wreaked havoc on the South, and the state of Kentucky was no exception. Kentucky University was devastated by fire and both it and Transylvania University were in dire financial straits. As a result, in 1865, both institutions secured permission to merge: The new institution utilized Transylvania's campus in Lexington while perpetuating the name Kentucky University.

The University was reorganized around several new colleges. Among them was the Agricultural and Mechanical College (A&M) of Kentucky, publicly chartered as a department of Kentucky University as a land-grant institution under the Morrill Act. However, due to questions regarding the appropriateness of a federally funded land-grant college controlled by a religious body, the A&M college was spun off in 1878 as an independent, state-run institution. A&M soon developed into the state's flagship public university, the University of Kentucky.

Kentucky University's College of the Bible, which traced its roots to Bacon College's Department of Hebrew Literature, also received its own charter in 1878. The Seminary became a separate institution, although it remained housed on the Kentucky University campus until 1950, later changing its name to the Lexington Theological Seminary. In 1903, Hamilton College, a Lexington-based women's college founded in 1869, merged into Kentucky University.

20th Century and beyond: Transylvania University

Due to confusion between Kentucky University and its daughter institution the University of Kentucky, the institution adopted the eldest name in its lineage "Transylvania University" in 1908.

The school remains affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).




Campus

Commonly referred to as "Transy," the school is located on a 35 acre (142,000 m²) campus about 4 blocks north of downtown Lexington.

Academic buildings

Residential buildings

Other buildings

  • Old Morrison - The administrative building, this building was built in the 1830s and has burnt twice, most recently in 1969, when the interior was completely gutted. This building is featured on the city seal of Lexington.
  • Lucille C. Little Theater - Black box style theater allowing for very flexible stage and seating arrangements.
  • Clive M. Beck Athletic Center - Contains athletics offices, classrooms, fitness center, competition and recreational facilities. Completed in 2002.
  • Glenn Building - Completed in the fall of 2005, this building houses the new university bookstore as well as a coffee shop.

Greek Life

Transylvania has a thriving Greek life on campus, with four fraternities and four sororities on campus. Each chapter is represented on the Interfraternity Council or the Panhellenic Association. The Greek community does provide a social outlet, but the “Animal House” image of the past is misleading.

Fraternitites

Sororities

Notable alumni

Notable faculty

  • Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz, an unrecognized genius of botany and zoology from Europe, became the professor of botany at Transylvania University in 1819, teaching French and Italian as well. In the spring of 1826 he was dismissed from the university, either for having an affair with the university president's wife or for attending even fewer classes than his students. His tomb is on campus.
  • Charles Martin "C. M." Newton, basketball coach, 1956-68. Coach Newton led the 1963 team to the NAIA National Tournament, and went on to a successful career in the SEC.

Trivia

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