Greenville College

Infobox_University


name = Greenville College
motto = 'Education for Character'
established = 1892
type = Private
president = Dr. James Mannoia
endowment = $10,102,609 [http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/usnews/edu/college/directory/brief/drglance_1684_brief.php]
faculty = 124 (65% hold terminal degrees)
enrollment = 1,200
city = Greenville
state = IL
country = USA
campus = City
mascot = Panthers
colors = Orange and Black
website = [http://www.greenville.edu/ www.greenville.edu]

Greenville College is located in Greenville, Illinois, a small (population 6,955) southern Illinois city, located 45 miles from St. Louis, Missouri on Interstate 70. The college is a liberal arts four-year school that is affiliated with the Free Methodist Church, a church with an evangelical foundation.

History

Greenville College was founded in 1855 as an all-female Baptist school, Almira College, which was begun by the Rev. John Brown White. Allan H. Keith, [http://books.google.com/books?id=1gJ_RVeb5JYC&pg=PA2&dq=richard+bock+sculptor&ie=ISO-8859-1&sig=ngQRYGbj78gEH8yXNlEZrDnRlMU#PPA1,M1 "Historical Stories: About Greenville and Bond County, IL"] . Consulted on August 15, 2007. ] White named the school after his friend Stephen Morse's wife, Almira Blanchard Morse, who donated the initial $6,000 that allowed the school to open. GC history professor Donald Jordahl has written that Almira College was "one of the earliest extensions westward of an eastern idea favorable toward female education, an early step in the women's suffrage and liberation movement."

The school was re-named as Greenville College in 1892, when it was sold to the Central Illinois Conference of the Free Methodist Church and became co-educational. Throughout much of the school's history, the main areas for study were in primary and secondary education, with a strong secondary area in preparing students for careers in the fields of medicine and the sciences.

The current student body contains over 1,000 students; most are from various Christian denominations. The college currently offers undergraduate degrees in over 50 different programs of study and graduate degrees in education.

In 1992, Greenville College celebrated its 100th anniversary and was featured on NBC's "Today Show". In 2006, the college was again featured prominently in a "Today Show" story about the rapid growth of Christian colleges and universities. In 2007, GC has had a record enrollment of an estimated 1,100 traditional students.cite news |title= G.C. Enrollment Once Again at Record Level |url= |publisher="Greenville Advocate" |date=August 30, 2007 |accessdate=2007-08-14 ] Enrollment had topped 1,000 students for the first time in the college's history in 2006.

Greenville College is a member of the Christian College Consortium and the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities.

The College's original mascot was the Gremlins but changed in the early 20th century to the Panthers. Greenville's athletic colors are Orange and Black, which contrast with its academic/marketing colors which are Green and Gold (an issue that seems to be ongoing). All of its athletics teams compete in the NCAA's Division III St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and Illini-Badger Football Conference.

Code of conduct

Students attending Greenville College are expected to adhere to a lifestyle that is codified and asks that the student agree to certain principles that the school calls "Christ-honoring."fact|date=July 2007 Students can neither drink alcohol nor use tobacco products and are to avoid all use of illicit drugs. These principles are highlighted in a document known as the Lifestyle Statement which all students must sign in order to attend the college.

Campus

Nearly 800 students live on campus in a variety of residence halls including Walter Joy Hall, Janssen Hall, Burritt Hall, Holtwick Hall, Blakenship Apartments, Tenney Hall, Kinney Hall, and Ellen J. Mannoia Hall and Oak Street Hall. An additional, 101-bed, called Oak Street Hall, opened in the fall of 2007 to house incoming freshmen.cite news |title= College Work to Be Done for New Term |url= |publisher="Greenville Advocate" |date=July 19, 2007 |accessdate=2007-07-30 ] Students also live in a number of college-owned houses. In the summer of 2007, Janssen Hall (originally constructed in 1959) was gutted and completely updated and remodeled.

The college is home to the only museum dedicated to the works of the sculptor Richard Bock, an associate of Frank Lloyd Wright. The first classes of Almira College in the 1850s were held in John Brown White's home, which is called the Almira College House and houses Bock's sculptures.

Hogue Hall

The oldest building on campus, Wilson T. Hogue Hall, originally housed Almira College. Bricks for the building were made on the front campus in 1855, and the building was erected between 1856 and 1864 and given the name "Old Main." Hogue Hall contains the data processing center and administrative offices of the college on the lower two floors. The upper two floors, originally dormitory rooms, now provide offices for the faculty and a few small classrooms. Informal conversation between faculty and students frequently take place in these offices. An open "bridge" at the third floor level leads to the third floor of LaDue Auditorium and Marston Hall, which serves as the main classroom building. This building is part of the National Register of Historic Places.

As students returned for fall classes in August 2007, college officials became aware of structural problems within Hogue Hall that may lead to remodeling. Over the summer, remodeling work on the lower floor found significant cracks in the timber holding up the masonry wall. When it became aware of the situation, the college stopped the remodeling and consulted with a structural engineer and architectural experts on old buildings for advice.cite news |title= Major Repairs Needed for G.C.'s Historic Hogue Hall |url= |publisher="Greenville Advocate" |date=August 28, 2007 |accessdate=2007-08-14 ] These experts' initial inspection uncovered major structural concerns in the East Wing of the historic building. Classes were moved from the four classrooms on the third floor of the building, and faculty with offices located in the East Wing were relocated to the classrooms.

Notable alumni

*Augustana, rock-n-roll band, formed on campus in the early 21st Century (never graduated, dropped out their sophomore year and moved to California to get signed)
*Ernest L. Boyer, former Chancellor of the State University of New York system
*Scott Horner, coach of the Columbia Eagles
*Bob Briner, once a leading figure in professional sports management, an Emmy Award-winning television producer, and president of ProServ Television. The Greenville College [http://www.greenville.edu/content/view/1372/490/ Robert A. Briner Salt and Light Award] is named after him.
*Jars of Clay, rock-n-roll band, formed on campus in the early 1990s, granted honorary degrees in 2001 after dropping out in 1994
*John Hammond, General Manager of the Milwaukee Bucks
*Alfred Harrison Joy, Bruce Medal-winning astronomer, attended the school when it was still known as Almira College
*Mary Previte, author of "Hungry Ghosts", served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1998 to 2006
*Howard Zahniser (B.A., English, 1928), environmental activist, "Father of the Wilderness Act")
*Seth Hecox, of the christian metal band, Becoming the Archetype

Faculty

1956 Prohibition Party candidate for President, Enoch A. Holtwick, was a professor of history and government at Greenville College and is honored at GC through the Enoch A. Holtwick Literary Award and Enoch A. Holtwick Hall, a residence building.

GC professor Dr. Richard Houston became a Fulbright scholar for the third time in July 2007. He will spend a year lecturing at the University of Central America in Managua, Nicaragua, beginning in February 2008.cite news |title= GC PROGESSOR TO TEACH IN CENTRAL AMERICA |url=http://www.wgel.com/daily/2007/7-3-07.htm |publisher="WGEL" |date=July 3, 2007 |accessdate=2007-08-14 ]

ee also

*Robert Smith
*Phyllis Holmes

Further reading

* "Still Abides the Memory" by Mary A. Tenney. Student and faculty writes about the history and her experience of Greenville College
* "Man Proposes, But God Disposes: A Biography of John Brown White, Lawyer, Minister, Educator, and Founding President of Almira College" by Dr. Donald Jordahl, Emeritus Professor of History at Greenville College

References

External links

* [http://www.greenville.edu Official web site]
* [http://www.gcpanthers.com Official athletics website]
* [http://www.greenville.edu/backup/admissions/tour/index.shtml Campus map]