Newberry College

Newberry College

Smeltzer Hall on the campus of Newberry College
Type	Private
Established	1856
Endowment	$23 million (2012)[1]
President	Maurice Scherrens
Students	1,042
Location	Newberry, South Carolina, United States
Campus	90 acres (36 ha)
Nickname	Wolves
Website	www.newberry.edu

Newberry College is a co-educational, private liberal-arts college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) located on a historic 90-acre (36 ha) campus in Newberry, South Carolina, United States. The college has 1,042 students and a 14:1 student-teacher ratio. According to U.S. News & World Report's America's Best Colleges, Newberry College ranks among the nation’s top colleges in the southern region.

Accreditation

Newberry College is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) to award bachelor's degrees.

Newberry College also holds current accreditation from these accrediting bodies:

• Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE)
• National Association of Schools of Music (NASM)
• National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE)

Other NCATE-related accrediting bodies by which Newberry College is accredited include:

• The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
• The Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI)
• The National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS)
• The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)
• The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)
• The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA)
• The National Association for Sports and Physical Education (NASPE)

Accreditation compliance reports and letters of notification of accreditation status are on file in the Office of Institutional Effectiveness.

Newberry College is also a member of the Council of Independent Colleges, the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, the Lutheran Educational Conference of North America, the South Carolina Association of Colleges and Universities, the South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities, and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (Division II).

Athletics

Newberry Wolves logo

Men's athletic teams:

Women's athletic teams:

Newberry College has a diverse line-up in men's and women's sports including baseball, basketball, cheerleading, cross country, football, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, volleyball, and wrestling. The college is a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II and the South Atlantic Conference (SAC). The school is famous for being on the losing end of a tilt against Furman University, in which Frank Selvy scored 100 points.

Newberry's football team won their first South Atlantic Conference Championship in the 2006 season. The team finished with a 10-1 record in the regular season, losing only in their last game ever against their rival, Presbyterian College. The team also won a first round game in their first ever post season appearance in Division II football.

In August 2005, Newberry College was placed on a watch list by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), along with 17 other schools, which deemed the use of "Indians" as hostile and abusive, and prohibited the use of Native American nicknames, mascots and imagery in postseason competition. In September 2005, Newberry College appealed to be removed from the list of schools which were declared unable to host postseason play on the basis that none of the institution's uses of "Indians" were hostile and/or abusive toward Native Americans. The next month, the NCAA rejected Newberry's appeal. On May 7, 2008 Newberry's Athletic Department officially retired the nickname "Indians" from all of the school's 15 NCAA athletic teams. The college used their "Block N" logo for Newberry College's athletic teams until June 7, 2010 when Newberry's Athletic Director, Brad Edwards, announced that the school had decided on a new nickname for its athletic teams. Effective from that day, Newberry College athletic teams (men's and women's) would be known as the "Wolves."^[2]

Music program

The music program at Newberry College has a history in vocal and instrumental performance dating back over 100 years, and a jazz band and marching band in existence since 1956. In 1956, a major turning point in the school’s musical history took place, when respected military band leader and alumnus Charles “Chief” Pruitt organized the jazz band and the marching band after returning to the school to teach music.^[3]

The Newberry College marching band, which has been in existence since that time, is one of the most unusual aspects of Newberry College’s music program. Newberry is one of the smallest colleges in the country with a marching band, and it is the only Lutheran school in the country with a marching band.

Also in 1956, Pruitt also hosted the first jazz festival at Newberry College. This jazz festival has since become a unique annual tradition at Newberry College, and is considered to be the second oldest jazz festival in the nation.

V-12: The Navy College Training Program

In 1943, Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox announced the start of a new college training program, the V-12 Navy College Training Program. The program was designed to supplement the force of commissioned officers in the United States Navy during World War II. Newberry College became one of 131 colleges and universities in the United States chosen to participate in the V-12 program.

On July 1, 1943, the first 325 cadets arrived on campus; they included both V-12 Cadets and V-5 Aviation Cadets.

The cadets attended classes for periods of one to six terms of 16 weeks. Work was planned so that each term was the equivalent of a normal college semester. The Navy handled the discipline of its cadets, directed the physical fitness program, provided military drills and cooperated with the College in the direction of the program.

During the 27 months the V-12 Program were a part of the College, over 1,000 cadets were assigned to Newberry. On October 31, 1945, the V-12 Unit was decommissioned and Newberry College returned to its civilian status.

US Air Force ROTC Program

From 1972 until 1976, the United States Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (Detachment 777) was established at Newberry. Through this program, selected students were commissioned as Second Lieutenants in the USAF and many served distinguished careers in the service of their nation. In addition to Det. 777, an Arnold Air Society and an Angel Flight program was also active during this period.

Due to the manning authorization of the Air Force following the Vietnam War, Detachment 777 of Newberry College was deactivated.

South Carolina Science Olympiad

Newberry College has hosted the annual South Carolina Science Olympiad competition for 32 years in a row, dating back to 1985. The competition has been dominated recently by Clinton High School and Bell Street Middle School, now Clinton Middle School. The tournament has produced national champions on six occasions: Irmo Middle School three times, and Irmo High School three times.

Notable alumni

References

External links

Wikisource has the text of the 1921 Collier's Encyclopedia article Newberry College.

• Official Newberry College website
• Official Newberry College athletic website
• Photos of Newberry College

Coordinates: 34°17′06″N 81°37′15″W / 34.2851°N 81.6207°W / 34.2851; -81.6207