Organization:Converse University

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Short description: US historic place and private university in South Carolina
Converse University
Convere University Logo 2023.png
Former name
Converse College (1889–2021)
TypePrivate university
Established1889; 135 years ago (1889)
Endowment$77.6 million (2020)[1]
PresidentBoone Hopkins
ProvostJoe Wilferth
Academic staff
90 Full-time (2022)[2]
Students1,284
Undergraduates804
Postgraduates480
Location
Spartanburg, South Carolina
,
U.S.

[ ⚑ ] 34°57′16.59″N 81°55′01.51″W / 34.9546083°N 81.9170861°W / 34.9546083; -81.9170861
CampusUrban, 70 acres (28 ha)
|u}}rsPurple and gold
         
NicknameValkyries
MascotVal the Valkyrie
Websitewww.converse.edu

Converse University is a private university in Spartanburg, South Carolina. It was established in 1889 by a group of Spartanburg residents and named after textile pioneer Dexter Edgar Converse. It was originally a women's college but now admits men.

History

Dexter Edgar Converse
Short description: United States historic place
Converse College Historic District
Converse College main building.jpg
Location580 E. Main St., Spartanburg, South Carolina
Area20 acres (8.1 ha)
Built1891 (1891)-1915
ArchitectHook, Charles
Architectural styleLate Gothic Revival, Romanesque, Richardson Romanesque
NRHP reference #75001706[3]
Added to NRHPNovember 12, 1975

Converse College opened on October 1, 1890, with a student body of 168 women and 16 faculty members. The college only admitted women students and operated as a "stock company" with the board of directors composed entirely of residents of Spartanburg. Dexter Edgar Converse, a native of Vermont who had settled in Spartanburg before the American Civil War and had become a successful pioneer in the cotton mill industry, served as the head of the first board of directors. On January 2, 1892, fire destroyed the college's main building. The building was enlarged during its reconstruction. In 1896, the college was incorporated in South Carolina and a self-perpetuating board of trustees was named. In 1964, the college introduced graduate programs.

The Converse College Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.[3] It encompasses eight contributing buildings dated between 1891 and 1915. They are the Main Building (Wilson Hall) (1892), Annex (Pell Hall, 1891), Twichell Auditorium (1898–1899), Carnegie Library (1905), Cleveland House (c. 1905), Judd Science Hall (1915), Dexter Hall (1899) and Towne House (1898). The buildings are representative of the Romanesque Revival, Gothic Revival, and Neo-Classical styles.[4][5]

The college changed its name to "Converse University" in the summer of 2021. The college also "expanded its undergraduate residential program from single-gender to co-ed" by admitting male undergraduate students in the fall of 2020.[6]

Presidents

Name Years served
Benjamin F. Wilson 1890–1902
Robert Paine Pell 1902–1932
Edward Moseley Gwathmey 1933–1955
Oliver Cromwell Carmichael, Jr. 1956–1960
Robert T. Coleman, Jr. 1961–1989
Ellen Wood Hall 1989–1993
Sandra C. Thomas 1994–1998
Nancy Oliver Gray 1999–2005
Elizabeth A. Fleming 2006–2016
Krista L. Newkirk 2016–2021
Jeffrey H. Barker[7] 2021–2021
Boone J. Hopkins [8] 2022–present

Academics

University rankings
Regional
U.S. News & World Report[9] 46 (tie) of 103
Master's University class
Washington Monthly[10] 76 of 603

(As of August 2023), Converse offers 44 undergraduate degree programs and 28 graduate programs. The university's undergraduate program also awards certificates.[11] The University also has a presence at University Center of Greenville, a center that houses satellite campuses of several South Carolina colleges offering higher education programs.[12] Converse offers two undergraduate and three graduate degree programs at the center.[13]

The Nisbet Honors Program, established in 2000, is the university's undergraduate honors program.[14]

Converse has a Model Programs team who participate in Model Arab League and the annual International Model NATO conference hosted by Howard University.[15][16] Converse's Model Programs annually hosts the Southeastern Regional Model Arab League (SERMAL) conference.[17]

Athletics

Converse Valkyries
UniversityConverse University
ConferenceConference Carolinas (primary)
NCAADivision II
Athletic directorJenn Bell
LocationSpartanburg, South Carolina
Varsity teams21
Basketball arenaWeisiger Center/Tom and Tracy Hannah Gym
Softball stadiumTyger River Stadium
Soccer fieldHayden Abney Fulp Field at Weisiger Stadium
Lacrosse stadiumHayden Abney Fulp Field at Weisiger Stadium
Tennis courtsSally Abney Rose Complex
NicknameValkyries
ColorsScript error: No such module "College color".
Websitegovalkyries.com

Converse athletic teams are known as the Valkyries. The university is a member of the Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the Conference Carolinas.[citation needed]

Women's sports include acrobatics and tumbling, basketball, cross country, equestrian, field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball, track and field (indoor and outdoor), golf, tennis, swimming and volleyball.[citation needed]

The inaugural men's sports are basketball, cross country, soccer, tennis, track and field (indoor and outdoor) and volleyball. Converse's equestrian program is coeducational, though only women participate in NCAA-recognized competition. The university also has a coeducational varsity esports team.[citation needed]

Notable alumni

  • Kimilee Bryant, Broadway actress and Miss South Carolina 1989[18]
  • Lynette Eason, Christian novelist and teacher
  • Ruth Perry, civil rights activist
  • Fatemeh Pahlavi, royal member of the Pahlavi dynasty of Iran.[19][20]
  • Julia Peterkin, class of 1896 and winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1929.
  • Sutton Stracke 1993, socialite and television personality[21]
  • Kokab Moarefi, class of 1950. Former lady-in-waiting to Fatemeh Pahlavi, and deputy minister of the Ministries of Labor, Social Welfare, and Health.[22][23]

Notable faculty

  • Julia Klumpke, concert violinist and composer
  • Radiana Pazmor, contralto and music therapist[24]

References

The concert hall, Converse College
  1. ↑ As of June 30, 2020. U.S. and Canadian Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year 2020 Endowment Market Value and Change in Endowment Market Value from FY19 to FY20 (Report). National Association of College and University Business Officers and TIAA. February 19, 2021. https://www.nacubo.org/-/media/Documents/Research/2020-NTSE-Public-Tables--Endowment-Market-Values--FINAL-FEBRUARY-19-2021.ashx. Retrieved February 21, 2021. 
  2. ↑ https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=Converse+University&s=all&id=217961#general
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "National Register Information System – (#75001706)". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010. https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/75001706. 
  4. ↑ Mary Ann Eaddy and Georgianna Graham (May 1975). "Converse Heights Historic District". National Register of Historic Places – Nomination and Inventory. http://www.nationalregister.sc.gov/spartanburg/S10817742013/S10817742013.pdf. 
  5. ↑ "Converse College Historic District, Spartanburg County (Spartanburg)". National Register Properties in South Carolina. South Carolina Department of Archives and History. http://www.nationalregister.sc.gov/spartanburg/S10817742013/index.htm.  and accompanying map
  6. ↑ "Converse College Board of Trustees Announces Dynamic Changes". Converse College. February 7, 2020. https://www.converse.edu/coed-university/. 
  7. ↑ Duncan, Holly (22 July 2021). "Converse University Mourns the Death of President Jeffrey H. Barker". https://www.converse.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/FOR-RELEASE-6-22-21-Converse-University-Mourns-the-Death-of-President-Jeffrey-H.-Barker.pdf. 
  8. ↑ "Converse Announces Appointment of Boone J. Hopkins as Twelfth President". Converse University. February 25, 2022. https://www.converse.edu/announcement/2022/02/boone-hopkins-twelfth-president/. 
  9. ↑ "Best Colleges 2021: Regional Universities Rankings". U.S. News & World Report. https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/regional-universities. 
  10. ↑ "2020 Rankings -- Masters Universities". Washington Monthly. https://washingtonmonthly.com/2020college-guide/masters. 
  11. ↑ University, Converse. "Programs Archive" (in en-US). https://www.converse.edu/programs/. 
  12. ↑ "FAQ" (in en-US). https://greenville.org/faq/. 
  13. ↑ "Bachelors Degree Program Near Spartanburg, SC" (in en-US). https://greenville.org/degrees-programs/. 
  14. ↑ "Nisbet Honors Program | Converse University". https://catalog.converse.edu/nisbet-honors-program/nisbet-honors-program. 
  15. ↑ "Home" (in en-US). https://internationalmodelnato.org/. 
  16. ↑ University, Converse. "Model Programs" (in en-US). https://www.converse.edu/academics/history-and-politics/model-programs/. 
  17. ↑ "Southeast Regional Model Arab League – Model Arab League Youth Leadership Development Program". https://ncusar.org/modelarableague/conferences/sermal/. 
  18. ↑ "Broadway actress Kimilee Bryant returns to Greenville". The Greenville News. 10 June 2015. http://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/entertainment/arts/paul-hyde/2015/06/10/broadway-actress-kimilee-bryant-returns-greenville/71006434/. 
  19. ↑ "Milestones, Apr. 24, 1950" (in en-US). Time. 1950-04-24. ISSN 0040-781X. https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,812269,00.html. 
  20. ↑ Converse College, Y's and other Y's (Spartanburg, SC: 1948), 78, Spartanburg County Public Libraries, https://cdm17281.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p17281coll8/id/766/rec/50 , Accessed 14 June 2023.
  21. ↑ "WEDDINGS; Sutton Brown, Christian Stracke" (in en-US). 2000-05-14. https://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/14/style/weddings-sutton-brown-christian-stracke.html. 
  22. ↑ Atkins, Nancy (April 12, 1972). "Shah of Iran's Sister Attended Converse in 1947-1948". Spartanburg Herald: pp. 1. 
  23. ↑ "به مناسبت در گذشت شادروان دکتر کوکب معارفی الهی". January 30, 2020. https://farahpahlavi.org/fa/kokab-moarefi-elahi/. 
  24. ↑ The Grove Dictionary of American Music. OUP USA. January 2013. ISBN 978-0-19-531428-1. https://books.google.com/books?id=UQiiDAEACAAJ. 

External links




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