Gordon State College is a

public college A public university or public college is a university or college that is in owned by the state or receives significant public funds through a national or subnational government, as opposed to a private university. Whether a national universit ...

Barnesville, Georgia Barnesville is a city in Lamar County, Georgia, Lamar County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, the city had a population of 6,755, up from 5,972 at the 2000 census. The city is the cou ...

. A member of the

University System of Georgia The University System of Georgia (USG) is the government agency that includes 26 public institutions of higher learning in the U.S. state of Georgia. The system is governed by the Georgia Board of Regents. It sets goals and dictates gene ...

, Gordon State's spring 2021 enrollment was 2,890 students. The college campus incorporates , which includes academic buildings, residence halls, the student activity and recreation center, an indoor swimming facility, ropes course, walking trail, outdoor basketball courts, tennis courts, athletic fields, and racquetball courts.

History

The 19th century

Gordon State College was founded in 1852 as the Male and Female Seminary, a private school for

higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completi ...

of boys and girls. Though church-sponsored, it was not a

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

in the usual sense. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, boys were organized into a corps of cadets. Girls continued to attend but were never included in military programs. In 1872, the school was renamed Gordon Institute to honor Georgia native, governor and former

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General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

John B. Gordon, and its scope was extended to the elementary grades. In 1890, J.C. Woodward, who later founded

Georgia Military Academy Woodward Academy (also known as Woodward or WA) is an independent, co-educational college-preparatory school for pre-kindergarten to 12th grade on two campuses located in College Park and Johns Creek, Georgia, United States, within the Atlanta m ...

, was hired to start a military program.

The 20th century

In 1907, the name changed to Gordon College. In 1916 the

U.S. Department of War The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, a ...

named Gordon College a junior military unit. In 1928, Gordon added the first two years of college to its program. In 1933 the state offered the former Georgia Industrial College campus to Gordon College. The high school and junior college departments moved to the new campus, while the elementary school moved into the former high school building. Gordon College was known as Gordon Military College from the mid-1930s until 1972. In the 1950s, ownership of the school passed to the city of Barnesville, which consolidated its government-funded public schools for

whites White is a racialized classification of people and a skin color specifier, generally used for people of European origin, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, and point of view. Description of populations as " ...

in grades 8-12, while continuing to bus black students to racially segregated Lamar County schools. City girls were enrolled as regular students. City boys were permitted to opt out of military participation, but almost all were organized into a corps of cadets under military discipline. Military cadets from other places were permitted to enroll by paying

tuition Tuition payments, usually known as tuition in American English and as tuition fees in Commonwealth English, are fees charged by education institutions for instruction or other services. Besides public spending (by governments and other public bo ...

; attracted by low tuition rates, many cadets came from

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

. Gordon State experienced financial problems in the 1960s, and in 1970 the trustees approached the state about making the college part of the university system. The secondary school was separated and the cadet corps disbanded, and on July 2, 1972, Gordon Military College officially became part of the

as Gordon Junior College, an associate-level

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

. In 1986 "junior" was dropped from the school's name.

The 21st century

In 2006, the school was designated a four-year state college and now offers 10 bachelor's degree programs. On August 8, 2012, the Board of Regents approved the change of the name of Gordon College to Gordon State College. The action follows the board's approval in 2006 of a change in status for the two-year college in Barnesville to allow it to offer baccalaureate programs within the University System's state college sector.

Academics

Gordon State College offers

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

s and Associate of Arts degrees as well as an

Associate of Science An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. The f ...

degree and

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree in nursing.

Athletics

Gordon State College competes in Region XVII of the Georgia College Athletic Association and the National Junior College Athletic Association. The college has teams in women's soccer and softball, men's baseball and basketball. There are also a variety of intramural sports. Before the 1980s, the athletic teams at Gordon State were the Bulldogs. Through the mid-1980s, Gordon State's teams were known as the Generals, a nod to General Gordon. The teams are now called the Highlanders.

Notable alumni

* Rufus C. Harris,

Tulane Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pub ...

president *

William D. Pawley William Douglas Pawley (September 7, 1896—January 7, 1977) was a U.S. ambassador and noted businessman who was associated with the Flying Tigers American Volunteer Group (AVG) during World War II. Early life William Douglas Pawley was born in ...

, United States ambassador to

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and Brazil; businessman *

Richard B. Russell Jr. Richard Brevard Russell Jr. (November 2, 1897 – January 21, 1971) was an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 66th Governor of Georgia from 1931 to 1933 before serving in the United States Senate for almo ...

, governor of Georgia

References

External links

Official website

Gordon State College
in the

New Georgia Encyclopedia The ''New Georgia Encyclopedia'' (NGE) is a web-based encyclopedia containing over 2,000 articles about the state of Georgia. It is a program of Georgia Humanities (GH), in partnership with the University of Georgia Press, the University System o ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon State College (Georgia) Educational institutions established in 1852 Education in Lamar County, Georgia Buildings and structures in Lamar County, Georgia Universities and colleges accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools NJCAA athletics 1852 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Public universities and colleges in Georgia (U.S. state)