Morris College (MC) is a private, Baptist

historically black college Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. Mo ...

Sumter, South Carolina Sumter ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Sumter County, South Carolina, United States. Known as the Sumter Metropolitan Statistical Area, the namesake county adjoins Clarendon and Lee to form the core of Sumter-Lee-Clarendon Tri-county (o ...

. It was founded and is operated by the Baptist Educational and Missionary Convention of South Carolina.Baptist Educational and Missionary Convention of South Carolina
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History

Morris College was founded in 1908 by James J. Durham, initially as a grade school, high school, and college. The college is named after the Reverend Frank Morris because of his outstanding leadership throughout the African American community of South Carolina. The college's first president was Dr. Edward M. Brawley (1908–1912). Morris College awarded its first bachelor's degree in 1915 under the administration of the college's second president Dr. John Jacob Starks. The college's third president was Ira David Pinson, who steered the college to expansion during the Great Depression. The college's longest-serving president was Dr. Luns C. Richardson, who served from 1974 to July 2017. The current president is Dr. Leroy Staggers, who formerly served as the college's academic dean.

Academics

Morris College offers bachelor's degrees in 20 areas of study. The college is accredited by the

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) is an educational accreditor recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. This agency accredits over 13,000 public and priv ...

to award four different types of bachelor's degrees:

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students for pursuing a professional education in the visual, fine or performing arts. It is also called Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA) in some cases. Background The Bachelor ...

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 ...

, and

Bachelor of Science in Education 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 ye ...

. To effectively accomplish the purpose and philosophy of Morris College, its academic programs are organized into five academic divisions which oversee their respective departments.

Division of General Studies

* The Division of General Studies allows students to develop a solid academic foundation before entering their major fields. * Honors Program

Division of Business Administration

* Business Administration * Organizational Management Program

Division of Education

* Early Childhood Education * Elementary Education * Secondary Education

Division of Religion, Humanities and Social Sciences

* Mass Communications * Pastoral Ministry * Christian Education * English * Liberal Studies * English/Secondary Education * Criminal Justice * History * Political Science * Sociology * Social Studies/Secondary Education

Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics

* Biology * Biology/Secondary Education * Mathematics * Mathematics/Secondary Education

Student life

Greek letter organizations

The university currently has chapters for eight of the nine

National Pan-Hellenic Council The National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) is a collaborative umbrella council composed of historically African American fraternities and sororities also referred to as Black Greek Letter Organizations (BGLOs). The NPHC was formed as a permanent ...

organizations.

Athletics

The Morris athletics teams are called the Hornets. The college is a member of the

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to its stu ...

(NAIA), primarily competing as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

within the Continental Athletic Conference since the 2005–06 academic year. The Hornets previously competed in the defunct

Eastern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference The Eastern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference was a conference of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU's) that participated in the NAIA's Division I, with member institutions in Florida, North Carolina, and South Carolina. It was fo ...

(EIAC) from 1983–84 to 2004–05 (when the conference dissolved). Morris competes in six intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball and track & field; while women's sports include basketball, softball and volleyball.

Notable alumni

References

External links

*
Official athletics website
{{authority control Education in Sumter County, South Carolina Educational institutions established in 1908 Universities and colleges accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Buildings and structures in Sumter County, South Carolina 1908 establishments in South Carolina