St. Andrews University is a
private
Private or privates may refer to:
Music
* " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation''
* Private (band), a Denmark-based band
* "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...
Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
liberal arts college
A liberal arts college or liberal arts institution of higher education is a college with an emphasis on undergraduate study in liberal arts and sciences. Such colleges aim to impart a broad general knowledge and develop general intellectual capac ...
in
Laurinburg, North Carolina
Laurinburg is a city in and the county seat of Scotland County, North Carolina, United States. Located in southern North Carolina near the South Carolina border, Laurinburg is southwest of Fayetteville and is home to St. Andrews University. ...
. The university was established in 1958 as a result of a merger of Flora MacDonald College in
Red Springs and Presbyterian Junior College; it was named St. Andrews Presbyterian College from 1960 until 2011 when the college changed its name to St. Andrews University. That same year, it merged with
Webber International University
Webber International University (Webber or WIU) is a private university in Babson Park, Florida.
History
Webber International was founded as Webber College by Roger Babson, an entrepreneur and business theorist in the first half of the 20th cent ...
of
Babson Park, Florida
Babson Park is a census-designated place (CDP) in Polk County, Florida, Polk County, Florida, United States. The population was 1,182 at the 2000 census. It is also the home of Webber International University.
Babson Park is part of the Lakeland, ...
. It is also home to the St. Andrews Press. In 2013, St. Andrews added its first graduate program, an MBA in business administration.
History
Charter (1958) and open date (1961)
The institution was founded in 1958, established as a result of the merger of
Flora MacDonald College in
Red Springs (est. 1896) and
Presbyterian Junior College
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
in
Maxton (est. 1928).
The new college was named St. Andrews Presbyterian College on September 23, 1960.
The name reflected its Scottish
Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
heritage and identified it with the
University of St Andrews
(Aien aristeuein)
, motto_lang = grc
, mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best
, established =
, type = Public research university
Ancient university
, endowment ...
in Scotland.
A groundbreaking ceremony was held on April 15, 1959, followed shortly by construction of a campus on an 800-acre location on the south side of
Laurinburg
Laurinburg is a city in and the county seat of Scotland County, North Carolina, United States. Located in southern North Carolina near the South Carolina border, Laurinburg is southwest of Fayetteville and is home to St. Andrews University. ...
.
St. Andrews held an opening convocation and classes began on September 22, 1961, with 750 students.
Unusual for its time, the campus was designed to be accessible and barrier-free to students with physical disabilities. Ten buildings had been completed by the opening of the college in 1961, including the Academic Building and the Vardell Building, Student Center, a maintenance building, and six residence halls named for presbyteries in the Synod of North Carolina.
1970s – growth, decline, and renewal
Enrollment grew to over 900 by 1970, and the college saw expansion of facilities and curriculum in its first ten years.
Two additional men's dorms, the DeTamble Library, and the Physical Education Center were completed in the late 1960s, and the Morgan-Jones Science Center and Avinger Auditorium were completed in 1970.
In its early years the college developed the Christianity and Culture Program, or "C&C" for short. The program focused on interdisciplinary curriculum that provided freshman and sophomore level courses in ancient and modern civilization, junior level courses in non-Western cultures, and senior level courses in American studies. The program also included study abroad options in Israel, Greece and Rome.
St. Andrews introduced Selected Topics in Modern Science, known as STMS, in 1969.
First offered as a required freshman level two-term course in natural sciences, the STMS developed into a broad interdisciplinary program that connected various scientific disciplines to one another.
The college began the St. Andrews Press in 1972.
The college experienced a number of changes during the early 1970s. St. Andrews, along with many other colleges across the United States, experienced political and social unrest on campus stemming from the unpopular
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
coupled with the rising cost of education, the economic recession, and the
1973 oil crisis
The 1973 oil crisis or first oil crisis began in October 1973 when the members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC), led by Saudi Arabia, proclaimed an oil embargo. The embargo was targeted at nations that had supp ...
.
To combat financial struggles and decreased enrollment, St. Andrews replaced the Christianity and Culture Program with a new program known as the St. Andrews Studies Program (SAS).
In the late 1970s, the Student Center was renovated and named the William Henry Belk College Center. The Katherine McKay Belk Tower was built on Chapel Island at the center of campus.
St. Andrews renovated the Kings Mountain dormitory in 1978, renamed it Pate Hall, and made into a continuing education center to accommodate an expanding adult education program.
1980s–1990s - expansion of teaching sites and academic offerings
In the early 1980s, St. Andrews redesigned its core programs, incorporating curriculum elements of the former C&C, SAS, and STMS programs.
The new St. Andrews General Education Program, called SAGE, focused on general education curriculum with interdisciplinary courses in humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. St. Andrews also expanded academic majors in the areas of mathematics, computer science, psychology, the natural sciences, and business administration.
IN 1989, the college launched the Scottish Heritage Center, dedicated to preservation of Scottish culture and honoring people who preserve Scottish culture.
In 1990, St. Andrews added a satellite program at
Sandhills Community College
Sandhills Community College is a public community college in Pinehurst, North Carolina. Sandhills was chartered in 1963, and officially opened October 1, 1965. It was the first comprehensive community college authorized and established as the ...
in
Pinehurst to meet additional demand for the college's adult education program. St. Andrews-at-Sandhills began offering junior and senior level courses in the evenings and on weekends.
In 1996, St. Andrews launched a degree in Therapeutic Horsemanship, one of the first in the county.
From 1978 until 1999, St. Andrews was the site of the
Governor's School of North Carolina
The Governor's School of North Carolina (GS, GSNC) is a publicly funded residential summer program for intellectually gifted high school students in the state of North Carolina. North Carolina's Governor's School was the first such program in the ...
's East campus.
2000s – merger with Webber, university status, and new campuses
In 2007, St. Andrews added online programs designed to provide degree and certificate options.
The college also consolidated the adult program, online program, and satellite program into the Center for Adult and Professional Studies (CAPS). Two years later, the university became a member of the Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges Consortium (SOC) and received national recognition as a military-friendly institution.
Merger with Webber
In July 2011, following accreditation issues, St. Andrews and
Webber International University
Webber International University (Webber or WIU) is a private university in Babson Park, Florida.
History
Webber International was founded as Webber College by Roger Babson, an entrepreneur and business theorist in the first half of the 20th cent ...
announced a merger of the two institutions.
With the merger, St. Andrews became an additional instructional location of, and a branch of, Webber International. Webber is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) to award degrees at the associate, bachelor and master's levels.
The merger combined Webber's focus on business programs, four MBA degrees and extensive online options with St. Andrews' focus on undergraduate liberal arts and science programs.
University status
In September 2011, the college's president, Paul Baldasare Jr., class of 1977, announced the intention to change the name to "St. Andrews University" during the campus' Founders' Day celebration.
Baldasare cited increased enrollment goals as well as plans to add graduate programs and expand online programs for adult learners as major reasons for the name change.
In 2020, the university added a campus in
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
.
In 2021, St. Andrews added two campuses in
South Carolina
)''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = ...
, one in
Charleston and one in
Columbia.
In the same year, a Master of Arts in Education was added.
Campuses
St. Andrews University has its original campus in Laurinburg, North Carolina.
Laurinburg campus (main campus)
![Lake Ansley Moore](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/Lake_Ansley_Moore.jpg)
The main campus is located south of downtown Laurinburg, bounded on the west by U.S. Routes
15 and
401. There is a lake in the middle of campus.
![Detamble library exterior](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/Detamble_library_exterior.jpg)
On the western side of the campus is the Morgan-Jones Science Building, Avinger Auditorium, the Morgan Liberal Arts Building, the DeTamble Library, and the Vardell Building. There is a bridge from one side of the lake to an island to the other side of the lake. On the eastern side of the campus is the Willam Henry Belk student center, where the Crossroads Cafeteria, student store, student mailboxes, and Office of Student Affairs are located. On the south side of this end of campus are four dorms, Concord, Granville, Wilmington, and Albemarle. On the north side are four more dorms, Winston-Salem, Pate, Mecklenburg, and Orange. Pate houses the Student Health & Wellness Center. Across from the Belk Center is the P.E. Building. On the far north end of campus, there are the athletic fields. The Equestrian Center is located off campus, approximately 2 miles south.
The campus was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 2016.
Extension campuses
In 1990, St. Andrews launched its first satellite campus at Sandhills Community College for adult learners. St. Andrews also has campuses in Charlotte, NC, Charleston, SC, and Columbia, SC.
Academics
St. Andrews offers undergraduate programs in the liberal arts and two graduate programs, an MBA and MA in education. Since 1969, the university has had its own press, having published over 200 volumes of poetry, prose, and non-fiction.
The student-faculty ratio is low, 12:1, resulting in small classes and a personalized education.
St. Andrews offers non-traditional students the opportunity to pursue degrees in Business Administration, Equine Business Management, Elementary Education, Liberal Studies, and courses leading to teacher certification, in an online, traditional classroom or blended format. In the fall of 2008 the college organized its degree offerings at
Sandhills Community College
Sandhills Community College is a public community college in Pinehurst, North Carolina. Sandhills was chartered in 1963, and officially opened October 1, 1965. It was the first comprehensive community college authorized and established as the ...
(St. Andrews @ Sandhills), its online program and its other opportunities for non-traditional learners, under the umbrella of the St. Andrews Center for Adult and Professional Studies.
St. Andrews has charters with the following honor societies:
Alpha Chi
Alpha Chi National College Honor Society (or ) is an American collegiate honor society recognizing achievements in general scholarship. It was formed in 1922 by nineteen schools in the state of Texas. Since then it has expanded to 300 chapters ...
,
Beta Beta Beta
Beta Beta Beta ( or TriBeta), is a collegiate honor society and academic fraternity for students of the biological sciences. It was founded in 1922 at Oklahoma City University by Dr. Frank G. Brooks and a group of his students. As of 2012, it has ...
,
Omicron Delta Epsilon
Omicron Delta Epsilon ( or ODE) is an international honor society in the field of economics, formed from the merger of Omicron Delta Gamma and Omicron Chi Epsilon, in 1963. Its board of trustees includes well-known economists such as Robert Luc ...
,
Pi Gamma Mu
Pi Gamma Mu or (from Πολιτικές Γνώσεως Μάθεται) is the oldest and preeminent honor society in the social sciences. It is also the only interdisciplinary social science honor society. It serves the various social science di ...
,
Psi Chi
Psi Chi () is a college student honor society in psychology with international outreach founded in 1929 at the University of Kansas in the United States.
Psi Chi is one of the largest honor societies in the United States, with more than 1,150 cha ...
,
Sigma Tau Delta
Sigma Tau Delta () is an international excelled English honor society for students of English at four-year colleges and universities who are within the top 30% of their class and have a 3.5 GPA or higher. It presently has over 850 chapters in ...
,
Sigma Beta Delta
Sigma Beta Delta () is a scholastic honor society that recognizes academic achievement among students in the fields of business, management, and administration
.
History
Sigma Beta Delta was founded by Beta Gamma Sigma on January 16, 1994, in La ...
, and the St. Andrews Honor Society. St. Andrews also offers an honors program, which selects incoming freshmen based on their high school GPA, SAT/ACT scores, and an interview with the director of the program.
Accreditation
In 1961, St. Andrews Presbyterian College was first accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the
(SACSCOC).
In June 2007, SACSCOC voted to remove the college's accreditation "for failure to meet accreditation standards dealing with financial resources, stability, and control."
St. Andrews appealed the decision, but the commission's College Delegate Assembly upheld the decision to terminate accreditation.
The college responded by filing a lawsuit against the association, but the judge granted the
motion for summary judgment filed by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The judge directed that judgment be entered in favor of the association, and dismissed the lawsuit filed by St. Andrews.
In April 2011,
Webber International University
Webber International University (Webber or WIU) is a private university in Babson Park, Florida.
History
Webber International was founded as Webber College by Roger Babson, an entrepreneur and business theorist in the first half of the 20th cent ...
filed a substantive change form to add St. Andrews Presbyterian College as an additional instructional location, providing a merger for the two institutions. Following the filing, the accreditation of St. Andrews was extended through July 31, 2011 to allow for SACSCOC to render a decision on the application during the annual meeting. During the June 2011 SACSCOC meeting, the association approved the plan by Webber International University to add St. Andrews as an additional instructional location. This merger of Webber International University and St. Andrews resolved the accreditation concern with SACSCOC.
The college is a member of North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities, the Association of Presbyterian Colleges, and the Council of Independent Colleges.
Athletics
The St. Andrews athletic teams are called the Knights. The university 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 in the
Appalachian Athletic Conference
The Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Members of the conference are located in the Southeastern United States in Tennessee, Kentuc ...
(AAC) since the 2012–13 academic year;
while its swimming and wrestling teams compete in the
Mid-South Conference
The Mid-South Conference (MSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Member institutions are located in Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee. The league is headquartered in Lou ...
(MSC). Prior returning to the NAIA, The Knights formerly competed in the
Conference Carolinas
Conference Carolinas, formerly known as the Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference (CVAC) or the Carolinas Conference, is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) primarily at the Divisio ...
(CC) of the
Division II ranks of the
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
(NCAA) from 1988–89 to 2011–12.
The university transitioned to the NAIA after 23 years in the NCAA at the end of the 2011–12 academic year.
St. Andrews competes in 25 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, lacrosse, soccer, swimming, track & field, volleyball and wrestling; while women's sports include basketball, beach volleyball, cross country, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, track & field, volleyball and wrestling; and co-ed sports include competitive cheer, competitive dance and eSports.
Equestrian
In addition to the 19 NAIA sports, St. Andrews sponsors an extensive
Equestrian
The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse".
Horseback riding (or Riding in British English)
Examples of this are:
* Equestrian sports
*Equestrian order, one of the upper classes i ...
program. The St. Andrews Equestrian Team has won American National Riding Commission (ANRC) national championships in 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2007.
The Knights finished Reserve Champion at the ANRC Intercollegiate National Championships in 2004 and 2006.
The program has won two
Intercollegiate Horse Show Association
The Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association (IHSA) is a nonprofit organization composed of men and women of all riding levels and offers individual and team competition in hunter seat equitation, Western horsemanship and reining at more than 400 m ...
(IHSA) Zone Hunter Seat All-Star Championships in 2002 and 2004; six IHSA Hunter Seat Reserve Regional Team Championships in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007; six IHSA Western Regional Team Championships in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011; and qualified for the Intercollegiate Dressage Association (IDA) National Final eight times in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, and 2010.
Notable alumni
*
Audrey Bolte
Audrey Claire Bolte (born April 5, 1989) is an American beauty pageant titleholder from Batavia, Ohio. She was crowned Miss Ohio USA 2012 and competed in the Miss USA 2012 pageant where she was named second runner-up. She had never competed in a ...
,
beauty pageant
A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, ...
titleholder
*
Erin Harkes
Erin Harkes is an American singer-songwriter.
Music career
Harkes is known in the Albany area, having been named among the Capital District's best musicians by both the ''Albany Times-Union'' and '' Metroland''. She also regularly teams up wit ...
, singer-songwriter
*
Nancy A. Henry, American
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...
*
Seth Jahn, 7-a-side
soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
player
*
Lydia Lavelle, American academic and
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
*
Mark L. Perkins, president of InnerSight
Dr. Mark L. Perkins, President
Retrieved May 8, 2020.
References
External links
Official website
Official athletics website
Presbyterian Junior College yearbooks, 1933-1961
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Andrews Presbyterian College
Private universities and colleges in North Carolina
Education in Scotland County, North Carolina
Educational institutions established in 1958
Presbyterian Church (USA)
Universities and colleges accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
Universities and colleges affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA)
Buildings and structures in Scotland County, North Carolina
1958 establishments in North Carolina
Appalachian Athletic Conference schools
Liberal arts colleges in North Carolina
National Register of Historic Places in Scotland County, North Carolina
School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina