Southeastern Illinois College is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

community college A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an "open enrollment" for students who have graduated from high school (also known as senior sec ...

between

Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the List of c ...

and

Equality Equality may refer to: Society * Political equality, in which all members of a society are of equal standing ** Consociationalism, in which an ethnically, religiously, or linguistically divided state functions by cooperation of each group's elite ...

in Saline County, Illinois. The college was founded in 1960 and offers

associate degree 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 fi ...

s. A secondary campus, the David L. Stanley White County Center, is in Carmi, White County. Approximately 5,000 students enroll each year.Alice K. Bledig, "The Origin And Development Of The Nursing Programs At Southeastern Illinois College: 1955-1985." (PhD dissertation, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, 1987).

Academics

Southeastern Illinois College confers Associate in Arts, Associate in Science, Associate in Arts in Teaching Secondary Mathematics, Associate in Engineering Science, Associate in Applied Science, and Associate in Liberal Studies degrees. The college also supports students who wish to pursue bachelor's degrees. Southeastern has Business & Computer Information Systems, Education and Applied Science, Humanities, Mathematics & Science, Nursing, Occupational Skills and Social Science departments.

Athletics

The college's sports teams are the

Falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene. Adult falcons ...

s. There are men's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, women's basketball, men's

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

, women's

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

and cross country teams. They compete both in

NJCAA The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), founded in 1938, is the governing association of community college, state college and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 separate regions ...

Division I and

USCAA The United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) is a national organization for the intercollegiate athletic programs of 72 mostly small colleges, including community/ junior colleges, across the United States. The USCAA holds 15 nationa ...

Donta Smith Donta Lamont Smith (born November 27, 1983) is an American-Venezuelan professional basketball player for Cangrejeros de Santurce of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional. Playing for Maccabi Haifa, he was named the 2014 Israeli Basketball Premier Leag ...

, a Southeastern student, played for the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Sou ...

Campus facilities

The George T. Dennis Visual and Performing Arts Center houses an art gallery which carries monthly exhibitions featuring a variety of artists. The Arts center also has a theater which features performances by the college's theater department. The Melba Patton Library contains 40,000 volumes and maintains 250 periodical subscriptions. The Mary Jo Oldham Center for Child Study serves as a daycare and as a place for behavioral studies of children. Southeastern has 20 student clubs, including 3 fraternities ( Phi Beta Lambda,

Phi Theta Kappa Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society ( or PTK) is the international honor society of students attending open-access institutions and seeking associate degrees, bachelor's degrees, or other college credentials. Its headquarters is in Jackson, Mississippi ...

and

Theta Sigma Phi The Association for Women in Communications (AWC) is an American professional organization for women in the communications industry. History Theta Sigma Phi The Association for Women in Communications began in 1909 as Theta Sigma Phi (), an ho ...

"Little Egypt" and Southeastern

Southeastern Illinois College is located in an area of Southern Illinois called " Little Egypt". The name may derive from settlers seeing a similarity between their wagon trains and the ancient

Israelites The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan. The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stele o ...

, or from the similarity of the

Egyptian pyramids The Egyptian pyramids are ancient masonry structures located in Egypt. Sources cite at least 118 identified "Egyptian" pyramids. Approximately 80 pyramids were built within the Kingdom of Kush, now located in the modern country of Sudan. Of ...

and the Mississippian mounds in the area. The college's original 1960 seal had a

sphinx A sphinx ( , grc, σφίγξ , Boeotian: , plural sphinxes or sphinges) is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of a falcon. In Greek tradition, the sphinx has the head of a woman, the haunches of ...

on it, and a later logo featured a pyramid. The college's mascot, the falcon, is related to the Egyptian god,

Horus Horus or Heru, Hor, Har in Ancient Egyptian, is one of the most significant ancient Egyptian deities who served many functions, most notably as god of kingship and the sky. He was worshipped from at least the late prehistoric Egypt until the P ...

. There are many more small things that reflect "Little Egypt" on Southeastern's campus.

Notable alumni

, former NBA guard/forward, professional basketball player for

Maccabi Haifa Maccabi Haifa ( he, מכבי חיפה) is one of the biggest sports clubs in Israel and a part of the Maccabi association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Haifa which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as Football ...

, 2014

Israeli Basketball Premier League MVP The Israeli Basketball Premier League MVP, or Israeli Basketball Super League MVP, is an annual basketball award that is presented to the most valuable player in a given season of the Israeli Basketball Premier League, which is the top-tier lev ...

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Community colleges in Illinois Education in Saline County, Illinois Harrisburg, Illinois Buildings and structures in Saline County, Illinois Education in White County, Illinois NJCAA athletics