Tarkio College was a
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 ...
that operated in
Tarkio, Missouri
Tarkio is a city in Tarkio Township, Atchison County, Missouri, United States. The population was 1,506 at the 2020 census. It was platted in 1880 and incorporated in 1881. The name "Tarkio" is from a Native American word meaning "place where wa ...
, from 1883 to 1992. The institution was supported by the
United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America
The United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (UPCUSA) was the largest branch of Presbyterianism in the United States from May 28, 1958, to 1983. It was formed by the union of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of Ameri ...
, followed by the
Presbyterian Church (USA)
The Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PC(USA), is a mainline Protestant denomination in the United States. It is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the US, and known for its liberal stance on doctrine and its ordaining of women and ...
.
It was closed after filing for
bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...
protection in 1991 and then was reopened in 2012 as a
continuing education
Continuing education (similar to further education in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland) is an all-encompassing term within a broad list of post-secondary learning activities and programs. The term is used mainly in the United ...
institution for professionals.
History
Samuel C. Marshall was the first president and William E. Walker served as the last president.
The Tarkio College mascot was the
owl
Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...
. The school colors were purple and white, and the college's motto, often attributed to its founder, wealthy farmer David Rankin, was "Set Fire, Tarkio!"
One of the school's most famous structures was the Mule Barn Theatre, an
octagon
In geometry, an octagon (from the Greek ὀκτάγωνον ''oktágōnon'', "eight angles") is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon.
A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, whi ...
-shaped structure used originally to house mules. It was 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 ...
but was destroyed by fire in 1989.
After Tarkio College closed, the library books were purchased by and moved to
Lancaster Bible College
Lancaster Bible College , Capital Seminary and Graduate School (LBC , Capital) is a private Bible college, seminary, and graduate school in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Lancaster Bible College offers non-credit courses, undergraduate, master's, ...
,
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Lancaster, ( ; pdc, Lengeschder) is a city in and the county seat of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It is one of the oldest inland cities in the United States. With a population at the 2020 census of 58,039, it ranks 11th in population amon ...
. There were also several attempts to find alternative uses for the property, including early discussions about the possible founding of a new institution, Tarkio Valley College. Initially, Youth Services International, Inc. operated Tarkio Academy, a residential and community-based educational program for juveniles between 1995 and 2004.
North Central Missouri College
North Central Missouri College (formerly Trenton Junior College) is a public community college in Trenton, Missouri. Founded in 1925, the campus has grown to include nine buildings used as instruction facilities, library and testing center, a tut ...
and
Linn State College
State Technical College of Missouri (State Tech) is a public technical school in Linn, Missouri. In 2018, the college saw its highest enrollment at 1,483 students for the 2018–2019 school year and there were about 600 graduates in May 2019. En ...
(called
State Technical College of Missouri since July 2014) in
Linn, Missouri
Linn is a city in Osage County, Missouri, United States. The population was 1,350 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Osage County. Linn is part of the Jefferson City, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area.
History
Linn was platted ...
, then announced an exploration of options for a new jointly operated technical college in early 2006. This was soon followed by reports that the property would become the Midwest Institute of Energy, a private college.
The institute missed its planned opening of 2009.
The Tarkio College Alumni Association preserved the original Tarkio College 1883 corporation and began the process to reopen the college in 2012 with a revised mission of providing continuing education for professionals as mandated for them by various state agencies, licensing boards or accrediting agencies. It does not provide academic credits at this time. Education and training will be available at locations throughout the United States as traditional seminars, online classes, interactive webinars—and also at the home campus in Tarkio, MO. The Alumni Association has rented the main building on the Tarkio campus, Rankin Hall, and is in the process of restoring this 1931 landmark. Robert A. Hughes, Tarkio College Class of 1971, is the current president of the newly reorganized college.
Effective September 2019, Tarkio College Inc. has been issued a Certificate of Operation from the Missouri Department of Higher Education. Operating as Tarkio Technology Institute, TTI or Tarkio Tech, as it is known locally offers technical certification courses for professionals in Plumbing, Wind Energy, and Welding.
January 6, 2020 ushered in a new era of education on the Tarkio College campus as it welcomed its first student in the welding program which, due to the small class size, was able to complete the program in 1 semester. During the summer semesters, Tarkio Tech is able to offer the full program in an intense 13 week program. The fall of 2020 marked the first official full year of classes in the 3 program areas originally approved by the state in September 2019.
New programs are being added for the 2021 school year to include HVAC training as well as computer repair and maintenance. Programs will continually be added as Tarkio Tech continues to expand the programs offered to meet the regional employment needs in the four state area and beyond.
Educational records
After the college closed, student transcript records were transferred to
Northwest Missouri State University
Northwest Missouri State University is a public university in Maryville, Missouri. It has an enrollment of about 8,505 students. Founded in 1905 as a teachers college, its campus is based on the design for Forest Park at the 1904 St. Louis Worl ...
.
Athletics
The Tarkio athletic teams were called the Owls. The college was 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
Heart of America Athletic Conference
The Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC or The Heart) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Member institutions are located in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska in ...
(HAAC) from 1971–72 to 1991–92. The Owls previously competed in the
Missouri College Athletic Union The Missouri College Athletic Union (MCAU) was an intercollegiate athletic conference that existed from 1924 to 1971. It consisted primarily of private universities from the state of Missouri that departed the Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Asso ...
(MCAU) from 1924–25 to 1970–71.
Accomplishments
Tarkio College won the first
NAIA Division I Men's
basketball championship in 1940, defeating
San Diego State
San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...
52–31.
Tarkio College's 's softball team appeared in one
Women's College World Series
The Women's College World Series (WCWS) is the final portion of the NCAA Division I softball tournament for college softball in the United States. Eight teams participate in the WCWS, which begins with a double-elimination tournament. In other wo ...
in 1976.
Notable alumni
* Tarkio College alumnus
Wallace Hume Carothers
Wallace Hume Carothers (; April 27, 1896 – April 29, 1937) was an American chemist, inventor and the leader of organic chemistry at DuPont, who was credited with the invention of nylon.
Carothers was a group leader at the DuPont Experimen ...
(1896–1937) obtained his four-year degree at Tarkio College. He later taught at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
and is credited with the discovery of the artificial polymers
nylon
Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers composed of polyamides ( repeating units linked by amide links).The polyamides may be aliphatic or semi-aromatic.
Nylon is a silk-like thermoplastic, generally made from petro ...
and
neoprene
Neoprene (also polychloroprene) is a family of synthetic rubbers that are produced by polymerization of chloroprene.Werner Obrecht, Jean-Pierre Lambert, Michael Happ, Christiane Oppenheimer-Stix, John Dunn and Ralf Krüger "Rubber, 4. Emulsion R ...
.
* Another chemist,
Carl Djerassi
Carl Djerassi (October 29, 1923 – January 30, 2015) was an Austrian-born Bulgarian-American pharmaceutical chemist, novelist, playwright and co-founder of Djerassi Resident Artists Program with Diane Middlebrook, Diane Wood Middlebrook. He is b ...
, attended Tarkio College shortly after his arrival in the U.S. as a refugee from Nazi-controlled
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
. He completed his undergraduate education at
Kenyon College
Kenyon College is a private liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio. It was founded in 1824 by Philander Chase. Kenyon College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.
Kenyon has 1,708 undergraduates enrolled. Its 1,000-acre campus is se ...
, then got his
PhD from the
University of Wisconsin
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
.
* Anthropologist
Edgar Lee Hewett
Edgar Lee Hewett (November 23, 1865 – December 31, 1946) was an American archaeologist and anthropologist whose focus was the Native American communities of New Mexico and the southwestern United States. He is best known for his role in ...
(1865–1946) received his degree in pedagogy from Tarkio College. He is remembered for helping to bring about the
Antiquities Act
The Antiquities Act of 1906 (, , ), is an act that was passed by the United States Congress and signed into law by Theodore Roosevelt on June 8, 1906. This law gives the President of the United States the authority to, by presidential procla ...
that enabled preservation of archaeological sites as United States national monuments. He was also the first president of the New Mexico Normal School, whose current name is
New Mexico Highlands University
New Mexico Highlands University (NMHU) is a public university in Las Vegas, New Mexico. Founded in 1893, it has satellite campuses in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Rio Rancho, Farmington and Roswell. NMHU has an average annual enrollment of approximate ...
.
* US Senator and 2016 presidential candidate
Marco Rubio
Marco Antonio Rubio (born May 28, 1971) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the senior United States senator from Florida, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he served as Speaker of the Florida Hous ...
(R-FL) attended the college for one year on a
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
scholarship before moving on to
Santa Fe College
Santa Fe College is a public college based in Gainesville, Florida, with satellite campuses in Alachua and Bradford counties. It is part of the Florida College System. It was established in 1965 as Santa Fe Junior College by the Florida Legisl ...
in Florida.
* Tarkio alumnus
Allen Reynolds
Allen Reynolds (born August 18, 1938) is an American record producer and songwriter who specializes in country music. He has been inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum.
Biography
Early ...
graduated in 1960 and went on to play professional football with the Dallas Texans 1960–62. The team moved to Kansas City where he played with the Kansas City Chiefs 1963–67. He was number 60 and played offensive right guard.
*
John H. Eastwood was a chaplain in the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
464th Bombardment Group during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
*
Neil M. Stevenson, former
Chief of Chaplains of the United States Navy
The Chief of Chaplains of the United States Navy (CHC) is the highest-ranking military chaplain in the United States Navy and head of the United States Navy Chaplain Corps. As part of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations and Department of ...
.
References
{{Reflist
External links
Tarkio College websiteTarkio College Alumni Association''First Bank v. Tarkio College''– bankruptcy decision from the
U.S. eighth Circuit Court of Appeals
''A College Acts in Desperation And Dies Playing the Lender"– New York Times story about acts of fraud committed by Tarkio College
Buildings and structures in Atchison County, Missouri
Educational institutions established in 1883
Educational institutions disestablished in 1992
Education in Atchison County, Missouri
1883 establishments in Missouri
Defunct private universities and colleges in Missouri