Toccoa Falls College is a private Christian college in Toccoa Falls, Georgia. The campus occupies , bordering the

Chattahoochee National Forest The Chattahoochee River forms the southern half of the Alabama and Georgia border, as well as a portion of the Florida - Georgia border. It is a tributary of the Apalachicola River, a relatively short river formed by the confluence of the Chattah ...

and is home to

Toccoa Falls Toccoa Falls is a waterfall with a vertical drop of on the campus of Toccoa Falls College in Stephens County, Georgia. ''Toccoa'' comes from the Cherokee word "Tagwâ′hĭ", meaning "Catawba place" or "beautiful". Legend The land around ...

, a high waterfall. It is affiliated with the

Christian and Missionary Alliance The Alliance World Fellowship is the international governing body of the Christian and Missionary Alliance (The Alliance, also C&MA and CMA). The Alliance is an evangelical Protestant denomination within the Higher Life movement of Christianity ...

and is

accredited Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...

by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). The college is also a member of

Council for Christian Colleges and Universities The Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU) is a global organization of evangelical Christian colleges and universities. The headquarters is in Washington, D.C. History In 1976, presidents of colleges in the Christian College Co ...

History

In 1907, Toccoa Falls College was founded by Richard A. Forrest in the community of Golden Valley,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

, as the Golden Valley Institute. On January 1, 1911, Forrest put $10.00 down on the $25,000.00 purchase price for the Haddock Inn and of land in northeast Georgia. In October, he relocated the school to near

Toccoa, Georgia Toccoa is a city in far Northeast Georgia near the border with South Carolina. It is the county seat of Stephens County, Georgia, United States, located about from Athens and about northeast of Atlanta. The population was 9,133 as of the 202 ...

, in order to be near a mainline railroad. He renamed the school Toccoa Falls Institute and added secondary school courses to the theological classes. A 1913 fire destroyed the Haddock Inn, which was the classroom and residence building. After operating in tents for a time, the school built a new campus. In 1928 the secondary courses were reorganized, and the state of Georgia accredited it as Toccoa Falls High School, which remained open until 1976. In 1937, the state chartered the four-year college program and allowed it to grant the degree

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 year ...

in Biblical Education.

Dam break disaster

On November 6, 1977, the Kelly Barnes Dam, which had been built up and used by the college for electrical power since the Toccoa Falls Institute days, collapsed. The lake it impounded drained through the lower part of the campus. The resulting

flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

killed 39 people and injured 60, as well as destroying much of the on-campus married student housing and damaging part of the men's dormitory. The dam was never rebuilt. With the destruction of the dam and the subsequent draining of the lake, there exists no possibility of a similar flood.

Recent history

The current president, Dr. Robert Myers, became the seventh president of the college in 2012. On January 12, 2009, Gate Cottage, one of the most historic buildings on campus, was destroyed by fire. The cottage had been built in 1939 and was the fourth oldest building on campus. No one was in the building at the time of the fire. Gate Cottage has been rebuilt with a bigger gift shop and dining area for various occasions, but without the School of Counseling, which was relocated to a new location between the Mission Building and Bandy Hall.

Toccoa Falls

With a vertical drop of ,

, located on the college campus, stands as one of the tallest free-falling waterfalls in the eastern United States. The waterfall was purchased in 1907 as part of the campus of Toccoa Falls College and stands today as the distinguishing landmark of the college. Locals commonly refer to it as “The Falls.”

Academics

Toccoa Falls College consists of four schools (School of Christian Ministries, School of Arts and Sciences, School of Professional Studies, and the Fetterman School of Nursing) with a total of ten departments. Within these departments, 35 majors and 43 minors are offered. The Seby Jones Library is the primary academic library on campus.

Campus life

Toccoa Falls College offers a wide variety of activities. Intercollegiate and intramural sports as well as the Student Government Association (SGA) are two of the main extracurricular possibilities for student participation.

Campus housing and residence life

On-campus student housing consists of single-sex dormitories, a large men's dormitory, two women's dormitories, and some smaller, suite-style dormitories, as well as various cottages, including married student housing. On-campus housing is advised by the college in the handbook, and is required for all regular underclassmen. There is a mandatory curfew for all on-campus students. * Forrest Hall - men's dormitory * Letourneau and Fant Halls - women's dormitories * Terraces - men's terraces and women's terraces (these include Alys Reeder, Louise Bell, Damron, McDuffy, Powell, Tyler, Prentice and Hilyard) * Married student apartments (colloquially, MSA)

Sports

Toccoa Falls College offers a variety of sports, both intercollegiate and intramural. Men's sports include soccer, baseball, and basketball. Women's sports include soccer, basketball, and volleyball. * The baseball team won the NCCAA Division II National Championship in 2009, 2011, 2012, and 2013. Additionally, in 2012 and 2013 the baseball team won the NCCAA Division II Regional Championship. * The women's soccer team won the NCCAA Division II Regional Championship in 2010. * The women's basketball team won the NCCAA Division II National Championship in 1986 and 1992. Intramural sports include soccer, basketball, softball, spike ball, tennis, volleyball, beach volleyball, ultimate frisbee, and flag football.

Radio

The college's student-run radio station was WTXR, The Eagle 89.7. The college also operated WRAF, a radio station with various teaching and preaching programming as well as Christian music and a weekly Radio Theater program. All of the college's radio holdings, including WTXR and WRAF, were sold to Radio Training Network, Inc. effective July 25, 2016, for $2.1 million. WRAF is now a

repeater In telecommunications, a repeater is an electronic device that receives a signal and retransmits it. Repeaters are used to extend transmissions so that the signal can cover longer distances or be received on the other side of an obstruction. Som ...

station for

WLFJ-FM WLFJ-FM (89.3 MHz, "His Radio 89.3") is a Christian radio station serving the Upstate, including Spartanburg, Anderson and Clemson. Owned by Radio Training Network, it broadcasts a contemporary Christian music format. Three family ministri ...

at W220CK.

Athletics

The Toccoa Falls athletic teams are called the Screaming Eagles. The college is a member of the

National Christian Collegiate Athletic Association The National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) is an association of Christian universities, colleges, and Bible colleges in the United States and Canada whose mission is "the promotion and enhancement of intercollegiate athletic ...

(NCCAA), primarily competing as an independent in the South Region of the Division II level. Toccoa Falls competes in six intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball and soccer; while women's sports include basketball, soccer and volleyball.

Notable alumni

Aaron Shust Aaron Michael Shust (born October 31, 1975) is an American contemporary Christian music artist formerly on the Brash Music and Centricity Music labels, and now on his own label. Shust was named the Songwriter of the Year at the GMA Dove Awards o ...

- Contemporary Christian music artistArchived a
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine
* Isaac Robinson - Professional disc golfer

References

External links

*
Official athletics website
{{Coord, 34.59570, N, 83.35160, W, source:placeopedia, display=title Educational institutions established in 1907 Universities and colleges affiliated with the Christian and Missionary Alliance Universities and colleges accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Education in Stephens County, Georgia Buildings and structures in Stephens County, Georgia Evangelicalism in Georgia (U.S. state) Council for Christian Colleges and Universities 1907 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Private universities and colleges in Georgia (U.S. state)