Chowan University ()
, from the North Carolina Collection's website at the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 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 ...

. Retrieved 2013-02-08. is a private

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

university in

Murfreesboro, North Carolina Murfreesboro is a town in Hertford County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 2,835 at the 2010 census. The town is home to Chowan University. Geography Murfreesboro is located in northwestern Hertford County at (36.440983, -77.0 ...

. It is affiliated with the

Baptist State Convention of North Carolina The Baptist State Convention of North Carolina (BSCNC) is an autonomous association of Baptist churches in the state of North Carolina. It is one of the state conventions associated with the Southern Baptist Convention. Headquartered in Cary, North ...

( Southern Baptist Convention). It is the second-oldest Baptist school in

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 ...

. The university offers associate, bachelor's, and

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

s in 70 academic disciplines and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The university enrolls about 1,000 students.

History

Chowan was founded by Godwin Cotton Moore in 1848 as Chowan Baptist Female Institute, a four-year

women's college Women's colleges in higher education are undergraduate, bachelor's degree-granting institutions, often liberal arts colleges, whose student populations are composed exclusively or almost exclusively of women. Some women's colleges admit male stud ...

. It traces its roots to the Hertford Academy. The McDowell Columns building, which houses the administrative offices of the college, was constructed in 1851. Between 1850 and 1867, the school changed names to the Chowan Female Collegiate Institute, then switched back to the Chowan Baptist Female Institute. The school was renamed Chowan College in 1910 when it began awarding

baccalaureate Baccalaureate may refer to: * ''Baccalauréat'', a French national academic qualification * Bachelor's degree, or baccalaureate, an undergraduate academic degree * English Baccalaureate, a performance measure to assess secondary schools in England ...

degrees, and began admitting male students in 1931. Financial strain from the effects of the Great Depression forced the school to become a two-year institution in 1937. In 1992, the college returned to four-year status when it admitted a junior class. The college's board of trustees elected to officially change the name to Chowan University on April 6, 2006, and the change in status took place on September 1, 2006. The school takes its name from the

Chowanoke The Chowanoke, also spelled Chowanoc, are an Algonquian-language Native American tribe who historically inhabited the coastal area of the Upper South of the United States. At the time of the first English contacts in 1585 and 1586, they were th ...

tribe of indigenous people who previously inhabited the land on which Murfreesboro and Chowan University stand.

Academics

Chowan offers over 70 academic programs, an honors college, study abroad, research opportunities, and internships. An academic assistance program and tutoring center provide academic assistance for the entire student population. Student tutors and the academic assistance team work one-on-one with students.

Accreditation

It is affiliated with the

( Southern Baptist Convention).

Athletics

Chowan changed affiliation to 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 ...

's (NCAA) Division II, primary competing in

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 ...

, and was formerly also a member of the

National Christian College 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 ...

. Chowan previously competed in the USA South Athletic Conference of the

Division III In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

and the

Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. CIAA institutions mostly consist of historically black coll ...

of the

's Division II. The school's original

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...

, adopted in the 1940s, was the Braves but was changed in 2006 to the Hawks due to NCAA policy on Native American mascots. Chowan University has the following athletic teams: Women's Soccer, Men's Soccer, Football, Volleyball, Men's and Women's Cross Country, Men's Basketball, Women's Basketball, Softball, Baseball, Men's and Women's Golf, Men's and Women's Tennis, Men's and Women's Lacrosse, Women's Bowling, Men's and Women's Swimming and Cheerleading.

Notable alumni

Elected officials

* Howard Jacque Hunter III, member of the North Carolina General Assembly * Timothy Douglas Hugo, American businessman, military veteran, and Republican politician in the Commonwealth of Virginia * Donald Strehle Whitehead, 23rd and 28th lieutenant governor of Idaho

Athletes

* Fred Banks, professional football player * Robert Brown, professional football player *

David Green David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

, professional football player *

Jerry Holmes Jerry Lee Holmes (born December 22, 1957) is an American football coach and former cornerback. He played ten seasons in the National Football League (NFL), mainly for New York Jets but also with the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers. He also ...

, professional football player *

George Koonce George Koonce (born October 15, 1968) is an American athlete and athletic director. A former linebacker in the National Football League (NFL), he served as the athletic director at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee between 2009 and 2010. Pl ...

, professional football player *

Nate McMillan Nathaniel McMillan (born August 3, 1964) is an American basketball coach and former player who serves as head coach of the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He coached the Seattle SuperSonics from 2000 to 2005, the Po ...

, professional basketball player and coach *

Mark Royals Mark Alan Royals (born June 22, 1965) is a former American football punter in the National Football League (NFL) for the Philadelphia Eagles, St. Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Pittsburgh Steelers, Detroit Lions, New Orleans Saints, Mia ...

, professional football player * Jody Schulz, professional football player * Curtis Whitley, professional football player

Other notable former students

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (sometimes also spelled Shaikh; also known by at least 50 pseudonyms; born March 1, 1964 or April 14, 1965) is a Pakistani Islamist militant held by the United States at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp under terrorism-re ...

, confessed planner of the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

. Mohammed transferred to

NC A&T North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (also known as North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina A&T, N.C. A&T, or simply A&T) is a public, historically black land-grant research university in Greensboro, North Carol ...

after only one semester.

References

External links

*
Chowan University Yearbooks and Student Newspapers
at the North Carolina Digital Heritage Center {{authority control Education in Hertford County, North Carolina Educational institutions established in 1848 Female seminaries in the United States Former women's universities and colleges in the United States Chowan Universities and colleges accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Private universities and colleges in North Carolina Liberal arts colleges in North Carolina 1848 establishments in North Carolina