John Witherspoon College is a non-denominational Christian

liberal arts Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term '' art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically th ...

college in

Rapid City, South Dakota Rapid City ( lkt, link=no, Mni Lúzahaŋ Otȟúŋwahe; "Swift Water City") is the second most populous city in South Dakota and the county seat of Pennington County. Named after Rapid Creek, where the settlement developed, it is in western So ...

. The college was founded in 2012 and named after the pastor, scholar and American Founding Father

John Witherspoon John Witherspoon (February 5, 1723 – November 15, 1794) was a Scottish-American Presbyterian minister, educator, farmer, slaveholder, and a Founding Father of the United States. Witherspoon embraced the concepts of Scottish common sense real ...

. The college was created to serve both a local need for Christian higher education in the

Black Hills The Black Hills ( lkt, Ȟe Sápa; chy, Moʼȯhta-voʼhonáaeva; hid, awaxaawi shiibisha) is an isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, United States. Black ...

and the broader interest for classic liberal-arts education in America.

History

In 2004, the Black Hills Bible Institute was founded by members of South Canyon Baptist Church in Rapid City, South Dakota. Its chief instigator was Dr. C. Richard Wells, a member of the founding faculty of

Beeson Divinity School The Beeson Divinity School of Samford University is an interdenominational evangelical divinity school located in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. The current dean is Douglas A. Sweeney. Though located on the campus of a Baptist university, ...

, former President of

Criswell College Criswell College is a private Baptist Christian college and divinity school in Dallas, Texas. The college's stated mission is to provide ministerial and professional higher education for men and women preparing to serve as Christian leaders thro ...

, and the Pastor of South Canyon Baptist Church from 2004 to 2009. The purpose of the institute was to offer affordable, academic theological training in the Black Hills to students, including those transferred from other conforming Christian colleges. In 2009, Dr. Wells accepted an offer to be the Dean of Chapel at

Union University Union University is a private Baptist Christian university in Jackson, Tennessee, with additional campuses in Germantown and Hendersonville. The university is affiliated with the Tennessee Baptist Convention (Southern Baptist Convention). It is ...

Jackson, Tennessee Jackson is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Tennessee, United States. Located east of Memphis, it is a regional center of trade for West Tennessee. Its total population was 68,205 as of the 2020 United States census. Jackson ...

and in 2011 returned to Rapid City to restructure the Black Hills Bible Institute into John Witherspoon College, where he was president until 2019. On August 21, 2012, John Witherspoon College began its first classes. The Inaugural Convocation took place on the campus on September 6 with city mayor Sam Kooiker as the keynote speaker. US Senator

John Thune John Randolph Thune ( ; born January 7, 1961) is an American politician and businessman serving as the senior United States senator from South Dakota, a seat he has held since 2005, and as the Senate minority whip since 2021. A member of the Re ...

was the keynote speaker of the annual ScholarShare Banquet the following spring. For the tax year of 2012, the college had an income of about $255,000.

Accreditation

In fall 2014, the college announced that it had applicant status with the

Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools The Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools (TRACS) is a U.S. based institutional accreditation organization that focuses on Christian colleges, universities, and seminaries seeking collegiate accreditation in the United Stat ...

(TRACS), a Christian accrediting body recognized by the US Department of Education. The colleg
achieved
accredited status in April 2017.

Campus

The campus of John Witherspoon College is located at 4021 Range Road, collocated with BigHorn Canyon Community Church. This land was purchased by Black Hills Bible School in 1956 out of the 1200-acre holdings of the

Rapid City Indian School The Rapid City Indian School was located in Rapid City, South Dakota, and has since been converted into both an asylum and a hospital known as the Sioux San Hospital. The school opened 1898 as part of the federal government's off-reservation boa ...

. It was formerly the Abiding Word Lutheran Church. The college library and faculty offices are located in the Christ Church Annex at 414 S. Canyon Road. The college offers courses inside the Rapid City Juvenile Services Center for incarcerated youth who want to begin working on college degrees while serving time.

Cultural events

John Witherspoon College also hosts cultural events, bringing performers such as Michael Card and Ballet Magnificat! to perform in Rapid City.

References

{{authority control Union University Private universities and colleges in South Dakota Educational institutions established in 2004 2004 establishments in South Dakota Education in Rapid City, South Dakota