Georgia Southern University–Armstrong Campus
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Georgia Southern University–Armstrong Campus, formerly Armstrong State University, is one of three campuses of
Georgia Southern University Georgia Southern University (informally known as Southern or Georgia Southern) is a public university, public research university in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The largest campus is in Statesboro, Georgia, Statesboro, with ...
, a
public university A public university, state university, or public college is a university or college that is State ownership, owned by the state or receives significant funding from a government. Whether a national university is considered public varies from o ...
in the U.S. state of
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
. Occupying a area on the residential southside of
Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Brita ...
, the school became one of three campuses of Georgia Southern University in 2018. The university's flagship campus is in Statesboro, west of Savannah. The Armstrong campus is located approximately from downtown Savannah and from
Tybee Island Tybee Island ( ) is a city and a barrier island in Chatham County, Georgia, 18 miles (29 km) east of Savannah. The name is used for both the city and the island, but geographically the two are not identical: only part of the island's terri ...
. Armstrong offers undergraduate and graduate degrees; it has a total student enrollment of approximately 5,000 students.


History

The Armstrong campus was founded as Armstrong Junior College in 1935 by Mayor Thomas Gamble. Gamble pursued the issue during the height of the
Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
to benefit Savannah's youth and the community, as well as aid in stimulating the local economy. The college was originally located in the historic Armstrong House adjacent to
Forsyth Park Forsyth Park (formerly known as the Military Parade Ground)''Charles Seton Henry Hardee's Recollections of old Savannah'', Martha Gallaudet Waring, ''The Georgia Historical Quarterly'', JSTOR (1929), p. 34 is a large city park that occupies in ...
in downtown Savannah. The mansion was given to the city as a gift from the family of George F. Armstrong, a local businessman involved in the shipping industry. The college eventually grew to encompass six buildings in the Forsyth and Monterey Square areas of Savannah. In 1959, Armstrong College of Savannah became part of the
University System of Georgia The University System of Georgia (USG) is the government agency that includes 26 public institutions of higher learning in the U.S. state of Georgia. The system is governed by the Georgia Board of Regents. It sets goals and dictates gener ...
as a community college, and in 1964 the
Board of Regents In the United States, a board often governs institutions of higher education, including private universities, state universities, and community colleges. In each US state, such boards may govern either the state university system, individual co ...
conferred four-year status on Armstrong State College.
Donald Livingston Donald W. Livingston is a former Professor of Philosophy at Emory University and a David Hume scholar. In 2003 he founded the Abbeville Institute, which is devoted to the study of Southern culture and political ideas. Early life and education ...
and the Mills B. Lane Foundation provided the college with 250 acres of land on the southwest side of Savannah. Eight buildings were constructed on the property and the college moved from the Armstrong House downtown to the suburban location in January 1966. The school played
NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...
athletics briefly, from 1983 to 1987, as part of the
Big South Conference The Big South Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. Originally a non-football conference, the Big South began sponsoring football in 2002 as part of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), ...
. The school later dropped athletics. Over the years the college expanded, adding new buildings and expanding academic programs. In 1993, the college began extensive landscaping work that transformed the campus into an
arboretum An arboretum (: arboreta) is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees and shrubs of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, many modern arbor ...
. Armstrong State College gained
state university A public university, state university, or public college is a university or college that is State ownership, owned by the state or receives significant funding from a government. Whether a national university is considered public varies from o ...
status in 1996 and duly changed its name to Armstrong Atlantic State University. The following year the university opened the Liberty Center in Hinesville. The university celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2010, inaugurating Dr. Linda M. Bleicken as its seventh president. In 2014 the school officially changed its name to Armstrong State University, to help minimize confusion regarding the school's location, make the name easier to say, and create a stronger brand for the school. The name change became effective on July 1, 2014. Armstrong celebrated its 80th anniversary and the 50th anniversary of the university's move to the Southside during the 2015–16 academic year. Presently, the campus is no longer an independent institution with a separate accreditation.


Consolidation with Georgia Southern University

On January 11, 2017, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, on recommendation by Chancellor Steve Wrigley, voted to consolidate Armstrong State with
Georgia Southern University Georgia Southern University (informally known as Southern or Georgia Southern) is a public university, public research university in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The largest campus is in Statesboro, Georgia, Statesboro, with ...
. The merger, without any student-faculty input from the two schools, was to take place as part of a long-term goal of the Board of Regents to consolidate smaller, regional colleges and universities with larger, more well-known institutions. Under the consolidation plan, Armstrong State would inherit Georgia Southern's name, leadership, academics, and athletics, and the merged institution would become the fourth-largest public university in the state: the "''New'' Georgia Southern University". Consolidation, which took a full year to implement, was officially proclaimed by the Board of Regents on January 17, 2018.


Campus

The Armstrong campus is located in a
suburban A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...
setting near the
Savannah Mall Savannah Mall is a defunct two-level enclosed regional shopping mall on the southside of Savannah, Georgia, that opened August 29, 1990. The mall is anchored by Target, Bass Pro Shops, and Dillard's. The lower level of the anchor pad that is occ ...
, with direct access to downtown Savannah via Abercorn Expressway. The landscaped campus includes subtropical ferns and flowers,
southern magnolia ''Magnolia grandiflora'', commonly known as the southern magnolia or bull bay, is a tree of the family Magnoliaceae native to the Southeastern United States, from Virginia to central Florida, and west to East Texas. Reaching in height, it is a ...
s,
oak trees An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...
draped with
Spanish moss Spanish moss (''Tillandsia usneoides'') is an Epiphyte, epiphytic flowering plant that often grows upon large trees in tropical and subtropical climates. It is native to much of Mexico, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Central America, South America (as far ...
, and a wide variety of native plants scattered throughout the arboretum-style grounds. Lane Library is the main academic and research library on the Armstrong campus. Lane Library's collection comprises more than 200,000 books and printed materials as well as 18,000 audiovisual works. The university recently invested $5 million in a renovation and expansion of the facility. The Science Center complex is a two-building complex connected by an enclosed glass walkway. The Science Center is home to many of the College of Science and Technology programs, including Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Computer Science, Physical Science, and Psychology. It includes classroom and lecture space, faculty offices, and labs. The facility opened in 2001 as the largest single increase in instructional space on campus since the campus opened. A , $24 million Student Union opened in 2010. It is the university's first
green building Green building (also known as green construction, sustainable building, or eco-friendly building) refers to both a structure and the application of processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's li ...
, built with rapidly renewable and recycled materials and featuring a high-efficiency chilled water cooling system. The Union houses a 300-seat
food court A food court (in Asia-Pacific also called food hall or hawker centre) is generally an indoor plaza or common area within a facility that is contiguous with the counters of multiple food Vendor, vendors and provides a common area for self-serve di ...
(known as the Galley), 200-seat
movie theatre A movie theater (American English) or cinema (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as a movie house, cinema hall, picture house, picture theater, the movies, the pictures, or simply theater, is a business ...
,
ballroom A ballroom or ballhall is a large room inside a building, the primary purpose of which is holding large formal parties called ''balls''. Traditionally, most balls were held in private residences; many mansions and palaces, especially histori ...
,
bookstore Bookselling is the commercial trading of books, which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, book people, bookmen, or bookwomen. History The found ...
,
coffeehouse A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually called ''nargi ...
,
convenience store A convenience store, convenience shop, bakkal, bodega, corner store, corner shop, superette or mini-mart is a small retail store that stocks a range of everyday items such as convenience food, groceries, beverages, tobacco products, lotter ...
, and expansive porches and lounges. Next to the Student Union is the Memorial College Center. Commonly known as the MCC, it houses Student Affairs and Student Activities offices. Armstrong's athletic facilities are located in the southeast area of campus. The Student Recreation and Aquatic Center is a athletic facility that includes a fitness center, and two basketball courts. The facility is home to the ROTC program and was the formerly home to the Armstrong Pirate volleyball team. The Alumni Arena is located adjacent to the Rec Center and includes an indoor running track, weight room, coaches offices, classroom space, and a 4,000-seat arena home to the men's and women's basketball teams. Since consolidation with Georgia Southern, the campus has not maintained a separate athletics program, with the future of these athletic facilities uncertain . Near the end of the 2017–2018 academic year, there were talks of renovating the campus's current athletic facilities to allow for the university's tennis and soccer teams to practice and play at the Armstrong Campus, in addition to creating new recreational and general purpose fields. Such a proposal, if approved, could take up to a decade to complete, with the entire project having a low-end cost of $40 million to upgrade the campus's current athletic facilities, including infrastructure needs as mandated by division standards. More than 1,400 students live on campus within three residential communities located in the southwest portion of the campus. Windward Commons is Armstrong's suite-style freshmen residential community which opened in 2010 and is home to nearly 600 students. It features private and semi-private suites, music practice rooms, multipurpose classrooms, lounges/social areas, laundry facilities, courtyards with outdoor sitting space and
barbecue Barbecue or barbeque (often shortened to BBQ worldwide; barbie or barby in Australia and New Zealand) is a term used with significant regional and national variations to describe various cooking methods that employ live fire and smoke to coo ...
areas, and two classrooms. Compass Point and University Crossings are apartment-style residence halls intended for upperclassmen and graduate students. On April 24, 2013, Armstrong completed renovations to the Memorial College Center, opening the Learning Commons. The space was developed as an extension to the Lane Library. Features include PC and Mac computers, three
multi-touch In computing, multi-touch is technology that enables a surface (a touchpad or touchscreen) to recognize the presence of more than one somatosensory system, point of contact with the surface at the same time. The origins of multitouch began at CE ...
tables, and group study rooms.


Academics

Armstrong features more than 100 academic programs and offers
bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...
s,
master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate 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 prac ...
s, and
doctoral degree A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...
s through its College of Education, College of Health Professions, College of Liberal Arts, College of Science and Technology, and Graduate Studies programs. In addition, the school offers a Doctorate of Physical Therapy. The campus is classified as a Master’s college and university by the
Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, or simply the Carnegie Classification, is a framework for classifying colleges and universities in the United States. It was created in 1970 by the Carnegie Foundation for the Ad ...
. For the 2010–11 academic year, Armstrong was not ranked and deemed a ''Tier 2'' university by '' U.S. News & World Report''. The university has full accreditation from the
Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) is a regional educational accreditor recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. As of 2022, the organization oversees app ...
. The university does not utilize graduate students to teach classes as all are taught by members of the Armstrong faculty. Armstrong has nearly 300 faculty members and a student-to-faculty ratio of 19:1. The university offers
study abroad International students or exchange students, also known as foreign students, are students who undertake all or part of their secondary or tertiary education in a country other than their own. In 2022, there were over 6.9 million international ...
and
honors programs An honors program is an undergraduate program in an institute of higher education providing exceptional scholars with supplemental or alternative curricular and non-curricular programs, privileges, special access, scholarships, and distinguished ...
and opportunities for undergraduates to participate in research across a variety of disciplines.


College of Education

Armstrong's College of Education offers degree programs via two primary departments: Childhood & Exceptional Student Education and Adolescent & Adult Education. The programs prepare graduates for the education field as well as other positions in education administration. In 2010 the college received continued accreditation through 2017 under performance-oriented standards of the
National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) was a professional accreditor focused on accrediting teacher education programs in U.S. colleges and universities. It was founded in 1954 and was recognized as an accreditor by ...
(NCATE).


College of Health Professions

The College of Health Professionals is the largest academic college at Armstrong in terms of enrollment. The college offers a range of academic programs that prepare students for careers in
nursing Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...
,
public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the de ...
,
health administration Health administration, healthcare administration, healthcare management, health services management or hospital management is the field relating to leadership, management, and administration of public health systems, health care systems, ho ...
, and the allied health professions. It confers degrees ranging from associate's through master's and doctoral.


College of Liberal Arts

Liberal arts Liberal arts education () is a traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''skill, art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the fine arts. ''Liberal arts education'' can refe ...
have been the foundation of education at Armstrong since its founding. The College of Liberal Arts includes various departments and interdisciplinary programs that prepare graduates for careers in
government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
,
criminal justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing other ...
,
law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...
,
business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for ...
, and
entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and Interest (emotion), interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but it is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have deve ...
. Students in the College of Liberal Arts study the
arts The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices involving creativity, creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, deeds, and existence in an extensive ...
,
humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...
, and
social sciences Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of society, societies and the Social relation, relationships among members within those societies. The term was former ...
in classroom environments and through internships, performances, exhibitions, undergraduate research projects, and study abroad programs. Departments include Art, Music and Theatre, Criminal Justice, Social & Political Science, Economics, History, Languages, Literature & Philosophy, Interdisciplinary Programs, and Military Science/ROTC.


College of Science and Technology

The College of Science and Technology at Armstrong has a strong emphasis on student
research Research is creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge. It involves the collection, organization, and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness to ...
opportunities that prepare students for graduate programs. Areas of study in the College of Science and Technology includes: Biology, Chemistry & Physics, Computer Science & Information Technology, Biochemistry, Engineering, Mathematics, and Psychology.


Liberty Campus

The Liberty Campus in Hinesville, which offers select academic programs to residents of
Liberty County Liberty County is the name of four counties in the United States: * Liberty County, Florida * Liberty County, Georgia * Liberty County, Montana * Liberty County, Texas Liberty County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 ...
and surrounding areas, serves as the third campus of Georgia Southern, which operates under the Armstrong Campus. The Liberty Campus provides special services to
Fort Stewart Fort Stewart is a United States Army post in the U.S. state of Georgia. It lies primarily in Liberty and Bryan counties, but also extends into smaller portions of Evans, Long, and Tattnall Counties. The nearby city of Hinesville, along with ...
military personnel and their families. A variety of programs are offered or supported, including associate’s degrees in arts and applied sciences, and bachelor's degrees in criminal justice, nursing, early childhood education, middle grades education, and liberal studies, with plans to develop consortium programs with
Savannah State University Savannah State University (SSU) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black university in Savannah, Georgia, United States. It is the oldest historically black public university in the state. Th ...
in the upcoming years. The Liberty Campus's current facilities opened in downtown Hinesville in January 2016.


Student life

Armstrong offers many opportunities for students to participate in extracurricular programs, organizations, performances, forums, and athletics. The university has over 100 student organizations and an expanding Greek life system with nine
fraternity A fraternity (; whence, "wikt:brotherhood, brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club (organization), club or fraternal order traditionally of men but also women associated together for various religious or secular ...
and
sorority In North America, fraternities and sororities ( and ) are social clubs at colleges and universities. They are sometimes collectively referred to as Greek life or Greek-letter organizations, as well as collegiate fraternities or collegiate sorori ...
organizations. The Student Government Association, Graduate Student Coordinating Council, and University Programming Board (formerly known as CUB, for Campus Union Board, prior to consolidation) offer many opportunities for involvement, leadership, and entertainment. ''The Inkwell'' is the university's student-run award-winning publication, published every Thursday during the semester. The university also sponsors a number of recreational intramural and club sports, including
dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
,
flag football Flag football is a variant of gridiron football (American football or Canadian football depending on location) where, instead of Tackle (football move)#Gridiron football, tackling players to the ground, the defensive team must remove a flag or ...
,
tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
,
rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...
,
ultimate Frisbee Ultimate frisbee (officially simply called ultimate) is a non-contact team sport played with a disc flung by hand. Ultimate was developed in 1968 by Joel Silver, Buzzy Hellring, and Jonny Hines in Maplewood, New Jersey. Although ultimate rese ...
,
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
,
bowling Bowling is a Throwing sports#Target sports, target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a bowling ball, ball toward Bowling pin, pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). Most references to ''bowling'' are ...
, basketball, and
billiards Cue sports are a wide variety of games of skill played with a cue stick, which is used to strike billiard balls and thereby cause them to move around a cloth-covered table bounded by elastic bumpers known as . Cue sports, a category of stic ...
. The ''Calliope'' was Armstrong's student literature and art magazine. It received a First Place/Special Merit award from the American Scholastic Press Association in 2010, but was retired following the consolidation. Celebrate Armstrong occurs in October and is planned by the University Programming Board (UPB). Celebrate Armstrong consists of different kinds of activities, entertainment, and competitions. The UPB also hosted the annual ''Big Show'' in the spring, a concert that has included performances from
Gym Class Heroes Gym Class Heroes was an American rap rock band from Geneva, New York. The group formed in 1997 when Travie McCoy met drummer Matt McGinley during their high school gym class. The band's music displays a wide variety of influences, including h ...
,
Maroon 5 Maroon 5 is an American pop rock band from Los Angeles, California. It consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Adam Levine, rhythm guitarist and keyboardist Jesse Carmichael, lead guitarist James Valentine (musician), James Valentine, d ...
, and
Migos Migos () were an American hip hop group founded in Lawrenceville, Georgia, in 2008. The group was composed of rapper Quavo, his nephew Takeoff, and their "cousin" friend Offset. Quavo is from Athens, Georgia, while Offset and Takeoff were bo ...
. The campus offers numerous volunteering opportunities to give back to the local community. The campus started the Initiative for Civic Engagement in 2009, making community service an active part of the curriculum. Hundreds of students, faculty, staff, and alumni turn out for joint outreach projects or the biannual ''Treasure Savannah'' Day of Service.


Student Government Association

The Student Government Association (SGA) for the Armstrong Campus consists of an executive and a legislative branch. The first student association on the campus was the Armstrong Student Association, founded by Armstrong Junior College's inaugural class in 1935. SGA's current system has existed since the summer of 2018, when the constitution for the post-consolidation Georgia Southern University took effect. In addition to the university-wide SGA President, the executive branch consists of an Executive Vice President, who chairs the ''Campus Executive Board'' for the Armstrong Campus, which includes the Executive Vice President, the Chief of Staff, other vice-president positions with their own specialty (e.g. for financial or academic affairs), and officers. The Campus Executive Board consists of elected and appointed officers and serves as an advisory body for the campus's University administrators. The legislative branch consists of a Senate, led by a Speaker, who presides over meetings of the Senate. The Senate consists of Senators representing the colleges housed on the Armstrong Campus (currently, the Colleges of Education, Health Professions, and Public Health), as well as two additional "colleges": Graduate Studies and At-Large, to ensure that graduate students and students whose major is not housed on the Armstrong Campus, respectively, are still represented. In addition to presiding over the Senate, the Speaker also chairs the Senate Advisory Council, which consists of the Speaker and other officers of the Senate Leadership, such as the Deputy Speaker, Senate Whip, Parliamentarian, and the chairs for the Senate's various standing committees. The Liberty Campus is represented by the Armstrong Campus, and includes a semi-autonomous Governing Board, led by an elected Director, and a Student Council, led by the assistant director.


Athletics (1935–2017)

Armstrong State University's consolidation with Georgia Southern spelled an end for Armstrong's athletics, being announced on March 7, 2017, that Armstrong's athletic program would be discontinued at the conclusion of the 2016–17 academic year. Armstrong's athletic teams were known as the Pirates. The university was a member at the Division II level of the
National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
(NCAA) as a charter member of the
Peach Belt Conference The Peach Belt Conference (PBC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. The 10 member institutions are located in the South Atlantic states of South Caroli ...
(PBC) from 1990–91 to their final season of competition in the 2016–17 academic year. Until 2016–17, Armstrong competed in twelve intercollegiate varsity sports, five men's and seven women's: Men's sports included baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, and tennis; while women's sports included basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, tennis and volleyball.


History

Athletics at Armstrong began at the start of the school's history in the 1930s with its teams known as the Geechees. The school won state championships as a junior college in 1938 in men's basketball and men's tennis. Athletics were suspended during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. Following the war, the college added new athletic programs, and in 1948 men's basketball won a second state championship. Armstrong joined the
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for higher education, colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic schola ...
(NAIA) in 1967 and became known as the Pirates after the college became a four-year institution. In 1973, it joined the
National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
(NCAA) and became a member of the
South Atlantic Conference The South Atlantic Conference (SAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the southeastern United States. The SAC was founded in 1975 as ...
(SAC) with in-state rivals Valdosta State College (now Valdosta State University), Columbus College (now Columbus State University), and Augusta College (now Augusta University). In 1983, Armstrong State College upgraded athletics to
NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...
and became a charter member of the
Big South Conference The Big South Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. Originally a non-football conference, the Big South began sponsoring football in 2002 as part of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), ...
in 1985. Soon after, in 1987, the Pirates returned to Division II, becoming a charter member of the
Peach Belt Conference The Peach Belt Conference (PBC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. The 10 member institutions are located in the South Atlantic states of South Caroli ...
in 1990. Armstrong holds 96 PBC championships. In addition, the university has appeared in 139
NCAA Championships The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and 1 in Canada. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and helps ...
, winning 13 titles. Armstrong has produced 296 All-Americans. The Armstrong men's and women's tennis teams have combined to capture 10 NCAA Division II national championships over the last nine seasons.


References


External links

*
Armstong State Athletics website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Georgia Southern University-Armstrong Campus Universities and colleges established in 1935 Educational institutions disestablished in 2018 Universities and colleges accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Universities and colleges in Savannah, Georgia Armstrong State University 1935 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) 2018 disestablishments in Georgia (U.S. state)