Converse College

Converse College is a private university in Spartanburg, South Carolina. It consists of an undergraduate coeducational college as well as coeducational graduate, online, and summer programs. It was established in 1889 by a group of Spartanburg residents and named after textile pioneer Dexter Edgar Converse.

Converse College
TypePrivate
Established1889 (1889)
Endowment$78.4 million (2019)[1]
PresidentKrista Newkirk
ProvostJeffrey Barker
Students1,389
Undergraduates822
Postgraduates567
Location
Spartanburg
,
South Carolina
,
United States

34°57′16.59″N 81°55′01.51″W
CampusUrban
70 acres (0.3 km2)
ColorsPurple and Gold
NicknameValkyries
AffiliationsConference Carolinas
MascotVal the Valkyrie
Websiteconverse.edu

History
Dexter Edgar Converse
Converse College Historic District
Location580 E. Main St., Spartanburg, South Carolina
Area20 acres (8.1 ha)
Built1891 (1891)-1915
ArchitectHook, Charles
Architectural styleLate Gothic Revival, Romanesque, Richardson Romanesque
NRHP reference No.75001706[2]
Added to NRHPNovember 12, 1975

Converse College opened on October 1, 1890, with a student body of 168 and 16 faculty members. The college operated as a "stock company" with the board of directors composed entirely of residents of Spartanburg. Dexter Edgar Converse, a native of Vermont who had settled in Spartanburg before the American Civil War and had become a successful pioneer in the cotton mill industry, served as the head of the first board of directors. On January 2, 1892, fire destroyed the college's main building. The building was enlarged during its reconstruction. In 1896, the college was incorporated in South Carolina and a self-perpetuating board of trustees was named. In 1964, the college introduced graduate programs.

The Converse College Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.[2] It encompasses eight contributing buildings dated between 1891 and 1915. They are the Main Building (Wilson Hall) (1892), Annex (Pell Hall, 1891), Twichell Auditorium (1898–1899), Carnegie Library (1905), Cleveland House (c. 1905), Judd Science Hall (1915), Dexter Hall (1899) and Towne House (1898). The buildings are representative of the Romanesque Revival, Gothic Revival, and Neo-Classical styles.[3][4]

The college plans to change its name to "Converse University" in the summer of 2021. The college also plans to "expand its undergraduate residential program from single-gender to co-ed" by admitting male undergraduate students for the fall of 2021.[5]

Presidents
NameYears served
Benjamin F. Wilson 1890–1902
Robert Paine Pell 1902–1932
Edward Moseley Gwathmey 1933–1955
Oliver Cromwell Carmichael, Jr. 1956–1960
Robert T. Coleman, Jr. 1961–1989
Ellen Wood Hall 1989–1993
Sandra C. Thomas 1994–1998
Nancy Oliver Gray 1999–2005
Elizabeth A. Fleming 2006–2016
Krista L. Newkirk 2016 – Present

Academics

Converse College has an undergraduate enrollment of about 800 students. The graduate enrollment of about 550 students is made up of both men and women.

The academic programs are organized in the following departments:

  • Art and Design
  • Biology, Chemistry and Physics
  • Economics, Accounting and Business
  • Education
  • English/Creative and Professional Writing
  • Languages, Cultures and Literature
  • Health and Physical Education
  • History and Politics
  • Mathematics and Computer Science
  • Psychology
  • Religion and Philosophy
  • Theater and Dance
  • Music

Athletics

Converse College teams participate as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division II. The Valkyries are a member of the Conference Carolinas. Women's sports include acrobatics and tumbling, basketball, cross country, equestrian, field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball, track and field (indoor and outdoor), golf, tennis, swimming, and volleyball.

Converse will add men's sports when it becomes fully coeducational in July 2021, initially fielding teams in basketball, cross country, soccer, tennis, track and field (indoor and outdoor), and eSports (Co-Ed). With the "Valkyries" nickname being distinctly feminine, the school has not yet announced whether it will use that nickname for its men's teams, adopt a separate men's nickname, or change its nickname entirely.[6]

Notable alumnae
  • Kimilee Bryant, Broadway actress and Miss South Carolina 1989[7]
  • Phyllis Harris '82, senior vice president and general counsel of legal administration for Walmart Stores.[8]

Notable faculty

References
The concert hall, Converse College
  1. As of June 30, 2019. "U.S. and Canadian 2019 NTSE Participating Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year 2019 Endowment Market Value, and Percentage Change in Market Value from FY18 to FY19 (Revised)". National Association of College and University Business Officers and TIAA. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  2. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  3. Mary Ann Eaddy and Georgianna Graham (May 1975). "Converse Heights Historic District" (pdf). National Register of Historic Places – Nomination and Inventory. Retrieved July 1, 2014.
  4. "Converse College Historic District, Spartanburg County (Spartanburg)". National Register Properties in South Carolina. South Carolina Department of Archives and History. Retrieved July 1, 2014. and accompanying map
  5. "Converse College Board of Trustees Announces Dynamic Changes". Converse College. February 7, 2020. Retrieved February 10, 2020.
  6. "Converse Announces Inaugural Men's NCAA Division II Athletic Teams for 2021-2022" (Press release). Converse College. April 8, 2020. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
  7. "Broadway actress Kimilee Bryant returns to Greenville". The Greenville News. June 10, 2015. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
  8. "Phyllis P. Harris". Retrieved February 17, 2016.
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