Furman University

Furman University
Motto Christo et Doctrinae
Motto in English For Christ and Learning
Established 1826
Type Private
Endowment US$444 million [1]
President Dr. David Shi
Faculty 272
Undergraduates 2,801
Postgraduates 176
Location Greenville, South Carolina, United States
Campus Suburban
750 acre (3 km²)
Athletics 21 varsity teams
Colors Royal Purple and White     ;    
Nickname Paladins
Athletics Division I
Affiliations Southern Conference
Website www.furman.edu
Furman Logo.svg

Furman University is a private, coeducational, non-sectarian university in Greenville, South Carolina, United States. Furman is the oldest, largest and most selective private institution in South Carolina and is one of the top liberal arts colleges in the United States.[1] Founded in 1826, Furman enrolls approximately 2,550 undergraduate and 525 graduate students on its 750 acre (3 km²) campus. More of Furman University’s graduates have gone on to earn Ph.D. degrees in recent years than any other private liberal arts college in the South, according to a survey conducted by the University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center.[2] Today Furman offers majors and programs in 42 subjects. Undergraduates come from 46 states and 31 countries.[citation needed]

Furman is a member of Associated Colleges of the South.

Contents

History

1909 postcard of Furman University, Greenville

Furman was founded in 1826 at Edgefield, SC as a Men's Academy and Theological Institute finally locating in Greenville, South Carolina in 1850. It was named for Richard Furman of Charleston, SC, a prominent minister and president of the first Baptist convention in America, the Trienniel Convention.[3] The original school building from that campus is located on the current Greenville campus today. In 1933, students from the Greenville Women's College began attending classes with Furman students. Shortly thereafter, the two schools merged to form the present institution. Furman began construction on its new campus, just five miles (8 km) north of downtown Greenville, in 1956. Classes on the new campus began in 1958. Now a private, non-religiously affiliated university, Furman was founded by, and affiliated with the South Carolina Baptist Convention and the Southern Baptist Convention until separating in the 1991 - 1992 school year. However, the university's motto remains Christo et Doctrinae (For Christ and Learning), and, according to Furman University's official website, "is rooted in the non-creedal, free church Baptist tradition which has always valued particular religious commitments while insisting not only on the freedom of the individual to believe as he or she sees fit but also on respect for a diversity of religious perspectives...". Furman University is part of the Duke Endowment. The Duke Endowment is private foundation established by industrialist and philanthropist James B. Duke. The market value of the Duke Endowment's assets have grown to approximately $3.5 billion. From 1924-2007, the Duke Endowment has given Furman $110 million,[4] which is 5% of the Duke Endowment's total awards.

Furman University's Hartness Welcome Center, Office of Admissions and Financial Aid
The Bell Tower, a frequent icon for the university.

Its current president is David E. Shi, who graduated from Furman in 1973. Shi was a national leader in college working to promote sustainability and to become carbon neutral. On December 15, 2009, Furman announced that Rodney A. Smolla, currently the Dean of Washington and Lee's law school will become the 11th president of the university, effective July 1, 2010.[5]

Academics

Furman offers majors and programs in 42 subjects and undergraduates come from 46 states and 31 countries. Furman has produced six Rhodes scholars and 17 Truman scholars.[6] Furman has a course in nature or environmental studies as an undergraduate requirement.

Rankings

Furman was ranked no. 15 in the Washington Monthly's Top US Liberal Arts Colleges Rankings based on its production of research valuable to society and its commitment to national service.[7] Furman has been ranked no.4 in U.S. News Best Undergraduate Research Programs along with MIT, Stanford and Michigan.[8] The university's engaged learning academic program, which promotes problem-solving, project-oriented, experience-based education, has received high praise from The Princeton Review, Peterson's Competitive Colleges , The Fiske Guide to Colleges and The College Board College Handbook . In terms of input, meaning the quality of the students the institution attracts, Furman was ranked no. 30 in the SSRN's U.S Colleges and Universities Preference Rankings (based on the choice to enroll of high-achieving students in US)[9] The Chronicle of Higher Education also ranked Furman no. 32 in the nation for the percentage of National Merit Scholars in its 2005-2006 freshman class.[10]

According to a report from the American Institute of Physics, Furman is one of 35 schools whose physics departments offer a bachelor’s as their highest degree to average 10 or more undergraduate degrees for the classes of 2003, 2004 and 2005.[11] The Princeton Review's survey of 120,000 college students for the "Best 368 Colleges: 2009 Edition" ranked Furman University as number 9 in their top 10 most socially conservative schools.[12]

Campus

A 40-acre (0.1-km²) lake is at the center of the 750 acre (3-km²), wooded campus with most buildings being Georgian-style architecture. Many academic buildings and student residences stand around the lake, including the Bell Tower. The Bell Tower figures highly in school insignias and is a replica (within 1/16th of an inch) of the tower that once existed on the men's campus in downtown Greenville. Today, the campus is anchored by its newly expanded 128,000 square foot (12,000 m²) [James B. Duke Library]. Informally known as "The Country Club of the South," Furman was named one of the 362 most beautiful places in America by the American Society of Landscape Architects.

The fall 1997 issue of Planning for Higher Education names Furman as a benchmark campus for its landscaping as well. To add to the campus's extensive merit for aesthetic beauty, the 1996 Fiske Guide to Colleges referred to Furman's campus as a "shining jewel." Also, the 1997 Princeton Review ranked Furman fifth in its list of beautiful campuses, this based on student ratings of campus beauty. Students are required to live on campus, except senior year when they have a chance to live off campus through a lottery.

Furman's Johns Hall in winter.

On the north side of the lake are the four Greenbelt housing cabins for students interested in a sustainable life style,[13] and the Cliffs Cottage, which is a "green" building built as a showcase home in conjunction with Southern Living magazine.[14] Most juniors and all seniors live in North Village Apartments, located on the north side of the Cliffs Cottage. There are two other residence complexes (called Lakeside and South Housing). The campus also includes an Asian Garden. A replica of the cabin that Henry David Thoreau inhabited while writing On Walden Pond is located on the west side of the lake.[15]

Sustainability

In 2008, Furman established the David E. Shi Center for Sustainability to showcase its sustainability efforts.[16] In November 2009, Furman's trustees adopted a sustainabiilty master plan which calls for the campus to become “carbon neutral” by 2026, the year of the school’s bicentennial celebration.[17] The plan has five strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions: (1) increasing energy efficiency in all campus operations, (2) creating a campus-wide culture of conservation to decrease energy use, (3) creating a more sustainable campus transportation system, (4) investing in renewable energy projects, and (5) creating local carbon offset projects and energy-conservation service projects in the community. In 2009, Furman received a $2,457,741 grant from the Department of Energy to incorporate geothermal heat pump heating/cooling systems into a campus housing facility.[18] This demonstration project is a part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Student life

Undergraduate student housing

All full-time students, except those who are married or living at home with their parents or guardians, are required to live on campus in university housing. Furman undergraduates can choose between South campus housing and lakeside housing. The south campus housing contains the Geer, Manly, Poteat, Blackwell and McGlothlin dorms. The lakeside housing includes the Gambrell, Ramsey, Judson, Townes, McBee, Haynsworth, and Chiles dorm. All student housing has air-conditioning, closets, wired/wireless internet access, and washer/dryer usage. The North Village is an apartment complex built for the juniors and mainly seniors that offers apartment style living for upperclassmen. North Village apartments offer two or four bedrooms, living room, full kitchen, large patio/balcony, two large vanity areas, two bathrooms and lots of closet and storage space. Within each bedroom, a full-size bed, desk, desk chair and dresser/hutch is provided for each resident.

Furman's Daniel Chapel

Dining

Furman University students are required to have a meal plan and freshmen are required to have an unlimited meal plan. The main dining facility is in the Daniel Hall. Renovated in 2006, Daniel Hall offers buffet-style dining and an Einstein Bros. Bagels location upstairs. Paladen food court offers Chick-Fil-A, Moe's Southwest Grill, and Pan Geos. Furman also has a dining facility named Tower Cafe; there students can get coffee from Starbucks.

Student government

Furman University Student Government is (known as AFS or the Association of Furman Students) works under a semi-Presidential system. AFS is made up of the executive council, and president, secretary, and two senators for each class. The class officers President, Secretary/Treasurer, and two Senators. Upon election council members are assigned within one of six committees to specialize in a particular area of student needs.

Fraternities and sororities

Furman Housing and Residence Life delegates halls and lounges for campus fraternities and sororities. Furman University has seven fraternities and seven sororities. Fraternities on campus: Pi Kappa Phi, Beta Theta Pi, Sigma Nu, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Kappa Alpha Order, Sigma Chi, and Kappa Alpha Psi.[19] Sororities on campus: Alpha Delta Pi, Chi Omega, Delta Delta Delta, Delta Gamma, Kappa Delta, Kappa Kappa Gamma, and Alpha Kappa Alpha.[20]

Athletics

Furman Paladins logo

Furman competes in NCAA Division I athletics and is one of the smallest NCAA Division I schools in the nation. Furman fields 17 men’s and women’s teams, as well as 16 club sports and many intramural teams.[21] The team nickname, the Paladins, was first used by a Greenville, South Carolina, sportswriter in the 1930s. For many years the name “Paladins” just referred to Furman’s basketball team. Until 1961 the school’s baseball teams were known as the "Hornets" and the football teams as the "Hurricanes." On September 15 of that year, the student body voted to make "Paladins" the official nickname of all of the university's intercollegiate athletic teams. The university is a member of the Southern Conference. Furman is the only liberal arts college to be ranked in Sports Illustrated Top 100 America's Best Sports Colleges[22] and has 32 former student-athletes competing at the professional level- the most of any Southern Conference member school.[citation needed]

Football

In 1988 Furman won the NCAA I-AA National Football Championship. Furman also appeared in the 1985 and 2001 NCAA I-AA National Football Championship game, but lost (to Georgia Southern and Montana, respectively). Furman, Colgate, Lehigh ,Richmond and Villanova remain the only private universities that have appeared in the I-AA Football Championship game, and Furman was the first private school to win it, with Richmond becoming the second 20 years later. Over the past few years, Furman's football team has been consistently ranked in the top 3 spots in the NCAA I-AA polls, and recently climbed to no. 1 in the nation in the latest Sports Network polls [23]. The Paladins have also claimed 12 Southern Conference football titles, more than any school in league history. Furman has only won one national championship and that was in football.

Golf

Furman has had several successful golf teams, especially in women's golf. Few collegiate woman golf programs have produced more outstanding professionals than Furman, which boasts 11 former Lady Paladins on the LPGA tour, including two Hall of Fame inductees (Betsy King and Beth Daniel). Furman has claimed 13 Southern Conference Women's Golf Championships. It should also be noted that PGA Tour players Brad Faxon Stuart Cook and Bruce Fleisher played for the Paladins.

Soccer

Coached by Doug Allison, the men's soccer team has been ranked as high as no. 3 in the nation and has produced a share of professional players.[24] Former star Clint Dempsey, who now plays club soccer for Fulham in the English Premier League was the only American player to score a goal at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany [25]. Dempsey also scored notable goals in both the US upset of Spain in 2009 and the near defeat of Brazil in 2009 . Ricardo Clark, a current member of the United States Men's National Soccer Team and Eintracht Frankfurt also played soccer for Furman. Current MLS players, Shea Salinas of the Philadelphia Union and Jonathan Leathers of the Kansas City Wizards also played for the Paladins.

Tennis

Furman men's tennis coach Paul Scarpa the all-time winningest coach in American college tennis history, with a record spanning over 830 wins. A Florida State Alum, he is a member of the South Carolina Tennis Hall of Fame, USTA Southern Section Hall of Fame, inventor of popular clay-court line Tenex, and has coached 108 All-Southern Conference players in his illustrious 46 year career.

Rugby

Furman's Rugby Club team won the East Coast Collegiate Division III Championship three years in a row from 2003-2005.[26] Started in 1998, the club excels in Division III rugby union.

Notable alumni

Science

Arts and theatre

Writers, journalist, literature, and publishers

Business

Politics and law

Athletes

Notable faculty

Points of interest

The James B. Duke Library

Notes

  1. ^ http://www.furman.edu/press/pressarchive.cfm?ID=3871
  2. ^ http://www.collegenews.org/x5417.xml
  3. ^ http://www.furman.edu/general/history.htm
  4. ^ "Duke Endowment: Partners in Progress". http://www2.furman.edu/about/about/Pages/DukeEndow.aspx. Retrieved 2010-01-05. 
  5. ^ "Rodney Smolla Named 11th President of Furman University". http://www2.furman.edu/about/about/newpresident/Pages/default.aspx. Retrieved 2010-01-05. 
  6. ^ "About Furman". http://www.furman.edu/main/aboutfurman.htm. 
  7. ^ http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2005/0509.collegeguide.html
  8. ^ http://www.alverno.edu/news_events/usnews.pdf
  9. ^ http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=601105
  10. ^ http://cgi.greenville.com/news/furman0206.html
  11. ^ http://www.furman.edu/?articleid=2386
  12. ^ "Top 10 Most Socially Conservative Colleges - MSN Encarta". Archived from the original on 2009-10-31. http://www.webcitation.org/5kwpYqjoQ. 
  13. ^ "Engaged Living's Greenbelt Community". http://ees.furman.edu/greenguide/greenbeltcommunity.htm. Retrieved 2010-01-05. 
  14. ^ "The Cliffs Cottage". http://ees.furman.edu/greenguide/Cliffs.html. Retrieved 2010-01-05. 
  15. ^ "The Simple Cabin by the Lake". 
  16. ^ "History of the Shi Center". http://www2.furman.edu/academics/sustainability/AboutUs/Pages/HistoryoftheShiCenter.aspx. Retrieved 2010-01-05. 
  17. ^ "Trustees Adopt Sustainability Master Plan; Campus to be Carbon Neutral by 2026". http://www2.furman.edu/Lists/Press%20Releases/DispForm-PressReleases.aspx?List=f3a3efbf-f75d-4e3d-8191-f3599d9900fa&ID=151. Retrieved 2010-01-05. 
  18. ^ "Geothermal Project Descriptions". p. 11. http://www.energy.gov/media/338M_Geothermal_Project_Descriptions.pdf. Retrieved 2010=01=05. 
  19. ^ http://www.furman.edu/orgs/orglist.htm
  20. ^ http://panhellenic.furman.edu/
  21. ^ "About Furman University". http://www2.furman.edu/About/About/Pages/default.aspx. Retrieved 2010-01-05. 
  22. ^ http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/si_online/news/2002/10/01/1_10/
  23. ^ http://www.ncaasports.com/football/mens/polls/rankings/diviaa
  24. ^ http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/soccer/2002-09-11-furman_x.htm
  25. ^ http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/w/match/42/mr.html
  26. ^ http://www.usarugbysouth.com/competition/collegiate%20HISTORY/default.htm
  27. ^ http://www.nfl.com/players/playerpage/553462
  28. ^ http://www.aarome.org/rome_prize/2003winners.htm

External links

Coordinates: 34°55′33″N 82°26′8″W / 34.92583°N 82.43556°W / 34.92583; -82.43556

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