Bennett College
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Bennett College is a four-year liberal arts women's college in Greensboro, North Carolina. Founded in 1873, this historically black institution began as a normal school to provide education to newly emancipated slaves. It became a women's college in 1926 and currently serves roughly 600 undergraduates. Bennett has been described as the Vassar of the South, of historically black higher-education institutions in the United States.
Bennett's founding and coeducational years
Bennett College held its inaugural classes in the basement of Warnersville Methodist Episcopal Church North (now St. Matthew's United Methodist) in Greensboro. At its inception, Bennett was a coeducational school (offering both high school and college level courses), and remained so until 1926. The year after its founding, the school became sponsored by the Freedman's Aid Society and Southern Education Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The school remained in temporary quarters for several years, until donations from a New York businessman named Lyman Bennett provided sufficient funds to build a permanent campus. Bennett died soon thereafter, and the school was named Bennett Seminary in his honor.In 1888, Bennett Seminary elected its first African-American school president, the Reverend Charles Grandison. Grandison spearheaded a successful drive to have the school chartered as a four year college in 1889. Under his direction, and the direction of the president who followed him (Jordan Chavis), Bennett College grew from 11 undergraduate students to a total of 251 undergraduates by 1905. The enrollment leveled out in the 1910s at roughly 300.
Reorganization as a women's college
In 1926, Bennett College, which had long had a close working relationship with the Women's Home Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, chose to reorganize as Bennett College for Women. In the wake of World War I, increased opportunities for women had increased the need for colleges that would prepare young women for greater social and commercial opportunity. David Dallas Jones was appointed the first president of the women's college -- under his leadership, the high school campus at Bennett was closed to focus the attentions of the staff fully on expanding and enriching the college curriculum. After Jones's death, Willa B. Player assumed the presidency -- under her guidance, Bennett College became one of the first 15 four-year African American colleges to be admitted to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.Bennett today
Bennett College's current president is Johnnetta B. Cole, a graduate of Oberlin College and Northwestern University, a professor emerita of Emory University, and past president of Spelman College. Roughly 600 students, all women and primarily of African-American descent, are enrolled in one of Bennett's 24 degree programs. Bennett is consistently ranked among the top historically black colleges and universities, both for its academic achievements and its relatively reasonable tuition rates. Today, amidst a very prevalent renaissance, Bennett is reorganizing and revitalizing its campus and academic infrastructure in an attempt to regain its prominence and reclaim its title as "the Vassar of the South". With president Cole at the forefront of this movement, Bennett's future looks all the more promising.Unique academic programs
Bennett has incorporated three new programs that are aimed at increasing students' awareness of the struggles and accomplishments of all women, especially those of African descent; and staying in-step with the ever-changing climate of today's globally integrated society: Womanist Religious Studies Global Studies Africana Women's StudiesResidence halls
Referred to as Living Learning Centers, Bennett College houses its students in the following six facilities:- Carrie Barge Hall
- Laura Cone Hall
- Robert E. Jones Hall
- Annie Merner Pfeiffer Hall
- Willa B. Player Hall
- Jessie Reynolds Hall
Student organizations
There are approximately 50 campus organizations including social, service, religious, music organizations; departmental and special interest clubs; honor societies; and the student government association. The four historically black Greek letter sororities- Alpha Kappa Alpha, Delta Sigma Theta, Zeta Phi Beta, and Sigma Gamma Rho- are also active on campus and govern themselves through the Pan-Hellenic Council.Notable alumnae
Among Bennett's more distinguished alumnae include:- Dr. Glenora M. Putnam, the first African-American woman to serve as president of the national YWCA
- Faye Robinson, an accomplished and internationally well-known opera singer
- Dr. Hattie Carwell, a noted research scientist and expert in the study of radiation
- Barbara Hamm, the first African-American woman to serve as a television news director in the United States
- Patricia Brown, serving as Moderator of the Presbyterian Church (USA) as of 2004
References
- Owens, Donna M. ["Daughters of the dream: Bennett College, one of only two colleges for Black women, had recently fallen on tough times. Now, led by the visionary Dr. Johnnetta B. Cole, it's blending the traditions of the past with present-day needs to secure its future"]. Essence, Feb, 2005
See also
External links
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