New Documentary Highlights HBCUs: Tell Them We Are Rising

Stanley Nelson's newest documentary premiered today at the Sundance Film Festival. The film highlights the role HBCUs have played in the ascent of African-Americans and their families—from slavery to present day. It sounds like an interesting film for College History Gardeners.  A short teaser is available on vimeo.

Remembering St. Genevieve-of-the-Pines College in Asheville, NC

The Asheville (NC) Citizen-Times published an article in early January that coincided with the anniversary of the opening St. Genevieve-of-the-Pines in 1908.  The institution was operated by the Religious of Christian Education and served boarding and day students.  Collegiate programs were added after 1912 through St. Genevieve-of-the-Pines College.  The name changed to St. Genevieve Junior College which operated from 1930 until 1955.  A School for Secretaries then continued until 1980 and the campus was sold to be used by Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College.

Rob Neufeld's blog post, "Memories of St. Genevieve's inhabit Ivy Building," from several years ago includes more insights into the institution's history.  He also offers a link to an interest short video of former students sharing their memories.

St. Genevieve's ultimately merged with Carolina Day School that maintains several web pages devoted to the history of St. Genevieve College.

Vantage College in Texas Announces Closure

KVIA-TV in El Paso, TX reports that Vantage College is closing.  The institution was founded in 2006 as Excel Learning Center in El Paso.  At the time of closing, Vantage operated sites in Austin, San Antonio, and El Paso.  Total enrollment was roughly 300 students.

The Vantage College website also offers a statement regarding the closure.

If you are interested in recent trends for closures, access College Closures since 2009 in the index at the right of any College History Garden page.  There are separate tabs for non-profit and for-profit closures.  Each tab includes basic information for each institution, i.e., Carnegie Classification, sector, accrediting agency, and the IPEDS unitid.

Canton College: Brief History of an Early Illinois Institution

A brief history of Canton College in Canton, IL is offered in "The forgotten history of Canton's first College," on January 7, 2017 by the Pontiac Daily Leader.  Canton College operated from 1835 until 1843.

JSTOR also offers a journal article with more details about the institution, "Canton College: An Early Attempt at Higher Education in Illinois," written by Mildred Eversole, J. Wright and N. W. Dewey for the Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, Vol. 34, No. 3 (Sep., 1941), pp. 334-343.  The article concludes with the text of a letter written by a faculty member in 1838 and it provides a fascinating glimpse of the life of a teacher for a struggling institution.  

A Pair of Mergers Approved by the GA Board of Regents this Week

The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia approved a couple of mergers on January 11, 2017.  Georgia Southern University and Armstrong State University will merge and use the name of Georgia Southern University.  Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College and Bainbridge State College will merge and retain the name of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.

• Abraham Baldwin AgriculturalCollege founded in 1908 is located in Tifton, GA and enrolls over 3,200 students.
• Armstrong State University was founded in 1935 and serves 7,100 students at its main campus in Savannah and a regional center in Hinesville.
• Bainbridge State College in Bainbridge, GA was founded in 1970 and serves 3,700 students.
• Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, GA was founded in 1906 and currently serves 20,673 students.  

Fisk University History is Featured on All Things Considered

The history of Fisk University in Nashville was featured in an interesting 4 minute segment, "Fisk University Works to Move Past Cash-Strapped History," on All Things Considered in early January.  The institution was founded in 1866 and is affiliated with the United Church of Christ.

You can also visit the Fisk University website for a page that offers brief historical sketches and a number of interesting images of the campus and students.

Valuable Insights from those Involved with Closing Colleges

Rick Seltzer's article for Inside Higher Ed, "Closing Out a College," provides a detailed and valuable look at several institutions and the difficulties their trustees and staff faced as they prepared for closure.  Seltzer focused on three institutions.  Two have closed, Virginia Intermont College and Dowling College.  And while the details of the near closure and rebirth of the third institution have been widely covered, I appreciated the insights of Dr. Phillip Stone, Sweet Briar's president, as he reflected on their unique situation.  

The article's comment section also included several important notes clarifying why struggling independent colleges are no longer able to reorganize using the bankruptcy protection of the courts.  Michael Goldstein included a link to an article, "Bankruptcy Benefits," that he co-authored on the topic for the September / October 2016 issue of AGB's Trusteeship magazine.

Early History of DePaul University

Jane Connelly's post for the DePaul Newsline, "From College to University: DePaul's Christmas Charter," focuses on the 1907 transition as St. Vincent's College changed its name to DePaul University.  St. Vincent's initially opened in 1898.

DePaul's Digital Heritage Collections also offer an extensive variety of historic photographs and other publications.

Sage College in California has Closed

The San Diego Union-Tribune reported today that Sage College with campuses in Moreno Valley and San Diego has closed.  The for-profit institution enrolled roughly 250 students and offered a curriculum designed to prepare court reporters.

The Sage web site includes a closure notification and a few links to other closure-related resources.