Bacone College Announces Temporary Suspension of Operations

Update: Tulsa, OK Newson6.com published, "Bacone College Gears Up For Fall Semester Despite Shut Down 'Rumors'," on August 13,2018 with reporting by Taylor Newcomb.

* * * *

Bacone College in Muskogee, Oklahoma announced that week that it will be suspending operations and hopes to secure sufficient resources to open in the fall.

Tulsa NewsonSix.com posted a short video, "Bacone College Closing, Laying Off Staff Unless Funding Is Found Soon," with reporter Justin Shrair interviewing college president Franklin Willis. The video also features images of the campus.

The MVSKOKEMEDIA.com website posted an article, "Bacone announces temporary closure, layoffs," with reporting by Lenzy Krehbiel-Burton.  She notes that in April, Bacone  "...selected a new president, Ferlin Clark, who is scheduled to take office later this year...While president of the Navajo Nation’s Dine College in Tsaile, Arizona, Clark oversaw a multi-million dollar capital campaign to facilitate the institution’s transition to a four-year school."

The institution was founded at Cherokee Baptist Mission in Tahlequah, OK. It moved to Muskogee in 1885 and was renamed Bacone Indian University after its founder and first president. The name later changed to Bacone College. Bacone is affilitated with the American Baptist Churches, USA.

American Indian College will Close

Inside Higher Ed reported on November 24, 2015 that American Indian College in Pheonix, AZ lost accreditation with the Higher Learning Commission and will close.

The institution was founded as American Indian Bible Institute in 1957.  The name changed to American Indian Bible College in 1983 and to American Indian College of the Assemblies of God in 1994.  You can click on the image above to see a short 4 1/2 minute promotional video on YouTube featuring interviews with students, staff, and faculty.