Tusculum College

Tusculum College is a coeducational private college affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) with its main campus in Tusculum, Tennessee, a suburb of Greeneville. It is Tennessee’s oldest college, and the 23rd oldest operating college in the United States.

In addition to its main campus, the institution maintains a regional center for Graduate and Professional Studies in Knoxville, and additional satellite campuses across East Tennessee.

History

In 1794, two years before Tennessee became a state, Presbyterian ministers Hezekiah Balch and Samuel Doak, both educated at the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), were ministering to the pioneers of East Tennessee, which was then the southwestern frontier of the United States. They also strove to meet the educational needs of these Scots-Irish settlers. Doak and Balch were both visionaries who ultimately sought the same goals through their rival colleges. They wanted to educate settlers of the American frontier so that they would become better Presbyterians, and therefore, in their vision, better citizens.

Origin of name

Doak christened the institution Tusculum after the homestead of Princeton University’s then-president Dr. John Witherspoon, a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence. The original Tusculum was a city near Rome, Italy and home to Roman scholar and philosopher Cicero, who, along with others, identified the civic virtues that form the basis of civic republican tradition, which emphasizes citizens working together to form good societies that in turn foster individuals of good character.

Key institutional events

• 1784 Samuel Doak establishes Martin's Academy (renamed Washington College Academy in 1795)
• 1794 Greeneville College, was chartered in by the General Assembly of the Territory South of the River Ohio, and established by Hezekiah Balch.
• 1808 Hugh Brown receives first academic degree from Tusculum's predecessor Greeneville College
• 1816 Samuel Witherspoon Doak (son of Samuel Doak) founds Tusculum Academy, which operated in a log cabin adjacent to the present site of Tusculum College.
• 1844 Tusculum Academy renamed Tusculum College. Andrew Johnson, who later became the 17th President of the United States, was one of its trustees. Johnson often walked the five miles to and from Greeneville to participate in the debating activities at Tusculum.
• 1860s During the Civil War, college buildings served as barracks for soldiers.
• 1868 Greeneville College and Tusculum College merge to become Greeneville & Tusculum College
• 1878 First female students admitted to Greeneville & Tusculum College. By the turn of the 20th century, more than half of its students were women.
• 1878 Student editor/printer Landon C. Haynes publishes first student newspaper, The Record, which later became The Pioneer; now known as The Pioneer Frontier
• 1908 Merger of Washington College Academy and Tusculum College
• 1912 Washington College Academy breaks away from the current Tusculum College
• 1913 McCormick Day (a.k.a. “Nettie Day”) established, a day of service on campus and the local community. Through the philanthropy of Nettie Fowler McCormick — widow of Cyrus Hall McCormick, the inventor of a notable mechanized reaper — five major buildings were added on campus.
• 1917 First yearbook published, known as both Tusculana and Opus
• 1927 Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) formally accredits Tusculum for the first time
• 1950s Lantern festival begins, honoring graduating seniors and soon-to-be seniors
• 1984 Graduate and Professional Studies Program begins, extending learning opportunities to adult students. Originally titled Tusculum Adult Leaders Learning (TALL), the program opened satellite campuses locations throughout East Tennessee.
• 1991 Civic Arts core program begins
• 1991 Focused (block) calendar adopted

Tusculum College is a coeducational private college affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) with its main campus in Tusculum, Tennessee, a suburb of Greeneville. It is Tennessee’s oldest college, and the 23rd oldest operating college in the United States.