Mercer University

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Mercer University
File:Mercer seal.gif
TypePrivate
Established1833
PresidentR. Kirby Godsey
Undergraduates5000
Postgraduates2300
Location
Macon
,
Georgia
,
USA
CampusUrban
AthleticsMember of the Atlantic Sun Conference
MascotBear File:Mercerbears.JPG
Websitewww.mercer.edu

Mercer University is an independent, coeducational, church-related, private university located in Macon, Georgia and Atlanta, Georgia. Each year, the university enrolls more than 2500 undergraduate students, with 80% of them from the U.S. state of Georgia. In addition, it also enrolls 2300 graduate students and 2500 extended education students.

The University runs on a semester system and has a student-to-faculty ratio of 15:1. Mercer is known for its excellent academic curriculum and ranks high in many publications. US News and World Report in its college and university rankings consistently ranks Mercer among the best universities in the South. The Princeton Review ranks Mercer in the top ten percent of all colleges and universities nationwide.

History

Mercer University was founded in 1833 in Penfield, Georgia, under the leadership of Adiel Sherwood and was named after prominent Georgia Baptist leader Jesse Mercer. The University moved to Macon in 1871. The University opened a second campus, in Atlanta, in 1972. Mercer University is the only university of its size in the United States that offers programs in 10 diversified fields of study; liberal arts, business, education, engineering, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, law, theology, and continuing and professional studies.

Mercer University is currently completing Phase III of the $350 million Advancing the Vision Campaign. Phases I and II were very successful with $208 million received or pledged. For Phase II, Mercer received one of the largest gifts in the history of higher education when it received a large tract of developed real estate in Atlanta. The property, given to Mercer and to LaGrange College jointly, was valued at $124 million with Mercer's share being $62 million. As of 2004, more than $243 million had been received in Phases I, II, and III. The campaign has financed numerous projects including the construction and renovation of facilities and endowed scholarships for students.

In November 2005, the Georgia Baptist Convention voted to end the 172-year affiliation between Mercer and the convention. Mercer has had an independent board of trustees for many years and was not controlled by the convention. The convention, however, provided financial support used to fund scholarships for Baptist students. Mercer will continue to provide such scholarships. The lack of convention control caused friction in recent years with Mercer exercising its independence to embrace the moderate Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. The convention also saw Mercer as embracing a more secular way of thought. The rocky relationship came to a head when Mercer allowed a gay rights group on campus to hold a "Coming Out Day". An article about the Mercer gay rights group, Mercer Triangle Symposium, and their "Coming Out Day" was published two weeks before the annual convention meeting. At the meeting, University President R. Kirby Godsey asked the group of Georgia Baptists not to break ties with Mercer. He explained that Mercer does not endorse homosexuality, but allows discussion on the topic. The convention voted to break ties with Mercer. In April 2006, Mercer's board of trustees approved changes to the University charter ending Mercer's affiliation with the convention.

University President R. Kirby Godsey will retire in June 2006. In December 2005, William D. Underwood, interim President, Baylor University, was announced as the next President. Both houses of the Georgia legislature have honored President Godsey for his long service to Mercer and to the State of Georgia. In April 2006, Mercer announced that Godsey will become University Chancellor and special advisor to President Underwood. In addition, the historic Administration Building was renamed the R. Kirby Godsey Administration Building in honor of Godsey's achievements as president. Mercer also announced that it will convert its music department into its eleventh school, the School of Music, in July 2006.

Presidents

File:Pressanders.jpg
Mercer University's first President, Billington Sanders
  • Billington McCarthy Sanders (1833–1840)
  • Otis Smith (1840–1844)
  • John Leadley Dagg (1844–1854)
  • Nathaniel Macon Crawford (1854–1856)
  • Shelton Palmer Sanford (acting President; 1856–1858)
  • Nathaniel Macon Crawford (1858–1866)
  • Henry Holcombe Tucker (1866–1871)
  • Archibald John Battle (1872–1889)
  • Gustavus Alonzo Nunnally (1889–1893)
  • Joseph Edgerton Willet (acting President; 1893)
  • James Bruton Gambrell (1893–1896)
  • Pinckney Daniel Pollock (1896–1903)
  • Matthew Quinn Wetherington (acting President; 1903–1905)
  • Charles Lee Smith (1905–1906)
  • Samuel Young Jameson (1906–1913)
  • James Freeman Sellers (acting President; 1913–1914)
  • William Lowndes Pickard (1914–1918)
  • Rufus Washington Weaver (1918–1927)
  • Andrew Phillip Montague (acting President; 1927–1928)
  • Spright Dowell (1928–1953)
  • George Boyce Connell (1953–1959)
  • Spright Dowell (interim President; 1959–1960)
  • Rufus Carrollton Harris (1960–1979)
  • Raleigh Kirby Godsey (1979–2006)
  • William D. Underwood (2006– )

Schools

The historic main campus of Mercer University is in Macon; approximately 75 miles south of Atlanta. The College of Liberal Arts, the Eugene W. Stetson School of Business and Economics, the Tift College of Education, the School of Engineering, the School of Medicine, and programs of the College of Continuing and Professional Studies are located on the Macon campus. The R. Kirby Godsey Administration Building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Walter F. George School of Law is located on its own campus in Macon; one mile from the historic main campus. The Law School building is a three-story partial replica of Independence Hall in Philadelphia and is located on Coleman Hill overlooking downtown Macon. Adjacent to the Law School is the university-owned Woodruff House, also known as Overlook Mansion. The Law School building and the Woodruff House are two of Macon's most recognizable sites.

The Cecil B. Day Graduate and Professional Campus of Mercer University is in Atlanta. The Georgia Baptist College of Nursing, the Southern School of Pharmacy, the James and Carolyn McAfee School of Theology, the College of Continuing and Professional Studies, and programs of the Tift College of Education and the Stetson School of Business and Economics are located on the Atlanta campus.

In addition to its campuses in Macon and Atlanta, Mercer has Regional Academic Centers in Henry County, Douglas County and Eastman, Georgia. The Regional Academic Centers cater to non-traditional extended education students and offer various programs through the University's colleges and schools.

The Walter F. George School of Law was founded in 1873 and is one of the oldest law schools in the United States. The school is named for a Mercer alumnus; former United States Senator Walter F. George.

The Eugene W. Stetson School of Business and Economics has the highest level of accreditation for business schools from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. The school is named for a Mercer alumnus who was a senior executive for The Coca-Cola Company, the Illinois Central Railroad, and JP Morgan.

The Tift College of Education is named for Tift College of Forsyth, Georgia, a former Baptist women's college that merged with Mercer and subsequently closed in the 1980s.

The School of Medicine is partially state funded and accepts only Georgia residents into the Doctor of Medicine program. The School of Medicine also offers graduate programs in a number of areas including public health, family therapy and family services. The School of Medicine's teaching hospitals are the Medical Center of Central Georgia in Macon and Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah.

The Southern School of Pharmacy, founded in 1903, and the Georgia Baptist College of Nursing, founded in 1902, were initially independent schools. Both later merged with Mercer and today form Mercer's health education trio along with the School of Medicine.

Mercer's Atlanta campus was formerly the home of Atlanta Baptist College until it merged with Mercer in 1972. In 2004, Mercer enlarged the campus by acquiring the headquarters of the Georgia Baptist Convention, located adjacent to the campus.

The McAfee School of Theology is affiliated with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. McAfee's curriculum is not directed by the Georgia Baptist Convention or Southern Baptist Convention.

Aside from its colleges and schools, Mercer's other divisions include the Grand Opera House in downtown Macon that is operated through a lease agreement with the city of Macon and Bibb County; the Mercer University Press, which has published more than 1,000 books generally in the areas of theology, religion, Southern culture, biography, history, literature and music; and the Mercer Engineering and Research Center in Warner Robins, Georgia, which has extensive research agreements with Robins Air Force Base and the U.S. Department of Defense, as well as with private concerns.

Mercer University has aggressively expanded the size and quality of its campus physical plant in recent years.

New facilities on the Macon campus include the University Center, a large multi-purpose facility that houses the university's athletics department, basketball arena, and student services; the Allan and Rosemary McCorkle Music Building, a state-of-the-art academic facility that houses the university's music department; and the Greek Village with 18 fraternity and sorority houses.

New facilities on the Atlanta campus include academic buildings for the College of Nursing and the School of Theology and a large student housing complex.

Noted alumni

Sports

The Mercer University Bears are part of NCAA Division I and the Atlantic Sun Conference. Men's sports include air rifle (co-ed), baseball, basketball, cross-country, golf, soccer, and tennis. Women's sports include basketball, cross-country, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, and volleyball.

In 2005, Mercer opened the University Center on the Macon campus. The $40 million center houses a 3500-seat basketball arena, an indoor pool, work-out facilities, intramural basketball courts, an air rifle range, offices, a food court, and numerous meeting facilities. The University also re-built the baseball field and plans to re-build the current intramural fields. In 2006, Mercer began construction of a 101-room hotel adjacent to the University Center.

External links


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