Bluefield College

Bluefield College is a small, Christian liberal arts college in Bluefield, Virginia, United States. It offers 22 majors and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The 82 acre campus is about 150 ft from the state line between Virginia and West Virginia. It is affiliated with the Baptist General Association of Virginia.

History
Bluefield College was founded in 1922 by the Baptist General Association of Virginia (BGAV), after residents of Bluefield offered to donate land and start-up funds. R.A. Landsdell became the first president in 1920, and the current administration building is named Landsdell Hall in his honor. At its founding, Bluefield was a two-year junior college. Future Nobel Prize winner John F. Nash took mathematics courses at the relatively new college while in high school. In his autobiography for the Nobel Foundation, he writes

"I should mention that during my last year in the Bluefield schools that my parents had arranged for me to take supplementary math courses at Bluefield College, which was then a 2-year institution operated by Southern Baptists. I didn't get official advanced standing at Carnegie because of my extra studies but I had advanced knowledge and ability and didn't need to learn much from the first math courses at Carnegie."

Under Charles L. Harman, president from 1946–1971, the college built Easley Library, the dormitory Rish Hall, Harman Chapel, and a geodesic dome as the gymnasium.

In 1975, Bluefield reinvented itself as a four-year college, and during the 1989–1996 presidency of Roy A. Dobyns, student enrollment doubled to more than 800 students. In 1998, under the leadership of President Daniel G. MacMillan, the college cut tuition by over 20% and refocused its student recruitment on the local area.

In 2007, the current president, David W. Olive, was inaugurated. Shortly thereafter, the college raised tuition by about 20%, and announced a new strategic plan.

Campus
Bluefield College's campus is located on 82 acres on the eastern edge of Bluefield, Virginia, facing the northern side of the East River Mountain.

Academic and administrative buildings

 * Lansdell Hall – Opening in 1922, building holds the college's primary administrative offices and classrooms.
 * Easley Library – The three-story building features the campus library on the upper two floors, while the first floor houses the education department and classrooms.
 * Harman Chapel – The spire of the chapel is featured in the college's logo. The building houses the music and theater departments and serves as a host for events including convocations, graduations, concerts, plays, and services.
 * Science Center – The building holds offices, classrooms, science labs, and technology labs.
 * Cox Visual Arts Center – Located on the southwestern corner of campus, the building holds classrooms, offices, and workspace for the art department.
 * Alumni Advancement Building

Residential buildings

 * Cruise Hall – Constructed with the opening of the college in 1922, the building now serves as a male dormitory.
 * Rish Hall – The first floor contains classrooms and houses the English department, communication department, and the Academic Center for Excellence (ACE). The upper three floors serve as a male dormitory.
 * East River Hall – Female dormitory
 * Alumni Hall – Male dormitory
 * Bluestone Commons – Constructed in 2014, the buildings hold male and female apartment-style student housing.

Student life facilities

 * Shott Hall – Holds the Student Activities Center, main dining hall, Quick Shott Cafe, campus bookstore, and student mailboxes.
 * Dan MacMillan Center – Opening in 2007, the building is the focal point for the college's outreach and service projects.
 * Annex – Hosts student activities, Baptist Campus Ministries, movies, and other social activities.

The campus also features access to outdoor activities, including an on-campus nature trail and cave.

Athletic facilities

 * Dome Gymnasium – The dome serves as the home court for Bluefield's basketball and volleyball teams, and holds athletic offices and classrooms.
 * Mitchell Stadium – The 10,000-seat football stadium has hosted home games for the Bluefield football program since 2011.
 * Bowen Field – The home field for the college's baseball team seats 3,000 and sits just to the north of campus.
 * East River Soccer Complex – The home field for Bluefield's soccer teams is located between Route 460 and I-77 on John Nash Blvd.
 * Bluefield City Courts – Home courts for the Bluefield men's and women's tennis teams.
 * Bluefield Area Softball Field – Located three miles from campus, the park holds the home field for the college's softball team.
 * Fincastle on the Mountain – The 18-hole course is the home to the college's golf program.
 * Bluefield College Weight Center – Houses strength & conditioning facilities as well as the football coaches offices.

Organization
Bluefield College is organized into the following colleges and departments:


 * College of Arts and Letters
 * Department of Christian Studies
 * Department of Art and Design
 * Department of Music
 * Department of Theatre
 * Department of History
 * Department of English
 * College of Professional Programs
 * Department of Business
 * Department of Communication
 * Department of Graphic Communication
 * Department of Criminal Justice
 * Department of Human Services
 * Department of Management & Leadership
 * College of Sciences
 * Department of Biology
 * Department of Chemistry
 * Department of Exercise & Sport Science
 * Department of Mathematics
 * Department of Psychology
 * School of Education
 * School of Nursing

Online degree programs
Bluefield College has been offering online bachelor's degree programs since 2011. The college is ranked by U.S. News & World Report in the Best Online Bachelor's Programs category and has over 500 enrolled students. The college offers four bachelor's degree programs online including Criminal Justice, E-business and Entrepreneurship, Management and Leadership, and Human Services. Additionally, students have the opportunity to complete an online master's degree in Education and Nursing (RN to BSN). Students enrolled in the college's non-traditional adult degree-completion programs can also earn their bachelor's degrees on campus or online.

Degree completion program
Bluefield College has an adult degree completion program called Inspire. Inspire is an online adult program, which is designed to accelerate the length of time to achieve a four-year degree. Some online degree programs, which they offer are e-Business / Entrepreneurship, Management and Leadership and Criminal Justice. BC has an articulation agreement with the Virginia Community College System for students wishing to transfer into the program.

Athletics
Bluefield College teams, nicknamed athletically as the Rams, are part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), primarily competing in the Mid-South Conference for football, and in the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) for all other sports, beginning in 2014. The college has eight men's and eight women's teams. Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, tennis and volleyball. Women's sports include basketball, cheerleading, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, tennis and volleyball. The school has won national championships in men's soccer and baseball.

Basketball
Bluefield's men's basketball was often nationally ranked between 2007 and 2009 under head coach Jason Gillespie. In the 2008–2009 season, the Rams won 27 games, including an 18–0 mark in the AAC and a regular season championship, but fell in the conference tournament to then-rival King University by one point, finishing the season ranked seventh in NAIA Division II. Guard/forward Omar Reed went on to play professionally with the San Antonio Spurs' NBA Development League affiliate, with the Boston Celtics organization, as well as internationally in Europe and Japan.

Baseball
Bluefield's baseball team won its first NCCAA Division I national championship in 2009 and followed with a school-record 41 wins in 2010 before losing in the NCCAA World Series finals to North Greenville. In 2007 they were the NCCAA Mid-East Regional Champs, and made their fourth NCCAA World Series appearance in 2014. Current head coach Mike White has won over 200 games with Bluefield and has sent multiple players to professional baseball. The Rams play their home games at Bowen Field. , nine former Bluefield baseball players have gone on to play professionally.

Football
Bluefield fielded a football program from 1922–1941, but had not had a football program since the attack on Pearl Harbor. On June 4, 2011, Bluefield College announced the return of a football program under head coach Mike Gravier, beginning with "club football" season in 2011, and began play in the NAIA in 2012. The school hired Ordell Walker as the program's new head coach in 2013, and the Rams earned their first win since the program's return with a 46–24 defeat of the Apprentice Builders in Newport News, Va., on September 13, 2014. The Rams play their home games in 10,000-seat Mitchell Stadium.

Cross country
Bluefield hired Coach Travis Yoder in 2014 to build a cross country and track and field program from ground zero. In his first year as head coach he had the schools first NCCAA national qualifier in school history (Kendall Haynes). After his first year Coach Travis Yoder left Bluefield. Bluefield then hired Coach Kendall Haynes to Coach cross country and is now building a track and field program as well. During Coach Haynes's first year in 2017 he had the schools first girls NCCAA national qualifiers in school history (Kenize Marshall and Jordyn O'Saben).

In the fall of 2012, Bluefield left the AAC to become a full member of the Mid-South Conference with the addition of football. The Rams competed in the league's East Division. In 2014, the Rams returned to the AAC for all sports except football, which still competes in the Mid-South. Athletes make up about 60% at Bluefield.

Notable alumni

 * Jon Link – Major League Baseball player
 * Kenneth Massey – sports statistician known for his development of the Massey Ratings, which stemmed from an honors project at Bluefield, and was used in the Bowl Championship Series computer rankings from 1999–2013.
 * Pete Young – inspiration for the song Mr. Touchdown U.S.A.