Young Harris College

Young Harris College is a private, Methodist-affiliated liberal arts college located in the mountains of northeast Georgia. The current president is Cathy Cox, former Georgia Secretary of State.

Origins
The school was founded in 1886 by Reverend Artemas Lester, a circuit-riding Methodist minister who wanted to provide the residents of the Appalachian Mountains with an education. Originally known as McTyeire Institute for the small village where the school was located, the college struggled for the first year until an Athens, Georgia judge, Young L.G. Harris, donated enough money to keep the school open. The school was later renamed Young Harris College in honor of its benefactor, as was the surrounding town in 1895. A fire destroyed the college's main classroom building in 1911, but it was rebuilt by local townspeople and named Sharp Hall in honor of the college president at the time. The Young Harris Academy was founded in the late 19th century and provided a primary education for thousands of students until it closed after World War II.



Bequest
Margaret Adger Pitts, who died in 1998, left an estate valued at $192 million, mostly in Coca-Cola stock acquired by her father in the 1920s. YHC was one of four Georgia entities named to receive the yearly dividends and trust proceeds, approximately $3 million to each of the beneficiaries. The college announced that the money would be used for scholarships, improvements to the campus and religion programs.

Transition
Since the early 1910s, YHC was a two-year school that granted the associate's degree. In 2008, the college earned its four-year accreditation and was approved to offer bachelor's degrees in biology, business and public policy, English, and music. In February, 2010, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools added communication studies, history, outdoor education, theatre, and musical theatre to the list of sanctioned bachelor's programs.

The school has over 1,000 students, including about 100 from the local area. Plans are to increase enrollment to 1,200 over the next few years. To support the growth, they began to hire significant new faculty and construct three major new facilities.

New facilities
Enotah Hall, a new residence facility for 200 students, opened in August 2009, between Manget Hall and Rollins Hall. Suites are arranged with two-bedrooms and two baths for four students, and include computer study spaces, rooms for music practice and meeting rooms. It was designed to be energy efficient and received a LEED Silver certification.

Construction began on April 24, 2009 on a new, $15 million, 57000 sqft Recreation and Fitness Center. In addition to the fitness center, there is an elevated track, a 37’ climbing wall, aerobic exercise rooms, 2 basketball courts for intramurals and concession facilities featuring a juice bar. The complex contains a 1,100 seat arena for intercollegiate competition in basketball and volleyball. The lower level houses locker rooms and offices for coaches and staff. It opened in late July, 2010 with a tour by college president Cathy Cox. The Rec center also received LEED certification.

Following completion of the Rec Center in 2010, a new student residence area for 248 students was constructed in 14 apartment buildings where the tennis courts were previously located. The project was named, "The Village". The last of the three projects approved in 2008 will also be the largest ever built at Young Harris. The design of the Rollins Campus Center was finalized with 125000 sqft of space and projected to cost $41 million. The O. Wayne Rollins Foundation gave $22 million toward construction of the structure, which will have four separate areas. The 60,000 ft² student center will be used for multiple purposes. The 40,000 ft² library is twice the size of the present Duckworth Library and will be named for former Governor Zell Miller his wife Shirley Miller, both distinguished alumni. The new dining hall will seat at least 500, almost double the existing capacity, and the Charles Suber Banquet Hall will be a rentable facility serving 350. Ground was broken for construction on April 5, 2013 and the facility is expected to open at the end of the 2013-14 academic year.

Presidents

 * 1886-1887	Marcus H. Edwards
 * 1888-1889	Edward A. Gray
 * 1889-1894	C. C. Spence
 * 1894-1899	William F. Robison
 * 1899-1916	Joseph A. Sharp
 * 1916-1917	George L. King
 * 1917-1922	John L. Hall


 * 1922-1930	Joseph A. Sharp
 * 1930-1942	T. Jack Lance
 * 1942-1947	J. Worth Sharp
 * 1947-1950	Walter L. Downs
 * 1950-1963	Charles R. Clegg
 * 1963-1964	Robert P. Andress
 * 1964-1966	Raymond A. Cook


 * 1966-1971	Douglas Reid Sasser
 * 1971-1991	Ray Farley
 * 1991-2003	Thomas S. Yow III
 * 2003-2004	Clay Dotson
 * 2004-2006	W. Stephen Gunter
 * 2006-2006	John Wilson Wells
 * 2007–present	Cathy Cox

Athletics
Young Harris' sports teams are called the Mountain Lions. The school currently transitioning from a member of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) in the Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association (GCAA) to a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. The college originally applied to NCAA in 2010, but the application was rejected. The school re-applied in 2011 and received acceptance into the three year process to become a full member. As of the 2011-12 academic year, Young Harris is the first year of candidacy membership. The college could receive full NCAA membership for the 2014-2015 school year.

In July 2012, Young Harris will become a member of the Peach Belt Conference (PBC) effective July 1, 2012. As part of the transition process into the NCAA, the college will begin NCAA Division II and Peach Belt Conference schedules for its athletic teams and be immediately eligible for all regular-season championships and all other conference awards. During the transition process into the NCAA the college is ineligible for NCAA postseason automatic bids as well as for participation in any PBC Championships which award automatic bids to NCAA Tournaments until the college becomes a full member of Division II. As part of the transition to the NCAA, Young Harris college reinstated its men's basketball program in 2010, bringing intercollegiate basketball to the college for the first time in 40 years; at the same time, YHC added women's basketball. The college plans to add men's and women's lacrosse teams and a competitive cheerleading team starting in the 2012-13 academic year.

Young Harris competes in twelve sports:

Men's sports
 * Baseball
 * Basketball
 * Competitive Cheerleading
 * Cross Country
 * Golf
 * Lacrosse
 * Soccer
 * Tennis

Women's sports
 * Basketball
 * Competitive Cheerleading
 * Cross Country
 * Golf
 * Lacrosse
 * Soccer
 * Softball
 * Tennis

The Young Harris Lady Mountain Lions won the 2006 NJCAA Division I Women's Soccer National Championship, under coach Kathy Brown. Women's soccer coach Kathy Brown originally served as the assistant coach at Jacksonville State University, before coming to Young Harris in 1997 and starting the women's soccer team. In just her first season as a head coach, Kathy celebrated her first state championship. Since then she has led the Lady Mountain Lions to seven more state titles. The men's soccer team was a regional finalist in 2006 & 2007. In 1998, led by former coach Jim Thomas, The Young Harris Mens Mountain Lions won the 1998 NJCAA Division I State Soccer Title.

Baseball coach Rick Robinson earned his 500th win at Young Harris in April 2009, and had been highly successful in placing players in Division I schools as a junior college program. The Young Harris Baseball Team has captured eight Georgia Junior College titles and five Region XVII titles since 1999, and advanced to the Junior College World Series 2007. The team has averaged 49 wins per season each year since 2004. The team plays on the Zell B. Miller field.

The school fielded a successful mens basketball team in the 1950s and 1960s, and on November 13, 2010, the sport returned after a 50-year absence. The mens head coach is Pete Herrmann, formerly at the University of Georgia. Women's basketball began at Young Harris on November 15, 2010. Their coach is Brenda Paul.

Student life
The College offers various opportunities for students to engage, socialize and participate in organizations relating to academic topics, intramural and club sports, media and publications, service, special interest, spiritual and religious, student government and Greek life.

Greek system
The roots of the Young Harris greek system began with the mens debating societies of the late 1880s. The Young Harris Debating Society (YHDS) and the Phi Chi Debating Society (PC) were academic in nature, and lasted through the 1950s. The women formed literary societies: Susan B. Harris Society (EBE) and Phi Delta Society (PD). During the 1960s, these organizations became more social than academic. YHDS was chartered as Upsilon Delta Sigma fraternity in 1967 and paired up with the Susan B. Harris Society, which became known as Sigma Beta Sigma. Phi Chi fraternity linked to Phi Delta Sorority. In the early 1970s, Kappa Tau Omega became the third fraternity on campus, and Alpha Iota formed as the third sorority. Fraternities and Sororities are central to campus life at the college. There are nine Greek organizations, and students are strongly encouraged to "find the perfect fit".

Lawsuit
A lawsuit was filed against the college on March 26, 2013 by a former student and two faculty members alleging the college ignored serious fraternity and sorority hazing on campus.

Alumni
Young Harris College is highly regarded in Georgia and has had more of an impact on the state's politics and society than would be expected from a small school in the mountains. Over the last 100+ years, many students have chosen careers in public service; the ministry and teaching have been traditional vocations, but some chose politics. One U.S. Senator, two governors, a number of congressmen, state legislators and mayors all started out at YHC.

Notable alumni
Famous graduates include former Georgia governors E. D. Rivers and U.S. Senator Zell Miller; entertainers Oliver Hardy, Wayland Flowers and Amanda Bearse; country music singers Ronnie Milsap and Trisha Yearwood; Major League Baseball players Nick Markakis, Charlie Blackmon and Cory Gearrin; Waffle House founder Tom Forkner; state Senator J. Ebb Duncan and state Representative Hank Huckaby. Poet and novelist Byron Herbert Reece was a student and teacher at YHC.