Erskine College

Erskine College is a private Christian college in Due West, South Carolina, United States. It offers an undergraduate liberal arts college and a graduate theological seminary. The college was founded in 1839 by the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, and its sports teams compete in NCAA Division II as a member of Conference Carolinas.

History
Established in 1839 by the Associate Reformed Synod of the South as an academy for men, the college became the first four-year, church-related college in South Carolina. It was named for Ebenezer Erskine, one of the founders of one of the antecedent bodies of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church and a pastor. Erskine had led a group of separatists from the Church of Scotland to found an Associate Presbytery.

Erskine began to admit women in 1894 and officially became coeducational in 1899. In 1927, it merged with Women's College of Due West, founded in 1859. In 1929, Bryson College closed and merged with Erskine College.

On March 11, 2014, a website article on Outsports detailed the coming out of two male players on the college's volleyball team. On February 27, 2015, Erskine College released a statement that students are expected to "follow the teachings of scripture concerning matters of human sexuality."

Academics
Erskine College offers Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science. Minors are offered in several other fields of study. A Christian Education concentration is offered within the Bible and Religion major and special minors are offered in Family Studies, Computer Science, Non-Western Studies, Theater, and Information Technology. The college also offers pre-professional programs in medicine, law, pharmacy, and dentistry. The student to faculty ratio is 12:1.

Although Erskine is regionally accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, it was placed on "Warning" status following its most recent decennial accreditation review in December 2013. The college's status was reviewed in December 2014, and the sanction was then escalated to "Probation" status, due to continued failure to comply with accreditation standards related to fiscal stability and institutional effectiveness in student learning outcomes. SACSCOC removed all accreditation sanctions and reaffirmed Erskine’s regional accreditation in December 2015.

Athletics
Erksine College teams participate as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division II. The Flying Fleet are a member of the Conference Carolinas. Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, tennis and volleyball; while women's sports include basketball, cross country, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, tennis and volleyball.

The Flying Fleet
Back in 1896, Erskine College began its first American football team. They had very successful seasons between 1917 and 1921. During those seasons they have wins against Wofford, Presbyterian, South Carolina, Clemson, and the Citadel. One of the memorable games of Erskine's football team was against Furman University. It was during that game in 1929 that Erskine took on the name "The Flying Fleet", given to them by a Greenville reporter who was impressed by their passing performance. On October 18, 1948, they defeated Florida State 14–6. The Flying Fleet ended their football program in 1951.

In 2018, Erskine College announced return of the football program for the 2020 season competing in the Conference Carolinas in NCAA Division II. Shap Boyd is the head coach for the returning program.

Major buildings

 * Administrative offices: Belk Hall, Watkins Student Center
 * Art buildings: Bowie Arts Center, Memorial Hall
 * Classrooms: Belk Hall, Reid Hall, Daniel Moultrie Science Center (DMSC)
 * Recreation: Galloway Center, the Hangar (under Lesesne Auditorium), pavilion, swimming pool, volleyball court
 * Men's housing: Bonner Hall, Grier Hall, McQuiston Hall, Pressly Hall
 * Women's housing: Carnegie Hall, Edwards House, Kennedy Hall, Robinson Hall
 * Dining services: Java City, Moffatt Dining Hall, Snappers
 * Erskine Towers: Flagship Building, old astronomical observatory and clock tower
 * Computer Lab and library: McCain Library, Reid Hall (archives)

Notable alumni

 * Susan Audé – WIS-TV news anchor
 * Erskine Caldwell – American author (attended, but did not graduate)
 * Beth Couture – head coach of the Butler Bulldogs women's basketball team
 * Lawrence Cowan – Arizona territorial, legislator, judge, lawyer, and business.
 * Tom Ervin – member of the South Carolina House of Representatives
 * Thomas S. Gettys – U.S. Congressman from South Carolina
 * Ira B. Jones – former South Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice and gubernatorial candidate
 * Thomas G. Long – Brandy Professor of Preaching at Candler School of Theology at Emory University
 * Benjamin Meek Miller – Governor of Alabama, 1931–1935
 * William Bell Montgomery – founder of Southern Farm Gazette (now known as the Progressive Farmer) and Mississippi State University
 * Joseph Rodney Moss – former Associate Justice and Chief Justice on the South Carolina Supreme Court
 * Lemuel P. Padgett – U.S. Congressman from Tennessee
 * Eleanor C. Pressly – aeronautical engineer at Goddard Space Flight Center
 * Charles Bryson Simonton – U.S. Congressman from Tennessee
 * Tom Verlaine – lead singer/guitarist of proto-punk rock band Television (attended, but did not graduate)