2009-2011 - Benedict College

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INTRODUCTION
A BRIEF HISTORY OF BENEDICT COLLEGE
BENEDICT COLLEGE, originally Benedict Institute, was founded in 1870 on an 80-acre
plantation in Columbia, South Carolina. Under the auspices of the American Baptist Home
Mission Society, Mrs. Bathsheba A. Benedict of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, provided the
amount of $13,000.00 to purchase the land to open Benedict Institute on December 12,
1870. This new school was established to educate recently emancipated people of African
descent.
Benedict's first class consisted of ten recently emancipated people of African descent and
one teacher, the Reverend Timothy L. Dodge, D.D. He was a college-trained preacher from
the North, who became president of the Institute. Benedict Institute set out from humble
beginnings in a dilapidated former slave master's mansion to prepare men and women to
be "powers for good in society." The mansion, built in 1839, served as the first schoolhouse
where grammar school subjects, along with Bible and theology, were taught. Eventually
other subjects were added to the curriculum to address the original objective of the school:
to train teachers and preachers.
On November 2, 1894, the institution was chartered as a liberal arts college by the South
Carolina Legislature and the name "Benedict Institute" was changed to "Benedict College."
From 1870 to 1930, Benedict College was led by seven northern white Baptist ministers,
all college trained. On April 10, 1930, the Reverend John J. Starks, who earned his bachelor's
degree from the College in 1891, became the first African American president of the
College. Five African-American presidents have succeeded him.
Maintaining a liberal arts tradition, Benedict College now offers bachelor degree programs
in thirty major areas of study to meet the needs of a complex and technological society at
home and world-wide as the twenty-first century sets new parameters for peoples across
the globe.
In 1994 with a strategic planning process in place, Benedict College set an enrollment goal
of "2000 by the year 2000". The goal was achieved in 1996 with an enrollment of 2,138 students.
The fall 2002 enrollment was 3,005. Benedict College is engaged in an on-going
strategic planning process, which will guide the College in the twenty-first century.
The College is currently undergoing an extensive campus improvement plan, which
includes land acquisition and the completion of a comprehensive athletics complex which
includes the Charlie W. Johnson Stadium. Campus facilities improvements since 1994 have
included installation of air-conditioning, fire sprinkler systems, and security systems in residence
halls; completion of an activities field and community park; renovation of Bacoats
Hall, Alumni Hall, Starks Center, and historic Antisdel Chapel; and restoration of historic
Morgan, Pratt, and Starks Halls, the latter of which houses the Student Leadership
Development Center. During this period, new construction has included three residence
halls, a parking garage, a campus center/dining hall, an Administration Building, a
Business Development Center, and perimeter fencing. Additionally buildings were acquired
to house a fitness center, the Division of Community Development/Center for Excellence,
the child development center, the visitor’s center/admissions office, and the Continuing
Education/Evening
and
Weekend Program located in the Lamar Building. Three apartment complexes have been