Johnson C. Smith University

Johnson C. Smith University (JCSU) is a private historically black university in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) and accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). The university awards Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Social Work, and Master of Social Work degrees.

History
Johnson C. Smith University was established on April 7, 1867, as the Biddle Memorial Institute at a meeting of the Catawba Presbytery in the old Charlotte Presbyterian Church. Mary D. Biddle donated $1,400 to the school. The school was then named after her late husband, Henry Jonathan Biddle, who had died after the Battle of Glendale in 1862. The corresponding women's school was Scotia Seminary (now Barber-Scotia College).

In 1876, the charter was changed by the legislature of the State of North Carolina and the name became Biddle University, under which name the institution operated until 1923.

In 1891, Biddle University elected Daniel J. Sanders as the first African-American as president of a four-year institution in the south.



From 1921 to 1922, Jane Berry Smith donated funds to build a theological dormitory, a science hall, a teachers' cottage, a memorial gate, and an endowment in memory of her late husband, Johnson C. Smith. She later donated funds for five more buildings and a campus church. In recognition, Biddle University's president Dr. H. L. McCrorey announced on February 3, 1922, that the institution would refer to itself as The Johnson C. Smith University. A newspaper at the time noted that "While the name will be used at once, unofficially, an application for the charter changes necessary cannot be accomplished until the meeting of the next general assembly," and the charter was amended to make the name change official on March 1, 1923.

In 1924, James B. Duke established the Duke Endowment. While the largest share of that the endowment's earnings are allocated to support Duke University, Duke's donation required that 4% of its earnings be given to the university.

In 1932, the university's charter was amended, providing for the admission of women. The 65-year-old institution for men then became partially coeducational. The first residence hall for women, named in memory of James B. Duke, was dedicated in 1940. In 1941, women were admitted to the freshman class. In 1942, the university was a fully coeducational institution.

JCSU joined the United Negro College Fund in 1944 as a founding member. This fund was organized primarily to help church-related schools of higher learning to revamp their training programs, to expand their physical plants, to promote faculty growth and to create new areas of service.

Biddle Memorial Hall is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Timeline

 * 1867: The Henry J. Biddle Memorial Institute was founded by Samuel C. Alexander and Willis L. Miller. Mary D. Biddle, an excellent churchwoman of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who, through appeals in one of the church papers, pledged $1,400 to the school. In appreciation of this first and generous contribution, friends requested that Biddle name the newly established school after her late husband, Major Henry Biddle.
 * 1867: The first class sessions were held in May in "Audience Chamber" of Seventh Street Presbyterian Church, then located in a section called "Log Town."
 * 1868: The permanent location for the school was established via the donation of 8 acre of land from Colonel W. R. Myers.
 * 1869: Biddle Institute officially opens on the present site in September
 * 1869: The first president, Stephen Mattoon, was elected on October 9, 1869
 * 1871: The first class, made up of three students, graduated from the Seminary. Those students were B. F. McDowell, Calvin McCurdey, Eli Walker.
 * 1873: 12 acre of land were purchased, extending the current site to 20 acre.
 * 1876: Biddle Institute changes its name to Biddle University.
 * 1883: The Administration Building was erected. Additional land was acquired extending the site to 24 acre.
 * 1884: William A. Holliday is elected as the second president of the university.
 * 1885: Stephen Mattoon returns to serve again, this time as interim president.
 * 1886: William F. Johnson is elected as the third president of the university.
 * 1891: Daniel J. Sanders is the first African-American elected as the president of the university.
 * 1892: Biddle University competes in the first intercollegiate football game between two historically Black colleges, winning against Livingstone College.
 * 1895: Carter Hall, the first substantial dormitory, was erected. The dormitory was named in after Miss Mary A. Carter of Geneva, NY in honor of the donation she provided for its construction.
 * 1895: “The Gold and Blue” are named the official school colors, making their debut on Easter.
 * 1896: Additional acreage was acquired, extending the size of the campus to 60 acre.
 * 1905: The first student newspaper, The Argus, begins publication.
 * 1907: Henry Lawrence McCrore is elected president upon the death of President Daniel J. Sanders.
 * 1911: Carnegie Library was erected with the aid of funding from the Carnegie Fund.
 * 1917: Biddle University celebrates its Fiftieth Anniversary.
 * 1917: 15 acre of land are generously donated to the university, a donation from the daughters of Stephen Mattoon. This donation increases the size of the campus to 75 acre.
 * 1921: After the death of her husband, Johnson C. Smith (Crayne) (August 20, 1919), Mrs. Jane Berry Smith is interested in identifying worthwhile causes to donate to that would be of the most benefit. She becomes interested in Biddle University through her association with  McCrorey and begins her benefactions to the university.
 * 1921: The first Greek letter organization is established. The Rho chapter of Omega Psi Phi fraternity was chartered on November 7, 1921.
 * 1922: The Science Hall and Johnson C. Smith Theological Dormitory are erected.
 * 1922: Biddle University is renamed Johnson C. Smith University by the a vote of the board of trustees on February 3, and the Division of Missions for Colored people in honor of the concerns and contributions of Mrs. Jane Berry Smith. The change does not become official until March 1, 1923, when the North Carolina state legislature approves the amendment of the university's charter of the university.  To keep the memory of Major Henry J. Biddle alive, the Administration Building is renamed “Biddle Memorial Hall”.
 * 1923: Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity is established on campus. The Alpha Omicron chapter is established on May 4, 1923.
 * 1924: James B. Duke creates an endowment for schools, hospitals, and retired and disabled ministers. Four educational institutions are added to the endowment: Trinity College (now Duke University), Furman University, Davidson College, and Johnson C. Smith University.
 * 1927: The Alpha Epsilon chapter of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity is established on October 27, 1927.
 * 1927: Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity is the fourth national Greek letter organization to be chartered. The Alpha Epsilon chapter is established on December 10, 1927.
 * 1931: Johnson C. Smith University holds its first Founders Day Celebration
 * 1932: In 1932, the university's charter was amended, providing for the admission of women to the senior division. The 65-year-old institution for men then became partially coeducational.
 * 1933: Johnson C. Smith University is given an "A" rating by Southern Association of Schools and Colleges.
 * 1934: The university joins the American Council on Education as a full member.
 * 1940: The Duke Residence Hall for women is built and named in honor of James B. Duke.
 * 1941: Women are admitted to the freshman class for the first time.
 * 1942: Johnson C. Smith celebrates its Diamond Jubilee
 * 1943: Hardy Liston takes over the Office of Executive Vice President.
 * 1944: The Gamma Lambda chapter of Delta Sigma Theta sorority is founded on February 19, 1944.
 * 1944: Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority charters the Gamma Delta chapter the last week in February 1944.
 * 1945: Johnson C. Smith University joins the United Negro College Fund as a founding member.
 * 1946: Zeta Phi Beta sorority charters the Kappa chapter on March 15, 1946.
 * 1947: President Henry Lawrence McCrorey retires after forty years of service. Hardy Liston is elected president.
 * 1947: Carter Hall is renovated, with a new structure being erected within the existing hull of the building.
 * 1952: A revision of the university's charter is made that officially deletes reference to race.
 * 1955: In November 1955, the Henry Lawrence McCrorey Theological Hall was dedicated and provided a new home for the 88-year-old seminary and its library.
 * 1956: President Hardy Liston dies on October 20, 1956. J. W. Seabrook steps in as Interim President.
 * 1957: Rufus Patterson Perry is elected as president in April of that year.
 * 1961: The new gymnasium is erected.
 * 1962: Hardy Liston Residence Hall is erected. The building is dedicated later in April 1963.
 * 1965: The Mary Joyce Taylor Crisp Memorial Student Union is built.
 * 1966: Martin Luther King Jr. speaks on campus as a part of the Centennial Celebration that began October 12, 1966.
 * 1967: JCSU holds the main Centennial Celebration on April 7, 1967, in the new gymnasium with the theme of “New Dimensions in Higher Education”.
 * 1967: Three major construction projects are completed: The James B. Duke Memorial Library, Myers Hall (a dormitory for men), and Sanders Hall (a dormitory for women).
 * 1968: The new science center is constructed.
 * 1969: Lionel H. Newsom becomes the ninth president of the university
 * 1969: The Seminary moves to Atlanta Georgia and merges with the Interdenominational Theological Center.
 * 1972: Wilbert Greenfield becomes the tenth President of Johnson C. Smith University.
 * 1976: The Mary Irwin Belk Early Childhood Education Center is erected.
 * 1983: Robert L. Albright becomes the eleventh president of the university.
 * 1985: Greenfield Hall is erected and named in honor of past President Wilbert Greenfield.
 * 1986: The Lionel H. Newsom Humanities Building is built.
 * 1990: The Robert L. Albright Honors College Center opens.
 * 1991: The Faculty Center opens.
 * 1993: The Edward E. Crutchfield Jr. Center for Integrated Studies is built.
 * 1994: The New Residence Hall opens.
 * 1994: Dorothy Cowser Yancy becomes the first woman and twelfth President of JCSU.
 * 1997: The Technology Center, renamed Dorothy Cowser Yancy Hall in 2015, is built.
 * 1996: JCSU received a $1-million gift from Irwin Belk, a prominent Charlotte businessman. At the time, it was the largest gift from a living individual in the school’s history.
 * 2000: JCSU gained national recognition when it launched the IBM Laptop Initiative, known as ThinkPad U, making it one of the few colleges in the country, and the first HBCU, to provide an IBM laptop computer to every student.
 * 2003: JCSU opens a new state-of-the-art academic and sports facility, the Irwin Belk Complex, home of the Golden Bulls football and track teams.
 * 2008: Ronald L. Carter becomes the thirteenth president.
 * 2011: The Arts Factory opened its doors to students and the Charlotte community.
 * 2012: JCSU's Mosaic Village opens in the Historic West End as the latest sign of revitalization in the Northwest Corridor.
 * 2015: The 62,000-square-foot Science Center funded by the Duke Endowment opened as the home of JCSU's programs in the College of STEM
 * 2018: Clarence D. Armbrister, J.D. becomes the fourteenth president.
 * 2023: Valerie Kinloch becomes the fifteenth president of the university.

Academics
Johnson C. Smith University offers 25 degree programs to undergraduate students and one to graduate students. These are typically organized into three colleges: the College of Business and Professional Studies; the College of Liberal Arts; and the College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).

The Robert L. Albright Honors College is also available to qualified high-achieving undergraduate students at JCSU. The college is named after the 11th president of the university.

Metropolitan College offers accelerated undergraduate degree programs to adults with courses available on-campus and online.

James B. Duke Memorial Library
The James B. Duke Memorial Library was built in 1967 in memory of James Buchanan Duke, a major benefactor to the university. Carnegie Library, the existing library at that time, was not large enough to meet the expanding academic programming and increasing enrollment. In 1998, the library completed a $7 million yearlong modernization and reconstruction to allow the building to serve as an information hub in a digital age.

The James B. Duke Memorial Library is also the home of a 8.5 by 20 ft. mural created by Philadelphia artist Paul F. Keene Jr. Keene. The mural illustrates the university's founding and development.

Student life
The Office of Student Leadership and Engagement (SLE) oversees the Student Government Association (SGA), Royal Court, Greek Life Organizations (National Pan-Hellenic Council and United Greek Council), Golden Bulls Activities Committee (GBAC), and over 30 Student Clubs and Organizations. The JCSU Intramural and Recreation Program offers opportunities for students to participate in intramural sports, club sports, fitness programs, and informal recreational activities.

Fraternities and sororities
All nine of the National Pan-Hellenic Council organizations currently have chapters at Johnson C. Smith University.

Athletics
Student-athletes currently compete in 13 NCAA sports. JCSU is a member of Division II, Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA). Its intercollegiate sports programs include basketball, bowling, cross-country, football, golf, softball, volleyball, tennis, and track and field. Its teams are nicknamed the Golden Bulls.

Notable faculty
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