The College of Charleston (CofC or Charleston) is a

public university A public university or public college is a university or college that is in owned by the state or receives significant public funds through a national or subnational government, as opposed to a private university. Whether a national universi ...

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

. Founded in 1770 and chartered in 1785, it is the oldest university in

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

, the 13th oldest institution of higher learning in the United States, and the oldest

municipal college A municipal college is a city-supported institution of higher learning. The oldest municipal college in the United States is the College of Charleston located in historic Charleston, South Carolina. The College of Charleston is also the thirtee ...

in the country. The founders of the institution include three future signers of the

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of th ...

( Thomas Heyward Jr.,

Arthur Middleton Arthur Middleton (June 26, 1742 – January 1, 1787) was a Founding Father of the United States as a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence, representing South Carolina in the Second Continental Congress. Life Middleton was b ...

, and

Edward Rutledge Edward Rutledge (November 23, 1749 – January 23, 1800) was an American Founding Father and politician who signed the Continental Association and was the youngest signatory of the Declaration of Independence. He later served as the 39th gov ...

), and three future signers of the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the natio ...

(

Charles Pinckney Charles Pinckney may refer to: * Charles Pinckney (South Carolina chief justice) (died 1758), father of Charles Cotesworth Pinckney * Colonel Charles Pinckney (1731–1782), South Carolina politician, loyal to British during Revolutionary War, fath ...

Charles Cotesworth Pinckney Charles Cotesworth Pinckney (February 25, 1746 – August 16, 1825) was an American Founding Father, statesman of South Carolina, Revolutionary War veteran, and delegate to the Constitutional Convention where he signed the United States Constit ...

, and

John Rutledge John Rutledge (September 17, 1739 – June 21, 1800) was an American Founding Father, politician, and jurist who served as one of the original associate justices of the Supreme Court and the second chief justice of the United States. Additio ...

History

The College of Charleston was founded in 1770, making it the 13th-oldest institution of higher education and oldest municipal college in the United States. The General Assembly of South Carolina granted the college a charter in March 1785. The original structure, located at the site of what is now Randolph Hall, was similar to a military barracks in structure. The college opened in 1790 and held its first commencement in 1794. A second charter was issued in 1791 asserting that the college would not descriminate based on religion. In 1837, the city of Charleston assumed control. The first president of the college was Reverend Robert Smith who served from 1790 until 1797.

Academics

The College of Charleston consists of seven academic schools, as well as the Honors College and the Graduate School. * The School of the Arts * The School of Business * The School of Education * The School of Health Sciences * The School of Humanities and Social Sciences * The School of Languages, Cultures, and World Affairs * The School of Sciences, Mathematics, and Engineering * The Honors College * The Graduate School

Campus

The College of Charleston's main campus in downtown Charleston includes 156 buildings, a mix of modern and historic buildings constructed from 1770 to 2009. The average building is more than 100 years old. Twenty buildings are under historic, protective easements. The College of Charleston downtown campus is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Outside of downtown Charleston, the campus includes the Grice Marine Lab on James Island, the J. Stewart Walker Sailing Center and the Patriots Point Athletic Complex in Mount Pleasant and the Stono Preserve. In 2017, ''

Travel + Leisure ''Travel + Leisure'' is a travel magazine based in New York City, New York. Published 12 times a year, it has 4.8 million readers, according to its corporate media kit. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC, with trademark rig ...

'' magazine named it "America's Most Beautiful College Campus." The Mace Brown Museum of Natural History is a public natural history museum located on the campus. The museum has more than 30,000 vertebrate and invertebrate fossils. The collection's focus is on the paleontology of North American mammals, and specifically the South Carolina Lowcountry.

Buildings

Listed on the Register of Historic Places

Randolph Hall is the institution's main academic building The William Blacklock House

= Historic buildings

= Randolph_hall_college_of_charleston.JPG, Randolph Hall Communication buildings, College of Charleston.JPG, Communication buildings Porters Lodge CofC.JPG, Porters Lodge Lucas House.jpg, Benjamin Lucas House, 24 Bull Street, built circa 1858 92 Wentworth.jpg, 92 Wentworth—historic student residence Avery Research Center.jpg, Avery Research Center Sottile House.jpg, Sottile House.

= Other buildings

= Marion and Wayland H. Cato Jr. Center for the Arts.jpg, Marion and Wayland H. Cato Jr. Center for the Arts 07.2020- Jewish Studies 1.jpg, The Sylvia Vlosky Yaschik Jewish Studies Center 07.2020- Liberty 1.jpg, Liberty Street Residence Hall The Marlene and Nathan Addlestone Library.jpg, The Marlene and Nathan Addlestone Library School of Sciences, Math, and Engineering.jpg, School of Sciences, Math, and Engineering 07.2020- RSS 1.jpg, Robert Scott Small Building Patriots Point Athletic Complex.jpg, Patriots Point Athletic Complex Beatty Center.jpg, Beatty Center The Tate Center for Entrepreneurship.jpg, The Tate Center for Entrepreneurship The Rita Hollings Science Center (RITA).jpg, The Rita Hollings Science Center

Bully Pulpit Series

The Bully Pulpit Series is hosted jointly by the College of Charleston's Departments of Political Science and Communication. The series welcomes presidential candidates from the two major political parties to the campus. Candidates speak with students and Charleston community members on such topics as the frequency of press conferences, the candidate's relationship with journalists and the power of the president to persuade. Major candidates that appeared during the 2008 Presidential primaries included Senator

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two te ...

, Congressman

Ron Paul Ronald Ernest Paul (born August 20, 1935) is an American author, activist, physician and retired politician who served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1976 to 1977 and again from 1979 to 1985, as we ...

, President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

and Senator John Edwards. During that season, the series was sponsored by the Allstate Insurance Company and attendance on the Bully Pulpit events drew over 6,000 attendees. During the 2016 Presidential primaries, the major candidates who participated in the series included Senator

Lindsey Graham Lindsey Olin Graham (born July 9, 1955) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from South Carolina, a seat he has held since 2003. A member of the Republican Party, Graham chaired the Senate Committee on ...

and former Maryland governor

Martin O'Malley Martin Joseph O'Malley (born January 18, 1963) is an American lawyer and former politician who served as the 61st Governor of Maryland from 2007 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he was Mayor of Baltimore from 1999 to 2007. O'Malley ...

. The series hosted a slew of candidates during the

2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries Presidential primaries and caucuses were organized by the Democratic Party to select the 3,979 pledged delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention held on August 17–20 to determine the party's nominee for president in the 2020 Un ...

. The candidates who appeared were: Mayor

Pete Buttigieg Peter Paul Montgomery Buttigieg ( ; ; Sometimes pronounced or , but not by Buttigieg himself. born January 19, 1982) is an American politician and former military officer who is currently serving as the United States secretary of transp ...

, Representative

Beto O'Rourke Robert Francis "Beto" O'Rourke ( , ; ; born September 26, 1972) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2013 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, O'Rourke was the party's nominee for the U.S. Senat ...

, Secretary Julian Castro, Senator

Amy Klobuchar Amy Jean Klobuchar ( ; born May 25, 1960) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Minnesota, a seat she has held since 2007. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), Minn ...

, Senator

Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Vermont since 2007. He was the U.S. representative for the state's at-large congressional district from 1991 to 20 ...

, former vice president and eventual president Joe Biden, and Representative

Tulsi Gabbard Tulsi Gabbard (; born April 12, 1981) is an American politician, United States Army Reserve officer and political commentator who served as the U.S. representative for Hawaii's 2nd congressional district from 2013 to 2021. Gabbard was the fi ...

Athletics

The institution's 19 varsity sports teams participate in the

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athleti ...

Colonial Athletic Association The Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I whose full members are located in East Coast ...

and are known as the Cougars. The Cougars compete at a variety of athletics facilities in the Charleston area, including the

TD Arena TD Arena is a 5,100 seat multi-purpose arena in Charleston, South Carolina, United States that opened in 2008 and replaced John Kresse Arena as the home of the College of Charleston Cougars basketball and volleyball teams. The South Financial G ...

(formerly the Carolina First Arena), the J. Stewart Walker Sailing Complex, Johnson Center Squash Courts, Patriots Point Athletic Complex and the Links at Stono Ferry. College of Charleston athletics are supported by the College of Charleston Athletic Club, which was established in 1974. During the 1970–71 school year, College of Charleston students voted to change the nickname from the Maroons to the Cougars, in honor of a cougar that had recently arrived at the Charles Towne Landing zoo. Clyde the Cougar is the current mascot.

Oliver Marmol Oliver Jose Marmol (born July 2, 1986) is an American professional baseball manager and former coach who is the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). As of the 2023 season, he is the youngest manager of an MLB team. ...

, the new manager of the St. Louis Cardinals is a former College of Charleston baseball player.

Greek life

Greek life has been active on campus for 120 years. In 2017, four fraternities were shut down by the college for alcohol, drugs and a sexual assault.

Notable alumni

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Charleston Presidents of the College of Charleston 1770 establishments in South Carolina 1785 establishments in South Carolina Educational institutions established in 1770 Educational institutions established in 1788 National Historic Landmarks in South Carolina Historic American Buildings Survey in South Carolina Colonial South Carolina Education in Charleston, South Carolina English-American culture in South Carolina Universities and colleges accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools National Register of Historic Places in Charleston, South Carolina University and college buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in South Carolina Education in Charleston County, South Carolina Public universities and colleges in South Carolina