Cumberland University is a

private university Private universities and private colleges are institutions of higher education, not operated, owned, or institutionally funded by governments. They may (and often do) receive from governments tax breaks, public student loans, and grants. Dep ...

in Lebanon, Tennessee. It was founded in 1842. The campus's current historic buildings were constructed between 1892 and 1896.

History

Cumberland University Bulletin (1918) (14778838722)

1842-1861

The university was founded by the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in 1842 and received its Tennessee state charter in 1843. In 1847 Cumberland Presbyterian church leaders added a law school, the first in Tennessee and the first west of the Appalachian Mountains, and in 1854 a school of theology was begun. The original building, designed by

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

architect William Strickland, housed schools of art, law and theology.

Civil War

The Civil War nearly destroyed Cumberland University. University Hall was burned to the ground by Confederate forces under the command of General Joseph Wheeler. Cumberland alumni William E. Ward wrote on a ruined Corinthian column the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

phrase ''Ex Cineribus Resurgam'' (From the ashes I will arise). The university thereafter adopted the mythical

phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

bird as its symbol. By 1866, just one year after the war's end, all departments were again operating in various locations in the town of Lebanon. Following the war, the university's faculty included former Confederate general A. P. Stewart, who taught there during his post-Civil War

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

parole. Students included former Confederate general George Washington Gordon.

1865-1930s

Cumberland University moved to its present campus location in 1892. Construction of Memorial Hall, designed by William Crawford Smith, was completed in 1896; it remains the tallest building on campus as of January 2022. The university fell on hard times during the Great Depression, as did most small private colleges.

World War II

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Cumberland University served as the headquarters for the

Tennessee Maneuver Area The Tennessee Maneuver Area was a training area in Middle Tennessee, comprising the following counties: Bedford, Cannon, Coffee, DeKalb, Hickman, Humphreys, Jackson, Lawrence, Maury, Moore, Perry, Putnam, Rutherford, Smith, Sumner, Trousdal ...

, a training area for the Second Army whose geography resembled that of Belgium, France, and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Over 850,000 soldiers participated in the seven training exercises conducted in the area.

Sale of the law school and junior college years

After World War II, Cumberland experienced several changes in sponsorship and programs. In 1946, the Tennessee Baptist Convention assumed control of the school, ending a century of operation by the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. An attempt to merge Cumberland University and Tennessee School for Women during this period ultimately proved unsuccessful. In 1951, the Tennessee Baptist Convention closed the College of Arts and Sciences and operated only the School of Law. In 1956, the Board of Trust secured an amendment to the Charter and changed Cumberland to a private, independent corporation. The College of Arts and Sciences was reopened as a two-year junior college, known as Cumberland College of Tennessee. In 1962, the assets of the School of Law were transferred to Howard College, now known as Samford University, in Birmingham, Alabama; the law school is now known as the

Cumberland School of Law Cumberland School of Law is an American Bar Association, ABA accredited law school at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. It was founded in 1847 at Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee and is the 11th oldest law schoo ...

Reinstatement and growth as a university

The Board of Trust expanded the academic programs of the junior college in 1982, returning Cumberland to a four-year degree institution. It resumed the old name of Cumberland University. Since then, Cumberland has expanded its academic program to include new majors and specialized student-learning opportunities.

Presidents

* Franceway Ranna Cossitt, 1842–1844 *Thomas C. Anderson, 1844–1866 * Benjamin Wilburn McDonnold, 1866–1873 *

Nathan Green Jr. Nathan Green Jr. (February 1827 – February 1919) was one of the founders and the first dean of Cumberland School of Law, then located in Lebanon, Tennessee. Early life Nathan Green Jr. was born in February 1827. He was the son of judge Nat ...

, 1873–1902 *David Earle Mitchell, 1902–1906 *

(Acting), 1906–1909 *Winstead Paine Bone, 1909–1914 *Samuel Andrew Coile, 1914–1916 *Homer Allin Hill (Acting), 1916–1917 *Edward Powell Childs, 1917–1920 *Andrew Blake Buchanan (Acting), 1920–1922 *John Royal Harris, 1922–1926 *Ernest Looney Stockton, 1926–1941 * Laban Lacy Rice, 1941–1946 *Edwin Smith Preston, 1946–1950 *W. Edwin Richardson, 1950–1952 *Sam B. Gilreath, 1952–1956 *Charles B. Havens, 1956–1958 *Ernest Looney Stockton Jr., 1958–1983 *

Robert N. Clement Robert Nelson Clement (born September 23, 1943) is an American politician and a member of the Democratic Party. He served in the United States House of Representatives, representing Tennessee, from 1988 until 2003, when he retired to run (unsucc ...

, 1983–1988 *M. Walker Buckalew, 1988–1991 *J. Thomas Mills, 1991–1992 *Ray C. Phillips, 1992–1995 *Clair Martin, 1995–2000 *Charlene Kozy, 2000–2004 *Harvill C. Eaton, 2004–2015 *Paul C. Stumb IV, 2015 – present

Cumberland School of Law

In 1847 Cumberland Presbyterian church leaders added the

, the first law school in Tennessee and the first west of the Appalachian Mountains. For many years the law school was located in historic Caruthers Hall, named for Robert Looney Caruthers, a founder of Cumberland University. The trustees sold the School of Law and its assets in 1962 to what is now Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. The

continues to operate there.

Community outreach

Cumberland University gives back to the local community in many ways. Cumberland has a

Circle K Circle K Stores, Inc. is a Canadian chain of convenience stores headquartered in Laval, Quebec, Canada. It is owned by the multinational company Couche-Tard. Founded in 1951 in El Paso, Texas, the company filed for bankruptcy protection in ...

club, which is affiliated with Kiwanis International. On February 13, 2010, Cumberland University hosted a conference basketball game, and donated half of its gate admissions to Sherry's Run, a non-profit organization created to benefit people with

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

. Also, the Cumberland University cycling team formed its own chapter of local non-profit organization Ride for Reading.

Greek life

The university has 3 sororities and 5 fraternities. The sororities include the Lambda Omicron chapter of Alpha Omicron Pi and the Delta Mu chapter of Alpha Sigma Tau as well as Zeta Phi Beta (NPHC). The fraternities include the Theta Prime chapter of

Kappa Sigma Kappa Sigma (), commonly known as Kappa Sig, is an American collegiate social fraternity founded at the University of Virginia in 1869. Kappa Sigma is one of the five largest international fraternities with currently 318 active chapters and col ...

, the Nu chapter of

Sigma Chi Sigma Chi () International Fraternity is one of the largest North American fraternal literary societies. The fraternity has 244 active (undergraduate) chapters and 152 alumni chapters across the United States and Canada and has initiated more t ...

. There are 3 NPHC fraternities: Gamma Rho Gamma chapter of Phi Beta Sigma, the Phi Delta Delta chapter of Omega Psi Phi and the Rho Rho Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi.

Athletics

The Cumberland athletic teams are called the Phoenix (formerly known as the Bulldogs until 2016). The university is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), primarily competing in the Mid-South Conference (MSC) since the 2012–13 school year; which they were a member on a previous stint from 1996–97 to 2001–02. The Phoenix previously competed in the TranSouth Athletic Conference (TranSouth or TSAC) from 2002–03 to 2011–12; and in the

Tennessee Collegiate Athletic Conference The Tennessee Collegiate Athletic Conference (TCAC) was a former college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA); which was predominantly for smaller, private colleges in Western and Midd ...

(TCAC) from 1986–87 to 1995–96. Cumberland competes in 23 intercollegiate varsity sports. Men's sports include baseball, basketball, bowling, cross country, football, golf, soccer, tennis, track & field, volleyball and wrestling; while women's sports include basketball, bowling, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, track & field and volleyball. Co-ed sports include cheerleading, dance and eSports.

Attempt to move to NCAA Division II

On August 7, 2013, Cumberland University was granted provisional membership into the

Great Midwest Athletic Conference The Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. It was named the 24th (at the time) NCAA Division II conference and oper ...

(G-MAC) after a vote of league presidents, paving the way for the university to apply to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for admittance into Division II in February 2014. Cumberland's application to join Division II was denied in 2014. As of 2022, Cumberland hasn't yet re-applied to transition into NCAA Division II.

Nickname

On January 4, 2016, Cumberland University changed the sports nickname of its athletic program from "Bulldogs" to "Phoenix", stating that, "For more than 150 years, the Phoenix has personified the spirit of Cumberland University."

Football

Cumberland football began on October 26, 1894, with a 6–6 tie with Peabody and finished that first year with a 2–1–1 season record. The pinnacle of the early days of CU football was the 1903 season that began with a (6–0) win over Vanderbilt then a (0–6) loss to Sewanee and continued with a five-day road trip with victories over

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

(44–0) November 14, 1903, LSU (41–0) November 16, 1903, and

Tulane Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pub ...

(28–0) November 18, 1903. Cumberland played a postseason game against Coach John Heisman's Clemson team on Thanksgiving Day that ended in an 11–11 tie and a record of 4–1–1. This gave Coach A.L. Phillips and Cumberland University the Championship of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association. The 1916 game against

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

is famous as the most lopsided loss in the history of college football, with Georgia Tech defeating Cumberland 222-0.

Baseball

Cumberland's baseball program won the NAIA World Series following the 2004, 2010, and 2014 seasons; the 1995 and 2006 teams were runners-up in this event. From 1980 to 2021, Woody Hunt served as head coach of the Cumberland baseball program, compiling a 1,630-774-5 record. He was named NAIA National Coach of the Year in 2006 and was runner-up for the award four times. Hunt was inducted into the

American Baseball Coaches Association The American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) is the world's largest Amateur baseball in the United States, amateur baseball Manager (baseball), coaching organization. It was founded in 1945 as the American Association of College Baseball Coach ...

Hall of Fame (2013), the Boyle County (Kentucky) Sports Hall of Fame, the Cumberland University Hall of Fame, the NAIA Hall of Fame (2007), and the Tennessee Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame (2009). The NAIA awarded Hunt the 2019 Robert E. "Ish" Smith Award, and the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame awarded him the Pat Summitt Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020. Three Cumberland baseball players have played for MLB teams:

Jack Farmer Floyd Haskell "Jack" Farmer (July 14, 1892 – May 21, 1970) was a Major League Baseball second baseman who played for two seasons. He played for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1916 and the Cleveland Indians in 1918. He attended Cumberland University ...

, Luis Martinez, and

Aaron Wilkerson Aaron Daniel Wilkerson (born May 24, 1989) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Leones de Yucatán of the Mexican League. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers. After breaking two pitching record ...

Basketball

The women's basketball team finished as NAIA National Tournament Runner-Up in 2007 and made it to the semifinals in 2013. The men's basketball team earned trips to the NAIA National Tournament following the 2004, 2008, and 2009 seasons. On August 17, 2018, the university named the basketball court in Dallas Floyd Phoenix Arena after

Cliff Ellis Robert Clifford Ellis (born December 5, 1945) is an American college basketball coach, currently the head coach at Coastal Carolina University. Going into the 2020–21 season, Coach Ellis's 800 NCAA Division I victories rank him 8th on the list ...

, who coached Cumberland to a 78-12 record from 1973 to 1975.

Soccer

The 2014 women's team reached the NAIA quarterfinals, and the 2017 team went undefeated in the regular season before losing in the Mid-South Conference finals. The men's team won the 2017 Mid-South Conference Tournament.

Wrestling

The wrestling program has produced four individual champions: Keith Cupp (174 lbs.), 2005; Corey Bleaken (157 lbs.), 2011; and Jake Williams (149 lbs.), 2014 and 2015.

Other sports

Cumberland achieved a top-ten finish at the National Collegiate Cycling Association's National Championship. Cumberland achieved a National Tournament appearance for the No. 16-ranked Men's Tennis Team in 2022.

Notable alumni

Memorial hall cumberland university lebanon tennessee

Cumberland University alumni include a U.S. Secretary of State, two U.S. Supreme Court justices, dozens of members of Congress, prominent social activists, significant military figures, and notable contributors to business, humanities, education, and the arts.

Alma Mater Song Lyrics

"Hail, all hail to Cumberland, Sing her praises ever. To her mem'ry ever true, We'll forsake her never. Like the Phoenix from the ashes, She arose to live again. Ever glorious as before, Both today and ever more."

Media

Memorial Hall, the central building on campus, was featured in Taylor Swift's music video " Love Story."

References

External links

*
Official athletics website
{{Coord, 36.204, -86.299, type:edu_region:US-TN, display=title Private universities and colleges in Tennessee Liberal arts colleges in Tennessee Educational institutions established in 1842 Lebanon, Tennessee Universities and colleges accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Education in Wilson County, Tennessee Buildings and structures in Wilson County, Tennessee 1842 establishments in Tennessee