Lyon College
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, mottoeng = Perseverance Conquers All, God Willing. , established = , type =
Private college 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. D ...
, president = Melissa Taverner , city = Batesville , state =
Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...
, country = United States , students = 665 , faculty = 61 , campus =
Rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are describ ...
town, , former_names = Arkansas College (1872–1994) , colors = Crimson, Navy Blue & Gold
   , religious_affiliation =
Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
, academic_affiliations = NAICU
APCU
Space-grant The space-grant colleges are educational institutions in the United States that comprise a network of fifty-two consortia formed for the purpose of outer space-related research. Each consortium is based in one of the fifty states, the District o ...
, sports_nickname = Scots , athletics_affiliations = NAIA
American Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...
(primary)
NAIA –
Sooner Sooners is the name given to settlers who entered the Unassigned Lands in what is now the state of Oklahoma before the official start of the Land Rush of 1889. The Unassigned Lands were a part of Indian Territory that, after a lobbying campaign ...
(
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
)
NACE , website = , coor = Lyon College is a
private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...
liberal arts college A liberal arts college or liberal arts institution of higher education is a college with an emphasis on undergraduate study in liberal arts and sciences. Such colleges aim to impart a broad general knowledge and develop general intellectual capac ...
affiliated with the
Presbyterian Church Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
and located in
Batesville, Arkansas Batesville is the county seat and largest city of Independence County, Arkansas, Independence County, Arkansas, United States, 80 miles (183 km) northeast of Little Rock, Arkansas, Little Rock, the state capital. According to the 2010 Census, ...
. Founded in 1872 as Arkansas College, it is the oldest independent college in Arkansas.


History

Located in Batesville, Arkansas, the college was founded in 1872 and is the oldest independent college in Arkansas. In 1871, state leaders narrowed down choices for the potential flagship location of a
state college State College is a city in central Pennsylvania, United States. State College may also refer to: Related to State College, Pennsylvania * State College Area School District, a school district serving State College * State College Area High School ...
to either Fayetteville or Batesville. Fayetteville and Washington County residents collaboratively offered financial backing to establish the college in Fayetteville, and Batesville ultimately lost the bid. However, Rev. Isaac J. Long, along with others involved with the Presbyterian church, decided to open their own college there soon after, which they named Arkansas College at Batesville. The charter was signed by Governor
Ozra Amander Hadley Ozra (or Ozro) Amander Hadley (June 30, 1826 – July 18, 1915) was an American politician who served as the acting governor of Arkansas from 1871 to 1873. Early life and education Hadley was born in Cherry Creek, New York, and was educated ...
on October 24, 1872.
Morrow Hall Morrow Hall is a historic building in Batesville, Arkansas. It was entered into the National Register of Historic Places in October 1972. Built in 1873, this was the first permanent building of Arkansas College (now Lyon College), the oldest cont ...
was the college's first permanent building, occupied in 1873. The Long family led the college until Dr. Paul M. McCain became president of the college in 1952. It was renamed Lyon College in 1994, after the Lyon family of Arkansas. Frank Lyon Sr. served on the board of trustees from 1946 to 1988, including as chairman from 1977 to 1987. Frank Lyon Jr. served on the board for more than 30 years, until his death in 2015. He served as chair of the board for four years. Frank Lyon Jr. and Jane Lyon gave the largest gift in the college's history of $10 million. W. Joseph King became president in July 2017. King succeeded Donald V. Weatherman, who served as president from 2009 until he retired in 2017. Melissa Taverner was named provost in February 2018. After King's resignation in 2021, Taverner succeeded him as president.


Academics

Lyon College is classified among "Baccalaureate Colleges: Arts & Sciences Focus". In 2019, the college was listed at #50 on the "Top Performers of Social Mobility" published by ''U.S. News & World Report''. As of 2020, Lyon College was ranked #164-#215 among "National Liberal Arts Colleges" '' U.S. News & World Report''.


Campus

The college was originally located in the "downtown" block that the First Presbyterian Church of Batesville now occupies. In the 1920s, the college moved to East End Heights neighborhood, which was later known as the middle campus. The college added more buildings in between 1991 and 1994, including the Holloway Theatre, Lyon Business and Economics Building, President's Residence, Bradley Manor, Upper Division Residence Hall, and Young House. The Derby Center for Science and Mathematics was completed in December 2003, followed by the Kelley Baseball Complex, in January 2004. The size of the current campus is 136 acres. In October 2010, a fire damaged the Edwards Commons Dining Hall. The building was named after John W. Edwards and Lucille Welman Edwards, who originally funded the building. Reconstruction of the building began in October 2011. Lyon college added two new residence halls, named Whiteside and Wilson, in October 2015. The campus includes an 18-hole disc golf course that is open to the public.


Student life

Student enrollment was 655, all undergraduate, as of 2019. Lyon College has a Scottish Heritage Program that provides scholarships and hosts the Arkansas Scottish Festival every April. The program also started a campus pipe band that includes Lyon College students, faculty, and staff, along with volunteer musicians from Batesville and surrounding areas. The pipe band has performed locally in Arkansas as well as in Scotland. The college adopted a pet-friendly policy in January 2018 that allows students to own pets while living in the on-campus dormitories. It began offering obedience classes for animals and animal-friendly facilities, including a coffee shop and a dog park called the Schram Bark Park. The college has a student-run honor code and a freshman orientation system that runs from before the start of freshman year until the end of the first year. Lyon College has a fully endowed two-week study abroad program called the Nichols Program. In 2019, Lyon College initiated an
Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
Reserve Officers' Training Corps The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC ( or )) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. Overview While ROTC graduate officers serve in all ...
(ROTC) program and
Military Science Military science is the study of military processes, institutions, and behavior, along with the study of warfare, and the theory and application of organized coercive force. It is mainly focused on theory, method, and practice of producing mil ...
and Leadership concentration. The program is an affiliate of the
Arkansas State University Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage la ...
ROTC program.


Former radio station

From 1976 through 1981, the then-Arkansas College operated a low power "Class D" educational FM radio station, KGED, transmitting on 88.1 MHz. Its studio was in the lower level of the Mabee-Simpson library building and the transmitter was located on the upper level of Brown Chapel, with the broadcast antenna inside the steeple. Broadcasting was sporadic over the years and an attempt was made to revive operations in the fall semester of 1981 by freshman station manager Kevin Manzer. However, operations ceased permanently later that same year when the transmitter failed and was deemed not repairable by the station engineer, Dick Treat.


Athletics

The Lyon athletic teams are called the Scots. The college is a member of the
Division III In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...
level of the
National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
(NCAA), primarily competing as an NCAA D-III Independent since the 2022–23 academic year. The Scots previously competed in the
American Midwest Conference The American Midwest Conference (AMC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) with 10 member institutions located in Arkansas and Missouri in the United States. History The co ...
(AMC) of the
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to its stu ...
(NAIA) from 2012–13 to 2022–23; in the
TranSouth Athletic Conference The TranSouth Athletic Conference (TSAC) was a college athletic conference for smaller colleges and universities located in the Southern United States. It was affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and compe ...
(TranSouth or TSAC) from 1997–98 to 2011–12; as an NAIA Independent from 1995–96 to 1996–97; and in the defunct
Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference The Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference (AIC) was an athletic conference in existence from 1927 or 1928 to 1995 affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The conference membership consisted entirely of colleges ...
(AIC) from about 1980–81 to 1994–95. Lyon competes in 21 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, track & field and wrestling; while women's sports include basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, track & field, volleyball and wrestling; and co-ed sports include archery, competitive cheer, competitive dance, eSports and shooting sports. Former sports included men's lacrosse.


Wrestling

In January 2014, the college added men's and women's wrestling to its athletic offerings.


Football

Football was added in 2015, which prompted the construction of new residence halls and a 5,500 sq foot field house. The Lyon College football team competed in the
Sooner Athletic Conference The Sooner Athletic Conference (SAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Originally developed as a five-team conference of Oklahoma-based schools, the SAC now boasts 12 sc ...
of the NAIA.


Esports

The college is the only member of
National Association of Collegiate Esports The National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE) is a North American collegiate esports association founded in 2016. It is a nonprofit membership association organized by and on behalf of its members. With its members they are developing stru ...
in the state of Arkansas. Kevin Jenkins is the athletic director.


Intramurals

The college also fields an intramural sports program.


Move to NCAA Division III

On February 8, 2022, the school announced that it planned to transition its athletic programs from the NAIA to NCAA Division III, with any conference home yet to be determined. On August 22, 2022, Lyon received an invitation to join the
St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference The St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) is an NCAA Division III collegiate athletic conference in the Midwestern and SouthernUnited States. There are 9 full member institutions as of 2022. History Chronological timeline Sour ...
(SLIAC), starting in the 2023–24 school year.


Notable people


Judd Deere

Served as White House press assistant for
Donald J. Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
. He was recently subpoenaed by the January 6th committee investing the January 6th insurrection.


References


External links

*
Official athletics website
{{authority control Batesville, Arkansas Education in Independence County, Arkansas Educational institutions established in 1872 Liberal arts colleges in Arkansas 1872 establishments in Arkansas Universities and colleges affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) Private universities and colleges in Arkansas