Cumberland University is a

private university Private universities and private colleges are higher education institutions not operated, owned, or institutionally funded by governments. However, they often receive tax breaks, public student loans, and government grants. Depending on the count ...

Lebanon, Tennessee Lebanon ( ) is the county seat of Wilson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 38,431 at the 2020 census. Lebanon is located in Middle Tennessee, approximately east of downtown Nashville. Lebanon is part of the Nashville Metro ...

, United States. It was founded in 1842. The oldest campus buildings were constructed between 1892 and 1896.

History

1842–1861

The university was founded by the

Cumberland Presbyterian Church The Cumberland Presbyterian Church is a Presbyterian denomination spawned by the Second Great Awakening. Matthew H. Gore, The History of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Kentucky to 1988, (Memphis, Tennessee: Joint Heritage Committee, 2000 ...

in 1842 and received its Tennessee state charter in 1843. In 1847 Cumberland Presbyterian church leaders added a

law school A law school (also known as a law centre/center, college of law, or faculty of law) is an institution, professional school, or department of a college or university specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for b ...

, the first in Tennessee and the first west of the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a mountain range in eastern to northeastern North America. The term "Appalachian" refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range, and its surrounding terrain ...

, and in 1854 a school of

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

was begun. The original building, designed by

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

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

Civil War

The

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

nearly destroyed Cumberland University. University Hall was burned to the ground by Confederate forces under the command of General

Joseph Wheeler Joseph "Fighting Joe" Wheeler (September 10, 1836 – January 25, 1906) was a military commander and politician of the Confederate States of America. He was a cavalry general in the Confederate States Army in the 1860s during the American Civil ...

. Cumberland alumni William E. Ward wrote on a ruined Corinthian column the Latin phrase ''Ex Cineribus Resurgam'' (From the ashes I will arise). The university thereafter adopted the mythical phoenix 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 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 The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, as did most small private colleges.

World War II

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Cumberland University served as the headquarters for the Tennessee Maneuver Area, a training area for the Second Army whose geography resembled that of

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. 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 A junior college is a type of post-secondary institution that offers vocational and academic training that is designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations or support roles in professions such as engineering, a ...

, 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 Samford University is a Private university, private Christian university in Homewood, Alabama, United States. It was founded by Baptist Church, Baptists in 1841 as Howard College and located until 1887 in Marion, Alabama. It is governed by an in ...

, in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

; the law school is now known as the

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

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., 1873–1902 *David Earle Mitchell, 1902–1906 * Nathan Green Jr. (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, 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

in Tennessee and the first west of the

. 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

. The

continues to operate there.

Community outreach

Cumberland University has a

Circle K Circle K Stores, Inc. is a Canadian-American chain of convenience stores headquartered in Tempe, Arizona, and owned by Alimentation Couche-Tard, Alimentation Couche-Tard, Inc., based in Laval, Quebec. Founded in 1951 in El Paso, Texas, the comp ...

club, which is affiliated with

Kiwanis International Kiwanis International ( ) is an international service club founded in 1915 in Detroit, Michigan. It is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, and is found in more than 80 nations and geographic areas. In 1987, the organization ...

. 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 Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

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

Greek life

The university has three sororities and five fraternities. The sororities include the Lambda Omicron chapter of

Alpha Omicron Pi Alpha Omicron Pi (, AOII, Alpha O) is an international sorority founded on January 2, 1897, at Barnard College on the campus of Columbia University in Manhattan, New York City. The main archive URL iThe Baird's Manual Online Archive homepage "AO ...

and the Delta Mu chapter of Alpha Sigma Tau as well as

Zeta Phi Beta Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. () is a historically African American sorority. In 1920, five women from Howard University envisioned a sorority that would raise the consciousness of their people, encourage the highest standards of scholastic achi ...

(NPHC). The fraternities include the Theta Prime chapter of

Kappa Sigma Kappa Sigma (), commonly known as Kappa Sig or KSig, is an American collegiate social fraternity founded at the University of Virginia in 1869. Kappa Sigma is one of the five largest international Fraternities and sororities in North America, fr ...

, the Nu chapter of

Sigma Chi Sigma Chi () International Fraternity is one of the largest North American social Fraternities and sororities, fraternities. The fraternity has 244 active undergraduate chapters and 152 alumni chapters across the United States and Canada and has ...

. There are 3 NPHC fraternities: Gamma Rho Gamma chapter of

Phi Beta Sigma Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. It was founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C. in 1914. The fraternity's founders, A. Langston Taylor, Leonard F. Morse, and Charles I. Brown, wanted to ...

, the Phi Delta Delta chapter of

Omega Psi Phi Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. () is a List of African-American fraternities, historically African-American Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. It was founded on November 17, 1911 at Howard University. Omega Psi Phi is a founding member of ...

and the Rho Rho chapter of

Kappa Alpha Psi Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. () is a List of African-American fraternities, historically African American Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911, at Indiana University Bloomington, it has n ...

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 The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for higher education, colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic schola ...

(NAIA), primarily competing in the

Mid-South Conference The Mid-South Conference (MSC) is a List of college athletic conferences in the United States, college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Member institutions are located in Kentuc ...

(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 (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.

Sports Hall of Fame

The Cumberland University Sports Hall of Fame consists of individuals who have achieved excellence in athletics by either competing, coaching, or contributing in other ways. Members include those who only made an athletic impact at the university, such as volleyball player and coach Kathy Palk Slaughter and coach/contributor Mitch Walters, as well as others who went on to greater athletic notoriety at other institutions, such as Coastal Carolina University men's basketball coach Cliff Ellis and

Winthrop University Winthrop University is a public university in Rock Hill, South Carolina. It was founded in 1886 by David Bancroft Johnson, who served as the superintendent of Columbia, South Carolina schools. He received a grant from Robert Charles Winthrop, a ...

women's basketball coach Bud Childers. Still others, such as Allison B. Humphreys Jr. and Cale Young Rice, are remembered today for their non-athletic contributions.

Attempt to move to NCAA Division II

On August 7, 2013, Cumberland University was granted provisional membership into the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) after a vote of league presidents, paving the way for the university to apply to the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA) for admittance into Division II in February 2014. Cumberland's application to join Division II was denied in 2014. As of 2024, Cumberland has not 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 Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

(44–0) November 14, 1903,

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

(41–0) November 16, 1903, and Tulane (28–0) November 18, 1903. Cumberland played a postseason game against Coach

John Heisman John William Heisman ( ; October 23, 1869 – October 3, 1936) was a player and coach of American football, baseball, and basketball, as well as a sportswriter and actor. He served as the head football coach at Oberlin College, Buchtel College ...

'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, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

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 The NAIA World Series (officially branded as the Avista NAIA World Series for sponsorship purposes from 2013) is a double-elimination tournament, held since 1957, to determine the baseball champion of the National Association of Intercollegiate ...

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, Luis Martinez, and Aaron Wilkerson.

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, 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

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.

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 Universities and colleges 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