Gordon State College is a public college in Barnesville, Georgia. A member of the University System of Georgia, Gordon State's spring 2021 enrollment was 2,890 students. The college campus incorporates , which includes academic buildings, residence halls, the student activity and recreation center, an indoor swimming facility, ropes course, walking trail, outdoor basketball courts, tennis courts, athletic fields, and racquetball courts.

History

The 19th century

Gordon State College was founded in 1852 as the Male and Female Seminary, a private school for higher education of boys and girls. Though church-sponsored, it was not a seminary in the usual sense. During the American Civil War, boys were organized into a

corps of cadets A corps of cadets, also called cadet corps, was originally a kind of military school for boys. Initially such schools admitted only sons of the nobility or gentry, but in time many of the schools were opened also to members of other social classes. ...

. Girls continued to attend but were never included in military programs. In 1872, the school was renamed Gordon Institute to honor Georgia native, governor and former

CSA CSA may refer to: Arts and media * Canadian Screen Awards, annual awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television * Commission on Superhuman Activities, a fictional American government agency in Marvel Comics * Crime Syndicate of Amer ...

General

John B. Gordon John Brown Gordon () was an attorney, a slaveholding plantation owner, general in the Confederate States Army, and politician in the postwar years. By the end of the Civil War, he had become "one of Robert E. Lee's most trusted generals." Af ...

, and its scope was extended to the elementary grades. In 1890, J.C. Woodward, who later founded

Georgia Military Academy Woodward Academy (also known as Woodward or WA) is an independent, co-educational college-preparatory school for pre-kindergarten to 12th grade on two campuses located in College Park and Johns Creek, Georgia, United States, within the Atlanta m ...

, was hired to start a military program.

The 20th century

In 1907, the name changed to Gordon College. In 1916 the

U.S. Department of War The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, a ...

named Gordon College a junior military unit. In 1928, Gordon added the first two years of college to its program. In 1933 the state offered the former Georgia Industrial College campus to Gordon College. The high school and junior college departments moved to the new campus, while the elementary school moved into the former high school building. Gordon College was known as Gordon Military College from the mid-1930s until 1972. In the 1950s, ownership of the school passed to the city of Barnesville, which consolidated its government-funded public schools for whites in grades 8-12, while continuing to bus black students to racially segregated Lamar County schools. City girls were enrolled as regular students. City boys were permitted to opt out of military participation, but almost all were organized into a corps of cadets under military discipline.

Military cadet A cadet is an officer trainee or candidate. The term is frequently used to refer to those training to become an officer in the military, often a person who is a junior trainee. Its meaning may vary between countries which can include youths in ...

s from other places were permitted to enroll by paying

tuition Tuition payments, usually known as tuition in American English and as tuition fees in Commonwealth English, are fees charged by education institutions for instruction or other services. Besides public spending (by governments and other public bo ...

; attracted by low tuition rates, many cadets came from Latin America. Gordon State experienced financial problems in the 1960s, and in 1970 the trustees approached the state about making the college part of the university system. The secondary school was separated and the cadet corps disbanded, and on July 2, 1972, Gordon Military College officially became part of the University System of Georgia as Gordon Junior College, an associate-level college. In 1986 "junior" was dropped from the school's name.

The 21st century

In 2006, the school was designated a four-year state college and now offers 10 bachelor's degree programs. On August 8, 2012, the Board of Regents approved the change of the name of Gordon College to Gordon State College. The action follows the board's approval in 2006 of a change in status for the two-year college in Barnesville to allow it to offer baccalaureate programs within the University System's state college sector.

Academics

Gordon State College offers bachelor's degrees and

Associate of Arts An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. The fi ...

degrees as well as an

Associate of Science An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. The f ...

degree and Bachelor of Science degree in nursing.

Athletics

Gordon State College competes in Region XVII of the Georgia College Athletic Association and the National Junior College Athletic Association. The college has teams in women's soccer and softball, men's baseball and basketball. There are also a variety of intramural sports. Before the 1980s, the athletic teams at Gordon State were the Bulldogs. Through the mid-1980s, Gordon State's teams were known as the Generals, a nod to General Gordon. The teams are now called the Highlanders.

Notable alumni

* Rufus C. Harris, Tulane president * William D. Pawley, United States ambassador to Peru and Brazil; businessman *

Richard B. Russell Jr. Richard Brevard Russell Jr. (November 2, 1897 – January 21, 1971) was an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 66th Governor of Georgia from 1931 to 1933 before serving in the United States Senate for almo ...

, governor of Georgia

References

External links

Official website

Gordon State College
in the New Georgia Encyclopedia {{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon State College (Georgia) Educational institutions established in 1852 Education in Lamar County, Georgia Buildings and structures in Lamar County, Georgia Universities and colleges accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools NJCAA athletics 1852 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Public universities and colleges in Georgia (U.S. state)