Lambuth University was a private

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...

university in

Jackson, Tennessee Jackson is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Tennessee, United States. Located east of Memphis, it is a regional center of trade for West Tennessee. Its total population was 68,205 as of the 2020 United States census. Jackso ...

. It was active from 1843 to 2011 and was supported by the Memphis Annual Conference of the

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelica ...

. The university began as the Memphis Conference Female Institute in 1843 and was later renamed in honor of Walter Russell Lambuth (1854–1921), a Methodist missionary who traveled globally. After several years of financial struggles, the

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) is an educational accreditor recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. This agency accredits over 13,000 public and priv ...

opted not to renew Lambuth's accreditation in 2011. Due to both the financial and accreditation problems, the Board of Trustees voted in April 2011 to cease operations two months later. Final commencement exercises were held April 30, 2011.Associated Press
Lambuth University holds final graduation ceremonies before shutdown in June
May 1, 2011 The

University of Memphis } The University of Memphis (UofM) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 22,000 students. The university maintains the Herff College of Engineering ...

acquired the campus which is now the Lambuth branch campus of the University of Memphis.

Athletics

The Lambuth athletic teams were called the Eagles. They participated in dual membership with both 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 stud ...

(NAIA) and the

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

ranks, primarily competing as an NAIA Independent within the Association of Independent Institutions (AII) and an NCAA D-II Independent in transition as a provisional member from 2008–09 to 2010–11. The Eagles previously competed as full members for 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 2006–07 to 2007–08, and for the

Mid-South Conference The Mid-South Conference (MSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Member institutions are located in Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee. The league is headquartered in Lo ...

(MSC) from 1995–96 to 2005–06; both from the NAIA. Lambuth competed in 11 intercollegiate sports: Men's sports included baseball, basketball, football, golf, soccer and tennis; while women's sports included basketball, golf, soccer, softball and tennis.

Greek life

Alpha Gamma Delta Alpha Gamma Delta (), also known as Alpha Gam, is an international women's fraternity and social organization. It was founded on May 30, 1904, by eleven female students at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York, making it the youngest member ...

– Theta Pi chapter – 1997–2011 *

Alpha Kappa Alpha Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. () is the first intercollegiate historically African American sorority. The sorority was founded on January 15, 1908, at the historically black Howard University in Washington, D.C., by a group of sixteen st ...

– Omicron Omicron chapter *

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

– Omega Omicron chapter – 1957–2011 *

Alpha Xi Delta Alpha Xi Delta (, often referred to as A-''"Zee"''-D ) is a women's fraternity founded on April 17, 1893. Baird's Manual is also available online hereThe Baird's Manual Online Archive homepage at Lombard College in Galesburg, Illinois, United Sta ...

– Gamma Iota chapter – 1957–1984 *

Kappa Alpha Order Kappa Alpha Order (), commonly known as Kappa Alpha or simply KA, is a social Fraternities and sororities, fraternity and a fraternal order founded in 1865 at Washington and Lee University, Washington College (now Washington and Lee University) i ...

– Gamma Omicron chapter – 1957–2011 *

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 co ...

– Epsilon Psi chapter – 1958–2011 *

Phi Mu Phi Mu () is the second oldest female fraternal organization established in the United States. The fraternity was founded at Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia as the Philomathean Society on , and was announced publicly on March 4 of the same ...

– Kappa Nu chapter – 1969–2011 *

Sigma Kappa Sigma Kappa (, also known as SK or Sig Kap) is a sorority founded on November 9, 1874 at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. In 1874, Sigma Kappa was founded by five women: Mary Caffrey Low Carver, Elizabeth Gorham Hoag, Ida Mabel Fuller Pier ...

– Gamma Xi chapter – 1957–1991 *

Sigma Phi Epsilon Sigma Phi Epsilon (), commonly known as SigEp, is a social college fraternity for male college students in the United States. It was founded on November 1, 1901, at Richmond College (now the University of Richmond), and its national headquarte ...

– Tennessee Zeta chapter – 1971–2011

Notable alumni

* Ron Dixon – player for the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...

William M. Greathouse William Marvin Greathouse (April 29, 1919 – March 24, 2011) was a Minister of religion, minister and emeritus General Superintendent (Church of the Nazarene), general superintendent in the Church of the Nazarene. He was born in Van Buren, Arka ...

– President of

Trevecca Nazarene University Trevecca Nazarene University (TNU) is a private Nazarene liberal arts college in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1901. History TNU was founded in 1901 by Cumberland Presbyterian minister J. O. McClurkan as the "Pentecostal Literary a ...

, President of Nazarene Theological Seminary; General Superintendent in the

Church of the Nazarene The Church of the Nazarene is an evangelical Christian denomination that emerged in North America from the 19th-century Wesleyan-Holiness movement within Methodism. It is headquartered in Lenexa within Johnson County, Kansas. With its membe ...

* Ray King –

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

pitcher for 10 seasons. * Lee Hee-ho – First Lady of the

Republic of Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its ea ...

Adriane Lenox Adriane Lenox is an American actress, best known for her performances in Broadway theatre. Her performance in the play '' Doubt: A Parable'' garnered her the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play in 2005. She received another Tony Award ...

–

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

-winning actress * James W. Moore – Methodist minister and author *

Stefan Rodgers Stefan Lemar Rodgers (born November 3, 1981) is a former American football offensive tackle. He was signed by the Tennessee Titans as an undrafted free agent in 2005. He played college football at Lambuth. Rodgers has also been a member of the ...

– offensive tackle for the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays it ...

* Tia Sillers –

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

-winning song writer * Corey Webster –

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player

References

External links

University of Memphis – Lambuth
*
Official athletics website
{{Mid-South Conference navbox Educational institutions established in 1843 Educational institutions disestablished in 2011 Universities and colleges accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Defunct private universities and colleges in Tennessee Jackson, Tennessee Education in Madison County, Tennessee 1843 establishments in Tennessee