Southeastern Illinois College is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

community college A community college is a type of undergraduate higher education institution, generally leading to an associate degree, certificate, or diploma. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an open enr ...

between

Harrisburg Harrisburg ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat, seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50, ...

and

Equality Equality generally refers to the fact of being equal, of having the same value. In specific contexts, equality may refer to: Society * Egalitarianism, a trend of thought that favors equality for all people ** Political egalitarianism, in which ...

Saline County, Illinois Saline County is a county in Southern Illinois. At the 2020 census, it had a population of 23,768. The largest city and county seat is Harrisburg. This area of Southern Illinois is known locally as " Little Egypt". Three major towns in Saline ...

. The college was founded in 1960 and offers

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

s. A secondary campus, the David L. Stanley White County Center, is in Carmi, White County. Approximately 1,379 students are enrolled.

Academics

Southeastern Illinois College confers Associate of Arts, Associate of Science, Associate of Engineering Science, Associate of Applied Science, and Associate in Liberal Studies degrees. The college also supports students who wish to pursue bachelor's degrees. Southeastern has Business & Computer Information Systems, Education and Applied Science, Humanities, Mathematics & Science, Nursing, Occupational Skills and Social Science departments.

Athletics

The college's sports teams are the

Falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Some small species of falcons with long, narrow wings are called hobbies, and some that hover while hunting are called kestrels. Falcons are widely distrib ...

s. There are men's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, women's basketball, men's

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

, women's

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

and cross country teams. They compete both in

NJCAA The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) is the governing association of community college, State college (disambiguation), state college, and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 sepa ...

Division I and

USCAA The United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) is a national organization for the intercollegiate athletic programs of 72 mostly small colleges, including community/junior colleges, across the United States. The USCAA holds 15 national ...

Donta Smith Donta Lamont Smith (born November 27, 1983) is an American-Venezuelan professional basketball player for Trotamundos de Carabobo of the Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coa ...

, a Southeastern student, played for the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

Campus facilities

The George T. Dennis Visual and Performing Arts Center houses an art gallery which carries monthly exhibitions featuring a variety of artists. The Arts center also has a theater which features performances by the college's theater department. The Melba Patton Library contains 40,000 volumes and maintains 250 periodical subscriptions. The Mary Jo Oldham Center for Child Study serves as a daycare and as a place for behavioral studies of children. Southeastern has 20 student clubs, including 3 fraternities (

Phi Beta Lambda The Future Business Leaders of America, or FBLA, is an American career and technical student organization (CTSO) headquartered in Reston, Virginia. Established in 1940, FBLA is a non-profit organization of high school ("FBLA High School"), mi ...

Phi Theta Kappa Phi Theta Kappa ( or PTK) is an honor society for students of associate degree-granting colleges. Its headquarters are in Jackson, Mississippi and it has more than 4.3 million members in nearly 1,300 chapters in eleven nations. History Phi The ...

and

Theta Sigma Phi The Association for Women in Communications (AWC) is an American professional organization for women in the communications industry.Kopecki, Dawn (1996). "Makeover gives group new identity, no staff". The Washington Times. It was formed as Theta ...

"Little Egypt" and Southeastern

Southeastern Illinois College is located in an area of Southern Illinois called " Little Egypt". The name may derive from settlers seeing a similarity between their wagon trains and the ancient

Israelites Israelites were a Hebrew language, Hebrew-speaking ethnoreligious group, consisting of tribes that lived in Canaan during the Iron Age. Modern scholarship describes the Israelites as emerging from indigenous Canaanites, Canaanite populations ...

, or from the similarity of the

Egyptian pyramids The Egyptian pyramids are ancient masonry structures located in Egypt. Most were built as tombs for the pharaohs and their consorts during the Old Kingdom of Egypt, Old and Middle Kingdom of Egypt, Middle Kingdom periods. At least 138 identi ...

and the Mississippian mounds in the area. The college's original 1960 seal had a

sphinx A sphinx ( ; , ; or sphinges ) is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of an eagle. In Culture of Greece, Greek tradition, the sphinx is a treacherous and merciless being with the head of a woman, th ...

on it, and a later logo featured a pyramid. The college's mascot, the falcon, is related to the Egyptian god,

Horus Horus (), also known as Heru, Har, Her, or Hor () in Egyptian language, Ancient Egyptian, is one of the most significant ancient Egyptian deities who served many functions, most notably as the god of kingship, healing, protection, the sun, and t ...

. There are many more small things that reflect "Little Egypt" on Southeastern's campus.

Notable alumni

, former NBA guard/forward, professional basketball player for

Maccabi Haifa Maccabi Haifa () is one of the biggest sports clubs in Israel and a part of the Maccabi association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Haifa which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as Football, Basketball, Weightl ...

, 2014

Israeli Basketball Premier League MVP The Israeli Basketball Premier League MVP, or Israeli Basketball Super League MVP, is an annual basketball award that is presented to the most valuable player in a given season of the Israeli Basketball Premier League, which is the top-tier level ...

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Community colleges in Illinois Education in Saline County, Illinois Harrisburg, Illinois Education in White County, Illinois NJCAA schools 1960 establishments in Illinois Universities and colleges established in 1960 Two-year colleges in the United States