One of the oldest colleges for African Americans in the United States, Rust was founded on November 24, 1866, by Northern missionaries with a group called the Freedman's Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1870, the college was chartered as Shaw University in 1870, honoring the Reverend S. O. Shaw, who made a gift of $10,000 to the institution which, adjusted for inflation, is the equivalent of approximately $,000 in. In 1892, to avoid confusion with Shaw University in Raleigh, N.C., the institution changed its name to Rust University—a tribute to Rev. Richard S. Rust of Cincinnati, Ohio, a preacher, abolitionist, and the secretary of the Freedmen's Aid Society, who helped found the college. In 1915, the institution assumed the name Rust College. Rust College is the oldest of the 11 historically black colleges and universities associated with The United Methodist Church, the second oldest private college in Mississippi. Rust College was involved in a lawsuit after a student was sexually assaulted by Sylvester Oliver, who was fired from his administrative position of Humanities Division Chair in October 2012. The lawsuit alleged that the college and Oliver "foster an environment that allows the sexual abuse of students and also allows perpetrators to get away with the abuse." In November 2014, Oliver plead guilty to sexual assault but a Marshall County prosecutor recommended he receive a 15-year suspended sentence. The lawsuit was settled with the details undisclosed; in 2015 a federal judge dismissed the suit against the university. The college welcomed their new President Ivy Taylor on June 1, 2020.
Academics
Rust College maintains five divisions or departments of study: Division of Education, Division of Humanities, Division of Science and Mathematics, Division of Social Sciences, and the Division of Business. Degree programs are offered in sixteen areas of study. Upon completion of their studies at Rust, students can receive Associate's degrees or Bachelor's degrees. Rust accepts only 16% of its applicants, but the U.S. News & World Report America's Best Colleges 2017 guide refers to it as "less selective." U.S. News & World Report in the 2017 guide ranked Rust #52 in Regional Colleges South. According to the Princeton Review, the most popular majors at Rust are biology, general studies, business administration, and computer science. Rust College operates on what is called a module system, which is an 8-week semester class system that allows the college to constantly enroll a steady stream of transfer students every 8 weeks. Most classes have between 10–19 students. According to the college, 42% of all faculty have obtained a PhD. There are 42 faculty members and a student/faculty ratio of 20:1. According to the college, 57% of students return for their year.
Campus
Rust College occupies approximately. Some buildings on campus were erected in the mid-1800s, such as the alumni and public relations center, while others were recently built, such as the Hamilton Science Center, a three-story addition to the McDonald Science Building. In 2008, Rust College acquired the campus of the former Mississippi Industrial College, located adjacent to the campus. The college is not using the buildings but plans to raise funds to restore them. In 2011, the college acquired Airliewood, an antebellum former slave plantation estate located near Rust College campus. Built in 1858, Airliewood served as living quarters for Ulysses S. Grant during the Civil War, and currently serves as the official residence of the President. There are five gender-segregated dorms, with about 900 spaces. Two historic markers honoring the Council of Federated Organizations and those involved in the 1964 Freedom Summer Project in Holly Springs were unveiled on campus in 2014. Under the Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act, Rust College reports the on-campus crime statistics to the United States Department of Education and publish the numbers on the Department's website.
Athletics
The Rust teams are known as the Bearcats. The college became a member of the NAIA athletic association in 2017 after formerly competing on the NCAA Division III level. Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, tennis, track & field and volleyball; while women's sports include basketball, cross country, softball, tennis, track & field and volleyball. In 1984, the women's basketball team won their first national championship with a 51-49 win over Elizabethtown College.
