Tusculum University


Tusculum University is a private Presbyterian university with its main campus in Tusculum, Tennessee. It is Tennessee's oldest university and the 28th-oldest operating college in the United States.
In addition to its main campus, the institution maintains a regional center for Graduate and Professional Studies in Knoxville, and additional satellite campuses across East Tennessee.

History

Before Tennessee became a state in 1796, the east Tennessee area was the southwestern frontier of the United States. Presbyterian ministers Hezekiah Balch and Samuel Doak, both educated at the College of New Jersey, were there, ministering to early Scots-Irish settlers.
Striving to meet the settlers' educational needs, Doak founded St. Martins Academy in 1783 and it expanded to become Washington College in 1795. Washington College was later renamed "Tusculum College." Balch helped found Greeneville College in 1795.
In 1806, emancipated slave John Gloucester became the first African-American student to attend Greeneville College. He was the first African-American to graduate from college in Tennessee and later helped found the First African Presbyterian Church in 1807, in Philadelphia.
Samuel Doak and Hezekiah Balch sought the same goals through their separate colleges. They wanted to educate settlers of the American frontier so that they would become better Presbyterians, and therefore, in their thinking, better citizens. To better accomplish their common goals, Greeneville College and Tusculum College merged in 1868 to become Greeneville & Tusculum College.

Origin of name

Doak rechristened Washington College Tusculum after the home place of Princeton University's then-president Dr. John Witherspoon, a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence. The original Tusculum was a city near Rome, Italy and home to Roman scholar and philosopher Cicero. It was he who, along with others, identified the civic virtues that form the basis of civic republican tradition, which emphasizes citizens working together to form good societies that in turn foster individuals of good character.

Presidents

Tusculum is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award baccalaureate degrees and the Master of Arts in education, the Master of Arts in organizational management, and the Master of Science in Nursing.
It also maintains institutional memberships with the American Council on Education, the Council of Independent Colleges, the Association of American Colleges and Universities, the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, the Council for Opportunity in Education, the Tennessee Independent Colleges and Universities Association, the Tennessee State Board of Education, the Appalachian College Association, the Association of Presbyterian Colleges and Universities, the American Association of University Women, the American Medical Association, and the New York State Board of Regents.

Athletics

A member of the South Atlantic Conference, Tusculum fields 16 recognized varsity teams in all, 12 of which compete in NCAA Division II in the SAC. Two teams compete as de facto NCAA Division I members. In women's bowling, a sport added in 2019–20 in which the NCAA holds a single championship open to members of all three NCAA divisions, the Pioneers are single-sport members of the East Coast Conference. Also added for 2019–20 was men's volleyball, in which the NCAA holds a combined Division I/II national championship; the Pioneers compete in that sport as an independent. Tusculum also added the non-NCAA sport of men's bowling in 2019–20, and also recognizes its cheerleaders as varsity athletes.
In 2004, Ricardo Colclough, a defensive back and kick returner, became the first Tusculum Pioneers football player to be drafted by the National Football League when he was selected in the second draft round by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Colclough, the only Tusculum player to appear in an NFL game, played for the Carolina Panthers. He was dismissed from the team in August 2008.
In 2007, former Tusculum College basketball player, Tyler White, became a member of the Washington Generals, the exhibition team that travels with and plays against the Harlem Globetrotters.
In August 2009, Chris Poore, another former Tusculum College basketball player, also became a member of the Washington Generals.
On September 4, 2014, the Tusculum football team hosted the College of Faith, an online institution in Charlotte, North Carolina. In a 71-0 win, the Pioneers set two NCAA all Division records: fewest total yards allowed and fewest rushing yards allowed. Tusculum also had three safeties, which tied a Division II record.

Notable alumni