Milligan College

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Milligan College
Established	1866
Type	Private
President	Donald R. Jeanes
Staff	94
Undergraduates	733
Postgraduates	105
Location	Milligan College, Tennessee, USA
Campus	Urban
Colors	Black & Orange
Mascot	Buffaloes
Website	www.milligan.edu
Logo is a trademark of Milligan College

Milligan College is a church-related liberal arts college founded in 1866 located in Milligan College, Tennessee. The school has a student population of roughly 1000 students. Its 181-acre campus is located just minutes from downtown Johnson City, Tennessee. It is affiliated with the Christian Churches/Churches of Christ, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and the Churches of Christ (non-instrumental). The College offers 23 bachelors and 3 masters degrees in various fields of study.

The school began as an endeavor of Wilson G. Barker, minister, and the Buffalo Creek Christian Church, a Disciples of Christ congregation located on Buffalo Creek in Carter County, Tennessee. While it began as a private secondary school known as the Buffalo Male and Female Institute, the institution was soon elevated to the collegiate level with the arrival of the Rev. Dr. Josephus Hopwood and his wife Sarah LaRue Hopwood. Hopwood, a Disciples of Christ minister and educator, came to the school with the understanding that it would become a liberal arts college to train leaders for the Disciples churches and the communities of Appalachia. The name was changed to Milligan College in 1885 in honor of the Dr. Robert Milligan, a professor of Biblical Studies at the College of the Bible of Transylvania University/Kentucky University (now Lexington Theological Seminary). Hopwood continued to serve the school as president until 1903 when he left to found Virginia Christian College (now Lynchburg College) in Lynchburg, Virginia. He returned for an interim presidency in 1915.

Dr. Henry Derthick's presidency is perhaps the most defining administration in the history of the College. He served from 1917 to 1940 and during this tenure the College grew and gained a reputation for excellence in the region. Derthick succeeded in bringing the College through the Great Depression and the College's main classroom building is named in his memory.

In 1943, Milligan became the only College in the nation to completely turn its facilities over to the Naval training programs. A Navy V-12 program utilized the college's campus from 1943 to 1945.

The school resumed its civilian education programs in 1945, though facing a significant financial crisis. The board of trustees called Dr. Dean E. Walker, a Disciples of Christ minister and educator, then professor at the seminary of Butler University (now Christian Theological Seminary), to become the College's president. Walker's administration was marked by rapid growth, securing financial stability for the College, and the realization of regional acceditation for the College's academic programs through the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Walker left the presidency in 1968 to become the president of Emmanuel School of Religion, a graduate theological seminary located adjacent to the College's campus in Milligan College, and loosely associated with the College.

Since the 1960s Milligan has grown in stature in the region and has become one of the premiere private, church-related liberal arts colleges in the South^{[citation needed]}. The College's education programs are among its most popular majors and degrees. Business and communications programs are also among the top choices of students.

Dr. Donald Jeanes, an independent Christian Church minister and educator, became the fourteenth president of the College in 1997. He continues to lead the school.

The college's vision is to change lives and shape culture through a commitment to servant leadership. The college's motto, found on its seal, is "Age Deo Fide Et Amore," meaning "Go with God in faith and love."

The college's core curriculum, with an interdisciplinary humanities program and Bible courses, educates students toward the world in an open and constructive way, to lead and to serve. The college offers 23 academic majors and three master's degree programs.

Student Life

The campus expects students to abide by standards of Christian morality, and so policies advocating such principles exist. Alcohol and tobacco are prohibited from the campus. Students of opposite genders are not allowed in each other dorms except for Open Dorm hours: All dorms are open weekend nights, on Wednesday nights the dorms alternate between guys' and girls' dorms every other week. During this time the door should remain open for supervisors to be able to see in. Dancing used to be prohibited on campus, but this was recently overturned in favor of hosting dances on and off campus.