South Carolina State University - Bulldog Yearbook (Orangeburg, SC)

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+s rab gee OA OE a, 1896. View of Bradham Hall and Industrial Buildings along Magnolia Avenue Room of Male Student, 1896. 10

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Solway Dream, Today A Reality, Tomorrow A Goorl ”

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The History Of South Carolina State College The Constitutional Convention of 1895 enacted provisions authorizing the Legislature to create the College by a severance of the state’s interest from Claflin University. In pursuance of such authoriza- tion, the General Assembly in 1896 enacted statutes providing for the establishment of The Normal, |ndus- trial, Agricultural and Mechanical College. The same Legislature provided for the appointment of a Board of Trustees, an administration, a faculty, and for the adoption of rules and regulations to govern.the College’s operation. Pursuant to this organization, a faculty composed of thirteen South Carolinians was chosen by. Dr. Thomas E. Miller, a former Congressman from-South Carolina, who had been appointed as the first President of the College; and on September 27, 1896, the doors of the institution were opened. The College plant consisted of one hundred and thirty-five acres, eight small buildings, a small dairy herd, and afew farm animals. Because of the meager facilities, academic instruction was mostly given on.logs hewn from the campus wilderness, in the tradition of the Mark Hopkins ideal college. These logs were later made into lumber for the first dormitory and classroom buildings. : In 1911, Robert Shaw Wilkinson, a native of Charleston and a former Professor of Physics at the College, was elected President. Under his adminis- tration the income of the College was increased. from both federal and state sources, and a-.federal appropriation for extension work was added. After twenty-one years of sincere service, Dr. Wilkinson passed; and on March 15, 1932, the presidency was undertaken by Milter F. Whittaker who at that time was Director of the Mechanical Department. Some of the outstanding activities that marked President Whittaker’s administration were the establishment of a Law School, Extension School units in fifteen South Carolina communities, and a Reserve Officers Training Corps Infantry Unit. President Whittaker gave eighteen years of dynamic service to the College, and in 1949 he died with a firm faith that: ‘“The college is serving the people of this state as never before. The worth of the institution is best expressed in the community relationship which it maintains and the improvement of rural and civic life which it promotes through its graduates, its faculty, and its extension agencies. The College has exhibited its economic, civic, and social worth to the Commonwealth of South Carolina.” In 1950 Benner C. Turner, Dean of the School of Law, was elected President of the College. He retired in’ 1967 after seventeen years of service. Under President Turner’s. administration the College’s growth was tremendous, both in academic activities as.well as in physical and human resources. Outstand- ing..changes included the rapid growth of both undergraduate and graduate enrollments; increases in the number of faculty and staff; increases in the number holding doctoral degrees; the reorganization of the administrative and instructional areas of the College; major improvements in the physical plant which. included the renovation of buildings and the construction of many new building, among which were. a new academic building, and dormitories for both=men.and women, a cafeteria, walkways, drives, roads and attractive landscaping; all of which have “added tothe comfort and beauty of the campus. Upon.the retirement of Dr. Turner, the Board of Trustees» appointed Dr. M. Maceo Nance, Jr., Vice President of Business and Finance, as Acting Presi- dent of the College to serve until a successor to the former president could be chosen. The appointment became effective June 24, 1967. Dr. Nance was elected President by the Board on June 23, 1968 and was inaugurated November 27, 1968. The 1969-70 enrollment, including the summer school, is 3,302. No work is done below the college level. Up to the present time, 105,129 students have matriculated at the College and 10,162 have received certificates, diplomas, and degrees from the various departments. These graduates may be found in every walk of life-professional, industrial, civic and religious. The legal and official name of the institution was changed to South Carolina State College, by act of the General Assembly of 1954.