Anderson University is a private Christian university in Anderson, South Carolina. It offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in over 100 areas of study. Anderson is affiliated with the South Carolina Baptist Convention and is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Anderson participates in NCAA Division II athletics and is a member of the South Atlantic Conference.
Reestablished in 1911 as Anderson College, it is the successor to Johnson University, which was founded in 1848 by W. B. Johnson. Anderson was initially a female college until 1931 when it became coed. In 2006, it was renamed Anderson University. It consists of eleven distinct colleges and schools.
History
Origins (1848-1862) Anderson University was founded in 1848 as Johnson Female Seminary It founders, citizens of Anderson, were Daniel Brown, J.P. Reed, and Stephen McCulley. Johnson Female Seminary was named for William Bullein Johnson, an early Baptist statesman, a founder and first Vice President of the South Carolina Baptist Convention, and the first president of the Southern Baptist Convention. The seminary was later renamed Johnson University. William Bullein Johnson served as the first chancellor of Johnson University. By 1857 Johnson University had around 600 students taking courses in calculus, Latin, and Greek. In 1858 Johnson's health declined and in 1862 he died. Johnson's home still stands in Anderson and his portrait hangs in perpetuity in the Truett Cathy Old Common Room in Merritt Hall on the Anderson University campus. Johnson was buried in the cemetery of the First Baptist Church of Anderson.
The university closed its doors due to the combined impact of Johnson's death and the onset of the Civil War. The main building of Johnson University became a Confederate treasury and printing press during the civil war until 1865 when Union forces occupied the building. After the war the Carolina Collegiate Institute and Patrick Military Institute used the buildings of the seminary for educational purposes until 1920. The buildings of Johnson University were then demolished around 1920.
Anderson College (1911-2006)
Shortly after the turn of the century, those who fondly remembered the impact that Johnson University had on the region developed a compelling vision of resurrecting the institution in the form of Anderson College in 1911. The name Anderson comes from Robert Anderson an American Revolutionary War veteran and the namesake of Anderson, South Carolina. The Anderson Chamber of Commerce raised $100,000 and secured for the new campus. The land and funds were given to the South Carolina Baptist State Convention to establish the college. The Merritt Administration Building was the first building constructed on the land. For a time this was the only building dedicated to academics. It would eventually house only the president's office and the Merritt Theatre.
At the outset there were financial problems until Annie Denmark became president in 1928. Denmark's inauguration as president on February 14, 1929, established the tradition for Anderson College as Founder's Day celebrating the day of chartering the institution.
In 1931 Anderson College became a coeducational junior college. In the 1990s Anderson returned to its status and offerings as a four-year institution.
Anderson University (2006-present) Anderson College was renamed Anderson University in 2006. On the occasion of the first commencement as Anderson University, S. Truett Cathy, founder of Chick-fil-A, and his son Dan Cathy received honorary degrees from Anderson University for "exemplifying the character and vision Christian businessmen should possess". In June 2011 Anderson University became the host of the Palmetto Boys State. The following year, the university joined the University Center of Greenville (UCG).
Queer professor controversy
In June 2022, Anderson University did not renew the contract of part-time theatre professor Miranda Barnett. Barnett claimed her contract was not renewed "because she is queer." A spokesperson from Anderson refused to comment specifically but was quoted as saying "Anderson University is a private Christian university which upholds the South Carolina Baptist traditional view of sexuality and marriage as set forth in Scripture." Barnett was previously selected by students and faculty to receive Anderson's "Excellence in Teaching" award for the 2019-20 school year.