Converse University

Converse University is a private university in Spartanburg, South Carolina. It was established in 1889 by a group of Spartanburg residents and named after textile pioneer Dexter Edgar Converse. It was originally a women's college but now admits men and women to its undergraduate college and its graduate, online, and summer programs.

Converse University (formerly Converse College)
TypePrivate university
Established1889 (1889)
Endowment$77.6 million (2020)[1]
PresidentBoone Hopkins
ProvostLienne Medford (interim)
Students1,389
Undergraduates822
Postgraduates567
Location
Spartanburg, South Carolina
,
U.S.

34°57′16.59″N 81°55′01.51″W
CampusUrban, 70 acres (28 ha)
ColorsPurple and gold
NicknameValkyries
Sporting affiliations
Conference Carolinas
MascotVal the Valkyrie
Websitewww.converse.edu

History
Dexter Edgar Converse
Converse College Historic District
Location580 E. Main St., Spartanburg, South Carolina
Area20 acres (8.1 ha)
Built1891 (1891)-1915
ArchitectHook, Charles
Architectural styleLate Gothic Revival, Romanesque, Richardson Romanesque
NRHP reference No.75001706[2]
Added to NRHPNovember 12, 1975

Converse College opened on October 1, 1890, with a student body of 168 women and 16 faculty members. The college only admitted women students and operated as a "stock company" with the board of directors composed entirely of residents of Spartanburg. Dexter Edgar Converse, a native of Vermont who had settled in Spartanburg before the American Civil War and had become a successful pioneer in the cotton mill industry, served as the head of the first board of directors. On January 2, 1892, fire destroyed the college's main building. The building was enlarged during its reconstruction. In 1896, the college was incorporated in South Carolina and a self-perpetuating board of trustees was named. In 1964, the college introduced graduate programs.

The Converse College Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.[2] It encompasses eight contributing buildings dated between 1891 and 1915. They are the Main Building (Wilson Hall) (1892), Annex (Pell Hall, 1891), Twichell Auditorium (1898–1899), Carnegie Library (1905), Cleveland House (c. 1905), Judd Science Hall (1915), Dexter Hall (1899) and Towne House (1898). The buildings are representative of the Romanesque Revival, Gothic Revival, and Neo-Classical styles.[3][4]

The college changed its name to "Converse University" in the summer of 2021. The college also "expanded its undergraduate residential program from single-gender to co-ed" by admitting male undergraduate students in the fall of 2021.[5]

Presidents
NameYears served
Benjamin F. Wilson 1890–1902
Robert Paine Pell 1902–1932
Edward Moseley Gwathmey 1933–1955
Oliver Cromwell Carmichael, Jr. 1956–1960
Robert T. Coleman, Jr. 1961–1989
Ellen Wood Hall 1989–1993
Sandra C. Thomas 1994–1998
Nancy Oliver Gray 1999–2005
Elizabeth A. Fleming 2006–2016
Krista L. Newkirk 2016–2021
Jeffrey H. Barker[6] 2021–2021
Boone J. Hopkins [7] 2022-present

Academics

Converse University has an undergraduate enrollment of about 750 students and a graduate enrollment of about 645 students.

The academic programs are organized in the following departments:

  • Art and Design
  • Biology, Chemistry and Physics
  • Economics, Accounting and Business
  • Education
  • English/Creative and Professional Writing
  • Languages, Cultures and Literature
  • Health and Physical Education
  • History and Politics
  • Mathematics and Computer Science
  • Psychology
  • Religion and Philosophy
  • Theater and Dance
  • Music

Athletics

Converse athletic teams are known as the Valkyries. The university is a member of the Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the Conference Carolinas.

Women's sports include acrobatics and tumbling, basketball, cross country, equestrian, field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball, track and field (indoor and outdoor), golf, tennis, swimming and volleyball.

The inaugural men's sports are basketball, cross country, soccer, tennis, track and field (indoor and outdoor) and volleyball. Converse's equestrian program is coeducational, though only women participate in NCAA-recognized competition. The university also has a coeducational varsity esports team.

With the "Valkyries" sports_nickname being distinctly feminine, the school has not yet announced whether it will use that sports_nickname for its men's teams, adopt a separate men's sports_nickname, or change its sports_nickname entirely.[8]

Notable alumnae

Kimilee Bryant, Broadway actress and Miss South Carolina 1989[9]

  • Lynette Eason, Christian novelist and teacher
  • Phyllis Harris '82, senior vice president and general counsel of legal administration for Walmart Stores.[10]

Notable faculty

References
The concert hall, Converse College
  1. As of June 30, 2020. U.S. and Canadian Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year 2020 Endowment Market Value and Change in Endowment Market Value from FY19 to FY20 (Report). National Association of College and University Business Officers and TIAA. February 19, 2021. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
  2. "National Register Information System – (#75001706)". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  3. Mary Ann Eaddy and Georgianna Graham (May 1975). "Converse Heights Historic District" (PDF). National Register of Historic Places – Nomination and Inventory. Retrieved July 1, 2014.
  4. "Converse College Historic District, Spartanburg County (Spartanburg)". National Register Properties in South Carolina. South Carolina Department of Archives and History. Retrieved July 1, 2014. and accompanying map
  5. "Converse College Board of Trustees Announces Dynamic Changes". Converse College. February 7, 2020. Retrieved February 10, 2020.
  6. Duncan, Holly (July 22, 2021). "Converse University Mourns the Death of President Jeffrey H. Barker" (PDF). Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  7. "Converse Announces Appointment of Boone J. Hopkins as Twelfth President". Converse University. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
  8. "Converse Announces Inaugural Men's NCAA Division II Athletic Teams for 2021-2022" (Press release). Converse College. April 8, 2020. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
  9. "Broadway actress Kimilee Bryant returns to Greenville". The Greenville News. June 10, 2015. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
  10. "Phyllis P. Harris". Retrieved February 17, 2016.
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