Belhaven University - History

History

The University's oldest buildings, Fitzhugh and Preston Halls, surround Gillespie Commons and Belhaven Lagoon.

In 1894, Belhaven College was chartered by Dr. Lewis Fitzhugh as the "Belhaven College for Young Ladies" in a house on Boyd Street in Jackson, Mississippi. The name "Belhaven" was chosen as it was the ancestral home of Colonel Jones S. Hamilton in Scotland, the former owner of the house. A fire destroyed the main building in February, 1895, but with the help of Jackson citizens, the college reopened in the fall of 1896 at the same site. Fitzhugh served as president until his death in 1904, upon which his heirs sold the college to Dr. J. R. Preston, who operated the school until it was again destroyed by a fire in 1910. Preston then donated the title of the College to the Presbyterian Church, marking the beginning of Belhaven's religious affiliation.

In September, 1911, the school was reopened by The Central Mississippi Presbytery as Belhaven Collegiate and Industrial Institute at the current site on Peachtree Street in the historic Belhaven Neighborhood. It was then merged with The McComb Female Institute. Dr. R. V. Lancaster became the third president as the two institutions merged. In 1915 the Board of Trustees changed the school's name to Belhaven College. During these years improved curricula guidelines and student services were established. Dr. W. H. Frazier succeeded Lancaster as president from 1918–21, and during his tenure enrollment grew to 230 students.

In 1921, the Reverend Guy T. Gillespie of Lexington, Mississippi, began a thirty-three-year presidency during which Belhaven was first accredited, an endowment fund begun, and scholarship aid made available. In 1939, Belhaven was merged with the Mississippi Synodical College, which had been opened in 1883. This date was adopted by the Board of Trustees as the official founding date of Belhaven as it represented the oldest founding date of all of the institutions which were eventually absorbed into the college. In 1954, the Board of Trustees voted to allow the enrollment of male students, making Belhaven a fully co-educational institution. Dr. McFerran Crowe succeeded Gillespie as President and over the next six years he expanded and upgraded the faculty, while also reorganizing and modernizing business operations.

From 1960 to 1961, Dr. Robert F. Cooper served as acting president until the Board selected Dr. Howard J. Cleland to replace him. Under Cleland's seventeen-year tenure an ambitious expansion program resulted in six major new buildings, while enrollment and the college budget tripled. In 1965, a faculty member was fired for being gay. In 1972, the Synod of Mississippi officially transferred ownership of the college to the Board of Trustees, making Belhaven a fully independent college. In March, 1978, Dr. Verne R. Kennedy became the first Belhaven alumnus to serve as the chief executive of Belhaven College. In his eight years as president he reaffirmed the commitment to Christian service and the covenant relationship with the Presbyterian Church, and installed a more efficient administrative structure. In June 1986, another alumnus of Belhaven, Dr. Newton Wilson, became president. His nine-year term saw the greatest growth in the history of the college, from just over 600 students to more than 1,100.

By 1995, over 80 percent of Belhaven's faculty held doctoral or equivalent degrees. The College also extended its outreach in nontraditional venues, with expanded course offerings for adult and evening students. Dr. Daniel C. Fredericks served as acting president in 1995. In January 1996, Dr. Roger Parrott became the tenth president of the college, with about 1,300 enrolled students. Under his leadership, Belhaven has added seven major buildings, a variety of new undergraduate academic majors and graduate programs, intercollegiate football, campuses in Memphis, Orlando, Houston, Chattanooga, and Atlanta, online programs, the "Christian Worldview Curriculum", and earned national accreditation in all four of the major arts (Music, Theater, Visual Arts, and Dance). The size of the student body has nearly tripled during his tenure.

Today, many faculty and staff members are drawn from various Presbyterian Denominations, primarily the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), The Presbyterian Church in America, and The Evangelical Presbyterian Church. The college receives both financial support and students from these three denominations as well.