Centre College - History

History

The Kentucky General Assembly chartered Centre College on January 21, 1819. The College was named for its proximate location in the geographic "centre" of the Commonwealth, using early nineteenth century America's contemporaneous spelling of the word. Auspiciously, the legislature placed many of Kentucky's most prominent citizens in charge of Centre College's Board of Trustees with Isaac Shelby, the Commonwealth's first governor, serving as chair. Classes began in the fall of 1820 in Old Centre, the first building on campus and the oldest college administration building west of the Allegheny Mountains.

In its early years, Centre navigated financial hardships, disputes within and outside the Presbyterian Church, and six wars (including the occupation of Old Centre by both Confederate and Union troops during the Civil War). A Centre alumnus, John Todd Stuart, played a formative role in American history by encouraging Abraham Lincoln to study for the bar, providing his first set of law books, and serving as Lincoln's professional and political mentor. From 1830 to 1857, President John C. Young oversaw a vast enlargement of the faculty and a five-fold increase in the student body. Following the Civil War, Centre affiliated itself with several other educational institutions. From 1894 until 1912, J. Proctor Knott, a former Kentucky Governor and U.S. Congressman, operated a law school at Centre as its dean. The Centre College Board of Trustees controlled the Kentucky School for the Deaf, also in Danville, during its early years; consolidated the College with the Central University in Richmond, Kentucky in 1901; and merged with Danville's Kentucky College for Women in 1926—although the women did not move onto Centre's campus until 1962.

In 1921, Centre upset Harvard University's undefeated football team 6–0, a feat which led The New York Times to later call it "Football's Upset of the Century". ESPN described Centre's victory as one of the biggest upsets in all sports during the twentieth century. "C6H0" remains a point of pride among students and alumni and is the answer to "What is the formula for a winning football team?" To this day, "C6HO" is inscribed in large white figures on the brick exterior of Centre's old post office.

During the 1960s the college's financial resources doubled. Eleven new buildings were added to the campus and enrollment increased from 450 to 800. In 1988, Centre set a national record when it achieved a 75.4% participation rate for alumni giving, a mark that remains unbroken to this day. From the latter twentieth century to the present, strong levels of alumni giving and participation—often the highest in the nation—fueled the College's growth. Today, enrollment hovers around 1,300 with nearly 150 faculty members. Dr. John A. Roush, who took office in 1998, is the college's 20th president. In 2000, Centre became the smallest college ever to host a national election debate. Dick Cheney and Senator Joe Lieberman debated on October 5 at Centre's Norton Center for the Arts with CNN's Bernard Shaw acting as moderator. In 2012, Centre again hosted a vice presidential debate in the Norton Center for the Arts, which featured Vice President Joe Biden and Rep. Paul Ryan.

The physical campus has changed substantially during the past decade. In 2005, the College completed The College Centre, a $22-million project to expand and renovate Suttcliffe Hall, the Crounse Academic Center and Grace Doherty Library, which was the largest construction project on campus since the Norton Center was built in 1973. Additionally, a new student residence, Pearl Hall, was completed in 2008; a new campus center opened in October 2009; and the construction of a new science wing in Young Hall was completed in the fall of 2010. In August 2011, Centre announced the construction of Brockman Residential Commons, a 125-bed facility offering apartment and townhouse living for upperclassmen. The anticipated date of completion is August 2012.

Classes at Centre are held in spite of several federal holidays—including Martin Luther King, Jr., Presidents, Labor, Columbus, and Veterans Days—and rarely cancelled, which are points of pride among students, staff, and alumni. In 2000, classes were officially cancelled prior to the Vice Presidential Debate and in the spring due to a hazardous chemical spill on the train tracks found at the end of Greek Row; the entire campus was evacuated. In 1994 and 1998, when severe snow and ice storms shut down much of the Commonwealth, classes were delayed by half a day. Classes were cancelled one day due to the Great Blizzard of 1978. During the Confederate occupation of Old Centre in 1862, classes were held at Old Sayre library. However, the Battle of Perryville eventually forced the faculty to suspend classes for 13 days, the College's only cancellation during the Civil War. On March 7, 2006, classes were cut short to allow students and staff to attend a symposium honoring retiring Dean John Ward. Ironically, following a large snow storm in 1997, Dean John Ward told the College community, "Centre didn't cancel classes during parts of the Civil War; we're not cancelling them now."