USCB's Golden Jubilee
A Brief History of Higher Education in the South Carolina Lowcountry
Beginning…
In 1795 Beaufort College was “empowered to grant or confer such degree or degrees, in liberal arts or sciences…as are usually conferred in other colleges in Europe and America.” The College opened with high hopes, and then suffered from adversities beyond the control of the community or its early trustees.
The large and costly first college building opened in 1800. Then in 1817 a yellow fever epidemic closed the College and wiped out most of the gains it had made. Fearing the new college building was a source of the epidemic, the community tore it down.
After more fund raising and construction, the new, much smaller Beaufort College Building opened in 1856. Within five years, its students were wearing CSA military uniforms, and it was under federal control. For the next hundred years, the tradition of higher of education in this region was overcome by war, reconstruction, hurricanes, the boll weevil, the depression and a lack of political clout in the state house.
Beginning again
However in the 1950’s citizens urged the University of South Carolina to establish branches to offer general education courses for its degrees in communities around the state. A group of Beaufortonians appealed to the University for a branch in Beaufort. Thus it was that in 1959 USC Beaufort reopened the doors of Beaufort College.
Through the 60’s, ‘70’s and ‘80’s, we were able to build an additional building, renovate an adjacent elementary school building, purchase a nearby house for faculty offices and another building for an art studio, construct a science building with labs and classrooms and rent space to offer classes on Hilton Head Island.
By its 30th birthday in 1989, USCB held classes in a four block area of downtown Beaufort and a rented building on Hilton Head Island. We offered university courses and collaborated with USC Aiken and USC Columbia to bring all requirements for several baccalaureate degrees to our students. We served the region with classes and travel opportunities for senior citizens, a world-class chamber music series and introduced student drama performances. Phillip Rhodes donated Pritchards Island to the University, and USCB established the Phillip A. Rhodes Barrier Island Research Facility for conservation, research and education.
Expanding campuses, baccalaureate degrees, research and service…
When Union Camp, now International Paper, gave the University 80 acres in the New River area for a larger campus Dean Jane Upshaw began a campaign for USC Beaufort to become a baccalaureate-degree-granting institution. Working closely with local citizens, Beaufort County Council, faculty, staff, students, The Beaufort Jasper Higher Education Commission, the Beaufort College Board of Trustees, and many community groups, USC Beaufort achieved baccalaureate status in 2002.
Along with seeking four-year status, we also were raising money to construct the new campus to support a baccalaureate institution. In 1996 the Palmetto Electric Trust had given the lead gift for the South Campus. Brantley and Helen Harvey followed in 1998 with a million dollar gift, and in 2000 the Hargray Communications Group contributed 3.5 million dollars for the campus’s first building. In 2001 Beaufort County Council once more exhibited the region’s commitment to higher education by establishing a Tax Incentive Finance District that generated 27.5 million dollars. Ground breaking for the new campus took place on a stormy day in July 2003.
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools accredited USCB as a baccalaureate institution in early summer 2004. That fall we opened our doors as South Carolina’s newest four-year university with classes offered at the historic North Campus and the new South Campus. Some 1277 students were enrolled, and six four-year degrees were offered.
In the five years since this historic moment, construction of the South Campus has continued apace, degree programs have grown, an athletic program has been fielded, additional faculty and students have been hired, and the University has partnered with individuals, government, businesses and organizations, and national foundations to respond to our students’ and region’s needs.
We begin our 50th year with some 1600 students, 120 full- and part-time faculty and 13 baccalaureate degrees. Professors and researchers, supported by federal and local grants, are involved in efforts to preserve a healthy ecology and healthy individuals. USCB is studying beach erosion and other issues of fundamental interest to the coast. Two million dollar endowment grants from the Bernard Osher Foundation support courses and programs tailored to the interests of some1300 senior citizens. The chamber music series just celebrated its thirtieth and most successful season. The Center for Excellence in Collaborative Learning is expanding its active partnership with K-12 education and hopes to support secondary degree programs in the near future. The Sand Sharks’ debut seasons for golf, track and baseball opened a new era.
In response to the critical need for baccalaureate trained nurses in our region, USCB, with exceptional support from Hilton Head Regional Healthcare, Beaufort Memorial Hospital, and the Community Foundation of the Lowcountry, launched the region’s only BS in Nursing program in January 2009.
A recent initiative to focus the historic Beaufort campus on the fine arts has been well-received. Art faculty are developing a degree in studio art and planning for a full spectrum of visual, and, ultimately, performing art degree programs.
To repay the community for its support of higher education from our earliest beginnings, we are committed to leveraging local investment with federal, state and private extramural funding so that we can increase education, research and service opportunities. Our past and our present give us good reason to hope for a future of responsive and distinctive education and good reason to celebrate USC Beaufort’s Golden Jubilee.
