Claflin University
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| Motto | The World Needs Visionaries |
|---|---|
| Type | Private, HBCU |
| Established | 1869 |
| Affiliation |
United Methodist Church UNCF |
| Endowment | $24 million |
| President | Dr. Henry N. Tisdale |
| Students | 1,978 |
| Location | Orangeburg, South Carolina, United States |
| Campus | Urban 40 acres (16 ha) |
| Colors | Orange and Maroon |
| Athletics | NCAA Division II |
| Sports | basketball baseball tennis track and field softball volleyball |
| Nickname | Panthers and Lady Panthers |
| Affiliations | Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference |
| Website | www.claflin.edu |
Claflin University is a private, coeducational, liberal arts institution located in Orangeburg, South Carolina, United States, about 40 miles (64 km) southeast of Columbia. Founded in 1869 after the American Civil War by northern missionaries for the education of freedmen and their children, it offers bachelor's and master's degrees. In 2014, it was ranked as the best liberal arts college in South Carolina by Washington Monthly, and in 2015 it was ranked as the eighth-best HBCU in the nation by US News & World Report.
Claflin was founded after the American Civil War in 1869 by Methodist missionaries from Massachusetts, supported by the New England Conference, to provide education to freedmen and prepare them for full citizenship. The university was named after two prominent Methodist churchmen, the Massachusetts governor William Claflin and his father, the Boston philanthropist Lee Claflin, who provided a large part of the funds to purchase the campus.
Dr. Alonzo Webster, a minister and educator from Vermont and a member of Claflin’s Board of Trustees, secured Claflin’s charter from the state legislature in 1869. The charter forbids discrimination of any sort among faculty, staff and students, making Claflin the first South Carolina university open to all students regardless of race, class or gender.
Dr. Webster served as the first president of Claflin. He had gone to South Carolina to teach at the Baker Biblical Institute in Charleston. It was established in 1866 by the S.C. Mission Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church for the education of African-American ministers. In 1870 the Baker Biblical Institute merged with Claflin University. In addition, the South Carolina General Assembly on March 12, 1872, designated the South Carolina State Agricultural and Mechanical Institute as a part of Claflin University .
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