Cumberland University
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| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Established | 1842 |
| President | Paul C. Stumb IV |
| Students | 1,500 |
| Location | Lebanon, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Colors | Maroon and White |
| Athletics | NAIA – Mid-South |
| Nickname | Phoenix |
| Website | www |
Cumberland University is a private university in Lebanon, Tennessee, United States. It was founded in 1842, though the current campus buildings were constructed between 1892 and 1896.
The university was founded by the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in 1842 and received its Tennessee State charter in 1843. In 1847 Cumberland Presbyterian church leaders added a law school, the first in Tennessee and the first west of the Appalachian Mountains, and in 1854 a school of theology was begun.
The original building, designed by Philadelphia architect William Strickland, housed schools of art, law and theology. It was burned by the Union Army during the American Civil War.
Following the war, the university's faculty included former Confederate general A. P. Stewart. He taught there during his post-Civil War Union parole.
From its early years, Cumberland University maintained a reputation for high-quality education. The Cumberland School of Law at one time was said to have had more of its alumni elected to Congress than any other in the South.
The American Civil War nearly destroyed Cumberland University. University Hall was burned to the ground when Union forces occupied the campus, a fate common to many Southern institutes of learning. A Cumberland student wrote on a ruined Corinthian column the Latin Resurgam (I will arise). The university thereafter adopted the mythical phoenix bird as its symbol. By 1866, just one year after the war's end, all departments were again operating in various locations in the town of Lebanon. Cumberland University moved to its present campus location in 1892.
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