Lees-McRae College
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| Motto | In Montibus, Ex Montibus, Pro Montibus (Latin: In the Mountains, Of the Mountains, For the Mountains) |
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| Type | private, coeducational, undergraduate |
| Established | 1900 |
| Affiliation | Presbyterian Church (USA) |
| Endowment | $19.3 million |
| President | Dr. Barry Buxton |
| Provost | Dr. Todd M. Lidh |
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Academic staff
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56 |
| Students | 1034 |
| Address |
PO Box 128 Banner Elk, NC 28604-0128, Banner Elk, North Carolina, United States 36°09′43″N 81°52′32″W / 36.1620705°N 81.8756686°WCoordinates: 36°09′43″N 81°52′32″W / 36.1620705°N 81.8756686°W |
| Campus | Rural, 400 acres (1.619 km²) |
| Colors | Green and gold |
| Athletics | NCAA Division II |
| Mascot | Wily the Bobcat |
| Website | www |
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Lees–McRae College is a private four-year college in Banner Elk, North Carolina, affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). Lees–McRae College has the highest elevation of any college or university in the United States east of the Mississippi River at 3,720 feet (1,130 m) above sea level. It is one of the few colleges to be named after two women, Suzanna Lees and Elizabeth McRae. In 2005, Lees-McRae became the first expansion site for New Opportunity School for Women, a program that helps educate and employ women in Appalachia.
Lees–McRae College was founded in Banner Elk as an all-female high school in 1899 by Reverend Edgar Tufts, a Presbyterian minister. He named the school The Elizabeth McRae Institute after a well-respected educator in 1900. School benefactor Suzanna Lees' name was added in 1903 and the school's name became the Lees-McRae Institute when the school was chartered by the state in 1907.
An all-male branch was founded during 1907 in Plumtree, North Carolina. The Plumtree facility was destroyed in a 1927 fire, leading the two campuses to merge at the Banner Elk site. After the merge, the high school program was phased out and the institute was renamed in 1931 to Lees–McRae College, an accredited, coeducational junior college.
Lees-McRae began moving toward offering a four-year program in the late 1980s and the school's president made the recommendation to the board of trustees in 1987. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools granted Lees-McRae status as a four-year college in 1990.
Landmarks on campus include the historic Rock House, built in 1920 of native stone; Tufts Tower, a former water tower that houses the campus chimes; and the North Carolina Building, completed in 1922 and one of three permanent buildings planned by the college's founder. Also, there is Tate Residence Hall which was originally the town hospital. There are other campus images in the gallery below.
North Carolina Building
Banner Elk Presbyterian Church
Tuft Tower
The College's Bookstore, named The Exchange, accepted chickens, pigs, grain, other crops and livestock in exchange for education costs in the early years of the college's history.
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