Presbyterian College

Presbyterian College

Former names	Clinton College
Motto	Dum Vivimus Servimus
Motto in English	While We Live, We Serve
Type	Private liberal arts college
Established	1880
Religious affiliation	Presbyterian
Endowment	$97.59 million
President	Bob Staton
Provost	Don Raber
Academic staff	84 full-time
Students	1,172 Undergraduates, 231 Graduates (Fall, 2012)
Location	Clinton, South Carolina, U.S.
Campus	Small town 240 acres (97 ha)
Colors	Garnet & Blue
Nickname	Blue Hose
Sporting affiliations	NCAA Division I – Big South
Website	presby.edu

Presbyterian College, commonly known as PC, is a four-year, private liberal arts college located in Clinton, South Carolina, United States and affiliated with the Presbyterian Church. The college’s president is Bob Staton. Presbyterian's undergraduate and graduate programs emphasize small class sizes, a congenial atmosphere between professors and students, and a commitment to service. PC is also home to Cyrus, the largest bronze statue of a Scotsman in the world.

Presbyterian College was founded in 1880 by the Rev. William Plumer Jacobs. He had served as the pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Clinton since 1864, and founded the Thornwell Orphanage. Originally called Clinton College, its first class (including three women) graduated in 1883. In establishing PC, his “tree of knowledge”, Jacobs’ goal was to educate young people for lives of service to church and society, and thereby be, in his words, “epistles to Christ’s honor and glory”.

By the time of Jacobs' death in 1917, the college had grown considerably in size and resources, and had six major buildings. Neville Hall, PC's most recognized structure, was constructed in 1907. The tenure of president Davison McDowell Douglas (1911-1926) saw the tripling of the size of the faculty and student body, the construction of four new buildings, and growth in the College’s assets from $150,000 to over $1 million. After weathering the storms of the Great Depression and Second World War, Presbyterian has continued expansion on many fronts through the second half of the twentieth century. It became fully co-educational in 1965 (and in so doing dropped its previous motto, “Where Men are Made”). In 1969, it began admitting African-American students.

Presbyterian College is a Carnegie One Liberal Arts College and is fully accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). The School of the Liberal Arts confers B.A. and B.S. degrees in 30 courses of study and 9 pre-professional programs including Pre-Law, Pre-Med, Pre-Theology, and Pre-Pharmacy. PC also offers a dual-degree program in Engineering (with Clemson University, Auburn University, Georgia Tech, the University of South Carolina, and Vanderbilt University) and minor fields in an additional 13 disciplines such as Africana Studies, Media Studies, and Women's and Gender Studies. The liberal arts program has small average class sizes (13-15 students), and has six Carnegie/CASE South Carolina Professor of the Year Award winners.