Lee University

Bible training school Lee University's current campus originally housed a Methodist institution, Centenary College and Music School, as early as 1885. Part of the original Centenary facility remains on campus today as part of Lee's administrative building. [ 8 ] In 1911, at its sixth annual General Assembly, the Church of God appointed a committee to establish plans for a Bible training school. [ 9 ] Six years later, on January 1, 1918, the school's first term began with a tuition of $1 per week. [ 10 ] Classes met in the council chamber of the Church of God Publishing House in Cleveland. Rev. A. J. Tomlinson served as the first superintendent of education. The only teacher, Nora Chambers, had twelve students. [ 9 ] Lee's birthplace was in the Church of God Publishing House In 1920, the school expanded to the old sanctuary of the North Cleveland Church of God on People street and included a dormitory. In 1925, it moved to a larger facility on Montgomery Avenue: the Church of God Auditorium. In 1930, the institution added a high school, school of business, and school of music. The school constructed its first building, a women's dormitory, in 1937, but the following year the school moved to a 63-acre campus in Sevierville, Tennessee , when it purchased the Murphy Collegiate Institute for $29,990. [ 10 ] [ 11 ] Intramural athletic teams began in the 1940s. [ 12 ] In 1941, the school added a two-year junior-college to focus on teacher training and business education. [ 10 ] The Vindagua yearbook began in 1942 and the Clarion student newspaper was first published in 1946. [ 13 ] [ 14 ]

Centenary is the oldest extant building on Lee's campus In 1947, Bob Jones College moved from Cleveland to Greenville, South Carolina . [ 15 ] The Bible training school purchased the 20-acre campus for $1.5 million and the institution returned to Cleveland under a new name, Lee College, to honor its second president, Rev. F.J. Lee. [ 8 ] [ 10 ] After the move, the junior college received accreditation from the University of Tennessee . [ 10 ] In 1958, Lee gained its first varsity sports team: men's basketball. [ 12 ] In 1960, the junior-college was accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. [ 10 ] The school adopted the Vikings mascot in 1961. [ 12 ] Greek letter clubs began the following year. [ 10 ] The annual Parade of Favorites pageant began in 1963. [ 16 ] The first Lee Day was held in 1964. In 1965, Lee’s high school program closed and the school opened a science building. The following year Lee desegregated, reached an enrollment of 1,000, and started the shift to a four-year institution. [ 10 ] The 1,800-seat Conn Center auditorium was constructed in 1977. [ 8 ] In 1982, the college mascot became the Flames. [ 12 ] The sports arena and library were built in 1983 and 1984 respectively.

Charles Paul Conn became president in 1986. He became the longest-serving president of any college or university in Tennessee history. During his tenure Lee’s enrollment quadrupled from around 1,000 to more than 5,100. [ 8 ] In 1988, Lee closed Church Street on campus to create the Sharp Pedestrian Mall. [ 17 ] In the 1990s, Lee built a theatre, recreation center, music building, and college of education. In November 1993, the Ellis Hall dormitory was destroyed by arson in the middle of the night. All 73 students were evacuated. [ 18 ] [ 19 ] The Voices of Lee choir debuted in fall 1994. [ 20 ] The next year Lee launched its first graduate program, church music. During the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta , Lee housed more than 300 athletes and coaches participating in the games. [ 21 ] In fall 1997, Lee became a university. [ 9 ] The following year Lee established its Global Perspectives program, requiring all undergraduates to study abroad. [ 21 ] The 2000s brought a new student center, three-story humanities center, and school of religion building. In 2007, Lee launched its Encore program for students over 60 and purchased the former campus of Mayfield Elementary School. [ 22 ] [ 23 ] In 2010, Lee purchased the downtown campus of Cleveland's First Baptist Church for $5 million to house a performance venue, Pangle Hall, and the School of Business. [ 24 ] A chapel and communications building were completed in the early 2010s. In 2013, a Lee University choir sang at the second inauguration of U.S. President Barack Obama . [ 22 ] Lee began a School of Nursing in 2014 and finished a building for the department two years later. [ 25 ] The university filed an amicus brief in favor of employment discrimination against LGBT people in the court case Bostock v. Clayton County in 2019. [ 26 ] Enrollment waned in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and in 2023 the university closed all of its older, communal-style dorms for two years of renovations.

Nora Chambers Hall remains closed as of 2025. [ 27 ] The university suffered a cybersecurity data breach in March 2024. [ 28 ] Groundbreaking on the university's new $15 million, 30,000-square-foot School of Engineering building is expected in summer 2025. [ 29 ]