Philander Smith University

Budlong Hall, c. 1910. Built 1883, demolished 1963. [ 1 ] Philander Smith University was officially founded in 1877 under the name of Walden Seminary to provide educational opportunities for emancipated slaves west of the Mississippi River . In 1882 the school was renamed Philander Smith College in honor of the financial contributions of Adeline Smith, widow of Philander Smith . It was chartered as a four-year college in 1883 and conferred its first bachelor's degree in 1888. In 1933, it merged the assets of the George R. Smith College in Sedalia, Missouri , which burned down in 1925. [ 2 ] In 1943, Philander Smith was accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools . During the Civil Rights Movement , Philander Smith College was a pioneer in activism: many of its students engaged in nonviolent resistance against segregation laws or customs (such as sitting in at " whites-only " lunch counters). On August 1, 2023, the college announced the addition of its first master's degree program and the change of its name from Philander Smith College to Philander Smith University. [ 3 ] In 2025, MacKenzie Scott donated $19 million to the university which is the largest single gift in its history. [ 4 ] Rankings and education conservancy Walter Kimbrough , former president of Philander Smith College, joined the Education Conservancy in criticizing the annual U.S. News & World Report college rankings; he signed a letter circulating among college presidents that asks them to refrain from participating in the peer assessment portion of the survey. [ 5 ] [ 6 ]

Quick facts Location, Area ... Philander Smith College Historic District U.S. National Register of Historic Places U.S. Historic district Location Roughly bounded by 13th, 11th, Izard, and State Sts., Little Rock, Arkansas Area less than one acre Architect Almand, John Parks Architectural style Colonial Revival , Bungalow/Craftsman , et al. NRHP reference number "}]]}">No. 99000229 [ 7 ] Added to NRHP September 13, 1999 Close Campus Harry R. Kendall Center, home to the Dr. Joycelyn Elders School of Allied and Public Health. Cox Administration Building The school campus is located in central Little Rock. Interstate 630 (the Mills Freeway) was constructed just north of the campus, which is bounded by 10th and 14th streets to the north and south, and Gaines and Chester streets to the east and west. The core of the campus was originally built for Little Rock Junior College (now the University of Arkansas at Little Rock), and a two-block section of it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places . One of its centerpieces is the former U.M. Rose School building, now the Cox Administration Building, designed by the noted Arkansas architect John Parks Almand in 1915, when he was working for Charles L. Thompson . The campus also includes the "Old Gym", a gymnasium built by the WPA during the Great Depression ; and a former barracks building of the Camp Robinson Air Force Base , which was moved here in 1948. [ 8 ]

The Philander Smith athletic teams are called the Panthers. The college is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), primarily competing in the HBCU Athletic Conference (HBCUAC), formerly the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC), since the 2011–12 academic year. The Panthers previously competed as an NAIA Independent within the Association of Independent Institutions (AII) from 2009–10 to 2010–11. Philander Smith competes in ten intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include basketball, baseball, cross country and track & field (indoor and outdoor); while women's sports include basketball, cross country, track & field (indoor and outdoor) and volleyball; and co-ed sports include cheerleading. Accomplishments The 2012–13 Philander Smith men's basketball team made history by bringing home their first GCAC conference tournament title. [ 9 ] On February 21, 1989, the Philander Smith women's basketball team gained a 92–89 victory over Rust College of Holly Springs, Mississippi, on their court, ending the longest home-court winning streak in NCAA Division III women's basketball history.

More information Name, Class year ... Name Class year Notability Reference(s) "Geese" Ausbie 1960 former Harlem Globetrotters player and coach Al Bell founder of Stax Records and former president of Motown Records John A. Bell 1951 Director of the Education and Secondary Education Division of the Office of Civil Rights, United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare [ 10 ] Isaac M. Burgan President of Paul Quinn College from 1883–1891, 1911–1914 Deon Cole comedian James Hal Cone 1958 major figure in systematic theology and liberation theology L. Clifford Davis 1945 civil rights, attorney, judge [ 11 ] Joycelyn Elders 1952 former Surgeon General of the United States Stephanie Flowers 1975 Arkansas State Senator since 2011 and former member of the Arkansas House of Representatives from Pine Bluff [ 12 ] Scipio Africanus Jones coursework before transfer to Shorter College lawyer and businessman Calvin King 1975 farm developmer, and the President of the Arkansas Land and Farm Development Corp Amina Claudine Myers musician [ 13 ] Elijah Pitts 1961 former Green Bay Packers player, 2x Super Bowl champion Devon Scott basketball player in the Israel Basketball Premier League Lottie Shackelford 1979 former mayor of Little Rock, Arkansas Robert L. Williams 1953 prominent figure in the history of African-American psychology Close