Transylvania University

Henry Clay served off and on as professor of law and as trustee from 1807 to his death in 1852. The original seal of Transylvania University Transylvania—Latin for "across the woods"—was the first college west of the Allegheny Mountains and was named for the short-lived Transylvania Colony . [ 9 ] The Virginia General Assembly chartered Transylvania Seminary in 1780, before Kentucky became a state. It was chiefly promoted by Presbyterians . Initially situated in a log cabin in Boyle County , the school moved to Lexington in 1789. [ 9 ] The first site in Lexington was a single building in what is now Gratz Park . By 1799, the institution was called "Transylvania University". By 1818, a new main classroom building was constructed. It burned down in 1829, and the school moved north of Third Street. Old Morrison was erected in 1830–34 under the supervision of Henry Clay , who both taught law and was a member of Transylvania's Board. [ 10 ] By 1818, the university included a medical school, law school, divinity school, and college of arts and sciences. [ 9 ] [ 11 ] The Disciples of Christ church founded "Bacon College" in Georgetown. It operated from 1837 to 1851 and 1858 to 1861. It was renamed Kentucky University in 1858. In 1865, the remnants of the school were merged into Transylvania University. The merged institution took the name "Kentucky University." [ 9 ] [ 11 ] Transylvania has dominated academe in the bluegrass region ever since and was the sought-after destination for the children of the South's political leadership, military families, and business elite. It attracted many politically ambitious young men, including Stephen F. Austin , the founder of Texas. [ 12 ] After the Civil War Medical Hall, which burned down in 1863 The new institution used Transylvania's campus in Lexington while keeping the name Kentucky University.

[ 9 ] The university was reorganized into several new colleges, including the Agricultural and Mechanical College (A&M) of Kentucky, publicly chartered as a department of Kentucky University as a land-grant institution under the Morrill Act . [ 11 ] But due to questions about having a federally funded land-grant college controlled by a religious body, the A&M college was spun off in 1878 as an independent, state-run institution. The A&M of Kentucky soon developed into one of the state's flagship public universities, the University of Kentucky . [ 11 ] Kentucky University's College of the Bible, which traced its roots to Bacon College's Department of Hebrew Literature, received a separate charter in 1878. Kentucky University's seminary eventually separated but remained on the same campus until 1950. It later changed its name to the Lexington Theological Seminary . In 1903, Hamilton College , a Lexington-based women's college founded in 1869, merged into Kentucky University. [ 11 ] Due to confusion between Kentucky University and its daughter institution, the University of Kentucky, it was renamed "Transylvania University" in 1908.

In 1988, Transylvania University experienced an infringement on its trademark when Hallmark Cards began selling "Transylvania University" T-shirts. The product, developed for Halloween , was intended to be a novelty item purporting to be college wear from the fictional Count Dracula 's alma mater . When contacted by Transylvania University, Hallmark said it had been unaware of the real university and recalled all unsold products. [ 13 ]

The institution is on a 48-acre (19.4-hectare) urban campus about four blocks from the center of the city of Lexington. It has 24 buildings, 3 athletic fields, 3 dining areas, and a National Historic Landmark. [ 14 ] The campus is divided by North Broadway: to the east stand the academic buildings; to the west, most of the residential buildings. Academic campus Carpenter Academic Center and the Transylvania Lawn The academic side of campus lies east of North Broadway, one of the major streets in Lexington. Old Morrison is the central administration building. Designed by pioneer Kentucky architect Gideon Shryock and erected in 1833 under the supervision of Henry Clay (then professor of law at Transylvania), Old Morrison is the central image on Lexington's city seal. It houses the offices of financial aid, accounting, the registrar, the president, the dean, communications, the Center for Academic and Professional Enrichment, and more. The building also holds the tomb of Constantine Rafinesque , professor of natural science at the university from 1819 to 1826, and Sauveur Francois Bonfils, who taught at the university from 1842 to 1849 (a native of France, he was forced to flee because of political discord). [ 15 ] During the Civil War, Old Morrison was a hospital for Union and Confederate soldiers. [ 16 ] It was gutted by fire in 1969 but renovated and reopened in 1971. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1965 in recognition of the institution's status as the oldest west of the Allegheny Mountains. [ 17 ] Academic Side of Campus in April 2016 Beside Old Morrison, the Carpenter Academic Center houses the faculties of English , philosophy , history , political science , foreign languages, and classics , as well as professors' offices. The center, formerly known as Haupt Humanities, was renovated during the 2017–18 academic year; classrooms and faculty offices were updated, student gathering spaces were added, and new technologies were integrated.