Young Harris College

Origins The school was founded in 1886 by Artemas Lester, a circuit-riding Methodist minister who wanted to provide the residents of the Appalachian Mountains with an education. The college was funded in part by production from an agricultural program, or college farm. Students who could not afford education were allowed to work on the farm to earn tuition. [ citation needed ] Originally known as McTyeire Institute for the small village where the school was located, the college struggled for the first year until an Athens judge, Young L.G. Harris , donated enough money to keep the school open. The school was later renamed Young Harris Institute and became Young Harris College in honor of its benefactor, as was the surrounding town in 1895. [ 6 ] A fire destroyed the college's main classroom building in 1911, but it was rebuilt by local townspeople and named Sharp Hall in honor of the college president at the time. The Young Harris Academy was founded in the late 19th century and provided a primary education for thousands of students until it closed after World War II . [ 7 ]

Margaret Adger Pitts, who died in 1998, left an estate valued at $192 million, mostly in Coca-Cola stock acquired by her father in the 1920s. YHC was one of four Georgia entities named to receive the yearly dividends and trust proceeds, approximately $3 million to each of the beneficiaries. The college announced that the money would be used for scholarships, improvements to the campus, and religious programs. [ 8 ]

Since the early 1910s, YHC was a two-year school, granting associate's degrees . In 2008, the college earned its four-year accreditation through regional accreditation organization, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools , and was approved to offer bachelor's degrees in biology, business and public policy, English, and music. In February 2010, Young Harris' accreditation was expanded to include communication studies, history, outdoor leadership, theatre, and musical theatre in the list of sanctioned bachelor's programs. [ 9 ] A moon tree was planted on campus in 2024. [ 10 ]

1886 – 1887 Marcus H. Edwards 1888 – 1889 Edward A. Gray 1889 – 1894 C. C. Spence 1894 – 1899 William F. Robison 1899 – 1916 Joseph A. Sharp 1916 – 1917 George L. King 1917 – 1922 John L. Hall 1930 Ella Standard Sharp 1930 – 1942 T. Jack Lance 1942 – 1947 J. Worth Sharp 1947 – 1950 Walter L. Downs 1950 – 1963 Charles R. Clegg 1963 – 1964 Robert P. Andress 1964 – 1966 Raymond A. Cook 1966 – 1971 Douglas Reid Sasser 1971 – 1991 Ray Farley 1990 Clay Dotson 1991 – 2003 Thomas S. Yow III 2003 – 2004 Clay Dotson 2004 – 2006 W. Stephen Gunter 2006 – 2006 John W. Wells 2007–2017 Cathy Cox [ 11 ] July – October 2017 (Interim) C. Brooks Seay 2017 – 2024 Drew Van Horn 2025 – present John W. Wells [ 3 ] The Young Harris College campus in 2022