Lee University

Not to be confused with Lee College.
Lee University
Former name
 Church of God Bible Training School (1918–1948)
Lee College (1948–1997)
Motto "Where Christ is King"
Type Private university
Established 1918
Religious affiliation
 Church of God
Endowment US$18.6 million (2015)
President Mark L. Walker
Students 3,927 (fall 2022)
Location
Cleveland, Tennessee

35°09′57″N 84°52′16″W
Campus Suburban, 130 acres (53 ha)
Newspaper Lee Clarion
Colors       Burgundy and navy blue
Nickname Flames
Sporting affiliations
 NCAA Division II – Gulf South
Mascot Flames
Website www.leeuniversity.edu

Lee University is a private Christian university in Cleveland, Tennessee. It was originally the Church of God Bible Training School, a small Bible institute founded in 1918 with twelve students and one teacher, Nora I. Chambers. The school grew and became Lee College, with a Bible college and junior college on its current site, in 1948. Twenty years later, Lee received accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools as a four-year liberal arts college. In 1997, Lee became a university; it now offers master's degrees as well as undergraduate degrees.

The university is divided into six colleges and schools: the College of Arts & Sciences, the Helen DeVos College of Education, the School of Business, the School of Music, the School of Nursing, and the School of Religion. The university also offers online degrees through the Division of Adult Learning. The university is named for F.J. Lee, its second president.

History

The birthplace of what is now Lee University was a single room in the Church of God Publishing House.

Lee's enrollment is 5,370 students, up from 960 in 1986 (as of fall 2013)

Lee University prohibits homosexual relationships for students. The University filed an amicus brief in favor of employment discrimination against LGBT people in the court case Bostock v. Clayton County in 2019.

Presidents

  • Ambrose Jessup Tomlinson (1918–1922) [Church of God General Overseer (1909–1923)]
  • Flavius Josephus Lee (1922–1923) [Church of God General Overseer (1923–1928)]
  • J.B. Ellis (1923–1924)
  • T.S. Payne (1924–1930)
  • J. Herbert Walker, Sr. (1930–1935) [Church of God General Overseer (1935–1944)]
  • Zeno C. Tharp (1935–1944) [Church of God General Overseer (1952–1956)]
  • J. Herbert Walker, Sr. (1944–1945)
  • E.L. Simmons (1945–1948)
  • J. Stewart Brinsfield (1948–1951)
  • John C. Jernigan (1951–1952)
  • R. Leonard Carroll, Sr. (1952–1957) [Church of God General Overseer (1970–1972)]
  • R. L. Platt (1957–1960)
  • Ray H. Hughes, Sr. (1960–1966) [Church of God General Overseer (1972–1974; 1978–1982; 1996)]
  • James A. Cross (1966–1970) [Church of God General Overseer (1958–1962)]
  • Charles W. Conn (1970–1982) [Church of God General Overseer (1966–1970)]
  • Ray H. Hughes, Sr. (1982–1984)
  • R. Lamar Vest (1984–1986) [Church of God General Overseer (1990–1994; 2000–2004)]
  • Charles Paul Conn (1986–2020)
  • Mark Walker (2020-current)

Academics

Academic programs

Many co-curricular activities, such as chapel attendance (offered twice per week; students are required to attend 70% of services a month), service requirements (10 hours per semester; 80 total hours to graduate), and the study abroad program, called Global Perspectives, are required as part of degree programs. Exceptions and special cases are approved by the relevant academic dean or the president of the university. All non-local entering freshmen are also required to live on campus, with exceptions made for those who are married, divorced, widowed, parents, over age 21, part-time, or living locally with immediate relatives.

Accreditation

Lee is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award baccalaureate and master's degrees. Professional and specialized accreditation have been achieved in the following areas: the School of Music is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music, the Helen DeVos College of Education is accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), the School of Business is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP), the School of Nursing is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), and the athletic training program has national accreditation in the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE).

Athletics

Main article: Lee Flames

The Lee athletic teams are called the Flames. The university is a member of the Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the Gulf South Conference (GSC) since the 2013–14 academic year. They were also a member of the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA), primarily competing as an independent in the Mid-East Region of the Division I level. The Flames previously competed in the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC; formerly known as Georgia–Alabama–Carolina Conference (GACC) until after the 2003–04 school year) of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 2004–05 to 2012–13.

Lee competes in 18 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cheerleading, cross country, golf, soccer, tennis & track & field; while women's sports include basketball, cheerleading, cross country, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, tennis, track & field and volleyball. Club sports are offered such as boxing, men's and women's rugby, spikeball and ultimate frisbee.

Campus

Lee University is located in the town of Cleveland, Tennessee, which lies between Chattanooga and Knoxville.

This location had long been the site of church-affiliated schools. Centenary College was founded in 1884 to honor the "centenary" of American Methodism. Located on part of the present campus, that school closed in 1929, and in 1933 its property was sold to Bob Jones College, an interdenominational college which had previously been in Florida. When that school moved to South Carolina in 1947, the property was once again sold, and the Church of God became its new owner with Lee College and now, Lee University occupying the original and much expanded area.

The 120-acre (0.49 km2) campus consists of academic buildings, residence halls, athletic and recreational facilities, dining services, administrative offices, parks and green spaces, a pedestrian mall, Campus Safety facilities, music performance spaces, and other facilities. Many building projects have been undertaken in the past decades, including a humanities center (2004), religion building (2008), science building (2009), chapel (2011), communications building (2014), School of Nursing building (2016), and School of Business (2017).

Campus buildings

Note: Dates of construction given when known

  • Forum (2017)
    Forum (2017)
  • School of Nursing (2016)
    School of Nursing (2016)
  • Communications Building (2014)
    Communications Building (2014)
  • Chapel (2011)
    Chapel (2011)
  • Science and Math Complex (2010)
    Science and Math Complex (2010)
  • School of Religion (2008)
    School of Religion (2008)
  • Leonard Center (2007)
    Leonard Center (2007)
  • Center for the Humanities (2004)
    Center for the Humanities (2004)
  • McKenzie Athletic Building (2002)
    McKenzie Athletic Building (2002)
  • Paul Conn Student Union (2000)
    Paul Conn Student Union (2000)
  • Helen DeVos College of Education (1998)
    Helen DeVos College of Education (1998)
  • Deacon Jones Dining Hall (1996)
    Deacon Jones Dining Hall (1996)
  • Curtsinger Music Building (1995)
    Curtsinger Music Building (1995)
  • DeVos Recreation Center (1993)
    DeVos Recreation Center (1993)
  • Dixon Center (1992)
    Dixon Center (1992)
  • Watkins Building (1992)
    Watkins Building (1992)
  • DeVos Tennis Center (1988)
    DeVos Tennis Center (1988)
  • Squires Library (1984)
    Squires Library (1984)
  • Paul Dana Walker Arena (1983)
    Paul Dana Walker Arena (1983)
  • Conn Center (1977)
    Conn Center (1977)
  • Pangle Hall (1967)
    Pangle Hall (1967)
  • Higginbotham Administration Building (1964)
    Higginbotham Administration Building (1964)
  • Walker Memorial Building (1945)
    Walker Memorial Building (1945)
  • Vest Building (1939)
    Vest Building (1939)
  • Mayfield Annex (1928)
    Mayfield Annex (1928)

Residence halls

  • Atkins-Ellis Hall (1994) – female residence hall built after Ellis Hall fire
  • B.L. Hicks Hall (1996) – male apartment residence hall
  • Bowdle-O'Bannon Hall (2002) – male residence hall connected by an atrium
  • Brinsfield Row East (2003) – female apartments named after former president J. Stewart Brinsfield; expanded in 2004 and 2008
  • Brinsfield Row West (2003) – male apartments named after former president J. Stewart Brinsfield; expanded in 2004 and 2008
  • Carroll Court (1973) – married apartment residence hall named after former president R. Leonard Carroll
  • Cross Hall (1969) – female residence hall named after former president James A. Cross
  • Dirksen Row (2017) – female apartments named after former professors
  • Keeble Hall (1999) – female apartment residence hall
  • Livingston East (2011) – female townhouse residence hall
  • Livingston Hall (1995) – female apartment residence hall
  • Medlin Hall (1930s) – male residence hall (formerly Walker Hall and Memorial Hall) where Billy Graham lived during his time as a student when Bob Jones University owned the campus.
  • New Hughes Hall (2011) – female residence hall named in memory of former President Ray H. Hughes
  • Nora Chambers Hall (1930s) – female residence hall connected to Simmons and Tharp Halls; renovated in 1994
  • Sharp-Davis Hall (1990) – female residence hall
  • Simmons Hall (1930s) – female residence hall connected to Nora Chambers Hall; renovated in 1981
  • Storms Hall (2000) – female apartment residence hall
  • Tharp Hall (1930s) – female residence hall connected to Nora Chambers; renovated in 1981

Other buildings

  • Admissions House – located in a historic house on Ocoee Street
  • Centenary Building – oldest building on campus, formerly women's dormitory East Wing Hall and Student Center, home to administrative offices in conjunction with the Higginbotham Administration Building
  • Pressley Maintenance Building (1987) – Physical Plant headquarters
  • School of Business (1997) – located on Central Avenue, renovated by Lee in 2018
  • Watkins Building – houses Center for Calling and Career and Counseling Center

Former buildings

  • Beach Science Building (1965) – demolished in 2009 to make way for new science building
  • Ellis Hall (1941) – destroyed by arson in November 1993
  • Hughes Hall (1968) – male residence hall named after former president Ray H. Hughes, demolished in 2010 to make way for the Math & Science Complex
  • Old Main – oldest building on campus before demolition in 1962

Social activities

Community covenant

All students are asked to sign a "Community Covenant" which lists several restrictions on behaviors and social interaction according to the school's institutional and religious policy. Most notable are a substance policy barring alcohol, tobacco, and illegal drugs; and its stance on homosexuality, which is banned in all forms. Men's and women's dormitories are kept separate, and premarital sexual intercourse is prohibited. Immodesty and "occult practices" are also forbidden.

Greek organizations

As of 2008, the university recognized ten Greek-letter organizations.

Publications

Lee University's student newspaper, the Lee Clarion, is published during the academic school year.
  • The Lee Clarion is the campus newspaper.

Notable alumni