Cumberland University

The university was founded by the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in 1842 and received its Tennessee state charter in 1843. In 1847 Cumberland Presbyterian church leaders added a law school, the first in Tennessee and the first west of the Appalachian Mountains, and in 1854 a school of theology was begun.

The original building, designed by Philadelphia architect William Strickland, housed schools of art, law and theology.

The Civil War nearly destroyed Cumberland University. University Hall was burned to the ground by Confederate forces under the command of General Joseph Wheeler. Cumberland alumni William E. Ward wrote on a ruined Corinthian column the Latin phrase Ex Cineribus Resurgam (From the ashes I will arise). The university thereafter adopted the mythical phoenix bird as its symbol. By 1866, just one year after the war's end, all departments were again operating in various locations in the town of Lebanon.

Following the war, the university's faculty included former Confederate general A. P. Stewart, who taught there during his post-Civil War Union parole.[2] Students included former Confederate general George Washington Gordon.

Cumberland University moved to its present campus location in 1892. Construction of Memorial Hall, designed by William Crawford Smith, was completed in 1896; it remains the tallest building on campus as of January 2022.

The university fell on hard times during the Great Depression, as did most small private colleges.

During World War II, Cumberland University served as the headquarters for the Tennessee Maneuver Area, a training area for the Second Army whose geography resembled that of Belgium, France, and Germany. Over 850,000 soldiers participated in the seven training exercises conducted in the area.[3][4]

After World War II, Cumberland experienced several changes in sponsorship and programs. In 1946, the Tennessee Baptist Convention assumed control of the school, ending a century of operation by the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.[5] An attempt to merge Cumberland University and Tennessee School for Women during this period ultimately proved unsuccessful.[6]

In 1951, the Tennessee Baptist Convention closed the College of Arts and Sciences and operated only the School of Law.[5] In 1956, the Board of Trust secured an amendment to the Charter and changed Cumberland to a private, independent corporation. The College of Arts and Sciences was reopened as a two-year junior college, known as Cumberland College of Tennessee. In 1962, the assets of the School of Law were transferred to Howard College, now known as Samford University, in Birmingham, Alabama; the law school is now known as the Cumberland School of Law.

The Board of Trust expanded the academic programs of the junior college in 1982, returning Cumberland to a four-year degree institution. It resumed the old name of Cumberland University. Since then, Cumberland has expanded its academic program to include new majors and specialized student-learning opportunities.[5]

The Cumberland University Sports Hall of Fame consists of individuals who have achieved excellence in athletics by either competing, coaching, or contributing in other ways. Members include those who only made an athletic impact at the university, such as volleyball player and coach Kathy Palk Slaughter and coach/contributor Mitch Walters, as well as others who went on to greater athletic notoriety at other institutions, such as Coastal Carolina University men's basketball coach Cliff Ellis and Winthrop University women's basketball coach Bud Childers.[12] Still others, such as Allison B. Humphreys Jr. and Cale Young Rice, are remembered today for their non-athletic contributions.

On August 7, 2013, Cumberland University was granted provisional membership into the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) after a vote of league presidents, paving the way for the university to apply to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for admittance into Division II in February 2014.[13] Cumberland's application to join Division II was denied in 2014.[14] As of 2022, Cumberland hasn't yet re-applied to transition into NCAA Division II.

On January 4, 2016, Cumberland University changed the sports nickname of its athletic program from "Bulldogs" to "Phoenix", stating that, "For more than 150 years, the Phoenix has personified the spirit of Cumberland University."[15]

Cumberland football began on October 26, 1894, with a 6–6 tie with Peabody and finished that first year with a 2–1–1 season record. The pinnacle of the early days of CU football was the 1903 season that began with a (6–0) win over Vanderbilt then a (0–6) loss to Sewanee and continued with a five-day road trip with victories over Alabama (44–0) November 14, 1903, LSU (41–0) November 16, 1903, and Tulane (28–0) November 18, 1903. Cumberland played a postseason game against Coach John Heisman's Clemson team on Thanksgiving Day that ended in an 11–11 tie and a record of 4–1–1.[16] This gave Coach A.L. Phillips and Cumberland University the Championship of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association.[17][18]

The 1916 game against Georgia Tech is famous as the most lopsided loss in the history of college football, with Georgia Tech defeating Cumberland 222-0.[19]

Cumberland's baseball program won the NAIA World Series following the 2004, 2010, and 2014 seasons; the 1995 and 2006 teams were runners-up in this event.[20]

From 1980 to 2021, Woody Hunt served as head coach of the Cumberland baseball program, compiling a 1,630-774-5 record. He was named NAIA National Coach of the Year in 2006 and was runner-up for the award four times.[21] Hunt was inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame (2013), the Boyle County (Kentucky) Sports Hall of Fame, the Cumberland University Hall of Fame, the NAIA Hall of Fame (2007), and the Tennessee Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame (2009).[22][23][24] The NAIA awarded Hunt the 2019 Robert E. "Ish" Smith Award, and the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame awarded him the Pat Summitt Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020.[25][26]

Three Cumberland baseball players have played for MLB teams: Jack Farmer, Luis Martinez, and Aaron Wilkerson.[27]

The women's basketball team finished as NAIA National Tournament Runner-Up in 2007 and made it to the semifinals in 2013.[28][29]

The men's basketball team earned trips to the NAIA National Tournament following the 2004, 2008, and 2009 seasons.[30]

On August 17, 2018, the university named the basketball court in Dallas Floyd Phoenix Arena after Cliff Ellis, who coached Cumberland to a 78-12 record from 1973 to 1975.[31]

The 2014 women's team reached the NAIA quarterfinals, and the 2017 team went undefeated in the regular season before losing in the Mid-South Conference finals.[32]

The men's team won the 2017 Mid-South Conference Tournament.[33]

The wrestling program has produced four individual champions: Keith Cupp (174 lbs.), 2005; Corey Bleaken (157 lbs.), 2011; and Jake Williams (149 lbs.), 2014 and 2015.[34][35]

Cumberland achieved a top-ten finish at the National Collegiate Cycling Association's National Championship. Cumberland achieved a National Tournament appearance for the No. 16-ranked Men's Tennis Team in 2022.