Ralston College

Ralston College is an unaccredited liberal arts college[1] in Savannah, Georgia. It started accepting graduate students in the autumn of 2022.[2]

Ralston College
MottoSermo Liber Vita Ipsa (Latin)
Motto in English
Free speech is life itself
TypePrivate institution of higher learning
Established2010 (2010)
FounderStephen Blackwood
Endowment$650,272 (2020)
ChancellorJordan Peterson
PresidentStephen Blackwood
Academic staff
2
Students24 (Fall 2022)
Location
Savannah
,
Georgia
,
United States

32°4′15″N 81°5′48″W
CampusUrban
ColorsBlack and White
   
Websitewww.ralston.ac

Courses

Ralston's motto is "sermo liber vita ipsa" ("Free Speech is Life Itself").[3][4] Its curriculum focuses on the liberal arts.[1] It also offers one online short-course, run in conjunction with the FutureLearn platform, on Samuel Johnson's Rasselas.[5][6][7]

History

In 2006, Stephen Blackwood and James Atkins Pritchard began fundraising for the establishment of an institution of higher education. Ralston was incorporated in the State of Georgia in 2010.[8] Among the members of its Board of Visitors are Vernon Smith, Heather Mac Donald, Harry Lewis, Ruth Wisse, Roger Kimball, and Jordan Peterson who was appointed Chancellor in May 2022.[9][10][11]

Ralston's first class of in-person MA students began classes in the fall of 2022. The first term was held in Greece and focused on learning Modern and Ancient Greek; this was following by three terms in Savannah, GA, [12] with classes held in the education building of St. John's Episcopal Church.[13]

Accreditation

The College has been authorized for operation and awarded degree-granting powers by the State of Georgia. The College is not yet accredited, but expects to achieve accreditation on a normal timeline (five to eight years from its first graduation).[14]

Criticism

In 2023, Harvey Silverglate, co-founder of FIRE, a non-profit, civil liberties group founded in 1999 with the stated mission of "protecting free speech" rights, resigned from Ralston's Board of Visitors, the College's advisory council, stating that Ralston has "[a]ll these administrators, very few teachers, the secrecy, which is antithetical to the whole concept of a liberal arts institution."[15]

References
  1. Fish, Stanley (November 8, 2010). "The Woe-Is-Us Books". The New York Times. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
  2. "Pushback at cancel culture is leading to new educational initiatives". The Economist. February 26, 2022. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
  3. Ralston College. "Ralston's Teaching". Archived from the original on June 16, 2020. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
  4. Few, Jenel (February 4, 2011). "Highbrow hopes for higher ed in Savannah". Savannah Morning News. Retrieved May 15, 2019.
  5. "Theodore Dalrymple on Samuel Johnson's Rasselas". Ralston College. Retrieved 2022-02-19.
  6. FutureLearn. "Samuel Johnson's Rasselas: An Introduction - Humanities and Literature Course". FutureLearn. Retrieved 2022-11-09.
  7. "Short Courses | Humanities | Ralston College". Ralston. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
  8. "Georgia Corporations Division, Georgia Secretary of State".
  9. Ralston College. "People". Retrieved January 14, 2019.
  10. Jacobs, Sherelle (14 November 2022). "Inside the new 'meritocratic' university where Jordan Peterson lectures". Daily Telegraph.
  11. "Ralston College | Jordan B. Peterson Appointed Chancellor". www.ralston.ac. Retrieved 2022-11-09.
  12. "Ralston College visiting program". greece.chs.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2022-11-09.
  13. "Savannah Morning News". www.savannahnow.com. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
  14. "Frequently Asked Questions and Answers | Ralston College".
  15. Nicholson, Zoe (March 29, 2023). "'So much for the experiment': Ralston College faces accreditation deadline, loss of degree-granting status". Savannah Morning News. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
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