Tusculum University

Before Tennessee became a state in 1796, the east Tennessee area was the southwestern frontier of the United States.[3] Presbyterian ministers Hezekiah Balch and Samuel Doak, both educated at the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), were there, ministering to early Scots-Irish settlers.

Striving to meet the settlers' educational needs, Doak founded Martin Academy in 1783, which was expanded to become Washington College in 1795. Washington College was briefly merged in the 20th century with Tusculum College. Balch was the first president of Greeneville College in 1794.

In 1806, emancipated slave John Gloucester became the first African-American student to study at Greeneville College. He was the first African-American educated by a college in Tennessee and later helped found the First African Presbyterian Church in 1807, in Philadelphia.[4][5][6]

Samuel Doak and Hezekiah Balch sought the same goals through their separate colleges. They wanted to educate settlers of the American frontier so that they would become better Presbyterians, and therefore, in their thinking, better citizens.[7] To better accomplish the common goals of each institution, Greeneville College and Tusculum College merged in 1868 to become Greeneville & Tusculum College.

Historical sign giving information on the establishment of Tusculum College

Scott Niswonger Student Center on the campus of Tusculum University.

Tusculum is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award associate, baccalaureate and Master degrees.

Annie Hogan Byrd Hall is a performance space used for both university theatre and music events as well as outside arts events.

It also maintains institutional memberships with the American Council on Education, the Council of Independent Colleges, the Association of American Colleges and Universities, the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, the Council for Opportunity in Education,[13] the Tennessee Independent Colleges and Universities Association,[14] the Tennessee State Board of Education, the Appalachian College Association,[15] the Association of Presbyterian Colleges and Universities, the American Association of University Women, the American Medical Association, and the New York State Board of Regents.

The tennis courts and athletic buildings on the campus of Tusculum University.

Tusculum athletic teams are nicknamed as the Pioneers. The university is a member of the Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the South Atlantic Conference since the 1998–99 academic year.

Tusculum fields 24 recognized varsity sports teams: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, bowling, cross country, cheerleading, football, golf, lacrosse, soccer, tennis, track & field and volleyball; while women's sports include basketball, beach volleyball, bowling, cross country, cheerleading, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, tennis, track & field and volleyball.

Although most of those sponsored sports compete in NCAA D-II in the SAC, two teams compete as de facto NCAA Division I members. In women's bowling, a sport added in 2019–20 in which the NCAA holds a single championship open to members of all three NCAA divisions, the Pioneers are single-sport members of the Conference Carolinas.[16] Also added for 2019–20 was men's volleyball, in which the NCAA holds a combined Division I/II national championship; the Pioneers compete in that sport as an independent.[17] Tusculum also added the non-NCAA sport of men's bowling in 2019–20,[17] and also recognizes its cheerleaders (both male and female) as varsity athletes.

In 2004, Ricardo Colclough, a defensive back and kick returner, became the first Tusculum Pioneers football player to be drafted by the National Football League when he was selected in the second draft round by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Colclough, the first Tusculum player to appear in an NFL game, played for the Carolina Panthers. He was dismissed from the team in August 2008.[18]

In 2007, former Tusculum College basketball player, Tyler White, became a member of the Washington Generals, the exhibition team that travels with and plays against the Harlem Globetrotters.

In August 2009, Chris Poore, another former Tusculum College basketball player, also became a member of the Washington Generals.[19]

On September 4, 2014, the Tusculum football team hosted the College of Faith, an online institution in Charlotte, North Carolina. In a 71–0 win, the Pioneers set two NCAA all Division records: fewest total yards allowed (minus-100) and fewest rushing yards allowed (minus-124).[20] Tusculum also had three safeties, which tied a Division II record.

• Stu Aberdeen (1935–1979), American college men's basketball coach; head coach, Marshall University[21]
• Alexander Outlaw Anderson (1794–1869), United States senator from Tennessee; later served in the California State Senate and on the California Supreme Court[22]
• William Coleman Anderson (1853–1902), U.S. Representative from Tennessee[23]
• DeAundre Alford (b. 1997), defensive back for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League[24]
• Jacob Franklin Bird (1827–1866), member of Indiana General Assembly[25]
• James D. Black (1849–1938), Governor of Kentucky in 1919
• Vincent Boreing (1839–1903), U.S. Representative from Kentucky
• Roe Campbell (1900–1988), Football and Basketball player for the University of Tennessee, member of Tusculum College's Sports Hall of Fame[26]
• Robert Looney Caruthers (1800–1882), judge, politician, U.S. Representative from Tennessee [27]
• Ricardo Colclough (b. 1982), cornerback in the National Football League
• Steve Crane (b. 1972), former English football player
• Brandon Dickson (b. 1984), Major League Baseball pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals
• Henry Dircks (1806–1873) (Honorary degree, 1868), English engineer who is considered to have been the main designer of the projection technique known as Pepper's ghost in 1858[28]
• James Dobson (1920-1987) Broadway, film and television actor
• Andrew Silas Newton Dobson (1840–1918), medical doctor, member of the Tennessee House of Representatives[29]
• Thomas Barger Einstein (1856–1935), Postmaster, politician, member of Virginia House of Delegates[30]
• Cyrus Fees (b. 1982), mixed martial arts/pro wrestling TV announcer
• John Frederick Fulbeck (1916–2011), prominent poet and professor of comparative literature at the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona[31]
• John Harvey Girdner (1856–1933), Prominent New York surgeon who attended President James Garfield after Garfield was shot in 1881; inventor of a "telephonic bullet probe" that came into use before the first x-rays and a pioneer in skin grafting; author of Newyorkitis[32]
• Cho Gyeong-chul (1929–2010), South Korean astronomer who worked at NASA and the US Naval Observatory[33]
• Newton Hacker (1836–1922), attorney, judge, member of Tennessee House of Representatives[34]
• Joan B. Hague (b. 1929), member of the New York State Assembly from 1979 to 1982
• Allen A. Hall (1804–1867), prominent newspaper editor who served as Chargé d' Affaires to Venezuela and then United States Ambassador to Bolivia (Minister Resident) from 1863 to 1867[35]
• David B. Hawk (b. 1968), member of the Tennessee House of Representatives
• Thomas Gray Hull (1926–2008), United States district judge, legal counsel to Governor Lamar Alexander of Tennessee from 1979 to 1981[36]
• Spencer Jarnagin (1792–1853), United States senator from Tennessee from 1843 to 1847[37]
• Anup Kaphle Nepalese journalist; executive editor, Rest of World; previously worked for The Atlantic, The Washington Post, Buzzfeed News and led The Kathmandu Post as editor-in-chief[38]
• Tommy Kilby (b. 1964), member of the Tennessee Senate
• Richard Kollmar (1910–1971), Actor, television personality, stage producer and director
• Pryor Lea (1794–1879), U.S. Representative from Tennessee
• Marianne W. Lewis (b. 1967), academic; Dean, Carl H. Lindner College of Business, the University of Cincinnati; previously, dean, Cass Business School in London, England[39]
• Oscar Lovette (1871–1934), U.S. Representative from Tennessee
• William McFarland (1821–1900), U.S. Representative from Tennessee
• Robert J. McKinney (1803–1875), member of the Tennessee Constitutional Assembly of 1834, justice on the Supreme Court of Tennessee[40]
• Samuel Milligan (1814–1874), Justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court and a Judge of the Court of Claims[41]
• Diana da Costa Neves (b. 1987) (attended, transferred to Vanguard University), Australian-Portuguese professional basketball player[42]
• Park Overall (b. 1957), actress and 2012 Democratic candidate for United States Senate seat held by Bob Corker
• David Trotter Patterson (1818–1891), judge, United States senator from Tennessee [43]
• Lucas Paulini (b. 1989, Buenos Aires, Argentina), former professional soccer player in the United States[44]
• Charles Ready (1802–1878), lawyer, member of Tennessee House of Representatives, member of the United States House of Representatives[45]
• William Brown Reese (1793–1860), President, University of Tennessee, from 1850 to 1853; justice on Tennessee Supreme Court[46]
• Harry L. Sears (1920–2002), member of the New Jersey Senate
• Eddie Smith (b. 1979), politician, former member of Tennessee House of Representatives, current member of Tennessee Public Charter School Commission[47]
• George Caldwell Taylor (1885–1952), federal judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee
• Oliver Perry Temple (1820–1907) (attended, two years), attorney, author, judge, and economic promoter in East Tennessee in the latter half of the 19th century[48]
• Dave Tollett, head baseball coach of Florida Gulf Coast
• John White (Kentucky politician) (1802–1845), 15th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, member of Kentucky House of Representatives[45]
• John Henry Wilson (1846–1923), U.S. Representative from Kentucky
• Elijah Fish Yeager (1844–1890), newspaper editor, academic, member of Texas Legislature[49]

• Millar Burrows (1889–1980), American biblical scholar, leading authority on Dead Sea Scrolls [50]
• Michael Taylor (glass artist) (b.1944), Prominent artist known for geometric fused glass sculptures [51]

• Allen, Ortha B. (1970). The philosophy of the library-college and its applications to Tusculum College (thesis). Johnson City, TN: East Tennessee State University. (OCLC 25212791)
• Bailey, Gilbert L. (1965). A history of Tusculum College, 1944-1964 (thesis). Johnson City, TN: East Tennessee State University.
• Hearn, Steven B. (1983). Survival strategies for Tusculum College: An ethnographic evaluation of enrollment, student recruitment, and school image (thesis). Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee – Knoxville. (OCLC 9939082)
• Patrick, James (2007). The beginning of collegiate education west of the Appalachians, 1795-1833: The achievement of Dr. Charles Coffin of Greeneville College and East Tennessee College. Lewiston, New York: Edwin Mellen Press (ISBN 0773454470)
• Ragan, Allen E. (1945). A history of Tusculum College, 1794-1944. Greeneville, TN: The Tusculum Sesquicentennial Committee. LCCN 46-18213
• Treadway, Cleo C. (1974). Reclassification: The Tusculum way. Greeneville, TN: Tusculum College Press. (OCLC 6922139)

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