Florida College Totally Explained

Everything about Florida College totally explained

Florida College is a small, accredited, coeducational Christian college located in the City of Temple Terrace, Florida, eight miles northeast of the City of Tampa, Florida. Degree programs include the Bachelor of Arts in Biblical Studies, the Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies, the Bachelor of Arts in Music, the Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education, as well as an Associate of Arts degree. Since its founding as a junior college in 1946, Florida College has drawn its staff, faculty, and the majority of its students from non-institutional Churches of Christ (Restoration Movement); it's also recognized among these churches as an important training center for ministers. The college maintains no official connection with any religious body, however, for doctrinal reasons. This gives it some unusual characteristics as religious colleges go – Florida College accepts no direct contributions from any organized religious body, and the members of its board serve as individuals rather than as official representatives of any religious body.
The high emphasis Florida College places on its Christian heritage is expressed in its tradition of daily chapel services. All members of the board of directors and all faculty members are required to be active members in a Church of Christ. All students are required to receive daily instruction in Biblical topics. Course materials in the natural sciences generally endorse Young Earth creationism.

History of Florida College

Florida College drafted its charter in 1944 and enrolled its first students in 1946. The original name of the school, "Florida Christian College," was later shortened to Florida College.
   The campus is located in the heart of the historic City of Temple Terrace and sits on the banks of the beautiful Hillsborough River (to the east) and is bordered on the other three sides by the private golf course land of the Temple Terrace Golf and Country Club, circa 1922. Two of the oldest buildings in the city are an integral part of the campus fabric and are Sutton Hall, circa 1922, which was originally the clubhouse for the Temple Terrace Golf and Country Club, and the Student Center, which was originally the Club Morocco Nightclub and Casino, circa 1926. The Club Morocco was the hottest nightclub on the west coast of Florida in the 1920s. Noted Tampa architect M. Leo Elliott was the architect for both buildings which were part of the original Temple Terrace Estates, one of the first Mediterranean Revival golf course planned communities in the United States (1921). According to the 1988 Temple Terrace Historic Resources Survey, both buildings are eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. After the Florida economic collapse of 1926, in the late 1930s, the property and its buildings were acquired by the Florida Bible Institute (now Trinity College of Florida) before being sold to the founders of today's Florida College.
   Reverend Billy Graham attended then named Florida Bible Institute in the late 1930s. In his autobiography he writes that he "received his calling on the 18th green of the Temple Terrace Golf and Country Club", which is immediately in front of today's Sutton Hall. Today, a Reverend Billy Graham Memorial Park is located directly east of the 18th green on the river.
   The college charter stipulates the Board of Directors be active in a local, generally non-institutional, Church of Christ. The college is funded by private donations. In 1996 the college added its first accredited four-year degree program, the Bachelor of Arts in Biblical Studies.
   The founders envisioned an education integrating the Bible into a liberal arts curriculum, as articulated in the charter:

To establish and maintain a college wherein the arts, sciences and languages shall be taught and also to provide opportunity for young men and young women to study the Bible as the revealed will of God to man and as the only sufficient rule of faith and practice, while they're educated in the liberal arts.

The college remains committed to the founders’ intention to provide an education grounded in biblical studies. Bible study is a required component of each degree program, chapel assemblies constitute a vital part of the daily routine, and faculty members in every discipline are expected to ground instruction in religious fundamentals.

Past Presidents

L. R. Wilson, from 1946 to 1949
James R. Cope, from 1949 to 1982
Bob F. Owen, from 1982 to 1991
Charles G. "Colly" Caldwell, III, from 1991 to the present.

Accreditation

In 1954 the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools granted Florida College full accreditation for the Associate of Arts degree. In 1996 the Association granted accreditation for the Bachelor of Arts degree in Biblical Studies. More recently, the College has expanded its bachelor's degree programs to include a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education, an interdisciplinary Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies, and a Bachelor of Arts in Music. In 2008, Florida College added a Bachelor of Science in Business.

Alumni

Florida College receives support from alumni across the United States. Twenty-eight alumni clubs have formed in cities as far away as Modesto, California and Minneapolis, Minnesota. Many clubs sponsor summer camps designed to recruit new students.

Student housing

Students are required to live on campus until they reach the age of 21. This encourages the development of close bonds between FC students and enables guidance of students' social activities. In situations where an adult relative lives in the immediate vicinity this rule is sometimes relaxed.
The current residence halls include:

The A. W. Dicus Building

Wilson Hall

C Dorm

Sutton Hall (formerly the Temple Terrace Country Club)

Hinely Hall (built as an additional wing of Sutton Hall) In addition, Florida College is building a new men's dormitory that will house all male students and will stand in place of the recently dismantled Boswell Hall.

Miscellaneous facts

Accreditations: Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools

Student-faculty ratio: 12:1

Financial Aid: 90% of students at FC receive financial aid

Tuition: $15,930 for the 2005-2006 academic year (two semesters)

90% of student body lives on campus

Athletic teams participate in basketball, volleyball, soccer,and cross country.

The school's original mascot was the pelican. Remnants of this appear on campus in the name of the student center snack bar (The Pouch) and occasional items of merchandise showing the school's falcon logo reworked to represent a pelican.

The school's original motto, "A Friend to Youth," is reflected in the name of its touring PR band, the Friends.

Prior to the College's ownership, the building that now holds the student center and campus post office was once called Club Morocco and housed an illegal casino frequented by Al Capone, Al Jolson, Red Grange, and Babe Ruth.

Famed Southern Baptist preacher Billy Graham decided to enter the ministry while enrolled at Florida Bible Institute, the college that preceded Florida College on the site. As a result, FC public relations personnel are sometimes asked if Billy Graham attended the school.Further Information

Get more info on 'Florida College'.

External Link Exchanges

Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:

<a href="http://florida_college.totallyexplained.com">Florida College Totally Explained</a>

Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned.