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Winthrop University (Winthrop or WU) is a public university in Rock Hill, South Carolina. It was founded in 1886 by David Bancroft Johnson, who served as the superintendent of Columbia, South Carolina, schools. He received a $1,500 grant from Robert Charles Winthrop, a Boston philanthropist and chair of the Peabody Education Board in Massachusetts. The school was originally established in Columbia to educate young women to teach in the public schools.
Winthrop has developed into a university offering undergraduate and graduate degrees through five colleges and schools. It has enrollment of about 6,000 students. The majority of Winthrop's students are from South Carolina, with out-of-state and foreign students accounting for 13% of undergraduate enrollment. The 100-acre main academic and residential campus is located in Rock Hill, 25 miles (40 km) southwest of Charlotte, North Carolina and 71 miles north of Columbia, South Carolina.
Fielding athletic teams known as Winthrop Eagles, the university participates in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level as a member of Big South Conference. The athletic program is known for its success in volleyball, basketball, soccer, and tennis.
History
Winthrop University was founded In 1886, when the Peabody Education Board of Massachusetts, headed by Robert C. Winthrop, provided $1,500 to form the "Winthrop Training School" for white women teachers. That year the school opened its doors to twenty-one students in Columbia, South Carolina. Nine years later in 1895 it moved to Rock Hill. The school's name had changed in 1893 to "Winthrop Normal and Industrial College of South Carolina", reflecting its mission to prepare some students for industrial jobs.
The college was segregated until 1964. It became fully coeducational in 1974. Evolving from a training school to a college with a four-year full curriculum, it also developed a graduate division. By 1992 it reflected this development, changing its name to Winthrop University.
The university's campus is in the city of Rock Hill, South Carolina. The Winthrop College Historic District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), as are Tillman Hall and Withers Building. The Winthrop University campus has its own zip code of 29733. Rock Hill has a total of five historic districts listed on the NRHP.
Winthrop's campus is divided into two distinct areas: The main campus which houses the academic buildings, residence halls, library and campus center, and the more recently constructed 317-acre Recreational and Research Complex, located about one mile northeast of the main campus.
Winthrop's main campus has had extensive development since the late 20th century. A $12 million Dalton Hall opened in 1999. The Courtyard at Winthrop, which features apartment-style residences for students, opened in 2003. The Lois Rhame West Health, Physical Education and Wellness Center opened in 2007; it is the new home of the University's physical education department and intramural sports. The most recent addition, in 2010, is the DiGiorgio Campus Center, which added a 128,000-square-foot multi-purpose campus center. This features a 225-seat movie theater, food court, campus bookstore, post office, and casual dining. The DiGiorgio Center is connected to the West Center via an open-air plaza.
Campus
Ninety-one (91%) percent of freshman and forty-five (45%) percent of all undergraduate students live on-campus.
The Research Complex hosts the Piedmont Wetlands Research Project, a golf course (open to faculty, students and alumni), and a world-class disc golf course. (This has been the site of the United States Disc Golf Championship since its opening in 1999).
In 1943 First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt visited the university. It has become common for presidential candidates to visit the university during election season. In 2015, a forum for the Democratic party was held on campus, which included candidates Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. President Barack Obama spoke at Winthrop in 2008 when he was first a presidential candidate.
Winthrop's campus has served as the site for filming of numerous movies, television and other video productions, including the 2008 film Asylum (starring Sarah Roemer), and the 1999 film The Rage: Carrie 2. Additionally, the Winthrop Coliseum has hosted numerous television tapings of various syndicated television programs.
Academics
The university grants undergraduate degrees through four colleges: the College of Arts & Sciences, the College of Business Administration, the Richard W. Riley College of Education and the College of Visual and Performing Arts. In all the university offers 43 undergraduate and 27 graduate degrees. Winthrop University is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award baccalaureate, master's and specialist degrees. Currently, the student-faculty ratio is 14:1.
Faculty The university employs 286 full-time and 222 part-time faculty members, 59 of whom are classified as minorities and 290 of whom are women. Of the 286 full-time faculty members, 248 have earned their terminal degree, 34 have a non-terminal master's degree and one has a non-terminal bachelor's degree.
The campus police department is known as the Winthrop University Police Department. The department has 11 sworn officers serving a student population of 6,109.
Rankings
Winthrop was ranked the #17 Regional University in the South in 2020 by US News, as well as the #8 best college for Veterans and #11 best college for teaching. Winthrop has been recognized as South Carolina's top-rated university according to evaluations conducted by the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education. Winthrop has been rated by the commission as "substantially exceeding standards" every year since that classification was created in 2003.
All Sources noted on Wikipedia.