Converse University

Academic rankings
Academic rankings
Master's
Washington Monthly	76 of 603
Regional
U.S. News & World Report	46 (tie) of 103

	Converse College Historic District
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
	U.S. Historic district
Location	580 E. Main St., Spartanburg, South Carolina
Area	20 acres (8.1 ha)
Built	1891-1915
Architect	Hook, Charles
Architectural style	Late Gothic Revival, Romanesque, Richardson Romanesque
NRHP reference No.	75001706
Added to NRHP	November 12, 1975

Converse University
Former name	Converse College (1889–2021)
Type	Private university
Established	1889; 135 years ago
Endowment	$77.6 million (2020)
President	Boone Hopkins
Provost	Joe Wilferth
Academic staff	90 Full-time (2022)
Students	1,284
Undergraduates	804
Postgraduates	480
Location	Spartanburg, South Carolina, U.S.; 34°57′16.59″N 81°55′01.51″W / 34.9546083°N 81.9170861°W
Campus	Urban, 70 acres (28 ha)
Colors	Purple and gold;
Nickname	Valkyries
Sporting affiliations	NCAA Division II – Conference Carolinas
Mascot	Val the Valkyrie
Website	www.converse.edu

Converse University is a private university in Spartanburg, South Carolina. It was established in 1889 by a group of Spartanburg residents and named after textile pioneer Dexter Edgar Converse. It was originally a women's college but now admits men.

History

Converse College opened on October 1, 1890, with a student body of 168 women and 16 faculty members. The college only admitted women students and operated as a "stock company" with the board of directors composed entirely of residents of Spartanburg. Dexter Edgar Converse, a native of Vermont who had settled in Spartanburg before the American Civil War and had become a successful pioneer in the cotton mill industry, served as the head of the first board of directors. On January 2, 1892, fire destroyed the college's main building. The building was enlarged during its reconstruction. In 1896, the college was incorporated in South Carolina and a self-perpetuating board of trustees was named. In 1964, the college introduced graduate programs.

The Converse College Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.^[3] It encompasses eight contributing buildings dated between 1891 and 1915. They are the Main Building (Wilson Hall) (1892), Annex (Pell Hall, 1891), Twichell Auditorium (1898–1899), Carnegie Library (1905), Cleveland House (c. 1905), Judd Science Hall (1915), Dexter Hall (1899) and Towne House (1898). The buildings are representative of the Romanesque Revival, Gothic Revival, and Neo-Classical styles.^[4]^[5]

The college changed its name to "Converse University" in the summer of 2021. The college also "expanded its undergraduate residential program from single-gender to co-ed" by admitting male undergraduate students in the fall of 2020.^[6]

Presidents

Name	Years served
Benjamin F. Wilson	1890–1902
Robert Paine Pell	1902–1932
Edward Moseley Gwathmey	1933–1955
Oliver Cromwell Carmichael, Jr.	1956–1960
Robert T. Coleman, Jr.	1961–1989
Ellen Wood Hall	1989–1993
Sandra C. Thomas	1994–1998
Nancy Oliver Gray	1999–2005
Elizabeth A. Fleming	2006–2016
Krista L. Newkirk	2016–2021
Jeffrey H. Barker^[7]	2021–2021
Boone J. Hopkins ^[8]	2022–present

Academics

As of August 2023^[update], Converse offers 44 undergraduate degree programs and 28 graduate programs. The university's undergraduate program also awards certificates.^[11] The University also has a presence at University Center of Greenville, a center that houses satellite campuses of several South Carolina colleges offering higher education programs.^[12] Converse offers two undergraduate and three graduate degree programs at the center.^[13]

The Nisbet Honors Program, established in 2000, is the university's undergraduate honors program.^[14]

Converse has a Model Programs team who participate in Model Arab League and the annual International Model NATO conference hosted by Howard University.^[15]^[16] Converse's Model Programs annually hosts the Southeastern Regional Model Arab League (SERMAL) conference.^[17]

Athletics

Converse Valkyries
University	Converse University
Conference	Conference Carolinas (primary)
NCAA	Division II
Athletic director	Jenn Bell
Location	Spartanburg, South Carolina
Varsity teams	21 (6 men's, 12 women's, 3 co-ed)
Basketball arena	Weisiger Center/Tom and Tracy Hannah Gym
Softball stadium	Tyger River Stadium
Soccer field	Hayden Abney Fulp Field at Weisiger Stadium
Lacrosse stadium	Hayden Abney Fulp Field at Weisiger Stadium
Tennis venue	Sally Abney Rose Complex
Nickname	Valkyries
Colors	Purple and gold^[18]
Website	govalkyries.com

Converse athletic teams are known as the Valkyries. The university is a member of the Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the Conference Carolinas.^{[citation needed]}

Women's sports include acrobatics and tumbling, basketball, cross country, equestrian, field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball, track and field (indoor and outdoor), golf, tennis, swimming and volleyball.^{[citation needed]}

The inaugural men's sports are basketball, cross country, soccer, tennis, track and field (indoor and outdoor) and volleyball. Converse's equestrian program is coeducational, though only women participate in NCAA-recognized competition. The university also has a coeducational varsity esports team.^{[citation needed]}

Notable alumni

Kimilee Bryant, Broadway actress and Miss South Carolina 1989^[19]
Lynette Eason, Christian novelist and teacher
Margaret Moffett Law, artist
Ruth Perry, civil rights activist
Fatemeh Pahlavi, royal member of the Pahlavi dynasty of Iran.^[20]^[21]
Julia Peterkin, class of 1896 and winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1929.
Sutton Stracke 1993, socialite and television personality^[22]
Kokab Moarefi, class of 1950. Former lady-in-waiting to Fatemeh Pahlavi, and deputy minister of the Ministries of Labor, Social Welfare, and Health.^[23]^[24]