# Johnson C. Smith University

Johnson C. Smith University (JCSU) is a private historically black university in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) and accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). The university awards Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Social Work, and Master of Social Work degrees.

## History

Johnson C. Smith University was established on April 7, 1867, as the Biddle Memorial Institute at a meeting of the Catawba Presbytery in the old Charlotte Presbyterian Church. Mary D. Biddle donated $1,400 to the school. The school was then named after her late husband, Henry Jonathan Biddle, who had died after the Battle of Glendale in 1862. The corresponding women's school was Scotia Seminary (now Barber-Scotia College).
In 1876, the charter was changed by the legislature of the State of North Carolina and the name became Biddle University, under which name the institution operated until 1923.
In 1891, Biddle University elected Daniel J. Sanders as the first African-American as president of a four-year institution in the south.
From 1921 to 1922, Jane Berry Smith donated funds to build a theological dormitory, a science hall, a teachers' cottage, a memorial gate, and an endowment in memory of her late husband, Johnson C. Smith. She later donated funds for five more buildings and a campus church. In recognition, Biddle University's president Dr. H. L. McCrorey announced on February 3, 1922, that the institution would refer to itself as The Johnson C. Smith University. A newspaper at the time noted that "While the name will be used at once, unofficially, an application for the charter changes necessary cannot be accomplished until the meeting of the next general assembly," and the charter was amended to make the name change official on March 1, 1923.
In 1924, James B. Duke established the Duke Endowment. While the largest share of that the endowment's earnings are allocated to support Duke University, Duke's donation required that 4% of its earnings be given to the university.
In 1932, the university's charter was amended, providing for the admission of women. The 65-year-old institution for men then became partially coeducational. The first residence hall for women, named in memory of James B. Duke, was dedicated in 1940. In 1941, women were admitted to the freshman class. In 1942, the university was a fully coeducational institution.
JCSU joined the United Negro College Fund in 1944 as a founding member. This fund was organized primarily to help church-related schools of higher learning to revamp their training programs, to expand their physical plants, to promote faculty growth and to create new areas of service.
Biddle Memorial Hall is on the National Register of Historic Places.

## Academics

Johnson C. Smith University offers 25 degree programs to undergraduate students and one to graduate students. These are typically organized into three colleges: the College of Business and Professional Studies; the College of Liberal Arts; and the College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).
The Robert L. Albright Honors College is also available to qualified high-achieving undergraduate students at JCSU. The college is named after the 11th president of the university.
Metropolitan College offers accelerated undergraduate degree programs to adults with courses available on-campus and online.

### James B. Duke Memorial Library

The James B. Duke Memorial Library was built in 1967 in memory of James Buchanan Duke, a major benefactor to the university. Carnegie Library, the existing library at that time, was not large enough to meet the expanding academic programming and increasing enrollment. In 1998, the library completed a $7 million yearlong modernization and reconstruction to allow the building to serve as an information hub in a digital age.
The James B. Duke Memorial Library is also the home of a 8.5 by 20 feet (2.6 by 6.1 m). mural created by Philadelphia artist Paul F. Keene Jr. Keene. The mural illustrates the university's founding and development.

## Student life

The Office of Student Leadership and Engagement (SLE) oversees the Student Government Association (SGA), Royal Court, Greek Life Organizations (National Pan-Hellenic Council and United Greek Council), Golden Bulls Activities Committee (GBAC), and over 30 Student Clubs and Organizations. The JCSU Intramural and Recreation Program offers opportunities for students to participate in intramural sports, club sports, fitness programs, and informal recreational activities.

### Fraternities and sororities

All nine of the National Pan-Hellenic Council organizations currently have chapters at Johnson C. Smith University.

### Athletics

Student-athletes currently compete in 13 NCAA sports. JCSU is a member of Division II, Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA). Its intercollegiate sports programs include basketball, bowling, cross-country, football, golf, softball, volleyball, tennis, and track and field. Its teams are nicknamed the Golden Bulls.

### Notable alumni

| Name | Class years | Notability |
| Tim Beamer | 1971 | Professional football player |
| Trezzvant Anderson | | American journalist, publicist, and war correspondent |
| Frederick C. Branch | 1942 | First African American officer in the United States Marine Corps |
| Jack S. Brayboy | 1943 | Football player, coach, teacher, and university administrator, all at Johnson C. Smith University |
| Tyrone Britt | 1967 | Professional basketball player |
| Vanderbilt Brown | 1907 | One of the first physicians to finish training in World War I |
| Mickey Casey | | Professional baseball player |
| Eva M. Clayton | 1955 | Clayton and Mel Watt were the first African Americans elected to the House of Representatives from North Carolina since 1898 (since Clayton won the special election, she took office before Watt) |
| Gregory Clifton | | Professional football player |
| Dorothy Counts | 1964 | One of the first black students admitted to the Harry Harding High School in the United States. After four days of harassment that threatened her safety, her parents forced her to withdraw from the school. |
| Grover Covington | | Professional football player and member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame |
| John O. Crosby | | African-American educator and the first president of what is now North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University |
| Daniel Wallace Culp | | Pastor, principal, and doctor who authored a book about African Americans. He was the "first graduate of Biddle University". |
| Sadye Curry | 1963 | First African-American woman to become a gastroenterologist in the United States |
| Charlie S. Dannelly | 1962 | Democratic member of the North Carolina General Assembly representing the state's thirty-eighth Senate district since 1995 |
| Bill Davis | 1963 | College football coach |
| De'Audra Dix | 2009 | 2008 Division II 1st Team All-American and professional football player |
| Edward R. Dudley | 1932 | First African-American to hold the rank of Ambassador of the United States, serving as ambassador to Liberia (where he had been serving with the rank of minister) from 1949 through 1953 |
| Bill Dusenbery | | Professional football player |
| Thereasea Elder | | First African American public health nurse in Charlotte, North Carolina |
| Richard Erwin | 1947 | First black federal judge in North Carolina |
| Ferdinand Kwasi Fiawoo | 1933 | Ghanaian minister of religion, playwright and educator, founder of Zion College, the first secondary school in Ghana's Volta Region |
| Malcolm Graham | 1985 | Democratic member of the North Carolina Senate, representing District 40 |
| Leford Green | 2011 | Division II Collegiate Indoor and Outdoor Regional and National Track Athlete of the Year in 2010 and 2011. Green was a member of the 2012 Summer Olympics Jamaican National Olympic Track and Field team. |
| Chet Grimsley | 1978 | First white student to garner accolades as All-CIAA and All-American at JCSU and at an HBCU. Author of White Golden Bull. |
| Larry D. Hall | 1978 | Democratic politician who has served in the North Carolina House of Representatives as the member from North Carolina's 29th representative district since 2006. |
| Norman Washington Harllee | | Educator and advocate for African American education in the United States |
| Reginald Hawkins | 1948 | First African-American to run for Governor of North Carolina. Dentist. Civil rights activist who played a central role in integrating Charlotte schools, hospitals, and public spaces. |
| Bun Hayes | 1929 | Nicknamed "Bun", professional baseball player |
| JoAnn Haysbert | | Chancellor and Provost of Hampton University |
| Henry Aaron Hill | 1936 | Fluorocarbon chemist who became the first African-American president of the American Chemical Society (ACS) |
| Quentin Hillsman | | Basketball coach at Syracuse University |
| Cheris F. Hodges | 1999 | Author of African-American romance novels |
| Delois Huntley | | American civil rights pioneer and one of four black students to integrate Charlotte schools |
| Cecil Ivory | 1946 | Presbyterian minister and civil rights leader in Rock Hill, South Carolina |
| Sara Dunlap Jackson | 1943 | National Archives and Records Administration archivist, Military Archives Division |
| Benny Johnson | 1970 | Professional football player |
| J. Charles Jones | 1960 | Civil rights leader, attorney, co-founder of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and chairperson of the SNCC's direct action committee |
| Edward Joyner | 1994 | Basketball coach at Hampton University |
| Boise Kimber | 1981 | Baptist minister and civil rights activist |
| William Lindsay | 1931 | Nicknamed "Red", professional baseball player |
| Earl Manigault | | Rucker Park legend. Attended JCSU for one semester during 1964–65 school year |
| Vince Matthews | 1970 | Sprinter and winner of two Olympic gold medals at the 1968 Summer Olympics and 1972 Summer Olympics, inducted into the National Track & Field Hall of Fame |
| Mildred Mitchell-Bateman | 1941 | African-American physician and medical administrator who was West Virginia's mental health commissioner in 1962 and the first woman and African-American to hold the position |
| Eddie McGirt | 1948 | CIAA football coach legend |
| Fred "Curly" Neal | 1962 | Former member of the Harlem Globetrotters |
| Pettis Norman | 1962 | Professional football player |
| Melanie Harrison Okoro | 2005 | Marine estuarine and environmental scientist |
| Trevin Parks | 2013 | Professional basketball player |
| Obie Patterson | 1965 | Former member of the Maryland House of Delegates |
| Don Pullen | | Jazz pianist and organist |
| Zilner Randolph | | Jazz trumpeter and music educator |
| James "Twiggy" Sanders | 1974 | Harlem Globetrotters member |
| Jawn Sandifer | 1935 | Civil rights attorney, judge, and New York State Supreme Court Justice |
| Gary Siplin | 1976 | Politician and member of the Florida Senate from the 19th district |
| Marvin Scott | 1966 | Republican candidate for U.S. Senate from Indiana in 2004 |
| Chris Smith | 1992 | Democratic member of the Florida Senate |
| Clarence F. Stephens | 1938 | Ninth African American to receive a Ph.D. in mathematics |
| John Taylor | | Professional football player |
| Steel Arm Johnny Taylor | | Professional baseball player |
| Evelyn Terry | | Politician |
| John Terry | | Professional football player |
| Sandra L. Townes | 1966 | District Judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York |
| Skeets Tolbert | | Jazz clarinetist |
| Faya Ora Rose Touré | 1969 | Civil rights activist, lawyer, and first black female judge in Alabama |
| Orval Tucker | | Professional baseball player |
| McKinley Washington Jr. | 1958 | Politician in the state of South Carolina |
| Ola B. Watford | 1946 | Geophysicist |
| Bob Wells | 1968 | Professional football player |
| Avon Williams | 1940 | Tennessee State Senator from 1972 to 1992 |
| Danielle Williams | 2014 | Jamaican athlete specializing in the sprint hurdles who won the gold medal at the 2015 World Championships |
| Shermaine Williams | 2011 | Jamaican track & field sprinter and first woman from Johnson C. Smith University to go to Summer Olympics 2012 |
| Emanuel Wilson | | Professional football player |
| Draff Young | | Professional basketball coach |

## Notable faculty

| Name | Department | Notability |
| Kelly Alexander | Professor | Democratic member of the North Carolina General Assembly. |
| Henry A. Hunt | Professor | Winner of the Spingarn Medal award. In the 1930s Hunt was invited to participate in President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Black Cabinet. |
| Edward Jackson | Football Coach | One of the greatest HBCU football coaches of all-time. His all-time coaching record is 141–62–12. His record at JCSU is 30–14–4. |
| Mary Jackson McCrorey | | Counselor of women, wife of president H. L. McCrorey. |
| Jimmie McKee | Contributor | Founder of Johnson C. Smith University athletic booster program the 100 Club. He became a successful Charlotte businessman, contributing to Johnson C Smith University, NAACP, Colored NC Police Association, Democratic Party and YMCA. |
| Mike Minter | Football Assistant coach | Professional football player. |
| Steve Wilks | Football Assistant coach | Professional football coach. |