Lon Morris College Lon Morris College ( LMC ) was a private junior college located in Jacksonville , Texas , United States , and was the only school affiliated with the United Methodist Church that was owned by an individual conference and not the denomination as a whole . Lon Morris was an accredited two - year institute of higher learning , which provides instruction in the arts and sciences with a core curriculum emphasizing liberal arts . While Lon Morris taught as many as 350 students in a semester , enrollment reached more than 1 , 000 , a new record , in the fall of 2009 . The school was south of Tyler . The person who last held the title of college president was Dr . Miles McCall ; he resigned effective May 24 , 2012 . Lon Morris College filed for bankruptcy on July 2 , 2012 . The 112 - acre campus is scheduled to be auctioned on January 14 , 2013 in Dallas , Texas . History . Founded in 1854 as the New Danville Masonic Female Academy near Kilgore , Lon Morris College was the oldest existing two - year college in Texas . In 1873 , the academy moved to Kilgore and became property of the Kilgore Methodist Church , changing its name to the Alexander Institute in honor of its president Isaac Alexander , an outstanding early Texas educator . The Texas Annual Conference acquired the Alexander Institute in 1875 . Chartered on January 15 , 1887 , the Institute moved to Jacksonville in 1894 and to the present location in 1909 . After R . A . " Lon " Morris of Pittsburg , Texas , gave his estate to the school , and with approval of the Texas Annual Conference , the name of the institution was changed again , in 1924 , to Lon Morris College . The only two - year Methodist college west of the Mississippi River , Lon Morris has held membership in the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools longer than any other two - year college in Texas , and it is the only surviving pre - Civil War school in East Texas . One of Lon Morris ' presidents was John E . Fellers , a Christian writer and Methodist minister , primarily in the Houston area , but also in Alexandria and Shreveport , Louisiana . In 2009 , the campus of Lon Morris would soon grow to the west , with a gift from the city of Jacksonville of a municipal activity center ( formerly a Texas National Guard armory ) , a rodeo arena , and land surrounding both . The college allowed annual events for the Tops - in - Texas Rodeo at the rodeo arena without any financial outlays from the city . Lon Morris had plans for construction of new dormitories , which is timely , as there were many students enrolled for the fall of 2009 housed in two Jacksonville motels . Another addition coming to the campus will be a self - supporting tower in order to access wireless Internet signals ; this will assist students in connecting to the web . It will reach 100 feet in height . Students could participate in a variety of sports including men ' s / women ' s basketball , baseball and softball , men ' s / women ' s soccer , men ' s / women ' s golf , volleyball , cheerleading and dance . In 2009 , football was added as a varsity sport , although no official games will be played until 2010 . In February 2010 , Lon Morris announced a new agriculture curriculum , with classes having begun in the fall of 2010 . In March 2010 , the college acquired a prominent downtown Jacksonville building that originally had housed the city post office for many decades . A local family had owned and operated the building for a time as a hotel and restaurant using the name " The Landmark " . Lon Morris announced it would use the acquired property for its new hospitality administration program , for which classes would start in the fall of 2010 . This is likely the first time in the recent history of Lon Morris that any part of its operation and curriculum has occurred in a venue away from the main campus on College Avenue . By March 2010 , a new dormitory , Cooper House , opened on the campus , with room for thirty = two students . Another new dormitory is called " The Lodge . " On May 23 , 2012 , all college employees , with the exception of 11 core employees , were furloughed indefinitely . Over 100 individuals were furloughed . The furlough occurred after the school missed three pay periods . Miles McCall , the president , submitted his resignation notice via e - mail . McCall ' s resignation was effective May 24 , 2012 . The affected individuals were notified via email . The decision to furlough was made by the Bridge Point Consulting Company . On May 5 , 2012 the board of trustees had asked Bridge Point Consulting Company to make recommendations on how to proceed with a planned restructuring of the school . Later that month Tyler Junior College sent an outreach team to help Lon Morris students register for summer classes at Tyler Junior College . It also allowed LMC students to live at the junior college residence halls at discounted rates . Campus . Residence halls include Brown Hall , Clark Hall , Craven - Wilson Hall , and Fair Hall . Other student housing facilities include Cooper House , LMC Cottages , and LMC Lodge . Notable alumni . Lon Morris College is widely known for its Theatre Arts Department , which boasts many successful alumni including : Other notable Lon Morris alumni include :