Oxford College of Emory University Oxford College of Emory University , also called Oxford College and originally founded as Emory College , is an American two - year residential college specializing in the foundations of liberal arts education . It is the birthplace and one of nine academic divisions of Emory University . The college is located on Emory University ' s original campus in Oxford , Georgia , 38 miles east of Emory ' s Atlanta campus . Students at Oxford automatically continue their studies in Atlanta after successfully completing Oxford ' s curriculum . Emory College was originally built one mile north of Covington , Georgia by the Georgia Methodist Conference , after a failed attempt to establish a church - sponsored manual labor school a few miles away . The school opened in 1838 , named after John Emory , an influential Methodist bishop who had died before the school ' s opening , and Oxford University , the alma mater of the founders of the Methodist movement . The college ' s facilities were used by both Confederate and Union generals as military headquarters and infirmaries throughout various stages of the American Civil War , and many of the buildings were permanently damaged . After the turn of the 20th century , Emory College received a generous monetary and land grant from Asa Griggs Candler , president of The Coca - Cola Company , and moved its operations to Druid Hills , closer to Atlanta . During those years , Oxford spent time as a college preparatory school , junior college , four - year college , and finally the two - year Emory liberal arts program known today as Oxford College . The college and surrounding structures related to the founding of Emory College is part of the Oxford Historic District . Oxford College has a total enrollment of around 900 freshman and sophomore students from a wide variety of religious , ethnic , and geographic backgrounds , including over 38 states and 20 foreign countries . Campus organizations include various community service groups , interest clubs , and " social clubs " , the school ' s replacement for traditional fraternities and sororities . Oxford participates in NJCAA Division III sports , with the men ' s and women ' s tennis teams winning national championships multiple times . History . Founding and early history . In 1833 the Georgia Methodist Conference first considered establishing a church - sponsored manual labor school , where students would combine farm work with a college preparatory curriculum . At the Georgia Methodist Conference in 1834 , a preacher known as " Uncle Allen " Turner suggested that Georgia Methodists should develop their own school rather than support Randolph - Macon College in Virginia . As a result , the Georgia Conference Manual Labor School opened in 1835 , but immediately began facing financial challenges . The Conference then granted Ignatius Alphonso Few a charter to establish a college named after John Emory , a Methodist bishop who was involved in the labor school ' s founding but had died in a carriage accident before the school opened . The new school , Emory College , was first established on tract of land in Newton County one mile north of Covington , Georgia . This site was chosen because of its relative distance from the city , which the school ' s founders feared would be a source of distraction for its students . The town was named Oxford after Oxford University , the alma mater of Charles Wesley and John Wesley , founders of the Methodist movement . Because the college and town were planned together , many of the town ' s residents were affiliated to the college . Consequently , the two entities shared a common purpose . By an act of the state legislature , the town of Oxford was incorporated on December 23 , 1839 . Two years after the chartering , the college opened its doors , and on September 17 , 1838 , the college ' s first president , Ignatius Alphonso Few , and three faculty members welcomed fifteen freshmen and sophomores . In order to raise money for maintaining the school , Few began selling lots around the college to local citizens . The founders envisaged a curriculum that would rest squarely on the classics and mathematics , with four years ' study of Greek , Latin , and mathematics and three years ' study of the English Bible and the sciences of geography , astronomy , and chemistry . According to historian Henry M . Bullock , the founders intended Emory to be , " in the fullest sense of the term , a Christian college . " Literary societies . In 1837 , one of the first acts of the new student body was the founding of the Phi Gamma debate society on campus . The society adapted a motto : " Scientia et Religio Libertatis Custodes " . In 1851 , Phi Gamma Hall was constructed and remains the oldest structure still remaining on Oxford ' s campus . A few years later , Phi Gamma decided it needed a rival society to compete with . Consequently , fourteen members withdrew from Phi Gamma to establish Few society , named after Ignatius Few . The facilities and libraries of each debate society were open to members of the rival society . The two halls oppose each other across the quad , and both buildings are variations of two - story Greek Revival structures with temple form designs and columned porticos . Debate topics included the justifiability of war , women ' s suffrage , the morality of slavery , and prohibition . In 1850 , members of the two literary societies debated whether or not Georgia should secede from the union . A vote on the matter by members of both societies resolved for Georgia to remain in the union . However , when the American Civil War broke out , both debate societies temporarily suspended their activities as members left school to fight in the war . Both Phi Gamma and Few Halls were used as infirmaries for wounded soldiers from 1843 to 1864 . Civil War and Reconstruction . Prior to the outbreak of war , financial tension had reduced the college ' s income and student body , and the school briefly closed in the summer of 1861 in anticipation of the American Civil War . During the war , college facilities were used by both Northern and Southern soldiers as military headquarters and infirmaries . Because of this , many deceased soldiers ended up buried on campus . The school ' s library and other archives were damaged and later destroyed due to mishandling by military generals . It was not until the summer of 1866 that the campus was able to fully return to its academic functions , when it reopened with twenty students and three professors . Emory College continued to struggle with financial hardships after the war . In 1880 , the school ' s fortunes reversed when College President Atticus G . Haygood preached a Thanksgiving Day sermon expressing gratitude for the end of slavery and calling on the South to put the past behind them to " cultivate the growth of industry " . The speech captured the attention of George I . Seney , a Brooklyn banker and Methodist . Seney gave Emory College $ 5 , 000 to repay its debts , $ 50 , 000 for construction , and $ 75 , 000 to establish a new endowment . Over the years , Seney invested more than a quarter - million dollars into Emory College , helping to erect the Victorian Gothic - style administrative building in the center of Oxford College that bears his name . The bell in the Seney Hall clocktower is the oldest permanent historical monument at Emory University today . Cast in 1796 , it was a gift from Alexander Means , fourth President of Emory College , who in turn was given it by Queen Victoria . Move to Atlanta . By the turn of the 20th century , Emory College still remained rooted in Oxford . Nonetheless , Emory College produced several notable graduates during this era . Alben W . Barkley went on to represent Kentucky in both the United States House of Representatives and the Senate before becoming — at age 71 in 1949 — the oldest Vice - President of the United States in history . Thomas M . Rivers became one of the nation ' s premier virologists at the Johns Hopkins University Medical School , investigating encephalitis and smallpox and later leading the National Science Foundation ' s quest for a polio vaccine . Dumas Malone went on to become the head of Harvard University Press , one of the nation ' s leading academic publishers , and completed a Pulitzer Prize - winning six - volume study of Thomas Jefferson when he was past 90 years of age . Wilbur A . Carlton , a student at Emory College in 1910 , described his experiences at the school at the time : Soon , the Georgia Methodist Conference began seriously discussing transforming Emory College into a university , with Birmingham and Atlanta both bidding to host the institution . Atlanta was chosen as the home of new Emory University after Asa Griggs Candler , president of the Coca - Cola Company , deeded the university 65 acres of land in Druid Hills , six miles from the city ' s downtown , and contributed $ 1 million to the school ' s endownment . Candler was originally reluctant to donate money to a project that he called " a crumbling castle " , but his brother , Warren Candler , convinced him otherwise . Asa Candler went on to serve as chair of the Emory University Board of Trustees and his brother later served as university president . The Oxford campus continued to be used after the school ' s move to Atlanta . The site was home to the Emory University Academy , organized in 1915 as a preparatory school modeled after Phillips Academy and Phillips Exeter Academy in order to respond to the failure of the state ' s public high schools . By 1921 , the academy had reached its peak enrollment of three hundred , doubling its enrollment mark while still a college . Due to financial concerns , however , Emory University cut programs for all academic divisions at the academy , laid off faculty , and raised tuition . Third - party financial support for the academy also faded away . By the mid - 1930s , the University Academy was renamed " Emory Junior College at Oxford " as college - level curriculum was introduced and a junior college was set up on campus . In 1947 , influenced by the experimental models of integrating secondary and post - secondary education at the University of Chicago , Emory and Oxford leaders reorganized the Oxford curriculum into the South ' s first accredited four - year junior college . The program combined an accelerated program for the last two years of high school with the first two years of college , but the program ended in 1963 after facing enrollment shortages . Dean Virgil Eady then recommended a name change to " Oxford College of Emory University " , reaffirming that Oxford is part of Emory University and not a " quasi - independent college at Oxford " . The new college was then set up as a two - year liberal arts program , similar in concept to the early Emory College . Campus . Oxford College is located on a small campus in the western part of Newton County , approximately 38 miles east of Emory ' s Atlanta campus . The campus is located in the center of Oxford , about half a mile north of Interstate 20 and directly bounded by Georgia State Route 81 ( signed as " Emory Street " ) to the east and can be accessed through Hamill Street . Today , much of the campus is organized around a pedestrian - only quadrangle in the center and a few small streets . The campus and the city of Oxford was planned and built in 1837 by Edward Lloyd Thomas , a Georgia land surveyor who also planned the city of Columbus , Georgia . The school ' s facilities were designed around a rectangular quadrangle plan and two existing buildings , Phi Gamma Hall and a chapel . A nearly identical replica of Phi Gamma , Few Hall , was erected opposite of Phi Gamma across the quad a few years later . The existing and planned buildings were all Greek Revival temple - like structures with white columned porticos . A marble shaft was erected in the center of the quad in 1885 by the Grand Masonic Lodge of Georgia in memory of Ignatius Alphonso Few . After the Civil War , Language Hall was constructed with similarly columned porticoes in place , and was recently renovated and restored in 2013 . In 1881 , Seney Hall was erected west of Language Hall , to the south and center of the original quad plan . The five - story structure was Oxford ' s first Victorian Gothic - style building and is topped by a clock and bell tower featuring a bell gifted by Queen Victoria to the college in 1855 . Candler Hall was built east of Language Hall a decade later in the Neoclassical architectural style and served as the library until 1970 . Today it serves as a student center and houses a Barnes & Noble bookstore . In 1975 , the college ' s campus and many of its older buildings , including Phi Gamma Hall , Seney Hall , Few Hall , Language Hall , Candler Hall , Few Monument , chapel , Old Gym , Allen Memorial Church , and other surrounding structures were listed on the U . S . National Register of Historic Places ( NRHP ) as Oxford Historic District . Academics . Oxford College ( as part of Emory ' s undergraduate program ) offers introductory and intermediate courses that contribute to undergraduate degrees in eighty - five majors , the most popular being economics , psychology , biology , neuroscience and behavioral biology , and political science . All courses are on a credit hour system . Some of the classes are " theory - practice service learning " courses , which integrate theory learning in the classroom with real - world service application . All students receive an associate of the arts or associate of the sciences degree upon graduation . Faculty . As of Fall 2012 , Oxford College has 58 faculty members in teaching positions , including Nitya Jacob , associate professor of biology who is one of fifteen international recipients of " Science Magazine " ' s Inquiry - Based - Instruction Prize . Oxford College also has a visiting scholar agreement with Oxford University in England , where a faculty member from each exchanges places for at least one week , giving public lectures at their host location . Visiting professors include Jane Shaw and Tiffany Stern . Admissions . Oxford College enrolled 909 students for the 2012 – 13 academic year , with an average class size of 20 students . 26 % of the students enrolled are Asian / Pacific Islanders , 14 % are African American , and 6 % are Latino . Students who apply to Emory University may choose to begin study for four semesters at Oxford College before automatically continuing to the School of Arts and Sciences in Atlanta . Continuees may also choose to apply for admission to the Goizueta Business School or the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing . There were 6 , 560 applicants for the Oxford College class of 2014 , of whom 41 % were ultimately accepted . Oxford College maintains the same application as Emory College on the Common Application , and applicants merely have to select one box or both regarding which school they wish to apply to . In addition to regular decision , students may choose to apply via the restrictive Early Decision option to either Emory College or Oxford College , or both , but not to another school . Early decision and regular decision applicants are able to participate in the Oxford Scholars program , the highest tier of which offers a full academic merit scholarship for four semesters at Oxford and four semesters at Emory . Admitted students had a 50th - percentile range GPA of 3 . 5 – 3 . 92 and SAT scores ranging from 600 – 700 in Critical Reading , and 620 – 750 in mathematics . Enrolled students for the class of 2014 came from 367 high schools and 75 % came from outside of the state of Georgia . 62 % of undergraduates received financial aid with an average aid package of $ 32 , 901 , and a total of 242 students received academic merit scholarships . Student life . All students are required to live on campus in one of four dormitories : Haygood Hall , Branham & East , Jolly Residential Center , and the newest residence hall , East Village , which opened in 2008 with LEED Gold environmental certification by the U . S . Green Building Council . Oxford has a daytime and a night - time dining service . The Williams Gymnasium has an indoor hybrid basketball , volleyball , and badminton court , an indoor track , indoor pool , weight room , and aerobic studio . There are also ten tennis courts and a regulation soccer field on campus . The Fleming Woods and hiking trails owned by Newton County surround the campus . Emory University ' s bus routes provide service between the Atlanta campus and the Oxford campus , Stonecrest Mall , and connections to Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority stations . Student groups . Historically , student clubs at Oxford were not reliably active for long periods of time because of high membership turnover , so in 1988 Leadership Oxford and ExCEL were designed for first and second year students respectively to help enhance their leadership skills . Oxford does not have traditional fraternities and sororities on campus . In their stead are " social clubs " , and instead of pledging , students " tap in " to these clubs . Historically some of these social clubs , whose members meet regularly at social functions , were determined by geography , such as the Florida Club , South Georgia Club , and Alabama Club . Today , social clubs use the Greek alphabet and mimic the functions of fraternities and sororities . Traditions . Dooley . Lord Dooley , the " Lord of Misrule " and the " Spirit of Emory " , was established as Emory University ' s unofficial mascot and originated in Oxford in 1901 . He was first mentioned in an 1899 article run in the school newspaper , " Phoenix " , entitled " Reflections of a Skeleton " . The article was purportedly written by a skeleton in the science room who complained of his boring existence in the science hall . In 1901 , Dooley reappeared , claiming to have been the son of a wealthy Virginia planter who fought in the Revolutionary War and later died of alcohol abuse . In 1941 , Dooley began appearing physically on campus , starting the tradition known as " Dooley ' s Week " , when he gets free rein to let students out of classes . Dooley also makes appearances at dances and other Oxford events , coming out of a closed coffin , where then he allows a designated reader pass along his message to the audience . Dooley borrows his first name and middle initial from the first and last name of the sitting president of Emory University . Animals . Students at Oxford historically stole local farm animals and coaxed them into classrooms as pranks . In the 1930s to 1950s , students began bringing larger four - legged farm animals to the upper floors of Seney Hall . The tradition culminated in 2008 when a group of unidentified students led a local zebra to the third floor of Seney and barricaded the windows , doors , and elevator . The zebra was nicknamed " Barcode " , and a stuffed zebra overlooks the quad in Seney Hall in memorial of the event . Athletics . President Warren Candler started Emory ' s first intramural sports program in 1897 , although he was strongly against intercollegiate sports programs . During these years , Emory had intramural football , baseball , and gymnastic teams . For most of history , Emory did not have an athletic mascot . In 1960 , " The Emory Wheel " sports editor thought it was time to adopt a mascot , but the student body was not interested . Frustrated , he arbitrarily adopted the eagle as the mascot because " the name [ was ] simply applicable and [ had ] obvious decorative advantages . " Soon thereafter , Oxford followed and adopted the eagle as the mascot . Today , Oxford ' s athletic teams are members of the Georgia Junior College Athletic Association and the National Junior College Athletic Association . Oxford College sponsors women ' s soccer , men ' s basketball , and men ' s and women ' s tennis . The men ' s tennis team won back - to - back NJCAA III National Championships in 2006 and 2007 and a third in 2009 , and the women ' s tennis team won National Championships in 2011 . In popular culture . In the first episode of the television series " The Dukes of Hazzard " , General Lee jumped 81 feet in front of Seney Hall , with this scene remaining in the opening credits for the rest of the series . This stunt was recreated by MTV for its series " Your Movie Show " in July 2005 on the release of " The Dukes of Hazzard " movie . The show " In the Heat of the Night " also filmed some scenes on campus and in the town of Oxford . Scenes from the television show " The Vampire Diaries " were shot in the school ' s library , quad , and theatre in 2009 , 2010 , and 2012 , and the school also serves as the on - location college set for the fictional Whitmore College . Oxford College hosted the southern premiere of " 8 " , a verbatim theatre re - enactment by Dustin Lance Black , on March 1 – 3 , 2012 . The play chronicles the district court proceedings of " Perry v . Schwarzenegger " . Notes . Oxford is a two - year program , so the class of 2014 is also part of Emory University ' s class of 2016 . < br >