Covenant College
Encyclopedia
Covenant College is a Christian liberal arts
college in Lookout Mountain, Georgia
, United States
.
, California
, Covenant College and Theological Seminary moved its campus to St. Louis, Missouri
the following year, and, in 1965, separated from the seminary, moving to Lookout Mountain, Georgia
. It is an agency of the Presbyterian Church in America
. As such, Covenant stands in the Reformed and Presbyterian traditions.
, Bachelor of Science
, Bachelor of Music
, and Master of Education
degrees, and several pre-professional programs. The college also has two adult education programs, Quest (established 1984) and The Bachelor of Science in Early Childhood Education (BSECE), a degree completion program in early childhood education for professionals. In addition, Covenant is home to the Chalmers Center for Economic and Community Development (established 1999), which offers courses and programs in community and economic development in the urban United States and throughout the developing world.
Covenant's faculty is composed of 58 full-time teaching faculty members, 88% of whom hold doctorates or terminal degrees in their fields. The student-faculty ratio is 14:1.
The college has over 5,000 alumni living both in the United States and abroad. Alumni are employed in a variety of fields, such as education, ministry, music, business, the military, science, and journalism. Over 60% of graduates go on to earn graduate degrees.
The college has been accredited since 1971 by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
(SACS).
Niel Nielson
has been president of Covenant since 2002. The college's previous presidents are Robert G. Rayburn (1955–1965), Marion Barnes (1965–1978), Martin Essenburg (1978–1987) and Frank A. Brock(1987–2002).
in 2010.
in Lookout Mountain, Georgia
.
, for whom the building is now named. It was popularly known as the "Castle in the Clouds." However, since it was completed less than a year before the Great Depression
, the hotel soon went bankrupt. It opened and closed several times prior to 1960, when it shut down for the last time. Bill Brock, the grandfather of the college's fourth president, Frank Brock, served on the original board of the hotel.
Both the exterior and interior of Carter Hall are Austro-Bavarian Gothic revival in style. The building has had two towers in its history. The first tower was similar in design to the Frauenkirche
(Cathedral of Our Lady) in Munich. Poor maintenance before acquisition by the college required it to be rebuilt. The new tower, though considerably simpler in style, maintains the architectural style of the original tower.
Covenant College bought the building in 1964, upon relocating to Lookout Mountain, Georgia
. During the first few years of Covenant's operation on the mountain, all the functions of the college were contained within Carter Hall. At that time, it housed the chapel
, the library, the classrooms, the professors' offices, and all of the dorm rooms, as well as the dining hall and administrative offices, which are still located there today.
The current halls of Carter are 5th North and South (women's), 4th North, Central and South (women's), 3rd Central and South (women's), 2nd Central and South (men's), and the Ghetto.
Belz Hall, the first to be built, was completed in 1972, is named after pastor and Christian educator Max Belz, a member of Covenant College’s original board of trustees. Belz Hall houses approximately 100 students and was originally a men’s dorm. In 1990 and 1993 two new wings were added to the structure, and the building was renamed Founders Residence Hall. Currently the dorm halls for Belz are as follows: Caledon (a women's hall on the main floor), Brethren (a men's hall on the second floor), 1st Belz (a men's hall on the first floor), and Catacombs (a men's floor on the basement level).
Schmidt Hall, completed in 1990, is named in honor of Rudy and Collyn Schmidt, co-founders and long-time friends of the college, involved in virtually every dimension of college life since its inception. The dorm halls in Schmidt include Balcony (a women's hall on the fourth floor), Jungle (a women's hall on the main floor), and Blackwatch (a men's hall on the second floor).
Rayburn Hall was completed in 1993 and is named for Robert G. Rayburn, the founding president of Covenant College. The dorm halls in Rayburn include Highlands (a women's hall on the fourth floor), Borderlands (a men's hall on the main floor), and Rivendell (a men's hall on the second floor).
Liberal arts
The term liberal arts refers to those subjects which in classical antiquity were considered essential for a free citizen to study. Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic were the core liberal arts. In medieval times these subjects were extended to include mathematics, geometry, music and astronomy...
college in Lookout Mountain, Georgia
Lookout Mountain, Georgia
Lookout Mountain is a city in Walker County, Georgia, United States. The population was 1,617 at the 2000 census. The city is located on Lookout Mountain, home to such attractions as Rock City and Ruby Falls. The city is also home to Covenant College...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
History
Founded in 1955 in PasadenaPasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, Covenant College and Theological Seminary moved its campus to St. Louis, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
the following year, and, in 1965, separated from the seminary, moving to Lookout Mountain, Georgia
Lookout Mountain, Georgia
Lookout Mountain is a city in Walker County, Georgia, United States. The population was 1,617 at the 2000 census. The city is located on Lookout Mountain, home to such attractions as Rock City and Ruby Falls. The city is also home to Covenant College...
. It is an agency of the Presbyterian Church in America
Presbyterian Church in America
The Presbyterian Church in America is an evangelical Protestant Christian denomination, the second largest Presbyterian church body in the United States after the Presbyterian Church . The PCA professes a strong commitment to evangelism, missionary work, and Christian education...
. As such, Covenant stands in the Reformed and Presbyterian traditions.
Academics
The college offers Associate of Arts, Bachelor of ArtsBachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
, Bachelor of Science
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
, Bachelor of Music
Bachelor of Music
Bachelor of Music is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of program of study in music. In the United States, it is a professional degree; the majority of work consists of prescribed music courses and study in applied music, usually requiring a...
, and Master of Education
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
degrees, and several pre-professional programs. The college also has two adult education programs, Quest (established 1984) and The Bachelor of Science in Early Childhood Education (BSECE), a degree completion program in early childhood education for professionals. In addition, Covenant is home to the Chalmers Center for Economic and Community Development (established 1999), which offers courses and programs in community and economic development in the urban United States and throughout the developing world.
Covenant's faculty is composed of 58 full-time teaching faculty members, 88% of whom hold doctorates or terminal degrees in their fields. The student-faculty ratio is 14:1.
The college has over 5,000 alumni living both in the United States and abroad. Alumni are employed in a variety of fields, such as education, ministry, music, business, the military, science, and journalism. Over 60% of graduates go on to earn graduate degrees.
The college has been accredited since 1971 by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools is one of the six regional accreditation organizations recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation...
(SACS).
Niel Nielson
Niel Nielson
Niel B. Nielson is president of Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia.-Education:He holds a B.A. in philosophy from Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois, and an M.A. and Ph.D...
has been president of Covenant since 2002. The college's previous presidents are Robert G. Rayburn (1955–1965), Marion Barnes (1965–1978), Martin Essenburg (1978–1987) and Frank A. Brock(1987–2002).
Athletics
Covenant has sports teams that compete at the intercollegiate level in men's and women's soccer, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's golf, baseball, softball and women's volleyball. College teams are known as the Scots and Lady Scots. Covenant has been accepted for provisional membership in the NCAA Division III. Covenant joined the Great South Athletic ConferenceGreat South Athletic Conference
The Great South Athletic Conference is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA’s Division III. Member institutions are located in the southeastern United States in the states of Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina.-Current members:The league currently has 9 full...
in 2010.
Campus
The campus is located at the top of Lookout MountainLookout Mountain
thumb|right|See seven statesLookout Mountain is located at the northwest corner of the U.S. state of Georgia, the northeast corner of Alabama, and along the southern border of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Lookout Mountain, along with Sand Mountain to the northwest, makes up a large portion of the...
in Lookout Mountain, Georgia
Lookout Mountain, Georgia
Lookout Mountain is a city in Walker County, Georgia, United States. The population was 1,617 at the 2000 census. The city is located on Lookout Mountain, home to such attractions as Rock City and Ruby Falls. The city is also home to Covenant College...
.
Carter Hall
Carter Hall is the signature building on campus. It was originally named The Lookout Mountain Hotel and was built in 1928 by Paul CarterPaul Carter (entrepreneur)
Paul Carter is an American businessman, entrepreneur, and philanthropist in Chattanooga, Tennessee and nearby Lookout Mountain who, along with his father James Inman Carter and brother Garnet Carter developed most of Lookout Mountain, Tennessee and Lookout Mountain, Georgia...
, for whom the building is now named. It was popularly known as the "Castle in the Clouds." However, since it was completed less than a year before the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, the hotel soon went bankrupt. It opened and closed several times prior to 1960, when it shut down for the last time. Bill Brock, the grandfather of the college's fourth president, Frank Brock, served on the original board of the hotel.
Both the exterior and interior of Carter Hall are Austro-Bavarian Gothic revival in style. The building has had two towers in its history. The first tower was similar in design to the Frauenkirche
Munich Frauenkirche
The Frauenkirche is a church in the Bavarian city of Munich that serves as the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising and seat of its Archbishop. It is a landmark and is considered a symbol of the Bavarian capital city.The church towers are widely visible because of local height...
(Cathedral of Our Lady) in Munich. Poor maintenance before acquisition by the college required it to be rebuilt. The new tower, though considerably simpler in style, maintains the architectural style of the original tower.
Covenant College bought the building in 1964, upon relocating to Lookout Mountain, Georgia
Lookout Mountain, Georgia
Lookout Mountain is a city in Walker County, Georgia, United States. The population was 1,617 at the 2000 census. The city is located on Lookout Mountain, home to such attractions as Rock City and Ruby Falls. The city is also home to Covenant College...
. During the first few years of Covenant's operation on the mountain, all the functions of the college were contained within Carter Hall. At that time, it housed the chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
, the library, the classrooms, the professors' offices, and all of the dorm rooms, as well as the dining hall and administrative offices, which are still located there today.
The current halls of Carter are 5th North and South (women's), 4th North, Central and South (women's), 3rd Central and South (women's), 2nd Central and South (men's), and the Ghetto.
Founders Hall
Founders Hall contains three wings, each named for members of the founding generation of Covenant College.Belz Hall, the first to be built, was completed in 1972, is named after pastor and Christian educator Max Belz, a member of Covenant College’s original board of trustees. Belz Hall houses approximately 100 students and was originally a men’s dorm. In 1990 and 1993 two new wings were added to the structure, and the building was renamed Founders Residence Hall. Currently the dorm halls for Belz are as follows: Caledon (a women's hall on the main floor), Brethren (a men's hall on the second floor), 1st Belz (a men's hall on the first floor), and Catacombs (a men's floor on the basement level).
Schmidt Hall, completed in 1990, is named in honor of Rudy and Collyn Schmidt, co-founders and long-time friends of the college, involved in virtually every dimension of college life since its inception. The dorm halls in Schmidt include Balcony (a women's hall on the fourth floor), Jungle (a women's hall on the main floor), and Blackwatch (a men's hall on the second floor).
Rayburn Hall was completed in 1993 and is named for Robert G. Rayburn, the founding president of Covenant College. The dorm halls in Rayburn include Highlands (a women's hall on the fourth floor), Borderlands (a men's hall on the main floor), and Rivendell (a men's hall on the second floor).
Maclellan/Rymer Hall
The Maclellan wing of the hall, built in 1998, was named in honor of the Maclellan Foundation, a longtime supporter of Covenant College. The Rymer wing of the building, completed in 2000, was given by Ann Caudle Rymer and her son, S. Bradford Rymer, Jr.Andreas Hall
Andreas Hall, completed in 2007 as part of the BUILD campaign, is located slightly south of Maclellan/Rymer Hall, and is the newest addition to the college's residence halls. It is named for Lowell Andreas, a recent financial supporter of Covenant College. It houses over 100 students and is four stories tall.Notable alumni
- Aaron BelzAaron BelzAaron Belz is an American poet whose style has been compared to thatof the New York School poets of the 1950s and 60s.-Biography:...
(1993), poet, educator - Joel BelzJoel BelzJoel Belz is the founder of God's World Publications in 1977, which includes the World Journalism Institute started in 1999 and WORLD Magazine, a biweekly Christian newsmagazine, in 1986.-Personal life:...
(1962), founder, God's World PublicationsWorld (magazine)WORLD Magazine is a biweekly Christian news magazine, published in the United States of America by God's World Publications, a non-profit 501 organization based in Asheville, North Carolina. WORLD differs from most other news magazines in that its declared perspective is one of conservative...
, former publisher, WORLDWorld (magazine)WORLD Magazine is a biweekly Christian news magazine, published in the United States of America by God's World Publications, a non-profit 501 organization based in Asheville, North Carolina. WORLD differs from most other news magazines in that its declared perspective is one of conservative...
Magazine - Michael Cromartie (1978), former chair, United States Commission on International Religious FreedomUnited States Commission on International Religious FreedomThe United States Commission on International Religious Freedom is an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal government commission created by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. USCIRF Commissioners are appointed by the President and the leadership of both political parties in the Senate...
, vice president, Ethics and Public Policy CenterEthics and Public Policy CenterThe Ethics and Public Policy Center is a Washington, D.C.-based conservative advocacy group. Formed in 1976 by Ernest W. Lefever, who was its president until 1989, the group describes itself as "dedicated to applying the Judeo-Christian moral tradition to critical issues of public policy."Since... - Marty Marquis (1999), guitar, keyboard, and vocals, Blitzen TrapperBlitzen TrapperBlitzen Trapper is a Portland, Oregon-based experimental alternative country/folk band signed to Sub Pop Records. Formed in 2000, the band currently operates as a sextet, with Eric Earley , Erik Menteer , Brian Adrian Koch , Michael VanPelt , and Marty Marquis...
- Paul MoserPaul MoserPaul K. Moser is an American analytic philosopher who writes on epistemology and the philosophy of religion. He is professor and chair of the Department of Philosophy at Loyola University Chicago and editor of American Philosophical Quarterly...
(1979), noted analytic philosopher - Randy Nabors (1972), pastor, New City Fellowship, Chattanooga, Tennessee
- James Ward (1972), musician, recording artist
- Isaac WardellIsaac WardellIsaac Wardell is a presbyterian worship leader and teacher who primarily writes sacred music. He is the director of Bifrost Arts and is currently the Worship Director of Trinity Presbyterian Church in Charlottesville, Virginia...
(2005), musician, Bifrost ArtsBifrost ArtsBifrost Arts is an ecumenical religious organization closely linked to the Presbyterian Church in America that produces written and recorded religious music, and frequently performs at Christian Universities and conferences....
, The Welcome WagonThe Welcome WagonThe Welcome Wagon is a Gospel/indie pop band from Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York. The group consists of Presbyterian minister Vito Aiuto and his wife, Monique...