Flagler College
Encyclopedia
Flagler College, is a private
four-year liberal arts college
in St. Augustine, Florida
, USA
and celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2008.
The college has been named in recent years by US News & World Report as one of the southeast region's best comprehensive liberal arts
colleges, and is included on its list of "America's Best Colleges". Its 2010-2011 tuition is $13,860 (excluding room and board) and its acceptance rate is an average of 35 to 45 percent of its annual applications.
The Princeton Review ranks Flagler in the top tier of southeastern colleges, and its campus as one of the most beautiful in the United States
. It is currently included in the Princeton Review's Best 366 Colleges Rankings.
Flagler College is home to WFCF
/88.5 MHz FM
(Channel 203), a community-run station. As of the 2006-2007 school year, the college also broadcasts on local Public-access television
cable TV television as FCTV. It also publishes a campus newspaper, The Gargoyle, and an annual literary journal, The Flagler Review.
The school is located on 19 acres (76,890.3 m²), the centerpiece of which is the Ponce de Leon Hall
, built in 1888 as a luxury hotel. The architects were John Carrere and Thomas Hastings
, working for Henry Morrison Flagler
, the industrialist, oil magnate and railroad pioneer. It is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places
.
Since its founding in 1968, the college has spent more than $43 million restoring the historic campus and adding new buildings. The newest buildings are the three-part former headquarters of the Florida East Coast Railway
(FEC) buildings on Malaga St. which have been converted into one female, one male dorm building, and one coed dorm building where each gender is separated by floors; Cedar Hall male dorm rooms on the corner of Cedar Street and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue; and the Ringhaver Student Center. The campus is located in the heart of St. Augustine, just four miles (6 km) from the Atlantic Ocean. Flagler's 19 acres (76,890.3 m²) athletic field is two miles (3 km) from campus. While the college has recycled some historic buildings into new uses, it has also stirred up much controversy by seeking to demolish historic buildings surrounding the campus.
Henry Flagler's grandson, Lawrence Lewis, Jr., was the driving force behind the development of Flagler College. It was his vision to create a small, private liberal arts college
on the grounds of the old hotel. Lewis served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Flagler College for more than 20 years, guiding the College through a re-organization in 1971. He directed millions of dollars through foundations, family and personal funds into new construction, restoration projects, endowment and various other programs to ensure the continued success of Flagler College.
Flagler College offers 20 majors, 32 minors and two pre-professional programs in selected studies emphasizing liberal arts, education and business.
Flagler offers membership in six honor societies, including Alpha Chi, Alpha Psi Omega
, Kappa Delta Pi
, Omicron Delta Kappa
, Psi Chi
, Alpha Kappa Delta
, and Sigma Tau Delta
. In addition, there are over 25 active student clubs and academic organizations on campus.
Flagler competes in 13 varsity sports (basketball
, cross country
, golf
, soccer
, and tennis
for men and women, baseball
for men only, and volleyball
and softball
for women only) in Division II that compete in the NCAA
. Its teams are called the Saints. In the 2009-2010 season Flagler athletics began to play in the Peach Belt Conference
.
The Flagler College Lady Saints Volleyball team has made an impact on the Peach Belt since entering the conference. In 2009, the Lady Saints made it to the National Championship, and finished in the top 4 of Division 2 volleyball teams in the nation. In 2010, the Lady Saints made it to the Regional Finals, finishing top 16 in the Nation.
Private university
Private universities are universities not operated by governments, although many receive public subsidies, especially in the form of tax breaks and public student loans and grants. Depending on their location, private universities may be subject to government regulation. Private universities are...
four-year liberal arts college
Liberal arts college
A liberal arts college is one with a primary emphasis on undergraduate study in the liberal arts and sciences.Students in the liberal arts generally major in a particular discipline while receiving exposure to a wide range of academic subjects, including sciences as well as the traditional...
in St. Augustine, Florida
St. Augustine, Florida
St. Augustine is a city in the northeast section of Florida and the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorer and admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, it is the oldest continuously occupied European-established city and port in the continental United...
, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2008.
The college has been named in recent years by US News & World Report as one of the southeast region's best comprehensive liberal arts
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...
colleges, and is included on its list of "America's Best Colleges". Its 2010-2011 tuition is $13,860 (excluding room and board) and its acceptance rate is an average of 35 to 45 percent of its annual applications.
The Princeton Review ranks Flagler in the top tier of southeastern colleges, and its campus as one of the most beautiful in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It is currently included in the Princeton Review's Best 366 Colleges Rankings.
Flagler College is home to WFCF
WFCF
WFCF is a radio station broadcasting an eclectic college radio format. Licensed to St. Augustine, Florida, USA, the station is currently owned by Flagler College....
/88.5 MHz FM
FM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...
(Channel 203), a community-run station. As of the 2006-2007 school year, the college also broadcasts on local Public-access television
Public-access television
Public-access television is a form of non-commercial mass media where ordinary people can create content television programming which is cablecast through cable TV specialty channels...
cable TV television as FCTV. It also publishes a campus newspaper, The Gargoyle, and an annual literary journal, The Flagler Review.
History
Ponce de León Hotel
The Ponce de León Hotel was an exclusive hotel in St. Augustine, Florida, built by millionaire developer and Standard Oil co-founder Henry M. Flagler and completed in 1888. The Hotel Ponce de Leon was designed in the Spanish Renaissance style by the New York architects John Carrere and Thomas...
, built in 1888 as a luxury hotel. The architects were John Carrere and Thomas Hastings
Carrère and Hastings
Carrère and Hastings, the firm of John Merven Carrère and Thomas Hastings , located in New York City, was one of the outstanding Beaux-Arts architecture firms in the United States. The partnership operated from 1885 until 1911, when Carrère was killed in an automobile accident...
, working for Henry Morrison Flagler
Henry Morrison Flagler
Henry Morrison Flagler was an American tycoon, real estate promoter, railroad developer and partner of John D. Rockefeller in Standard Oil. He was a key figure in the development of the eastern coast of Florida along the Atlantic Ocean and was founder of what became the Florida East Coast Railway...
, the industrialist, oil magnate and railroad pioneer. It is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
Since its founding in 1968, the college has spent more than $43 million restoring the historic campus and adding new buildings. The newest buildings are the three-part former headquarters of the Florida East Coast Railway
Florida East Coast Railway
The Florida East Coast Railway is a Class II railroad operating in the U.S. state of Florida; in the past, it has been a Class I railroad.Built primarily in the last quarter of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century, the FEC was a project of Standard Oil principal Henry Morrison...
(FEC) buildings on Malaga St. which have been converted into one female, one male dorm building, and one coed dorm building where each gender is separated by floors; Cedar Hall male dorm rooms on the corner of Cedar Street and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue; and the Ringhaver Student Center. The campus is located in the heart of St. Augustine, just four miles (6 km) from the Atlantic Ocean. Flagler's 19 acres (76,890.3 m²) athletic field is two miles (3 km) from campus. While the college has recycled some historic buildings into new uses, it has also stirred up much controversy by seeking to demolish historic buildings surrounding the campus.
Henry Flagler's grandson, Lawrence Lewis, Jr., was the driving force behind the development of Flagler College. It was his vision to create a small, private liberal arts college
Liberal arts college
A liberal arts college is one with a primary emphasis on undergraduate study in the liberal arts and sciences.Students in the liberal arts generally major in a particular discipline while receiving exposure to a wide range of academic subjects, including sciences as well as the traditional...
on the grounds of the old hotel. Lewis served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Flagler College for more than 20 years, guiding the College through a re-organization in 1971. He directed millions of dollars through foundations, family and personal funds into new construction, restoration projects, endowment and various other programs to ensure the continued success of Flagler College.
Academics
Flagler offers membership in six honor societies, including Alpha Chi, Alpha Psi Omega
Alpha Psi Omega
Alpha Psi Omega National Theatre Honor Society is an American recognition honor society recognizing participants in collegiate theatre. The Alpha Cast was founded at Fairmont State College on August 12, 1925 by professor Paul F...
, Kappa Delta Pi
Kappa Delta Pi
Kappa Delta Pi, International Honor Society in Education, was founded in 1911 and was one of the first discipline-specific honor societies. Its membership is limited to the top 20 percent of those entering the field of education. Kappa Delta Pi claims over 600 chapters across North America and...
, Omicron Delta Kappa
Omicron Delta Kappa
Omicron Delta Kappa, or ΟΔΚ, also known as The Circle, or more commonly ODK, is a national leadership honor society. It was founded December 3, 1914, at Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, by 15 student and faculty leaders. Chapters, known as Circles, are located on over 300...
, Psi Chi
Psi Chi
Psi Chi is the International Honor Society in Psychology, founded in 1929 for the purposes of encouraging, stimulating, and maintaining excellence in scholarship, and advancing the science of psychology. With over 1,050 chapters, Psi Chi is one of the largest honor societies in the United States...
, Alpha Kappa Delta
Alpha Kappa Delta
Alpha Kappa Delta is an international sociology honor society.Founded in 1920 by Emory S. Bogardus, of the University of Southern California sociology department, the name is derived from the Greek anthrôpos meaning mankind, katamanthanô, meaning to examine closely or acquire knowledge, and...
, and Sigma Tau Delta
Sigma Tau Delta
Sigma Tau Delta is an international collegiate honor society for students of English. It presently has over 800 active chapters located in Europe, the Caribbean, the United States, and 1 chapter in the Middle East , with more than 1,000 faculty sponsors...
. In addition, there are over 25 active student clubs and academic organizations on campus.
Alumni
- Laura CroftLaura CroftLaura Croft is an American model. She was the Playmate of the Month for the July 2008 issue of Playboy magazine.A native of Jacksonville, Florida, Croft attended Edward H. White High School, then attended Flagler College where she majored in communication and minored in art history...
, American Model
- Theresa MeekerTheresa MeekerTheresa Meeker is an Italian-American actress who appeared in several films.-Early Life and education:Theresa hails from Williamson County, Tennessee although she was raised in Sumatra, Indonesia by mother Judith Meeker and father Dr. William Meeker MD...
, Italian-American Actress
- Linda Evans (author)Linda Evans (author)Linda Evans is an American science fiction writer from Archer, Florida. She is an author of nine novels and four anthologies, as well as of several other co-authored novels. In 1996 her published novels had sold more than 100,000 copies.-Early life:...
Athletics
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, cross country
Cross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
, golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
, soccer
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
, and tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
for men and women, baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
for men only, and volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
and softball
Softball
Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
for women only) in Division II that compete in the NCAA
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
. Its teams are called the Saints. In the 2009-2010 season Flagler athletics began to play in the Peach Belt Conference
Peach Belt Conference
The Peach Belt Conference is an intercollegiate college athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA’s Division II. The PBC was formed in 1990 with seven charter universities as the Peach Belt Athletic Conference, and took its current name in 2000.-Current members:The league currently has 13 full...
.
Campus
The Flagler College campus comprises fifteen buildings, some of which are located throughout the historic district of Saint Augustine. Ponce de Leon Hall is the focal point of the campus, where the female dormitories, as well as the dining hall, are located. The individual rooms consist of the former hotel rooms along with the former hotel employees' rooms. The male dormitories are located at Lewis House, which opened in 1987, and Cedar Hall, which was constructed in 2004. Most classes are taught in Kenan Hall, which is adjacent to Ponce de Leon Hall. Classes not taught here can be located in the Ringhaver Student Center, Proctor Library, the Communications Building at 31 Cordova Street, the Art Building directly behind Kenan Hall or the Flagler College Auditorium at 14 Granada Street. The campus is located in historical downtown St. Augustine. The College recently acquired the former Florida East Coast Railway buildings on Malaga Street, which opened as men's and women's dormitories for 2008 fall semester. The building that was previously named "The Flagler Hotel" still currently functions as a working hotel.Newspaper controversy
Since September 2006, there have been several allegations of censorship or alteration of articles within the college newspaper, The Gargoyle, by the college administration. In 2006, one issue of the newspaper was removed from circulation due to an alleged error in its headlines about rising tuition. In April 2007, the college administration again exercised editorial control over the paper due to alleged fact errors. Students rallied and organized a protest against any type of censorship of the newspaper, calling for a free and independent student press. As of September 2007, working on The Gargoyle is no longer required of communication major and an advisory board and operating guidelines have been set up to handle any future situations which may arise, and also to help outline the function of The Gargoyle.See also
- Ponce de Leon HotelPonce de León HotelThe Ponce de León Hotel was an exclusive hotel in St. Augustine, Florida, built by millionaire developer and Standard Oil co-founder Henry M. Flagler and completed in 1888. The Hotel Ponce de Leon was designed in the Spanish Renaissance style by the New York architects John Carrere and Thomas...
- Henry Flagler
- Flagler College - Tallahassee CampusFlagler College - Tallahassee CampusFlagler College – Tallahassee located in Tallahassee, Florida on the campus of Tallahassee Community College and is a branch of Flagler College located in St. Augustine...
- Independent Colleges and Universities of FloridaIndependent Colleges and Universities of FloridaThe Independent Colleges & Universities of Florida is an association of 28 private, educational institutions in the state of Florida. Like the 11 public colleges and universities in Florida, all ICUF schools are accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The current President...