Limestone College

Infobox University
name = Limestone College
established = 1845
type = Private
president = Dr. Walt Griffin
city = Gaffney
state = South Carolina
country = United States
undergrad = 3,500
faculty = 75
campus = suburban
mascot = Saints, St. Bernard (dog)
website = [http://www.limestone.edu/ www.limestone.edu]

Limestone College is a private 4-year, coeducational liberal-arts college located in Gaffney, South Carolina.

Limestone was established in 1845 by Dr. Thomas Curtis and his son, Dr. William Curtis, distinguished scholars born and educated in England. Limestone was the first women's college in South Carolina, and one of the first in the nation. Over half of the buildings on the campus, as well as the Limestone Springs and Limestone Quarry Lake itself, are on the National Register of Historic Places. In the 1960s, Limestone became fully coeducational, and today student enrollment is about 50:50 male:female. It is the third oldest college in South Carolina.

Limestone enrolls approximately 750 traditional day students. However, its total student population of over 3500, including evening and distance learning students in its innovative Extended Campus program, makes it the largest private accredited institution in the state of South Carolina. The university primarily serves students from South Carolina and the Eastern seaboard, with an increasing number of students from all over the world in its day and Extended Campus programs.

Between 65% and 75% of the faculty at Limestone hold the terminal degree in their field and the student/faculty ratio is a very low 13:1. Limestone offers students 17 majors in four different divisions of study: Arts and Letters, Natural Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences, and Professional Studies. An innovative and comprehensive Program for Alternative Learning Styles (PALS) serves a growing number of college age students with specific learning disabilities (LD) such as AD/HD, dyslexia, etc. in the day campus program.

Limestone plays sports in the 12-school Conference Carolinas, offering competitive opportunities at the NCAA Division II level for men in soccer, basketball, baseball, wrestling, lacrosse, golf, cross country, swimming, and tennis, and for women in volleyball, basketball, softball, tennis, soccer, swimming, cross country, and lacrosse. Limestone has an indoor Olympic-size pool for swim team and recreational use, along with a newly-constructed (2005) campus Physical Education facility containing modern classrooms, offices, locker rooms, Athletic Training Education facilities for the school's fully-accredited AT program, a state of the art fitness center, and a wrestling practice facility.

In 2001, against Southern Wesleyan University, a Limestone College soccer player set the NCAA record for the fastest goal in NCAA history, just under 5 seconds. Is this a true record since Southern Wesleyan University is not an NCAA school? SWU plays in the NAIA.

The Limestone men's soccer program is one of the fastest developing programs in college soccer. In 2006 the soccer team that had previously finished last in the league (CVAC) won the CVAC tournament and reached the last 16 in the nation where they were narrowly beaten 2-1 by fellow foes Queens university. Standouts for the team were Ryan Robinson, Adam Ennis, Tom Beattie, Ali Benson and Joel Moran.

Limestone has been labeled a powerhouse in men's lacrosse and won National Championship titles in 2000 & 2002 and Deep South Conference Championship titles in 1994, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, & 2006. With its 2000 title, Limestone became the smallest coeducational institution to win an NCAA National Championship.

In the fall of 2005, Limestone's Women Volleyball Team had a great season. The team won the most matches (19) since Limestone joined the NCAA in 1998. In Fall of 2006, the Lady Saints had an even more memorable season becoming co-conference regular season champs and ending the season with a 27-9 record and was ranked Number 1 in NCAA statistics for digs per game.

Notable alumni

*Bob Peeler, former Lt. Gov. of SC.
*Malvina Black Gist Waring, widow of William Gist, noted author and founder of the S.C. D.A.R. Clark Waring the second husband of Malvina constructed the S.C. Governor's mansion.
*Mark Mathabane, author of "Kaffir Boy", "Love in Black and White", and "African Women: Three Generations"

External links

* [http://www.limestone.edu Official website]
* [http://www.limestone.edu/campustour.htm Campus map by Robert Watson]