William Carey University

William Carey University
Established	1906
Type	Private
Website	www.wmcarey.edu

William Carey University is a private Christian liberal arts college located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi in the United States, affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention and the Mississippi Baptist Convention. The main campus is located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi; there are two subsidiary campuses in Gulfport, Mississippi and New Orleans, Louisiana. It was founded 1906 as the Mississippi Woman's College, but changed its name to William Carey College in 1954 when the college became coeducational.

The university is named for the Englishman whom some consider to be the founder of modern Protestant evangelical missions, William Carey D.D. (1761-1834.)

William Carey University celebrated its Centennial on August 14, 2006. This day also marked the transition of William Carey College to William Carey University.

The college offers baccalaureate degrees in the areas of arts, humanities, and sciences; education and psychology; business; religion; music; and nursing. The M.B.A, M.Ed., M.S. in psychology, and M.S.N. degrees and a specialist degree in elementary education are also offered. Three trimesters of eleven weeks each comprise the academic year. Two summer sessions, a J-term, and a May Term session are also offered. In 2009 William Carey opened it's College of Medicine with emphasis on Osteopathic Medicine.

Administration Building, Hattiesburg Campus

Tradition Campus, Harrison County, Mississippi

Accreditation

Dedication, College of Osteopathic Medicine

William Carey University is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bachelor and Masters degrees. William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine was awarded provisional accreditation status by the Council on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA) on September 13, 2009. William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine becomes the 29th Osteopathic medical school in the country.

WCU College of Osteopathic Medicine

D.O. Logo

William Carey University College of Medicine Seal

On October 23, 2007, the Board of Trustees at William Carey University (WCU) unanimously voted to authorize Dr. Tommy King, president, to employ a dean for the College of Osteopathic Medicine (COM). The rationale was to open the COM to address the severe shortage of physicians in Mississippi and surrounding states and to impact the healthcare of rural Mississippians.

In January 2008, Michael K. Murphy, D.O., was employed to aid in accomplishing this goal. On March 3, 2008, the College was officially established. Press conferences were held in Jackson at the Mississippi Baptist Convention Building and on the Hattiesburg campus of WCU on March 7, 2008. The President announced the establishment of the College and introduced Dr. Murphy, the founding dean. William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine was awarded provisional accreditation by the American Osteopathic Association Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation at its meeting September 12-13, 2009.

William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine is the state’s second medical school and the first in the region to focus on osteopathic medicine.^[1]

The first class of WCUCOM will graduate in 2014.

The Cooper School of Missions and Biblical Studies

Established in 1991, The Cooper School of Missions and Biblical Studies seeks to inform and enrich every student's understanding of the Judeo-Christian historical, literary, and theological heritage. Furthermore, the school prepares undergraduate religion majors for graduate study in addition to preparing students for ministerial positions.^[2]

School of Music

The Winters School of Music is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Music. The music therapy program is accredited by the American Music Therapy Association.

Department of Theatre & Communication and Carey Dinner Theatre

William Carey University's Department of Theatre & Communication began in 1915, by Kate Downs P'Pool, and has garnered a reputation for outstanding work. Since 1994, the department has become actively involved in the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. In 2001, William Carey's production of And David Danced was selected for presentation at the National Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival in Washington, D.C. In the same year, the department was honored with the Mississippi Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts. The department has also twice taken faculty and students to Nairobi, Kenya, to produce the musical Smoke on the Mountain. The department produces three productions per year, normally a drama, a children's theatre piece, and a comedy or musical. Their venue is the O.L. Quave Theatre, named after former department chair/emeritus faculty member Obra L. Quave.

Carey Dinner Theatre began in 1974 as the "Carey Summer Showcase" under the management of Obra Quave. The longest-running dinner theatre in the state of Mississippi (30+ years), CDT brings professional summer theatre to WCU and the surrounding community. Two CDT alumni (Phillip Fortenberry and Keith Thompson) have gone onto professional Broadway music careers. CDT produces two shows per summer, normally light-hearted comedies or musicals.

School of Nursing

Joseph and Nancy Fail School of Nursing is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, by the board of trustees, Institutions of Higher Learning of the State of Mississippi, and approved in New Orleans by the Louisiana State Board of Nursing.

Campus Life

William Carey University operates in accordance with its Baptist affiliation and has many programs for its 3200 students. Many of the campus activities are planned through the Baptist Student Union on campus known as careyBSU. careyBSU offers Bible studies, ministry to the surrounding area and apartments, mission opportunities, and "Priority Lunch". It also offers campusLink which is a worship service time.

The University is served by a newspaper, The Cobbler, which publishes several times a year.

Greek life

Several Christian-oriented organizations exist on campus. Sigma Psi Nu, is a men's social fraternity, paired with Gamma Chi sorority. Kappa Tau Xi is a social and service fraternity. Pi Omega is a social and service sorority.

Athletics & Sports

The university competes in the Southern States Athletic Conference (S.S.A.C.) for all varsity sports and are nicknamed "The Crusaders". The athletic department administers six men's sports (Baseball, Basketball, Cross Country, Golf, Soccer and Tennis) and six women's sports (Basketball, Cross Country, Golf, Softball, Soccer and Tennis). The university and it's conference are affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (N.A.I.A.). Most of the teams are nationally ranked within the N.A.I.A. structure and typically move on to the conference play-offs and the National Championship rounds. The athletic department maintains its own website separate from the main university site at [1] The Student Services administration also organizes various indoor and outdoor sports and games through its intramural program.

Trivia

• William Carey University—at the time, Mississippi Woman's College -- is the only women's college to have placed in the William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition when the college's team took third place in the 1939 competition.

References

1. ^ "College of Osteopathic Medicine". http://www.wmcarey.edu/COM/Home/1722/CollegeofOsteopathic.shtm. 
2. ^ http://www.wmcarey.edu/Academics/MissionsandBiblicalStudies/190/Mission.shtm

External links

• Official site
• Center for Study of the Life and Work of William Carey, D.D.
• Baptist Student Union of William Carey University
• Official site of the Crusaders athletic and sports programs
• WCU College of Osteopathic Medicine Student Website