The College of Charleston was founded in 1770, making it the 13th-oldest institution of higher education and oldest municipal college in the nation.[8][9] The college's original structure, located at the site of what is now Randolph Hall, was designed similar to a barracks. In March 1785, the South Carolina General Assembly issued a charter to the college, which officially opened in 1790 and hosted its first commencement in 1794. The first president of the college was Robert Smith, who served in the position from 1790 to 1797.
A second charter was issued by the general assembly in 1791 stipulating that the college would not discriminate on the basis of religion. During the Antebellum era, further development efforts in the college resulted in the construction of Randolph Hall and the President's House, both of which were built using slave labor.
Randolph Hall, built between 1828 and 1830, is the college's oldest building.College of Charleston campus
The College of Charleston's main campus in downtown Charleston, South Carolina, includes 156 buildings, a mix of modern and historic buildings built between 1770 and 2009. The average building is over 100 years old, and 20 buildings are under historic, protective easements. The College of Charleston downtown campus is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, as is William Blacklock House.
Outside of downtown Charleston, the campus includes the Grice Marine Lab on James Island, the J. Stewart Walker Sailing Center and the Patriots Point Athletic Complex in Mount Pleasant and the 881-acre (357 ha) Stono Preserve.[12]
In 2017, Travel + Leisure magazine named it "America's Most Beautiful College Campus."[13]
The Mace Brown Museum of Natural History is a public natural history museum located on the campus. The collection's focus is on the paleontology of North American mammals, and specifically the South Carolina Lowcountry. The museum has more than 30,000 vertebrate and invertebrate fossils.[14]
The Bully Pulpit Series is hosted jointly by the College of Charleston's Departments of Political Science and Communication. The series welcomes U.S. presidential candidates from the two major political parties to the campus.
The institution's 19 varsity sports teams participate in the NCAA Division ICoastal Athletic Association and are known as the Cougars. The Cougars compete at a variety of athletics facilities in the Charleston area, including the TD Arena,[20] the J. Stewart Walker Sailing Complex, Johnson Center Squash Courts, Patriots Point Athletic Complex, and the Links at Stono Ferry.
College of Charleston athletics are supported by the College of Charleston Athletic Club,[21] which was established in 1974. During the 1970–71 school year, College of Charleston students voted to change the nickname from the Maroons to the Cougars, in honor of a cougar that had recently arrived at the Charles Towne Landing zoo. Clyde the Cougar is the current mascot.[22]
The men's basketball team is ranked No. 6 for the highest winning percentage in NCAA Division I men's college basketball.
^"College of Charleston". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on October 23, 2007. Retrieved March 19, 2008.
^Municipal college; Easterby, J.H. (1935)"Appendix I: Charters and Other Documents in A History of the College of Charleston, pp. 252. USA: The Scribner Press
^Ileana Strauch and Katina Strauch,The College History Series - College of Charleston(Arcadia Publishing:Library of Congress Catalog Card: 00-106473) 2000 p6.
