Berry College

Berry College
Seal of Berry College
Motto	"Not to be Ministered Unto, but to Minister"
Established	1902
Type	Private, coeducational
Endowment	$624 million
President	Dr. Stephen R. Briggs
Students	1777 Undergraduate, 145 Graduate
Location	Mount Berry, Georgia, USA
Campus	Suburban 26,000+ acres (105+ km²)
Colors	Blue and Silver
Mascot	Viking
Website	www.berry.edu

Berry College is an American accredited, private, four-year liberal arts college located in Rome, Georgia. It was founded in 1902 by Martha Berry.

Location

Berry College is located just north of Rome, Ga., on U.S. Highway 27 (Martha Berry Highway) in Northwest Georgia, 72 miles northwest of Atlanta and 75 miles south of Chattanooga.

Spanning more than 26,000 acres, the Berry campus consists of fields, forests, and Lavender Mountain. Designated portions are open to the public for hiking, cycling, horseback riding, and other outdoor activities. The campus is also home to a large population of deer (estimates range between 1,500 and 2,500). The Georgia Department of Natural Resources oversees a large area (almost 16,000 acres) and conducts managed hunts in an attempt to control the deer population and provide recreational opportunities within department regulations. There is also a wildlife refuge encompassing campus buildings and other public spaces where no hunting is allowed.

History

Berry was founded in 1902 by Martha McChesney Berry as a school for rural boys. Seven years later, a girls school was added. A junior college was established in 1926, and a four-year college followed in 1930. Graduate programs outside the liberal arts were added in 1972. Funds for campus facilities and other programs have been provided by such notable contributors as Henry Ford and Truett Cathy.

The reflecting pools located in front of the Ford Dining Hall.

Mary Hall.

The "Gate of Opportunity" is the main entrance to the college campus.

Academics

Berry College offers Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Music, Bachelor of Science, Master of Business Administration, Master of Education, and Education Specialist degrees from the four schools making up the academic program. It is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), the National Council for Teacher Education (NCATE), the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM), and the American Chemical Society (ACS). Berry is also a member of the Annapolis Group, an organization of more than 120 liberal arts colleges nationwide. According to U.S. News and World Report Berry is currently ranked 112th among the "Top Liberal Arts colleges."^[1]

Undergraduate programs

The Campbell School of Business offers bachelor's degrees in accounting, economics, finance, management, and marketing. It also fields an MBA program.

The Charter School of Education and Human Sciences offers bachelor's degrees in early childhood education, psychology, health and physical education, exercise science, and middle grades education. Upper-level programs include a Master of Education, Education Specialist, ESOL endorsement, master's level reading endorsement, and certifications in early childhood education, middle grades education, and secondary education.

The Evans School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences offers bachelor's degrees in art, communication, English, French, German, government, history, international studies, music, music education, music with elective studies in business, religion and philosophy, sociology and anthropology, Spanish, and theatre. Pre-law is also available as a pre-professional program.

The School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences offers bachelor's degrees in animal science, biochemistry, biology, chemistry, computer science, environmental sciences, mathematics, and physics. Dual-degree programs are available in engineering (with the Georgia Institute of Technology) and nursing (with the Emory University School of Nursing). Pre-professional programs in pre-dentistry, pre-medicine, pre-pharmacy, and pre-veterinary medicine are also available.

Minors can be obtained in 36 different courses of study throughout the four schools.

Berry also offers a an undergraduate degree in interdisciplinary studies, as well as a certification in Latin American and Caribbean Studies.

Mirror Lake, located on the Mountain Campus of Berry College.

Religion

Berry was never officially affiliated with the Christian religion, but was built on Christian ethics and beliefs. Though mandatory religious adherence was abandoned decades ago in the college as a whole, it remains for those students with the WinShape grant ^[2]. Additionally, the school's mission statement espouses "values based on Christian principles." ^[3] The campus has a chaplain, a non-denominational church, three chapels, and an active religion-in-life program spanning all Christian denominations. An interfaith council and an interfaith center were set up in 2004 to address the needs of non-Christian students, faculty, and staff.

Athletics

The Berry College mascot is the Viking. Varsity sports include men's baseball, women's volleyball and equestrian, and men's and women's basketball, soccer, golf, tennis, and running (cross country and track). New in 2009-10 are women's softball and men's and women's swimming and diving. Men's and women's lacrosse will be added in 2010-11.

Berry College was recently granted provisional membership in NCAA Division III. Berry currently holds joint membership in both the NCAA and the NAIA and competes in the NAIA's Southern States Athletic Conference. Once the provisional process is completed, Berry will become a full member of NCAA Division III, at which time the institution will be eligible to compete for NCAA championships.

Films

Berry College has been used for the filming of several movies, along with music videos by bands such as Casting Crowns. The most notable films are Remember the Titans and Sweet Home Alabama. Disney's movie Perfect Harmony was filmed at buildings including Old Mill. A short scene from Dutch was filmed on the Berry campus.

References

External links

• Official website