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Freed-Hardeman University

Freed-Hardeman University is primarily an undergraduate university in Henderson, Tennessee in the United States of America. The university is located within a short distance of the town's central area. The university traces its heritage to the members of the Churches of Christ who helped build it. Freed-Hardeman is primarily undergraduate and residential, meaning it enrolls full time students of traditional college age. The university also serves some commuting, part-time, and older adult students on-campus and through distance-learning programs. The university offers a limited number of master's-level graduate programs including Bible, Business, Counseling and Education. Arts, science, and professional degrees are conferred. 99.2% of its applicants are accepted

The university is governed by a board of trustees, all of whom are required to be members of the Churches of Christ. Courses are offered by 12 academic departments organized into six schools – Arts and Humanities, Biblical, Business, Education, Sciences and Mathematics, and the Honors College. The Loden-Daniel Library services the undergraduate and graduate students, as well as faculty and staff.

History

Freed-Hardeman traces its origin to the 1869 charter of a private high school and college for Henderson, the Henderson Male Institute. It was known at various times as the Henderson Masonic Male and Female Institute, West Tennessee Christian College, Georgie Robertson Christian College, National Teachers' Normal and Business College; and (as of 1919) Freed-Hardeman College. In February of 1990, it became Freed-Hardeman University.

Dormitories

The university has five women's dormitories. Hall-Roland Hall (originally Oakland Hall) is the oldest residence hall. The ground floor houses a Personal Counseling Center, Graduate Studies in Counseling, and the Department of Behavioral and Consumer Sciences. H. A. Dixon Hall is a four story dormitory opened in 1958. It can house up to 136 residents. Thomas E. and LaVonne B. Scott Hall opened in 1971 and can house 152 students. In 1973 W. A. Bradfield Hall opened. It houses 144 students. Porter-Terry Hall opened in 1977 and can house up to 156 students.

The four men's dormitories are as follows. Paul Gray Hall was built in 1929 and can house 128 men on four floors. Opened in 1970, George S. Benson Hall can accommodate 152 students. Farrow Hall opened in 1973 and has a capacity for 178 men. Sewell Hall opened on January 13, 2007 and has a capacity for 200 men. Upon the opening of Sewell Hall, L. L. Brigance Hall, which could house 78 men, was closed.

Two additional residence halls were built in 2003: Tyler Residence Hall (for Women) and the Woods-East Residence Hall (for Men). These Residence halls are considered Privileged housing. Privileged housing is open only to upperclassmen. Students wishing to live in Privileged housing must complete an application and meet certain requirements including a 3.1 GPA. The rooms in these residence halls have four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen (with a microwave, oven, stove, and refrigerator), a washer and dryer, and a living room. Four students share this living space, each one with their own bedroom, and sharing a bathroom with one roommate.

Campus Buildings

The Student Center opened in 1966 and houses a variety of food services and recreational rooms. The first floor houses the Burks Center. The center contains a food center, post office, Career Resource Center, Student Association office, Student Services office, and Office of Student Life and Development. The main cafeteria, Wallace-Gano Dining Hall, is located on the second floor. The food service is operated by Aramark.

Clayton Chapel, a red brick and stained glass building located on University Street, opened in 1992. It has a capacity of approximately 100. It may be reserved for devotionals and weddings.

The Brown-Kopel Business Center, which is the newest academic building on campus, was built in 2003. This building was the start of many technology additions to the classroom that eventually began to be added to classrooms in other buildings.

The new Bulliner-Clayton Visual Arts Center opened in Fall 2007.

Future plans include building a new Library and expansion and renovation of the Associates Science Center to facilitate and house the new nursing program.

Student life

Full-time students are required to take at least one Bible class every semester and attend a daily chapel service.

Freed-Hardeman does not have fraternities and sororities in the traditional sense. Instead the university has co-ed social clubs. These social clubs are local only to Freed-Hardeman and have no connection to any national Greek system. At present there are five social clubs - Phi Kappa Alpha, Chi Beta Chi, Sigma Rho, Gamma Tau Omega, and Xi Chi Delta. Each club is student-led and has a faculty sponsor(s). There is a limit of 200 paying members per social club which has been increased from the previous 150 members due to the lower amount of clubs avilable. Many members participate in intramural sports, retreats, community service projects, the annual spring production of Makin' Music, and many other social activities. Many "non-paying" members participate in many of these activities, however "non-paying" members cannot participate in intramural sports or attend meetings of some clubs. About half of all students choose to join a social club at some point during their time at Freed-Hardeman University.

Other University Organizations include: Student Government Association, "The Pride", Campus Delegate Team, University Program Council, Student Alumni Association, University Chorale, University Singers, Ambassadors, FHU Band, Art Guild, Students in Free Enterprise, Law Society, Lambda Pi Eta, Society for Future Accountants, Social Work Students in Action, National Broadcast Society, Communications Majors and Minors Association (COMMA), Pied Pipers, For Heaven's Sake, Pi Epsilon, Dactylology Club, Right to Life, Tabitha Club, Preacher's Club, Evangelism Forum, Psychological Affiliation, Math & Computer Science Club, Pizza Hut Thursdays Club, Biology Club, WFHU 91.5 FM, TV40 and the Treasure Chest.

The school's newspaper was originally called the Skyrocket and was begun in 1923. The newspaper was renamed the New Edition briefly in 1972. After a name selection contest, it was renamed the Bell Tower and is published 12 times throughout the year. The school's yearbook is called the Treasure Chest. The yearbook is now issued in the form of a DVD and is accompanied by a photo directory. The University's radio station, WFHU, 91-FIVE, is the 10,500-watt FM stereo station.

Spiritual Life

Campus-Wide devotionals are held every Monday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights at 10:30pm.

Dorm devotionals are held in the dorm lobbies at 10:30pm every Tuesday night.

Gazebo singings are organized every Sunday night at 10:00 in the gazebo on Main Street.

Every other Wednesday Night at 10:00p.m. students meet in Clayton Chapel for Clayton Chapel Singing.

Every other Tuesday on the weeks opposite the Clayton Chapel Singing, Xi Chi Delta hosts campus-wide raquetball singings at 11:00p.m.

Every year the University hosts the FHU Lectureship on campus. Several other lectures and forums are given throughout the year. On Monday, during Lectureship week, there is a dinner to honor a person of importance to Freed-Hardeman and the Churches of Christ. Although a large portion of the attendees are visitors and alumnus of the university, students are encouraged to attend as many lectures as possible. A separate Student Lectureship is also held during the Fall and Spring semesters.

Walking Tall Movies

The campus was used as a filming location for the 1973 movie Walking Tall.

Annual Benefit Dinner & Speaker

Each year, around the first weekend in December, the university has a fundraising dinner featuring well-known speakers, such as Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken, Jr., former Presidents Gerald R. Ford and George H. W. Bush, TV personality Regis Philbin, retired General Norman Schwarzkopf, Olympic gold medalist Mary Lou Retton, Senator Elizabeth Dole, former US Senate Majority Leader and physician, Dr. Bill Frist, popular radio commentator Paul Harvey, NBC Today Show weatherman Willard Scott, NFL football player, commentator & actor Merlin Olsen, country comedian Jerry Clower, former Alabama head coach Gene Stallings, historic CBS-TV News anchor and reporter Walter Cronkite, former First Lady Barbara Bush, and most recently former NBC News Anchor and current Meet the Press moderator Tom Brokaw. Comedian Tim Conway has been announced as the guest speaker for the next dinner to be held on December 5, 2008.