Converse University

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title: "Converse University" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["liberal-arts-colleges-in-south-carolina", "conference-carolinas-schools", "private-universities-and-colleges-in-south-carolina", "former-women's-universities-and-colleges-in-the-united-states", "universities-and-colleges-accredited-by-the-southern-association-of-colleges-and-schools", "1889-establishments-in-south-carolina", "university-and-college-buildings-on-the-national-register-of-historic-places-in-south-carolina", "romanesque-revival-architecture-in-south-carolina", "gothic-revival-architecture-in-south-carolina", "neoclassical-architecture-in-south-carolina", "national-register-of-historic-places-in-spartanburg,-south-carolina", "universities-and-colleges-established-in-1889", "universities-and-colleges-in-spartanburg-county,-south-carolina"] description: "Private university in Spartanburg, South Carolina, US" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Converse_University" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Private university in Spartanburg, South Carolina, US ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox university"]

Field	Value
name	Converse University
image	Converse univ seal.png
image_size	120
former_name	Converse College (1889–2021)
established
type	Private university
endowment	$91.7 million (2024)
president	Boone Hopkins
provost	William Case
faculty	90 Full-time (2022)
students	1,284
undergrad	804
postgrad	480
city	Spartanburg, South Carolina
country	U.S.
coor
campus	Urban, 70 acre
colors	Purple and gold

| | sports_nickname | Valkyries | | mascot | Val the Valkyrie | | athletics_affiliations | NCAA Division II – Carolinas | | website | | | logo | Convere_University_Logo_2023.png | | logo_size | 200 | | name | Converse College Historic District | | nrhp_type | hd | | nocat | yes | | image | Converse College main building.jpg | | location | 580 E. Main St., Spartanburg, South Carolina | | locmapin | South Carolina#USA | | built | -1915 | | architect | Hook, Charles | | architecture | Late Gothic Revival, Romanesque, Richardson Romanesque | | added | November 12, 1975 | | area | 20 acre | | refnum | 75001706 | ::

|name = Converse University |native_name = |image = Converse univ seal.png |image_size = 120 |former_name = Converse College (1889–2021) |caption = |latin_name = |motto = |mottoeng = |established = |closed = |type = Private university |affiliation = |endowment = $91.7 million (2024) |officer_in_charge = |chairman = |chancellor = |president = Boone Hopkins |vice-president = |superintendent = |provost = William Case |vice_chancellor = |rector = |principal = |dean = |director = |head_label = |head = |faculty = 90 Full-time (2022) |staff = |students = 1,284 |undergrad = 804 |postgrad = 480 |doctoral = |other = |city = Spartanburg, South Carolina |province = |country = U.S. |coor = |campus = Urban, 70 acre |former_names = |free_label = |free = |sports = |colors = Purple and gold

|colours = |sports_nickname = Valkyries |mascot = Val the Valkyrie |athletics_affiliations = NCAA Division II – Carolinas |website = |logo = Convere_University_Logo_2023.png | logo_size = 200 |footnotes = | name = Converse College Historic District | nrhp_type = hd | nocat = yes | image = Converse College main building.jpg | caption = | location = 580 E. Main St., Spartanburg, South Carolina | locmapin = South Carolina#USA | built = -1915 | architect = Hook, Charles | architecture = Late Gothic Revival, Romanesque, Richardson Romanesque | added = November 12, 1975 | area = 20 acre | refnum = 75001706

Converse University is a private university in Spartanburg, South Carolina. It was established in 1889 by a group of Spartanburg residents and named after textile pioneer Dexter Edgar Converse. It was originally a women's college but now admits men.

History

Converse College opened on October 1, 1890, with a student body of 168 women and 16 faculty members. The college only admitted women students and operated as a "stock company" with the board of directors composed entirely of residents of Spartanburg. Dexter Edgar Converse, a native of Vermont who had settled in Spartanburg before the American Civil War and had become a successful pioneer in the cotton mill industry, served as the head of the first board of directors. On January 2, 1892, fire destroyed the college's main building. The building was enlarged during its reconstruction. In 1896, the college was incorporated in South Carolina and a self-perpetuating board of trustees was named. In 1964, the college introduced graduate programs.

The Converse College Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.

The college changed its name to "Converse University" in the summer of 2021. The college also "expanded its undergraduate residential program from single-gender to co-ed" by admitting male undergraduate students in the fall of 2021.

Presidents

::data[format=table]

Name	Years served
Benjamin F. Wilson	1890–1902
Robert Paine Pell	1902–1932
Edward Moseley Gwathmey	1933–1955
Oliver Cromwell Carmichael, Jr.	1956–1960
Robert T. Coleman, Jr.	1961–1989
Ellen Wood Hall	1989–1993
Sandra C. Thomas	1994–1998
Nancy Oliver Gray	1999–2005
Elizabeth A. Fleming	2006–2016
Krista L. Newkirk	2016–2021
last1=Duncan	first1=Holly
Boone J. Hopkins	2022–present
::

Academics

| USNWR_REG = 46 (tie) of 103 | Wamo_MASTERSU = 76 of 603

, Converse offers 44 undergraduate degree programs and 28 graduate programs. The university's undergraduate program also awards certificates. The University also has a presence at University Center of Greenville, a center that houses satellite campuses of several South Carolina colleges offering higher education programs. Converse offers two undergraduate and three graduate degree programs at the center.

The Nisbet Honors Program, established in 2000, is the university's undergraduate honors program.

Converse has a Model Programs team who participate in Model Arab League and the annual International Model NATO conference hosted by Howard University. Converse's Model Programs annually hosts the Southeastern Regional Model Arab League (SERMAL) conference.

Athletics

The Converse athletic teams are called the Valkyries. The university is a member of the Division II ranks of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the Conference Carolinas (CC) since the 2007–08 academic year. The Valkyries previously competed as a Division II Independent from 2002–03 to 2006–07.

Women's sports include acrobatics and tumbling, basketball, cross country, equestrian, field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball, track and field (indoor and outdoor), golf, tennis, swimming and volleyball.

The inaugural men's sports are basketball, cross country, soccer, tennis, track and field (indoor and outdoor) and volleyball. Converse's equestrian program is coeducational, though only women participate in NCAA-recognized competition. The university also has a coeducational varsity esports team.

Notable alumni

• Kimilee Bryant, Broadway actress and Miss South Carolina 1989
• Lynette Eason, Christian novelist and teacher
• Margaret Moffett Law, artist
• Ruth Perry, civil rights activist
• Fatemeh Pahlavi, royal member of the Pahlavi dynasty of Iran.
• Julia Peterkin, class of 1896 and winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1929.
• Katherine Drayton Mayrant Simons, writer
• Sutton Stracke, class of 1993, socialite and television personality

Notable faculty

• Julia Klumpke, concert violinist and composer
• Radiana Pazmor, contralto and music therapist
• Steven Graff, concert pianist

References

References

1. (February 12, 2025). "U.S. and Canadian 2024 NCSE Participating Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year 2024 Endowment Market Value, Change in Market Value from FY23 to FY24, and FY24 Endowment Market Values Per Full-time Equivalent Student". National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO).
2. "College Navigator - Converse University".
3. {{NRISref
4. Mary Ann Eaddy and Georgianna Graham. (May 1975). "Converse Heights Historic District". National Register of Historic Places – Nomination and Inventory.
5. "Converse College Historic District, Spartanburg County (Spartanburg)". South Carolina Department of Archives and History.
6. (February 7, 2020). "Converse College Board of Trustees Announces Dynamic Changes". Converse College.
7. (22 July 2021). "Converse University Mourns the Death of President Jeffrey H. Barker".
8. (February 25, 2022). "Converse Announces Appointment of Boone J. Hopkins as Twelfth President". Converse University.
9. University, Converse. "Programs Archive".
10. "FAQ".
11. "Bachelors Degree Program Near Spartanburg, SC".
12. "Nisbet Honors Program {{!}} Converse University".
13. "Home".
14. University, Converse. "Model Programs".
15. "Southeast Regional Model Arab League – Model Arab League Youth Leadership Development Program".
16. (10 June 2015). "Broadway actress Kimilee Bryant returns to Greenville". The Greenville News.
17. (1950-04-24). "Milestones, Apr. 24, 1950".
18. Converse College, ''[https://cdm17281.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p17281coll8/id/766/rec/50 Y's and other Y's]'' (Spartanburg, SC: 1948), 78, Spartanburg County Public Libraries, Accessed 14 June 2023.
19. (2000-05-14). "WEDDINGS; Sutton Brown, Christian Stracke".
20. (January 2013). "The Grove Dictionary of American Music". OUP USA.

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