Private college in Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S.
Arkansas Baptist College (ABC) is a private Baptist-affiliated historically black college in Little Rock, Arkansas. Founded in 1884 as the Minister's Institute, ABC was initially funded by the Colored Baptists of the State of Arkansas. It is the only historically black Baptist school west of the Mississippi River. The Main Building on its campus, built in 1893, is one of the oldest surviving academic buildings in the state,[4] and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
History
The college was founded in 1884 as the Minister's Institute, and was initially funded by the Colored Baptists of the State of Arkansas.[5] The first principal and teacher was Rev. J.P. Lawson, a white Baptist minister from Joplin, Missouri.[5]
The first president served from 1887 until his death in 1926, Joseph Albert Booker; Booker was formerly enslaved and he was a newspaper editor.[5] Booker was an influential educator and he actively fought against the segregationist policies in Little Rock.[6]
Shortly after Booker became president, the Arkansas Baptist College acquired land at the southwest corner of 16th Street and High Street (now MLK Street),[5] where they built wooden structures that burned down on March 2, 1893. The campus remained at that site,[5] and the cornerstone for the Old Main building was laid on November 2, 1893, but it took several years to complete the building.
The campus has changed over the years, and in 1913, it included a 3-story boys’ dormitory, a manual training building, and the president’s home. In the 1930s, the campus added an education building which housed the library, classrooms, offices, The Baptist Vanguard newspaper print shop, the business department, and the biology room. By 1950, the campus included Old Main, the education building, the boys’ dormitory, an administration building, gymnasium, and two more classroom buildings.
Accreditation
In 1947, during the tenure of president Coggs, the college received its initial two-year accreditation from the Arkansas State Department of Education.[5]
Arkansas Baptist College was accredited by the Higher Learning Commission in 1987. In February 2014, the Commission placed the college on notice that it was at risk for being out of compliance with the commission's criteria for accreditation. In August 2015, the commission gave the college a "Show-Cause" order to present a case that its accreditation should not be withdrawn. The order was withdrawn in November 2016.[7] The commission placed the college on probation in 2019 for failing to meet the accreditation criterion that requires the institution to have adequate resources.[8] In 2022, the college was placed on a three year probation again.[9]
Old Main Building
Old Main (built 1893), the college’s administration building, is the oldest building in the state of Arkansas established for the purpose of educating Black students.[5] Initially, Old Main building housed the kitchen, dining hall, and the home economics department in the basement; offices for the president, the registrar, the business manager, and the dean, as well as the chapel and the girls’ dormitory on the second and third floors. The building was topped by a bell tower, used to signal class periods; however in 1965 the original bell tower was removed.
The Old Main Building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1976 and is part of the Central High School Neighborhood Historic District.[10] It was added to the NRHP because it is the oldest building on a historically African-American college campus in the state of Arkansas, and because it is an excellent example of Second Empire-style architecture.[10]
Athletics
The Arkansas Baptist athletic teams are called the Buffaloes. The college is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), primarily competing as an NAIA Independent within the Continental Athletic Conference since the 2021–22 academic year.
Prior to joining the NAIA, the Buffaloes were a member of the Bi-State Conference (Bi-State) within the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) until after the 2020–21 school year.
Arkansas Baptist competes in ten intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, football, soccer, track & field and wrestling; while women's sports include basketball, soccer, softball and track & field.
