The Shorter Story
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Cherokee Baptist Female College
1873
Conceived in the mind of educator Luther Rice Gwaltney, the Cherokee Baptist Female College opened for students in 1873. As pastor of Rome Baptist Church, now First Baptist, Gwaltney encouraged the active participation of church members in the establishment of a school for young ladies.
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Renaming to Shorter College
1877
Because of the generous contributions of Alfred and Martha Shorter, in 1877 the college was renamed Shorter College. Originally, the college was housed in Victorian structures located on Shelton Hill, near Clock Tower Hill in downtown Rome.
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The Early Years
In its early years, Shorter had three departments–primary, preparatory, and collegiate. Young women in the collegiate department studied the classics, science, music, art, and drama and established the literary magazine The Chimes as well as two societies–Eunomian (now Epsilon Sigma Sorority) and Polymnian (Pi Sigma Sorority).
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Relocation to “the Hill”
1910
By 1910 a new vision of a “Greater Shorter,” and contributions from the J. L. Bass family and the J. P. Cooper family made the relocation of the school to its current site a reality. As construction symbolized a new era, President Azor Van Hoose and the trustees looked to the past for inspiration–the first Founder’s Day was instituted.
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Celebrating the New Campus
The young women students celebrated the opening of the new campus in dozens of ways in the 1910s, including the first May Day Festival, the writing of “Alma Mater”, and the creation of the Periscope newspaper.
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Men Are Admitted to Shorter
1948
Boys were enrolled at Shorter part-time beginning during the 1948-1949 academic year. The first male graduate was in 1953.
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College to University
2010
On June 1, 2010, Shorter officially changed its name to Shorter University in a move designed to recognize the institution’s growth in recent years.
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NCAA Division II Membership
2014
In 2014, the NCAA officially welcomed the Hawks into full NCAA Division II as a member of the Gulf South Conference, signaling a celebratory end to the university’s three-year transition from the NAIA. The Hawks compete in all 14 GSC sponsored sports and are also associate members of the Peach Belt Conference in outdoor track and field.