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.[3] It encompasses eight contributing buildings dated between 1891 and 1915. They are the Main Building (Wilson Hall) (1892), Annex (Pell Hall, 1891), Twichell Auditorium (1898–1899), Carnegie Library (1905), Cleveland House (c. 1905), Judd Science Hall (1915), Dexter Hall (1899) and Towne House (1898). The buildings are representative of the Romanesque Revival, Gothic Revival, and Neo-Classical styles.[4][5]
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 2020.[6]
As of August 2023[update], Converse offers 44 undergraduate degree programs and 28 graduate programs. The university's undergraduate program also awards certificates.[11] 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.[12] Converse offers two undergraduate and three graduate degree programs at the center.[13]
The Nisbet Honors Program, established in 2000, is the university's undergraduate honors program.[14]
Converse has a Model Programs team who participate in Model Arab League and the annual International Model NATO conference hosted by Howard University.[15][16] Converse's Model Programs annually hosts the Southeastern Regional Model Arab League (SERMAL) conference.[17]
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.[citation needed]
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.[citation needed]
Kokab Moarefi, class of 1950. Former lady-in-waiting to Fatemeh Pahlavi, and deputy minister of the Ministries of Labor, Social Welfare, and Health.[23][24]
^Mary Ann Eaddy and Georgianna Graham (May 1975). "Converse Heights Historic District"(PDF). National Register of Historic Places – Nomination and Inventory. Retrieved July 1, 2014.
^Atkins, Nancy (April 12, 1972). "Shah of Iran's Sister Attended Converse in 1947-1948". Spartanburg Herald. p. 1.
^"به مناسبت در گذشت شادروان دکتر کوکب معارفی الهی" [On the occasion of the happy passing of Dr. Kokab Maarefhi Elahi]. The Official Website of Farah Pahlavi. January 30, 2020. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
_(14783501592).jpg)
