Newberry College is a private Lutheran college in Newberry, South Carolina. As of 2023, it had 1,521 students.
Contents
Academics
Newberry College is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) to award bachelor's and master's degrees.
Athletics
Newberry athletic teams are the Wolves. The college is a member of the Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the South Atlantic Conference (SAC) since the 1996–97 academic year. The Wolves previously competed in the Carolinas Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (CIAC, now known as Conference Carolinas) of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 1961–62 to 1971–72.
As of 2023, Newberry fields 22 intercollegiate varsity sports teams, along with cheerleading and dance teams. Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, lacrosse, soccer, tennis, track & field and wrestling. Women's sports include basketball, cross country, field hockey, golf, lacrosse, rugby, soccer, softball, tennis, track & field, triathlon, and volleyball. Women's acrobatics & tumbling and women's wrestling will begin competition in the 2024-25 academic year.
Music program
The music program at Newberry College has a history in vocal and instrumental performance dating back over 100 years and a jazz band and marching band in existence since 1956. In 1956, a major turning point in the school's musical history took place, when respected military band leader and alumnus Charles "Chief" Pruitt organized the jazz band and the marching band after returning to the school to teach music.
Pruitt also began the Newberry College Jazz Festival, held each spring since 1958. The festival has hosted artists including Jeff Coffin, Delfayo Marsalis, Terell Stafford, Al Chez, and others.
Notable alumni
Corey Anderson – mixed martial artist; Ultimate Fighter 19 winner, competing in the UFC's Light Heavyweight Division
Kelly Anundson, MMA fighter
Lee Atwater
Dike Beede
Coleman Livingston Blease
Brandon Bostick
Benjamin O. Burnett
Henry L. Carroll
Frederick H. Dominick
Katrina Foster
Cody Garbrandt – mixed martial artist; former UFC Bantamweight Champion
Mark Hammond
Butler B. Hare
James Butler Hare
Greg Hartle
James Haskell Hope
Stuart Lake
Asbury Francis Lever
Mike Longabardi
Debola Ogunseye
Ron Parker
John H. Pitchford (1857–1923) – lawyer and politician, served on the Oklahoma Supreme Court (1921–23) and died in office
Billy Rhiel
Ralph Rowe