Belhaven University history

In 1894, Belhaven College was chartered by Doctor Lewis Fitzhugh as the "Belhaven College for Young Ladies" in a house on Boyd Street in Jackson, Mississippi.

Doctor Fitzhugh served as president until his death in 1904, after which his heirs sold the College to Doctor J. R. Preston.

He served as president until the College was destroyed again by fire in 1910, at which time Doctor Preston donated the title of the College to the Presbyterian Church.

In September, 1911, the school was reopened by The Central Mississippi Presbytery as Belhaven Collegiate and Industrial Institute at the current site on Peachtree Street in the historic Belhaven Neighborhood.

In 1912, Belhaven became the first women’s college to teach chemistry.

Doctor W. H. Frazier succeeded Lancaster as president from 1918–21, and during his tenure enrollment grew to 230 students.

In 1921, the Reverend Guy T. Gillespie of Lexington, Mississippi, began a 33-year presidency during which Belhaven was first accredited, an endowment fund begun, and scholarships made available.

In 1927, Belhaven introduced a Bachelor of Music degree and quickly gained a reputation as an elite school for those drawn to a career in the arts.

The first singing Christmas tree in the world debuted at Belhaven in 1933.

That same year, the Board of Trustees voted to make Belhaven fully coeducational, leading to the first six male enrollments for the 1954 academic year.

Intercollegiate sports for men were added, for example, men’s basketball (1956) and tennis (1956). Doctor Robert Cooper served a short time as interim president following service as vice president with Doctor Crowe’s administration.

Doctor Howard J. Cleland was principal of Murrah High School in Jackson when he was elected president of Belhaven in 1961.

Founded by Doctor Lewis Fitzhugh and later donated to the Presbyterian Church in the United States, the school has been independently run by a Board of Trustees since 1972.

In March, 1978, Doctor Verne R. Kennedy became the first Belhaven alumnus to serve as the chief executive of Belhaven College.

In June 1986, another alumnus of Belhaven, Doctor Newton Wilson, became president.

Doctor Roger Parrott was elected tenth president of Belhaven in the fall of 1995, after having served as a president and vice president of other Christian colleges.

In January 1996, Doctor Roger Parrott became the tenth president of the college, with about 1,300 enrolled students.

The football program, established in 1998 under head coach Norman Joseph, remains the largest and most popular sports team on campus.

The Legacy of Learning was established in 2006 to honor faculty serving Belhaven over twenty years.

The five most popular majors among 2009 graduates were Visual and Performing Arts (22%), Business, Management, Marketing, and related support services (17%), Health and Physical Education/Fitness (11%), Education (9%), and Psychology (8%).

In 2010, Belhaven College changed its name to Belhaven University in order to better represent the institution’s expanded breadth of programs and reach.

The Men's Soccer team won the 2012 NAIA National Championship compiling a record of 19-4-1.

The MFA in Dance began in 2013.