Methodist Ladies' College history

Classes were first commenced in February 1908 with 31-day girls and 23 boarders.

Building and student growth continues, and by 1923 the original building design is completed.

In 1926 a new wing is also added to provide accommodation for a further 20 boarders, two new classrooms on the ground floor and seven music practising rooms.

Barclay House is opened in 1939.

The House system commenced at MLC School in 1942 with the introduction of four Houses whose names were chosen from Aboriginal words commencing with MLCB – Mooramoora, Churunga, Leawarra, Booralee – to reflect the first letters of Methodist Ladies’ College Burwood.

In 1955, a citizens’ group in Fayetteville, N.C., began discussing the possibility of bringing a private college to the city.

In July 1956, a Methodist College Board of Trustees was organized, and Fayetteville attorney Terry Sanford was elected board chairman.

In June 1957, the trustees named L. Stacy Weaver, superintendent of the Durham City Schools and an active Methodist lay leader, the first president of Methodist College.

Site preparation for the campus and construction of the first four buildings began in the fall of 1958.

Bosisto Hall is opened in 1959 and serves as the Assembly Hall and Gymnasium.

In September 1960, Methodist College opened for business with 88 full-time students, 40 part-time students, 12 faculty members, and four buildings: the Classroom Building (later named the Trustees Building), the Student Union (later named in honor of Mr. and Mrs.

A swimming pool is opened onsite in 1962.

Intercollegiate sports began in the fall of 1963.

On April 10, 1964, Weaver was inaugurated as the school’s founding president.

By 1965, Methodist had two new residence halls ready for occupancy, and the young institution had begun to establish the traditions that stand today.

At a special assembly in 1967, Methodist College students selected a musical composition by Lois Lambie, a music teacher at Seventy-First High School in Fayetteville, as the College’s alma mater, and the Trustees adopted it as such later that year.

The Fleishman Fountain and Hensdale Chapel were built in 1969.

In May 1971, a classroom block with 11 classrooms and a staff room are officially opened by the Premier of Western Australia, The Honourable, John Tonkin, and is named Langsford House.

Declining enrollment, which bottomed out at 610 in 1973, forced the college to lay off faculty and staff, borrow from local banks for current operations, and default on federal loans used to build the first four residence halls.

Doctor Pearce established a President’s List to recognize students who earned an “A” average each semester, and during his tenure, Shelley Baseball Field (now called Armstrong-Shelley Field) was completed and dedicated in 1974, as well as tennis courts and a track.

It was at Doctor Pearce’s behest that a home for the president was constructed on campus in 1975, built with the proceeds from the sale of the president’s former house in downtown Fayetteville.

In June 1977 when the Methodist Church was subsumed into the new union of the Methodist, Presbyterian and Congregational Churches, the school for so long called Methodist Ladies College Burwood became known officially as MLC School.

In 1978, Methodist College began offering associate’s degrees.

Sumner House is opened in 1979.

The boarders' dining room, which survived the fire, was refurbished and in 1980 the MLC School Chapel held its first service.

Connell House is built in 1982 and a new section is added to the rear of the Centenary Building.

In 1983, 75 years of the College opening is celebrated.

In 1984, three computer courses were introduced: one for Year 7 students to become familiar with the use and application of computers, an elective course of five periods a week for Year 9 and Year 10 and an elective course for three periods a week for Year 11.

In 1985, the MLC School Library circulation system and catalogue was computerised.

In March 1986, Methodist College established the Charles M. Reeves School of Business and Economics to honor the Sanford, N.C. businessman, trustee, and benefactor.

Doctor Wearden had previously lived in North Carolina when he obtained his Ph.D. in Mass Communication Research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1987.

At this celebration a time capsule buried in 1989 was opened.

Methodist College began the 1990-91 school year with an enrollment of 1,447—969 day students and 343 evening students.

A mentoring/tutoring program was started in the fall of 1991.

In May 1992, the college contracted with EUA/Highland Partners for a $1.5 million, two-year energy savings plan involving installation of new heating and lighting systems with electronic controls.

In June 1993, the Methodist College Board of Trustees approved a series of important planning recommendations presented by a Strategic Concepts Committee appointed by the president.

In 1994, the Methodist College Board of Trustees agreed to lease 30 acres of campus land (for a token fee) to a local non-profit group for construction of the Jordan Soccer Complex, a youth soccer complex consisting of eight fields.

During 1995-96, West Hall was opened and the main entrance to the campus was realigned to meet a proposed stoplight.

The Math and Computer Science Building, later renamed D. Keith Allison Hall, opened in the summer of 1997.

Fall 2000 saw the completion of Cape Fear Commons, the college’s first apartment-style, co-educational, residence hall.

In the spring of 2002, Methodist fielded its first women’s lacrosse team.

In December 2003, Methodist awarded its first master’s degrees to seven graduates of the Physician Assistant Program.

In 2005, the College launched the Professional MBA at Pinehurst, a hybrid online/weekend program taught in cooperation with the nearby Pinehurst Resort.

Creekside Apartments, two new apartment-style residence halls opened in August 2006, bringing total residential capacity to 956 students.

In November, President Hendricks announced the appointment of Doctor Delmas S. Crisp, Jr., academic dean at Wesleyan College in Macon, Ga., as Methodist’s new academic dean, effective June 1, 2007.

In 2012-13, a series of campus building improvements included a renovation of the library that reopened the central mall entrance, modernized the circulation area, and provided new facilities for a Writing Center and a Tutoring Center.

The Building was renamed to be the Marjorie Lyon House after Collegian, Marjorie Lyon, in 2017.

In 2018, an entry-level doctoral program in Occupational Therapy also made McLean its home, enrolling its first students in the fall.

Doctor Suzanne Blum Malley assumed the duties of provost in January 2020, joining Wearden from Columbia College Chicago.