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SE Biology, Vol. 61, No. 1, January, 2014 
Spartanburg Methodist College 
History 
Spartanburg Methodist College was founded as Textile Industrial Institute on 
September 4, 1911 by Dr. David English Camak, a visionary Methodist minister. 
At its founding as a work-study cooperative, Til served young adults working in 
area textile mills by offering high school level courses in preparation for 
advanced education or employment. In this first cooperative education program 
in the country, students worked a week and then took classes for a week. This 
arrangement enabled the school to provide resources for education and for life. 
In 1927, the first two years of college-level work were added to the curriculum to 
provide graduates with an associate degree in liberal arts for transfer to senior 
level colleges. The continued relationship between Til and local business and 
industry led to the development of associate degrees that prepared students for 
immediate employment. In 1940, the high school classes were dropped from 
the Til curriculum. 
In 1942, Textile Industrial Institute became Spartanburg Junior College and for 
the next twenty-five years focused its efforts on providing associate degrees 
designed for transfer into a wide variety of bachelor degree programs. 
Beginning in 1965, the College began a cycle of growth during which over three- 
fourths of the present campus buildings were erected or renovated, the 
curriculum was broadened and strengthened, student enrollment doubled and 
new expertise was added through faculty growth and development. In 1974, 
Spartanburg Junior College became Spartanburg Methodist College. Then, as 
is now, SMC’s mission is to transform lives in a values-oriented, student-centered 
atmosphere in the Christian tradition that encourages academic excellence, 
intellectual exploration, social awareness, and character development within the 
liberal arts tradition. 
Since its founding, Spartanburg Methodist College has been affiliated with the 
mission work of the United Methodist Church and its forbearer, the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, South. The relationship between the College and the church 
has continued across the years through the General Board of Global Ministries 
and the Board of Global Ministries of the South Carolina Annual Conference. The 
College’s name attests to the pride the institution’s trustees, faculty, staff, and 
student body take in working and studying at a college based on the traditional 
values of the church and the United States of America. 
Today, Spartanburg Methodist College is South Carolina’s only private, 
residential college exclusively for freshmen and sophomore students and one of 
only four colleges in SC affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The 
College, which sits on a 110-acre campus with 20 buildings, serves a highly 
diverse student body from several states, as well as from various countries 
around the world. Dr. Colleen Perry Keith has served as the College’s seventh 
president since July 1,2009. 
