University of Charleston

The University of Charleston (UC) is a private university with its main campus in Charleston, West Virginia. It also has a location in Beckley, West Virginia, known as UC-Beckley. History The school was founded in 1888 as the Barboursville Seminary of the Southern Methodist Church. In 1901, it was renamed Morris Harvey College, in honor of a devoted supporter. In 1935 the school moved to downtown Charleston and affiliated with the Mason College of Fine Arts and Music. In 1940, it became independent of the Methodist Church. In 1947, the school moved to its present campus in the Kanawha City section of Charleston across the river from the State Capitol. In 1951, it purchased the Young-Noyes House as the home of the college president. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. The college fell on hard times after the end of the military draft and college deferment during the Vietnam War and offered itself to the state in 1975, which refused the gift. In December 1978, the school changed its name to the University of Charleston. Beginning with the inauguration of President Dr. Edwin H. Welch in 1989, the school has undergone a physical and academic transformation. Four new residence halls, a parking garage, a fitness center, an academic building housing the library, computer and science labs, and a new school of pharmacy have been built since 1998.