Bennett College: bold, boundless and back from the brink

It's no stretch to say that when Sister President Johnnetta Betsch Cole came out of retirement to assume the presidency of Bennett College for Women in Greensboro, N.C., four years ago, she saved the college.

And with the recent announcement that she will step down as president in 2007, she leaves the more than 100-year-old venerable institution facing a far brighter future. When President Cole came out of retirement in 2002, she made a five-year commitment to revitalize Bennett College. At that time, she faced three major challenges: to create and maintain fiscal stability at the college; to improve the college's physical plant; and to increase the college's enrollment.

She and her capable team are happy to report that all three challenges have been met. "I've said a million times at Bennett that if the time isn't right, I won't go. But the time is right," says Dr. Cole. "For four straight years we have ended with a balanced budget and a surplus, all indices say that enrollment is strong, and I'm just so proud of the way that this classically designed campus is now looking."

The well-maintained grounds are impressive, and under the Cole Administration, the library and administration building were renovated and the oldest building on campus, Wilbur F. Steel Hall, is now an Art Gallery, the first Art Gallery at Bennett College with beautiful art classrooms downstairs. "Those are the big projects, but if you go into every residence hall, every building, something has been done to make this a place of beauty and dignity for Black women," says Dr. Cole, Bennett College's 14th president.

Bennett College is one of only two historically Black colleges for women in the United States (Spelman College is the other). Dr. Cole is the only person to serve as president of both historically Black colleges for women. She has had a distinguished career as a college and university professor and administrator.

Dr. Cole is president emerita of Spelman College and professor emerita of Emory University, from which she retired as a Presidential Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, Women's Studies and African American Studies.

Bennett College was founded in 1873 as a co-educational institution. Founded through the inspiration of newly emancipated slaves, the Freedman's Aid and Southern Education Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church initially assumed responsibility for the support of the school. Lyman Bennett gave the first $10,000 for the purchase of land for the college, and following his untimely death from pneumonia, the institution and the first building were named Bennett Hall.

The 38-acre college was re-organized in 1926 as a college for women, and by 1930, the school had 138 young women. Last year the enrollment was 572 students, a dramatic boost, according to Dr. Arthur G. Affleck, Bennett College's vice president for institutional advancement. "Enrollment was in the low 400s when Dr. Cole arrived. We expect to enroll 600 this fall, and our plan is to one day reach 1,000 students," Dr. Affleck says.

Today the college is in the midst of a very active renaissance, expanding and strengthening its already strong liberal arts curriculum, initiating innovative academic programs, including Womanist Religious Studies and Global studies, and expanding faculty and student participation in academic and extracurricular activities in Ghana, Austria, South African and Korea. The college offers 24 different degree programs from arts management to mass communications to political science, and just about everything in-between.

Dr. Affleck says Bennett College for Women is currently "a good college," and is well on its way to becoming "great." "We have the tradition, the spirit among students, faculty and staff, the drive and the ideas," he says. "All we need is more financial help." To that end, the college has already raised approximately $30 million of its $40 million Revitalizing Bennett Campaign and hopes to raise the remaining $20 million by June 2007.

The college recently announced that on Oct. 20, philanthropist and talk-show host Oprah Winfrey plans to headline a major fund-raiser for the college. In addition, Bennett College National Alumnae Association President Audrey Demps Franklin says the more than 5,000 Bennett College alumnae belles in 38 alumnae chapters across the country, have also been great supporters of their college. Since Dr. Cole arrived, they have given more than $1 million annually to their alma mater. "Also worthy of note is that 30 percent of our graduates give each year. The national average for all institutions is less than 15 percent," Affleck adds.

In addition to the alumnae, other selected major donors include Dr. Bill Cosby, former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole, Dr. Maya Angelou, businesswoman Sheila Johnson, the UNCF, the United Methodist Church, Bennett College trustees and the Tom Joyner Foundation, which recently featured Bennett College as its school of the month, netting $525,000 in April.