Martin Methodist College

Martin Methodist College

Type	Private
Established	1870
Endowment	US$9.28 million
President	Mark Labranche
Academic staff	67
Students	1,127
Location	Pulaski , Tennessee , United States [ ⚑ ] : 35°12′01″N 87°02′11″W / 35.2002°N 87.0364°W / 35.2002; -87.0364
Campus	Rural, 55 acres (220,000 m2)
|u}}rs	Red and Black
Athletics	NAIA – MSC
Mascot	RedHawks
Website	www.martinmethodist.edu

Martin Methodist College is a private Methodist liberal arts college in Pulaski, Tennessee. For many years it was a junior college but is now a baccalaureate institution providing more than thirty academic majors. The college also has an MBA program. The school has several intercollegiate sports programs and is a member of the NAIA.

Martin Methodist College is named for Thomas Martin (1799–1870), former mayor of Pulaski and member of the Ku Klux Klan,^[1] who left in his will an endowment of $30,000 dollars to establish a college for the education of the white girls and women of Giles County.^[2][3] It is sometimes suggested that Martin did so in fulfilment of a promise to his daughter Victoria, who died at the age of twenty.^[3][4] In 1938, the College became coeducational.^[2] Originally founded as a whites-only institution, in 1966 it was the first private college in the state of Tennessee to become racially integrated.^[4] The college was originally named Martin Female College; in 1908, its name was changed to Martin College; in April 1986, its name was changed to its present name of Martin Methodist College.^[2]

In September 2020, President of the University of Tennessee System Randy Boyd and Martin Methodist President Mark La Branche announced that the UT System is hoping to add MMC as the newest school in the system. While the merger needs to be approved by multiple state agencies and the General Assembly, the two universities are hoping to complete the merger by June 2021.^[5]

Grissom Colonial Hall, May 2014

Athletics

Martin Methodist teams, nicknamed athletically as the RedHawks, are part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Division I level, primarily competing in the Mid-South Conference (MSC). Men's sports include: baseball, basketball, bowling, golf, soccer and tennis; while women's sports include: basketball, bowling, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, tennis and volleyball. Competitive cheerleading is offered as a co-ed sport. Competitive trap and skeet shooting was added as the department's 15th varsity sport in the fall of 2013.

Some of the sport teams' accomplishments include:

• Women's Soccer – Two-time NAIA National Champions (2005, 2007). Nine consecutive TranSouth Athletic Conference championships (2004–2012), nine consecutive NAIA National Tournament berths (2004–2012), 24 NAIA All-Americans and the 2005 and 2007 NAIA Player of the Year awards.^[6][7][8]
• Men's Soccer – On Dec. 7, 2013, the RedHawks defeated Auburn University at Montgomery 2-1 in overtime to claim the program's first ever NAIA national championship. Despite entering the 32-team tournament as the lowest seeded squad, the RedHawks vanquished some of the NAIA's premier competition to claim the title. In their opening-round matchup, the RedHawks avenged an early season loss with a 2–0 victory over Bryan College. In the second round, the RedHawks thrashed No. 1 overall seed Grand View University 5-0, highlighted by a second half natural hat trick from eventual tournament Offensive Most Outstanding Player Sean Dong. In their quarterfinal matchup, the RedHawks knocked off defending national champion Belhaven University 2-1 in double overtime. The victory marked the third time in 2013 the RedHawks had beaten the defending national champion Blazers. The RedHawks also defeated the Blazers 1-0 to claim the 2013 Southern States Athletic Conference Championship a month prior. In the national tournament semifinal, the RedHawks scored with just under four minutes left in regulation to force overtime against Ashford University before ultimately advancing in a penalty kick shootout. RedHawk goalkeeper Stephen Lunney, who was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Defensive Player, made a stop on the second Ashford penalty before taking and making the fifth and final penalty to send the RedHawks to the tournament final. In the title match, the RedHawks struck for an early goal against Auburn University at Montgomery, but allowed a second half goal from the Warhawks. In overtime, RedHawk midfielder Jonathan Remond took a pass from Kenneth Monge just outside the Warhawk box and finessed a left-footed shot into the back of the net to give the RedHawks the national title.

References

External links

• Official website
• Official athletics website

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