Rate this HBCU Day 24: Voorhees College

[DrBanneker]

We last covered the University of the District of Columbia which received a solid score of 6.8.

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Voorhees College is a small college in Denmark, SC. Despite its small size, Denmark has two HBCUs: Voorhees and the Denmark Technical College. Both of them are small with less than 500 students enrolled. They also have cross-enrollment agreements with nearby Claflin and South Carolina State in Orangeburg. It was founded as a vocational school modeled on Tuskegee, with funds to purchase the land donated by a New Jersey philanthropist named Ralph Voorhees, and has remained a small private institution throughout its history. Despite this it has several famous people connected with it, though many are not students.

Its former president was Cleveland Sellers, the father of former state representative and political commentator Bakari Sellers. It also has an interesting connection to former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley. Nikki Haley's father, Ajit Randhawa, was offered a job as a biology professor at Voorhees after getting his PhD in Canada. He was a professor at Voorhees for his entire career eventually becoming the Science Department chair while Nikki Haley grew up in nearby Bamberg (where Bakari Sellers also grew up). Nikki Haley briefly mentions Voorhees in her autobiography and how people whispered her dad taught at the "Black school".

Basic data (all data 2021 unless otherwise noted)

Founded: 1897

City, State: Denmark, SC

Type: 4-year, Private not-for-profit affiliated with the Episcopal church

Nickname: Tigers

Enrollment and percent Black enrollment: 402, 98% Black

Out of State Percentage: 48% (top states per Google Trends: Georgia, North Carolina, New Jersey, DC, Maryland)

Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 10:1

Admissions Acceptance Rate: Open enrollment

4-yr/6-yr graduation rates: 33% / 41%

Transfer out rate: N/A

Male/Female percentages (Female:Male Ratio): 42% male / 58% female (1.4:1)

Tuition: $12.6k

Median Debt After Graduation: $27,965
Median Earning 10-Years after 10 years from freshman year: $30,903

Median Earnings for specific majors after 3 years after graduation:
N/A

Top Majors by Degrees:
Business Administration, Sports Management, Biology, Criminal Justice, Computer Science


Endowment: $6-8M (including $4M from MacKenzie Scott)

Alumni Engagement: N/A

Athletic Conference: Continental (NAIA)

Mascot: Tigers

Notable Alumni:

Lt. Col. Nathaniel Robinson, executive officer, Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany

Lester Oliver Bankhead - architect of homes for rich & famous in L.A.

Jackie Dinkins - 1970s Chicago Bulls player

Main Campus:

Miss Voorhees College

@Rekkapryde @MostReal @Wink Beaufield
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[Rekkapryde]

knew some people who went there (older folk) from back home in Charleston. Heard nothing bad about Voorhees.

 

[Originalman]

Good info breh. I hate to say I never heard of this HBCU before. But wonderful to learn about another and I can always store this info in my memory bank to pass on to others.

Great post once again OP!!

 

[DropTopDoc]

Not up on them too much, seems like a nice alternative if you don’t want to pay for scsu or caf u their building look and ascetics look like ours (Stillmans)

 

[get these nets]

Great series, great profile of Voorhees. Always interesting bits of history.
There's a town in New Jersey named Voorhees, and it appears this school's benefactor might be related to one of our old governors.

The relatively decent completion rates, and ties to other area schools are a +1. Means that it's serving its purpose well.

*The Sellers connection helps because with his ties, that school will get every possible fed, state, local grant that comes down the pike,