University of North Georgia
With just over 16,000 enrolled students, the University of North Georgia is the sixth largest public university in the state of Georgia. Within UNG, there are five colleges which collectively offer over one hundred bachelor's and associate degrees, as well as thirteen master's degrees and one doctoral degree. More than 750 students are involved in the university's ROTC program, which has given it the designation as The Military College of Georgia. It is one of only six senior military colleges in the United States. In addition, it is also designated by the University System of Georgia as a state leadership institution.The University of North Georgia was formed when the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) approved the consolidation of North Georgia College & State University and Gainesville State College in December 2012. Of the two institutions involved in the consolidation, North Georgia College & State University is the oldest, having been chartered in 1873, while Gainesville State College was established1964. North Georgia College & State University was first established as North Georgia Agricultural College in January 1873. The creation of the institution came about as the result of efforts by U.S. Congressman and Georgia Representative William P. Price. It was Price's idea to use the land script of the Morrill Land-Grant Acts to transform the old Dahlonega Mint into a college. The university's iconic Price Memorial Hall, built in honor of William P. Price, is a nationally registered historic site where the U.S. Mint once stood. The building can be recognized by its gold-covered bell tower, as a perfect reminder of the rich history of gold prospecting and mining in Dahlonega.Along with the Morrill Land-Grant Acts came the stipulation that students in land-grant colleges enroll in military training. This marked the beginning of UNG's identity as "the military college of Georgia." In the college's first year there was an enrollment of 98 men and 78 women, making it the first co-educational college in Georgia.
The ROTC was created as a result of the National Defense Act of 1916. The steady growth of North Georgia College came to a halt in the 1930s as the Great Depression devastated much of the rural South. In 1933 the economic affliction brought about by the Great Depression forced the State of Georgia to reduce North Georgia College to a junior college. Despite this reduction the ROTC program remained intact. North Georgia College remained a junior college throughout the Great Depression and World War II. In 1946 the Georgia Board of Regents decided to reorganize the college into a four-year school, thus giving it the capacity to grant degrees. Three years later Merritt Eldred Hoag became the president of the college. His presidency spanned twenty-one years and oversaw several substantial expansions to the institution. The construction of Lewis Hall, an additional wing to Gaillard Hall, and the four story Hoag Student Center, constructed in 1951, 1961, and 1969 respectively, enabled the college to house more than twice as many students. It was also during the Hoag administration, in 1967, that the college became racially integrated.
The next great period of growth for the college occurred under the presidency of John H. Owen, from 1970 to 1992. His twenty-two year presidency, which was longer than any other President at the school, was defined by substantial increases in student enrollment, spurred by a heightening of academic standards and an increase in the caliber of the faculty. While President he worked with the ROTC Rifle Team and the science department at North Georgia College. In the beginning of Owen's term he worked to develop an alumni association for the school. The alumni association provided a huge financial boost to the North Georgia College Foundation, which provided funds for student scholarships. At the end of Owen's presidency NGC offered roughly three hundred scholarships; there were none at the beginning of his presidency.[8] The College became North Georgia College and State University in 1996, after protesting alumni ruled out a suggestion that the College be renamed North Georgia State University upon the University System of Georgia granting the College University status.