Ralston College

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Ralston College
MottoAnimus crescat (Latin)
Motto in English
"Let your mind expand"
"Let your spirit rise"
"Let your courage thrive"
TypePrivate institution of higher learning
Established2010; 14 years ago (2010)
FounderStephen Blackwood
Accreditationunaccredited
Endowment$650,272 (2020)
ChancellorJordan Peterson
PresidentStephen Blackwood
Academic staff
3
Students24 (Fall 2022)
Location
Savannah
,
Georgia
,
United States

32°4′15″N 81°5′48″W / 32.07083°N 81.09667°W / 32.07083; -81.09667
CampusUrban
ColorsBlack and White
   
Websiteralston.ac

Ralston College is a private unaccredited liberal arts college[1] in Savannah, Georgia. It describes itself as being dedicated to "freedom of thought and speech",[2][3][4] and is associated with prominent conservative figures,[4][5] with Stephen Blackwood as president, Jordan B. Peterson as Chancellor and funding from conservative activists including Paul Marshall.[6] Ralston College started accepting graduate students to its one-year MA in the Humanities in the summer of 2022.

History

In 2006, Stephen Blackwood and James Atkins Pritchard began fundraising for the establishment of an institution of higher education. Ralston was incorporated in the State of Georgia in 2010.[7] Among the members of its Board of Visitors are Vernon Smith, Heather Mac Donald, Harry Lewis, Ruth Wisse, Roger Kimball, and Jordan Peterson who was appointed Chancellor in May 2022.[8][9][10]

Ralston's first class of MA students began classes in the fall of 2022.[11] with classes held in the education building of St. John's Episcopal Church.[12]

Ralston College has received criticism for a series of high-level terminations.[13] In March 2023, a member of Ralston's Board of Visitors, Harvey Silverglate, resigned his position and stated that the college was "antithetical to the whole concept of a liberal arts institution".[14]

The college has acquired property in the historic Savannah area,[15] which totals 50,000 square feet as of April 2024.[16]

Academics

Ralston College's curriculum focuses on the liberal arts: after a term teaching Ancient Greek and Modern Greek in Greece, the following three terms of the MA in the Humanities focus on ancient, medieval and modern literary texts and works of arts.[17][1] Blackwood has stated that Ralston aims “to play a role in the renewal of the conditions for human flourishing”.[5] The one-year MA program revolves around particular philosophical themes that last the entire year: for example, the "human self" and "the whole."[18]

The college also offers one online short-course, run in conjunction with the FutureLearn platform, on Samuel Johnson's Rasselas.[19][20][21]

Accreditation

The college has been authorized for operation and awarded degree-granting powers by the State of Georgia,[5] but is not accredited.[22]

References

  1. ^ a b Fish, Stanley (November 8, 2010). "The Woe-Is-Us Books". The New York Times. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
  2. ^ "'About Ralston College'". Archived from the original on 2024-05-13. Retrieved 2024-05-13.
  3. ^ "A Startup College Dedicated to Free Speech". National Review. 22 May 2023. Archived from the original on 17 April 2024. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
  4. ^ a b Ahmed, Nafeez (10 December 2021). "Peter Thiel's Free Speech for Race Science Crusade at Cambridge University Revealed". Byline Times. Archived from the original on 20 May 2024. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  5. ^ a b c Kelly, Jemima (October 26, 2023). "The Reopening of the American Mind". Financial Times. Archived from the original on January 22, 2024. Retrieved January 20, 2024.
  6. ^ Graystone, Andrew. "The Marshall Plan". prospectmagazine. Prospect Magazine. Retrieved 7 May 2024. The Sequoia Trust is chaired by Marshall, with his wife and son among the trustees. It was founded in 2015 and in the year to mid-2022 dispensed some £80m in charitable giving; its net assets stood at £417m. It gave £10m to the Church Revitalisation Trust (CRT); £1m to HTB; and £18m to Ralston College, a new liberal arts college in Savannah, Georgia which admitted a grand total of 24 students in the academic year beginning in autumn 2022. The college's chancellor is the controversial right-wing culture warrior Jordan Peterson.
  7. ^ "Georgia Corporations Division, Georgia Secretary of State". Archived from the original on 2023-04-18. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
  8. ^ Ralston College. "People". Archived from the original on January 15, 2019. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
  9. ^ Jacobs, Sherelle (14 November 2022). "Inside the new 'meritocratic' university where Jordan Peterson lectures". Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 26 December 2022. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  10. ^ "Ralston College | Jordan B. Peterson Appointed Chancellor". www.ralston.ac. Archived from the original on 2022-11-09. Retrieved 2022-11-09.
  11. ^ "Ralston College visiting program". greece.chs.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2022-11-09.
  12. ^ "Savannah Morning News". www.savannahnow.com. Archived from the original on 2023-04-18. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
  13. ^ Nicholson, Zoe. "'So much for the experiment': Ralston College faces accreditation deadline, loss of degree-granting status". Savannah Morning News. Retrieved 7 May 2024. The deadline looms as troubles plague the organization within and without. Accusations of mismanagement, coupled with several high-level firings, have followed the college since at least August 2022.
  14. ^ "'So much for the experiment': Ralston College faces accreditation deadline, loss of degree-granting status". savannahnow.com. Retrieved 2023-08-14.
  15. ^ Schwartzburt, Joseph (2024-04-11). "Ralston College expands Savannah footprint through lease of former Parker's headquarters". www.aol.com. Archived from the original on 2024-07-31. Retrieved 2024-07-31.
  16. ^ "New liberal arts college expands campus, leases former Parker's headquarters on Chippewa Square". Connect Savannah. April 11, 2024. Archived from the original on 2024-07-31. Retrieved 2024-07-31.
  17. ^ <"Ralston College MA in the Humanities". www.ralston.ac/humanities-ma. Archived from the original on 2024-05-19. Retrieved 2024-05-24.
  18. ^ Katz, Joshua T. (January 11, 2023). "Logos in Savannah". City Journal. Retrieved 2024-08-05.
  19. ^ "Theodore Dalrymple on Samuel Johnson's Rasselas". Ralston College. Archived from the original on 2022-02-19. Retrieved 2022-02-19.
  20. ^ FutureLearn. "Samuel Johnson's Rasselas: An Introduction - Humanities and Literature Course". FutureLearn. Retrieved 2022-11-09.
  21. ^ "Short Courses | Humanities | Ralston College". Ralston. Archived from the original on March 25, 2023. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
  22. ^ "Savannah Morning News". subscribe.savannahnow.com.
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