Lee Celebrates 75th Anniversary of Return to Cleveland
On October 19, Lee University celebrated the 75th anniversary of its return to Cleveland by holding a private luncheon on campus with respected church and community leaders, along with Lee representatives.
“It was great to have all our community friends on campus to celebrate the partnership we have had for 75 years and to look to the future together,” said Dr. Brad Moffett, vice president for University Relations at Lee.
Founded in 1918, Lee University was originally called the Bible Training School (BTS) and met in a small publishing house in Cleveland. At the time, the school only had one professor, Nora Chambers, and had less than 20 students in its first class. In the 1930s, music and commercial studies programs were added to the curriculum and enrollment continued to increase. Because the school had outgrown its space, the Church of God chose to expand by purchasing Murphy Collegiate Institute in Sevierville, Tennessee, in 1938.
As BTS gained more academic attention, the Church of God received the opportunity to buy the Bob Jones College campus in Cleveland, Tennessee, and move the school back to this new site in 1947. With this relocation, BTS was renamed Lee College after the school’s second president, Flavius J. Lee.
The purpose of the event was to celebrate the anniversary of the move, but even more so, to express gratitude to members in the broader Bradley/Cleveland area for the positive relationships that have developed over the years between the university and the community.
“All of us at Lee are grateful to the Cleveland businesses, organizations, institutions, and our friends for the investments they have made in our campus expansion and student body growth,” said Moffett.
Featured speakers at the luncheon included Lee University President Dr. Mark Walker, Chancellor Dr. Paul Conn, and Beecher Hunter, former president of Life Care Centers of America and former editor of the Cleveland Daily Banner. Voices of Lee provided music for the event.
There were also two video presentations, “Establishing a Home,” historical in nature, and “A Campus of Impact,” featuring community members sharing what Lee means to Cleveland and Bradley County.
