Ralston College
| Motto | Animus crescat (Latin) |
|---|---|
Motto in English | "Let your mind expand" "Let your spirit rise" "Let your courage thrive" |
| Type | Private institution of higher learning |
| Established | 2010 |
| Founder | Stephen Blackwood |
| Accreditation | unaccredited |
| Endowment | $650,272 (2020) |
| Chancellor | Jordan Peterson |
| President | Stephen Blackwood |
Academic staff | 3 |
| Students | 24 (Fall 2022) |
| Location | , , United States 32°4′15″N 81°5′48″W / 32.07083°N 81.09667°W |
| Campus | Urban |
| Colors | Black and White |
| Website | ralston |
 | |
Ralston College is a private unaccredited liberal arts college[1] in Savannah, Georgia. It describes itself as being dedicated to "free-speech",[2][3] and is associated with prominent conservative figures,[3][4] with Stephen Blackwood as President, Jordan B. Peterson as Chancellor and funding from conservative activists including Paul Marshall.[5] Ralston College started accepting graduate students in the summer of 2022.
History[edit]
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.[6] 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.[7][8][9]
Ralston's first class of in-person MA students began classes in the fall of 2022. The first term was held in Greece and focused on learning Modern and Ancient Greek; this was followed by three terms in Savannah, GA,[10] with classes held in the education building of St. John's Episcopal Church.[11]
Ralston College has been plagued by allegations of mismanagement and a series of high-level terminations.[12]
In March 2023, a member of Ralston's Board of Visitors, Harvey Silverglate, resigned his position decrying the unaccredited college as "antithetical to the whole concept of a liberal arts institution".[13]
Academics[edit]
Its curriculum focuses on the liberal arts.[1] Blackwood has stated that Ralston aims “to play a role in the renewal of the conditions for human flourishing”.[14] It also offers one online short-course, run in conjunction with the FutureLearn platform, on Samuel Johnson's Rasselas.[15][16][17]
Accreditation[edit]
The College has been authorized for operation and awarded degree-granting powers by the State of Georgia,[14] but is not accredited.[18]
References[edit]
- ^ a b Fish, Stanley (November 8, 2010). "The Woe-Is-Us Books". The New York Times. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
- ^ "A Startup College Dedicated to Free Speech". National Review. 22 May 2023.
- ^ a b Ahmed, Nafeez (10 December 2021). "Peter Thiel's Free Speech for Race Science Crusade at Cambridge University Revealed". Byline Times.
- ^ "The reopening of the American mind". www.ft.com.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Georgia Corporations Division, Georgia Secretary of State".
- ^ Ralston College. "People". Retrieved January 14, 2019.
- ^ Jacobs, Sherelle (14 November 2022). "Inside the new 'meritocratic' university where Jordan Peterson lectures". Daily Telegraph.
- ^ "Ralston College | Jordan B. Peterson Appointed Chancellor". www.ralston.ac. Retrieved 2022-11-09.
- ^ "Ralston College visiting program". greece.chs.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2022-11-09.
- ^ "Savannah Morning News". www.savannahnow.com. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "'So much for the experiment': Ralston College faces accreditation deadline, loss of degree-granting status". savannahnow.com. Retrieved 2023-08-14.
- ^ a b Kelly, Jemima (October 26, 2023). "The Reopening of the American Mind". Financial Times. Retrieved January 20, 2024.
- ^ "Theodore Dalrymple on Samuel Johnson's Rasselas". Ralston College. Retrieved 2022-02-19.
- ^ FutureLearn. "Samuel Johnson's Rasselas: An Introduction - Humanities and Literature Course". FutureLearn. Retrieved 2022-11-09.
- ^ "Short Courses | Humanities | Ralston College". Ralston. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
- ^ "Savannah Morning News Subscription Offers, Specials, and Discounts". subscribe.savannahnow.com.