 | |
| 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 |
| 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 liberal arts college[1] in Savannah, Georgia. It started accepting graduate students in the autumn of 2022.[2]
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.[3] 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.[4][5][6]
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 following by three terms in Savannah, GA,[7] with classes held in the education building of St. John's Episcopal Church.[8]
Academics
Ralston's motto is Animus crescat.[9] The motto uses the full semantic range of the Latin word animus, and can be translated into English in multiple ways. The three translations in use by the college are “let your mind expand”, “let your spirit rise”, and “let your courage thrive”.[10]
Its curriculum focuses on the liberal arts.[1] It also offers one online short-course, run in conjunction with the FutureLearn platform, on Samuel Johnson's Rasselas.[11][12][13]
Accreditation
The College has been authorized for operation and awarded degree-granting powers by the State of Georgia. The College is not yet accredited, but expects to achieve accreditation on a normal timeline (five to eight years from its first graduation).[14]
Criticism
In 2023, Harvey Silverglate, co-founder of FIRE, a non-profit, civil liberties group founded in 1999 with the stated mission of "protecting free speech" rights, resigned from Ralston's Board of Visitors, the College's advisory council, stating that Ralston has "[a]ll these administrators, very few teachers, the secrecy, which is antithetical to the whole concept of a liberal arts institution."[15]
References
- 1 2 Fish, Stanley (November 8, 2010). "The Woe-Is-Us Books". The New York Times. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
- ↑ "Pushback at cancel culture is leading to new educational initiatives". The Economist. February 26, 2022. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
- ↑ "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.
- ↑ "Ralston College | Heraldry". www.ralston.ac. Retrieved 2023-12-01.
- ↑ "Ralston College | Heraldry". www.ralston.ac. Retrieved 2023-12-01.
- ↑ "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.
- ↑ "Frequently Asked Questions and Answers | Ralston College".
- ↑ Nicholson, Zoe (March 29, 2023). "'So much for the experiment': Ralston College faces accreditation deadline, loss of degree-granting status". Savannah Morning News. Retrieved August 3, 2023.