Bennett College

History

Bennett College was established in 1873 by the Methodist Episcopal Church on the grounds of a church in Greensboro, North Carolina. It was initially co-educational, serving Black students of both sexes in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War. The college was reorganized as a women's college in 1926 under the leadership of David Dallas Jones, who served as president for thirty-six years and shaped the institution's mission around the intellectual and civic development of Black women.

Greensboro is also the site of the Woolworth's lunch counter sit-ins of February 1, 1960, one of the catalyzing events of the civil rights movement. The four students who initiated that sit-in — the A&T Four — were from nearby North Carolina A&T State University, but Bennett students joined the protests that followed and the college's location placed it at the center of the direct-action movement in the Piedmont region.

Bennett has faced significant financial pressures in the twenty-first century. The institution narrowly avoided losing its accreditation in 2019 — a crisis that mobilized national attention to the financial fragility of many small HBCUs. A fundraising campaign led by the college's then-president, Dr. Phyllis Worthy Dawkins, raised millions of dollars in a matter of weeks, largely through social media mobilization. The accreditation was preserved. In the years that followed, Bennett separated from SACSCOC and secured full accreditation from the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools (TRACS) in 2023, resolving the institutional uncertainty that had shadowed the college since 2019.

The college's enrollment has remained small — typically under 500 students, and roughly 180 in recent years — which makes it vulnerable to economic shocks but also gives it a distinctive community character. Its alumnae network has been disproportionately influential in law, education, and civil rights work.

Suzanne Walsh, who led the college from 2019, stepped down on June 30, 2025. Dr. Teresa Hardee served as interim president over the following year, and in May 2026 the Board of Trustees named Dr. Ronald L. Carter — former president of Johnson C. Smith University — acting president while Bennett conducts a search for a permanent leader. Through the transition, the alumnae loyalty that has repeatedly rescued the college continues to anchor it. Following Bennett's 2026 commencement, alumnae gathered for a Centennial Alumnae Donor Luncheon on May 16, 2026, announcing collective gifts of nearly $500,000 in support of the college's mission of educating and empowering Black women — a further demonstration of the donor mobilization that has repeatedly proven decisive to Bennett's survival. Entering the 2026–2027 year, the college convened its Fall 2026 Faculty and Staff Institute and announced two new Bachelor of Science degree programs intended to expand its offerings in healthcare leadership and innovation, signaling an academic growth strategy alongside its financial stabilization.

Near-Closure and the 2019 Fight for Survival

In February 2019, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) placed Bennett College on notice for potential loss of accreditation due to financial instability. The decision made national headlines and sparked what may be the most successful emergency fundraising campaign in HBCU history. Under the hashtag #SupportBennett, the college raised over $9 million in 40 days — enough to satisfy accreditation requirements. The episode illustrated both the structural financial vulnerability of many small HBCUs and the fierce loyalty of their alumnae networks.

Notable Alumni

A representative selection. Alumni records are verified against institutional and published sources. Unverified entries are flagged explicitly — we do not fabricate records.

Source notes: Constance Hill Marteena, The Lengthening Shadow of a Woman: A Biography of Charlotte Hawkins Brown; SACSCOC accreditation records 2019; The New York Times, February 2019, coverage of Bennett accreditation crisis; Bennett College institutional history.