From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Oakwood College
Motto	Education. Excellence. Eternity.
Established	1896
Type	Private
President	Delbert Baker
Students	approximately 1,800
Location	Huntsville, AL, USA
Campus	Suburban
Website	www.oakwood.edu

Oakwood College is a historically black college located in Huntsville, Alabama. It is affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Oakwood College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and the Department of Education of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists to award the associate and baccalaureate degrees. It offers a liberal arts curriculum in a Christ-centered atmosphere.

Oakwood is consistently listed among the top 15-20 institutions of higher learning that provide African-Americans to medical schools. ^[1]

Contents 1 History 2 Campus 3 Student Life 4 Notable Alumni 5 See also 6 Trivia

Oakwood College was founded in 1896 as Oakwood Industrial School. The school was located on land that had previously been a plantation. Legend has it that the school was named for a stand of oak trees found on the campus. When the school first opened in 1896, 16 students were in attendance for classes in various trades and skills. In 1904, the name was changed to Oakwood Manual Training School, and it was chartered to grant degrees in 1907. In 1917, the school offered its first instruction at the postsecondary level, and in that same year it changed its name to Oakwood Junior College. In 1944, the present name, Oakwood College, was adopted. The first bachelor’s degrees were awarded in 1945.

Oakwood College has been a member institution of the United Negro College Fund since 1964 and is listed in the list of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). As a Seventh-Day Adventist college, Oakwood’s mission is “Christ-centered, and designed to integrate faith and learning, as well as prepare students for the job of service in this world.”^[2]

The twenty-three-building campus occupies 1,185 acres in Huntsville, Alabama. The main campus is on 105 acres, with another 500 acres under cultivation. The campus continues to grow in both programs and facilities. The J. L. Moran Hall, completed in 1944 and named after the first Black president of Oakwood College, stands with more recently erected buildings such as the McKee Business & Technology Building, completed in 2002.

The college also houses a branch office of the Ellen G. White Estate.

Students at Oakwood College, or "Oakwoodites" as they are sometimes called, either live on campus in either of the five residence halls/areas, rent an apartment from the school's own West Oaks Apartment Complex, or live in the Huntsville/Madison area or beyond. Freshmen males live in the Peterson Hall dormitory while freshmen women live in Carter Hall. There are two more residential complexes for women: Wade Hall and the Annex are for upperclass women. Edwards Hall is the dormitory for upperclass men. A new male dormitory is now under construction and will open in the spring of 2008.

The majority of the student body are members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and weekly church services are held at the campus church. Friday evening vespers services (AYS) are held weekly as are Religion & Theology Forums.

Basketball and football are the major sports on campus, with intramural basketball activities taking place during the spring semesters. The school's basketball teams are the Oakwood College Ambassadors and Lady Ambassadors.

The school is noted for its internationally-renowned touring choir, the Aeolians. The Aeolians was founded in 1946 by former professor, Dr. Eva B. Dykes. Other musical ensembles on campus include the Oakwood College Choir and gospel choirs Dynamic Praise and the Voices of Triumph.

• Ebony Holland (Trotter) - Member of the gospel group Virtue
• Heather Martin (Trotter) - Member of the gospel group Virtue
• Brian McKnight - R&B Singer/musician, and also brother of Alumni Claude McKnight
• Claude McKnight - Member of the gospel group Take 6
• Mark Kibble - Member of the gospel group Take 6
• Mervyn Warren - Member of the gospel group Take 6
• John F. Street - Mayor of Philadelphia
• Barry Black- Chaplain of the U.S. Senate
• Clifton Davis- Actor, Songwriter
• Angela Brown- Soprano Opera Singer
• Dr. Earl Moore- Pastor, Civil Rights Activist
• Brenda Blackmon Wood- News Anchor, WXIA-TV
• E. E. Cleveland- Renowned Evangelist, Author, Civil Rights Activist
• Shari Loveday- writes plays from Christian Fellowship Halla
• Wintley Phipps- Pastor, Founder and President of U.S. Dream Academy

The Christian Fellowship church in Brooklyn New York is asking that more teens or young adults come to Oakwood College to get a better Education.

The famous slave Dred Scott once lived and worked on a plantation that eventually became part of Oakwood's campus.

Famous people who have visited: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Julius Erving (Dr. J), Muhammad Ali, Debbye Turner (Miss America 1990), Marla Gibbs, Peabo Bryson, Florence Griffith Joyner, and Kirk Franklin,and Trin-i-tee 5:7.