Midway
College, Kentucky's only college for women, provides a living,
leaming environment that enables students to assume roles of responsibility and leadership
as contemporary women. The college assists each student in the development of personal
integration and self sufficiency through a strong liberal arts education and through
career studies, both at the associate and baccalaureate degree levels.
The college seeks to serve
the larger community by educating women intellectually, morally, and spiritually to be
productive participants in society, responsible citizens in a democracy, and conservators
and reformers of the best elements of their culture.
The college further seeks to assist both women and men who are employed and of
non-traditional college age to earn undergraduate degrees. The
institution that has become Midway College was established in 1847 to prepare financially
disadvantaged young women for teaching careers. The intensive schooling and career
training available at Midway armed these women with the skills necessary for independence.
Midway College, formally the
Kentucky Female Orphan School was the brainchild of Dr. Lewis Letig Pinkerton, a young
physician and minister of the Christian Church (Disciples of
Christ). Together with James
Ware Parrish, the church elder who raised the funds necessary to open the school, they
joined with other progressive thinkers to launch a revolutionary educational experiment.
In antebellum Kentucky, the few girls who received formal
education were taught to read only because it was considered necessary for their role as
mothers. When they reached adulthood, they would read the Bible to their children.
Female orphans were rarely offered even this meager amount of schooling. Without education
or parental support and concern, the most many could hope for was a lifetime of drudgery
as a maid or laborer. The liberal arts curriculum and career preparation proposed by Dr.
Pinkerton was a comprehensive solution to this tragic situation, and the benefits reached
far beyond the individual girls who attended the school.
Dr. Pinkerton’s
dream became a reality as Midway-educated teachers went forth to share their learning with
youngsters throughout the state and region.
In the years since its inception, the institution has evolved
to meet the educational needs of women while preserving the goals and standards of its
founders. Today, Midway College has achieved its goal of excellence in education,
providing advanced instruction in a broad range of subjects based upon a strong liberal
arts curriculum.
The campus and programs have grown with the school’s
enrollment, yet many of the traditional ideals Midway was founded on have remained
constant. The college's affiliation with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
remains strong and many members of the student body are active members of Christian Church
congregations.
Today, the Midway College curriculum includes subjects
recognized as integral to
a well-rounded liberal arts education and the development of logical and critical
thinking. Career preparation is offered in a variety of fields including nursing,
paralegal studies, and equine management. This academic balance remains true to Dr.
Pinkerton's vision, and is as carefully structured to enrich today's student as was the
original curriculum in pre-Civil War times. just as programs of study have been
incorporated into the Midway College curriculum to meet the ever-changing needs of
students, many programs are structured for the convenience of the growing number of
returning and commuter students, as well as for residential students of traditional age-
Midway College continues to fulfill a unique role in the
education of contemporary women. It provides an avenue for women to gain a quality
education, achieve independence through career preparation and strive for intellectual
enlightenment.
Midway
College, Kentucky's only college for women, provides a living,
leaming environment that enables students to assume roles of responsibility and leadership
as contemporary women. The college assists each student in the development of personal
integration and self sufficiency through a strong liberal arts education and through
career studies, both at the associate and baccalaureate degree levels.
employed and of
non-traditional college age to earn undergraduate degrees. The
institution that has become Midway College was established in 1847 to prepare financially
disadvantaged young women for teaching careers. The intensive schooling and career
training available at Midway armed these women with the skills necessary for independence.
Dr. Pinkerton’s
dream became a reality as Midway-educated teachers went forth to share their learning with
youngsters throughout the state and region.
as integral to
a well-rounded liberal arts education and the development of logical and critical
thinking. Career preparation is offered in a variety of fields including nursing,
paralegal studies, and equine management. This academic balance remains true to Dr.
Pinkerton's vision, and is as carefully structured to enrich today's student as was the
original curriculum in pre-Civil War times. just as programs of study have been
incorporated into the Midway College curriculum to meet the ever-changing needs of
students, many programs are structured for the convenience of the growing number of
returning and commuter students, as well as for residential students of traditional age-