Coker University

Coker College is a private liberal arts institution in the small city of Hartsville, South Carolina.

70 miles from South Carolina’s capital, Columbia, Coker College is also near the state boundary with North Carolina and 80 miles from the city of Charlotte, its largest. It is close to a number of main roads, and most of its students have cars on campus.

For a spell, the institution was Coker College for Women, but men started attending in the immediate post-war period, and it officially became coeducational two decades later. It has been non-denominational since the Second World War.

Among others, undergraduate courses comprise English, German, communication, dance, forensic studies, medical technology, music, museum studies, psychology, history and mathematics. Master’s programmes include applied criminology and college athletic administration, while Coker recently introduced an online business management course.

Coker boasts a 22-acre outdoor sports complex, with baseball, softball and tennis provision. Its competitive sports teams are known as the Coker Cobras, and its baseball team made the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II National Championship in 2013. Coker founded and remains the annual host of the free Jazz! Carolina Festival.

Alumni include Terrance Hayes, the South Carolina-born poet who has won various national awards for his work since he graduated in English and painting.