New Southern Adventist University President David Smith poses for a portrait on the school’s campus. Smith, who was formerly an English professor and chair of the English Department at SAU, took over as the school’s 26th president in June. His initial goals are to increase enrollment, find ways to make SAU more affordable, give students increased leadership opportunities and further build SAU’s presence in the community.In 1916, 33 students and their faculty members traveled from Graysville, Tenn., to an unknown farmland called Thatcher Switch, to relocate and grow their school. This week, that school – now known as Southern Adventist University – is celebrating its 100th anniversary.
Back then, just as World War I was beginning, the school was akin to a vocational high school, and the teachers and students made homes of refurbished chicken coops, tents and other unlikely sources while they waited for a school they believed in to be built, said SAU history professor Ben McArthur.
“I think we would be struck by the willingness of both adults and teenagers to start over in such primitive conditions for an education,” he said. ” For the sake of a future, they had a glimpse that something bigger and better was coming and they were willing to put up with such extreme conditions to make something good for the future. I can’t say today that I’d do that.”
In honor of the events that transpired 100 years ago this October, Southern is hosting a fall festival for the public, to celebrate how far the university has come.
The festival will feature activities for all ages, including live music, food vendors, an antique car show, gymnastic performances and more.
“Southern is what it is today because of that move, because of this land and access to the railway,” said McArthur. “Ultimately, as they became a junior college, you have O.D. McKee coming up here to go to school from Mississippi and the starting of the [McKee Foods] bakery.
“Ultimately, this move helped to form Collegedale into what it is today.”
The fall festival is Sunday, Oct. 30 from 2-5 p.m. at the Veterans Memorial Park of Collegedale. In the event of inclement weather, the festival will be moved to the Collegedale Community Church’s parking lot at 9305 Four Corners Place.
Email Gabrielle Chevalier at gchevalier@timesfreepress.com