History

Sponsored by the Green River Baptist Education Society, Bethel College began as Bethel High School in 1852, replacing an earlier Russellville Male Academy.  It began to offer college courses in 1854 and received a state charter to offer the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Letters degrees in 1856.   Since one of the goals was to train Baptist ministers, the school developed a department of biblical and pastoral theology, which operated until 1877.  Opening with 156 students, it was described as “a college without endowment, library, apparatus, or any other appliance except a good building, a good number of students and a good working faculty.”  Bethel College closed during the Civil War, but the San Diego Union noted that after the war, “most of the faculty were former Confederate Soldiers.”

The Philomathian Literary Society was chartered in 1856 and the Washington Literary Society in 1858.  In addition to the yearbook, Bethel students published a newspaper, also called the Blue and Gold. The school had chapters of Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Kappa Sigma social fraternities.

The chronicle of 1896 shows seven teachers and 138 students.  Enrollment peaked at 213 students.  Baptist History Homepage reports that the school became co-educational in 1928.  In 1933 newspapers note that Bethel was caught in a bind.  On the one hand, high school curricula were expanding, requiring a greater commitment to the high school division.  On the other hand, larger colleges and universities were attracting students that had formerly attended Bethel.  Facing an indebtedness of $15,000, the school closed at the end of the fall semester in January 1933.  In June of that year, Bethel was formally merged with Georgetown University.