View source for Toccoa Falls College

{{short description|Christian liberal arts college in Toccoa Falls, Georgia}}
{{Use American English|date=December 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox university
 | name                   = Toccoa Falls College
 | image                  = Toccoa Falls College seal.png
 | logo                   = Toccoa Falls College logo.png
 | motto                  = Where Character is Developed with Intellect
 | established            = {{start date|1907}}
 | type                   = [[Private college]]
 | president              = Robert M. Myers
 | city                   = [[Toccoa Falls, Georgia|Toccoa Falls]]
 | state                  = [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]
 | country                = United States
 | campus                 = Rural, 1,100 acres
 | undergrad              = 1,600+
 | mascot                 = Screaming Eagle
 | nickname               = TFC
 | colors                 = Blue and gold
 | academic_affiliations  = [[Christian and Missionary Alliance]], [[Association for Biblical Higher Education]], [[Council for Christian Colleges & Universities]]
 | sporting_affiliations  = [[National Christian College Athletic Association|NCCAA]]
 | accreditation          = [[Southern Association of Colleges and Schools|SACS]]
 | website                = {{URL|tfc.edu}}
}}

'''Toccoa Falls College''' is a [[Private college|private]] [[evangelical]] [[Christianity|Christian]] college in [[Toccoa Falls, Georgia]], founded in 1907. The campus occupies {{convert|1100|acre}}, bordering the [[Chattahoochee National Forest]] and is home to [[Toccoa Falls]], a {{convert|186|ft|m|adj=on}} high waterfall. It is affiliated with the [[Christian and Missionary Alliance]] and is [[school accreditation|accredited]] by the Commission on Colleges of the [[Southern Association of Colleges and Schools]] (SACS). The college is also a member of [[Council for Christian Colleges and Universities]].

==History==
In 1907, Toccoa Falls College was founded by [[Richard A. Forrest]] in the community of Golden Valley, [[North Carolina]], as the Golden Valley Institute. On January 1, 1911, Forrest put $10.00 down on the $25,000.00 purchase price for the Haddock Inn and {{convert|100|acre|m2}} of land in northeast Georgia. In October, he relocated the school to near [[Toccoa, Georgia]], in order to be near a mainline railroad. He renamed the school Toccoa Falls Institute and added secondary school courses to the theological classes.  A 1913 fire destroyed the Haddock Inn, which was the classroom and residence building. After operating in tents for a time, the school built a new campus.  In 1928 the secondary courses were reorganized, and the state of Georgia accredited it as Toccoa Falls High School, which remained open until 1976. In 1937, the state chartered the four-year college program and allowed it to grant the degree [[Bachelor of Arts]] in Biblical Education.<ref>Moothart, Lorene.  Achieving the Impossible - With God   Harrisburg, PA: Christian Publications, Inc.  1956.</ref>

===Dam break disaster===
{{main|Kelly Barnes Dam}}
On November 6, 1977, the Kelly Barnes Dam, which had been built up and used by the college for electrical power since the Toccoa Falls Institute days, collapsed. The {{convert|40|acre|m2|adj=on}} lake it impounded drained through the lower part of the campus. The resulting [[flood]] killed 39 people and injured 60,<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Ashley|first1=Sharon T.|last2=Ashley|first2=Walker S.|title=Flood Fatalities in the United States|journal=Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology|date=2008|volume=47|issue=3|pages=805–818|doi=10.1175/2007JAMC1611.1|bibcode=2008JApMC..47..805A|url=http://commons.lib.niu.edu/handle/10843/13369|hdl=10843/13369|hdl-access=free}}</ref> as well as destroying much of the on-campus married student housing and damaging part of the men's dormitory. The dam was never rebuilt. With the destruction of the dam and the subsequent draining of the lake, there exists no possibility of a similar flood.<ref>[https://ga.water.usgs.gov/publications/ToccoaFIBReport/body1.html Report of Failure of Kelly Barnes Dam Flood and Findings]</ref>

===Recent history===
[[Image:Toccoa Falls, Georgia3.JPG|thumb|right|Toccoa Falls]]
The current president, Robert Myers, became the seventh president of the college in 2012.

On January 12, 2009, Gate Cottage, one of the most historic buildings on campus, was destroyed by fire. The cottage had been built in 1939 and was the fourth oldest building on campus. No one was in the building at the time of the fire. Gate Cottage has been rebuilt with a bigger gift shop and dining area for various occasions, but without the School of Counseling, which was relocated to a new location between the Mission Building and Bandy Hall.

== Toccoa Falls ==
{{Main|Toccoa Falls}}
With a vertical drop of {{convert|186|ft|m}}, [[Toccoa Falls]], located on the college campus, stands as one of the tallest free-falling waterfalls in the eastern United States. The waterfall was purchased in 1907 as part of the campus of Toccoa Falls College and stands today as the distinguishing landmark of the college. Locals commonly refer to it as "The Falls."

==Academics==
Toccoa Falls College consists of four schools (School of Christian Ministries, School of Arts and Sciences, School of Professional Studies, and the Fetterman School of Nursing) with a total of ten departments. Within these departments, 35 majors and 43 minors are offered.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://tfc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Catalog-2018-19.pdf |title=Academic Catalog 2018-2019 |access-date=2019-03-04 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190201223041/http://tfc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Catalog-2018-19.pdf |archive-date=2019-02-01 }}</ref> The [[Seby Jones Library]] is the primary [[academic library]] on campus.

==Campus life==
Toccoa Falls College offers a wide variety of activities. Intercollegiate and intramural sports as well as the Student Government Association (SGA) are two of the main extracurricular possibilities for student participation.

=== Campus housing and residence life===

On-campus student housing consists of single-sex dormitories, a large men's dormitory, two women's dormitories, and some smaller, suite-style dormitories, as well as various cottages, including married student housing.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://tfc.edu/campus-life/housing-and-residence-life/ |title=Housing and Residence Life |access-date=2019-03-04 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180818104401/https://tfc.edu/campus-life/housing-and-residence-life/ |archive-date=2018-08-18 }}</ref> On-campus housing is advised by the college in the handbook, and is required for all regular underclassmen. There is a mandatory curfew for all on-campus students.

* Forrest Hall - men's dormitory
* Letourneau and Fant Halls - women's dormitories
* Terraces - men's terraces and women's terraces (these include Alys Reeder, Louise Bell, Damron, McDuffy, Powell, Tyler, Prentice and Hilyard)
* Married student apartments (colloquially, MSA)

===Sports===
Toccoa Falls College offers a variety of sports, both intercollegiate and intramural. Men's sports include soccer, baseball, and basketball. Women's sports include soccer, basketball, and volleyball.

* The baseball team won the NCCAA Division II National Championship in 2009, 2011, 2012, and 2013.  Additionally, in 2012 and 2013 the baseball team won the NCCAA Division II Regional Championship.
* The women's soccer team won the NCCAA Division II Regional Championship in 2010.
* The women's basketball team won the NCCAA Division II National Championship in 1986 and 1992.

Intramural sports include soccer, basketball, softball, spike ball, tennis, volleyball, beach volleyball, ultimate frisbee, and flag football.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://tfc.edu/campus-life/student-activities/intramurals/ |title=Intramural Sports |access-date=2019-03-04 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180406001454/http://tfc.edu/campus-life/student-activities/intramurals/ |archive-date=2018-04-06 }}</ref>

===Radio===
The college's student-run radio station was [[WTXR]], The Eagle 89.7.  The college also operated [[WRAF (FM)|WRAF]], a radio station with various teaching and preaching programming as well as Christian music and a weekly Radio Theater program.  All of the college's radio holdings, including WTXR and WRAF, were sold to Radio Training Network, Inc. effective July 25, 2016, for $2.1&nbsp;million. WRAF is now a [[repeater]] station for [[WLFJ-FM]] at W220CK.

==Athletics==
The Toccoa Falls athletic teams are called the Screaming Eagles. The college is a member of the [[National Christian Collegiate Athletic Association]] (NCCAA), primarily competing as an independent in the South Region of the Division II level.

Toccoa Falls competes in six intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball and soccer; while women's sports include basketball, soccer and volleyball.

==Notable alumni==
* [[Aaron Shust]] - [[Contemporary Christian music]] artist<ref>{{Cite web |last=Flett |first=Kingsley |date=2024-08-27 |title=Robinson Goes Back-to-Back at Worlds; Salonen First Finn to Win |url=https://discgolf.ultiworld.com/2024/08/26/robinson-goes-back-to-back-at-worlds-salonen-first-finn-to-win/ |access-date=2025-03-05 |website=Ultiworld Disc Golf}}</ref>
* Isaac Robinson - 2x Disc Golf World Champion<ref>{{Cite web |last=Flett |first=Kingsley |date=2024-08-27 |title=Robinson Goes Back-to-Back at Worlds; Salonen First Finn to Win |url=https://discgolf.ultiworld.com/2024/08/26/robinson-goes-back-to-back-at-worlds-salonen-first-finn-to-win/ |access-date=2025-03-05 |website=Ultiworld Disc Golf}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=TFC Alumnus, Isaac Robinson, Back to Back PDGA World Champion |url=https://tfc.edu/news/tfc-alumnus-isaac-robinson-back-to-back-pdga-world-champion/ |access-date=2025-03-05 |website=Toccoa Falls College |language=en-US}}</ref>
*[[Kirt Schneider]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Toccoa Falls College}}
* {{official website|http://www.tfc.edu}}
* [http://www.tfcathletics.com Official athletics website]

{{Georgia Private Colleges and Universities}}
{{Christian and Missionary Alliance Colleges and Universities}}
{{CCCU}}
{{NCCAA Division II South navbox}}
{{College sports in Georgia}}

{{authority control}}

{{Coord|34.59570|N|83.35160|W|source:placeopedia|display=title}}

[[Category:Toccoa Falls College| ]]
[[Category:Universities and colleges established in 1907]]
[[Category:Universities and colleges affiliated with the Christian and Missionary Alliance]]
[[Category:Universities and colleges accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools]]
[[Category:Education in Stephens County, Georgia]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Stephens County, Georgia]]
[[Category:Evangelicalism in Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:Council for Christian Colleges and Universities]]
[[Category:1907 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:Private universities and colleges in Georgia (U.S. state)]]