It’s official. Piedmont College is now a university. A sign placed by the main campus entrance today quietly heralded the change. Piedmont University is expected to hold a formal celebration later this week.
Piedmont’s Board of Trustees unanimously approved the name change last June to recognize the “dramatic growth and transformation” at the institution over the past two decades.
“This change opens an exciting new chapter in the history of Piedmont. It was made after careful deliberation and discussion and reflects the amazing progress that is taking place at Piedmont,” said board chairman Gus Arrendale last year.
125 years in the making
Piedmont College was founded in Demorest in 1897. It expanded to Athens in 1996 and now enrolls over 2,500 students. The school is opening a new facility in Athens this year and purchased almost 90 acres adjacent to the Demorest campus for expansion.
Piedmont has completed several major campus improvements in recent years, including a student commons area and music conservatory.
In March, school officials broke ground on a 60,000 square-foot residence hall that will house 268 students on the Demorest campus. Mystic Hall is the school’s largest-ever residential complex. It’s expected to open early next year.
This week’s name change precedes the school’s 125th anniversary, which the university will celebrate in 2022.
