Southeastern Illinois College is a public community college located approximately halfway between Harrisburg and Equality in Saline County, Illinois, United States. The college was founded in 1960 and offers Associate degrees. A secondary campus, the David L. Stanley White County Center, is located in Carmi, White County. Approximately 5,000 students enroll each year.
Academics
Southeastern Illinois College confers Associate in Arts, Associate in Science, Associate in Arts in Teaching Secondary Mathematics, Associate in Engineering Science, Associate in Applied Science and Associate in Liberal Studies degrees. The college also supports students who wish to pursue bachelor's degrees. Southeastern has Business & Computer Information Systems, Education and Applied Science, Humanities, Mathematics & Science, Nursing, Occupational Skills and Social Science departments.
Athletics
The college's sports teams are the Falcons. There are men's basketball, women's basketball, men's baseball, women's softball and cross country teams. Donta Smith, a Southeastern student, played for the National Basketball Association's Atlanta Hawks.
Forensic Falcons
The college's speech team is one of the strongest community college forensics programs in the nation. Every year, the team competes in individual events at Phi Rho Pi, the national two-year forensics and debate tournament. At Phi Rho Pi, the Forensic Falcons consistently rank in the top five overall schools. The team won the I.E. title in 1997 and won the entire tournament outright in both 1986 and 2005. Additionally, the school has produced two winners of the Bovero-Tabor award, given to the top point-getters in the nation each yearâ€"Sarah Stumpf in 1997 and Michael Steudeman in 2006.
Campus facilities
The George T. Dennis Visual and Performing Arts Center houses an art gallery which carries monthly exhibitions featuring a variety of artists. The Arts center also has a theater which features performances by the college's theater department. The Melba Patton Library contains 40,000 volumes and maintains 250 periodical subscriptions. The Mary Jo Oldham Center for Child Study serves as a daycare and as a place for behavioral studies of children. Southeastern has 20 student clubs, including 3 fraternities (Phi Beta Lambda, Phi Theta Kappa and Theta Sigma Phi).
"Little Egypt" and Southeastern
Southeastern Illinois College is located in an area of Southern Illinois called "Little Egypt". The name may derive from settlers seeing a similarity between their wagon trains and the ancient Israelites, or from the similarity of the Egyptian pyramids and the Mississippian mounds in the area. The college's original 1960 seal had a sphinx on it, and a later logo featured a pyramid. The college's mascot, the falcon, is related to the Egyptian god, Horus. There are many more small things that reflect "Little Egypt" on Southeastern's campus.
Notable alumni
- Donta Smith, former NBA guard/forward, plays for Hapoel Jerusalem B.C. of the Israeli Basketball Super League
External links
- Southeastern Illinois College
- Phi Rho Pi web page