Bethune-Cookman University

Bethune–Cookman University (B–CU), formerly Bethune–Cookman College (B–CC), is a private, co-ed, historically black university located in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. The primary administration building, White Hall, and the Mary McLeod Bethune Home have been added to the National Register of Historic Places. Although accredited, in June 2018 the university was put on probation by its regional accreditor.

Mary McLeod Bethune founded the Daytona Educational and Industrial Training School for Negro Girls in 1904. Initially, the first students met in the home of John Henry and Alice Smith Williams. The school underwent several stages of growth and development through the years. In 1923, it merged with the Cookman Institute of Jacksonville, Florida and became a co-ed high school. A year later in 1924, it became affiliated with the United Methodist Church. By 1931 the school had become a junior college.

The school became a four-year college in 1941 when the Florida Department of Education approved a 4-year baccalaureate program in Liberal Arts and Teacher Education. The name was changed to Bethune–Cookman College. On February 14, 2007, the Board of Trustees approved the name Bethune–Cookman University.

Bethune-Cookman University seeks to define a new standard for academic excellence as a way to become the best small college in the southern region. To educate and empower people to seek their own solutions; to advocate for opportunities for all citizens to improve their quality of life; and to inculcate an international perspective that would facilitate a keen appreciation of the new global realities.

The mission of Bethune-Cookman University is to develop global leaders committed to service, life-long learning and diversity by providing a faith-based environment of academic excellence and transformative experiences.