The Principia Consortium currently works with more than 20 partner institutions in the US. One of the mainstays of that partnership is Centre College in Kentucky, who regularly send a sizeable number of students for Semester 1 each year (September to December). This year, Centre College is celebrating its 200th anniversary, so we thought it right that we celebrate them with this newsletter’s profile. 

Centre College, founded in 1819, is situated in Danville, close to the approximate centre of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, hence its name. The 150-acre campus is now home to nearly 1500 students studying a wide range of degrees in the liberal arts and sciences, as well as pre-professional degree tracks. This is complemented by a programme of internships and study abroad opportunities, including the Principia Consortium with the University of Glasgow, and a wide range of campus activities and sports teams. 

Famous alumni of Centre include two Vice Presidents, a chief justice, several Congressmen and the law partner of Abraham Lincoln. Its recent history includes hosting vice-presidential election debates in 2000 (Dick Cheney and Joe Lieberman) and more recently in 2012 (Joe Biden and Paul Ryan). Both these events took place in the Norton Center for the Arts which has also hosted events for significant names from the worlds of acting, dance, classical and popular music. 

Maybe one of Centre’s more unusual but most fun traditions is the body spelling. Centre students, whenever they’re on trips away from campus, including their study abroad, try to find opportunities for photos where they spell out ‘CENTRE’ using their bodies in unusual locations. Our 2018 students managed an impressive entry in the grounds of Dunnotar Castle, the ruins of a 15th century defensive structure spectacularly situated on the cliffs overlooking the North Sea. 

Partner Profile Principia Nov 2019

Our collaboration with Centre is one of our most fruitful and rewarding, and we look forward to welcoming more students in the fall of this very important celebratory year. Happy birthday Centre College! 

First published: 1 November 2019

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