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Knoxville college under fire amid presidential search, accreditation bid

Online Niel November 7, 2024

The fire that tore through Knoxville College’s hilltop campus on Nov. 4, with flames clearly visible from downtown, left a 126-year-old building in ruins and supporters of the historically black college mourning the loss.

The next day, hours after the Knoxville Fire Department was called to the blaze that eventually destroyed the college’s Elnathan Hall, firefighters were still pouring water to extinguish hot spots in the rubble as fire investigators were working to determine how the fire started.

The loss of the historic building comes at a time when the college has been struggling, with most buildings on its campus — including Elnathan Hall — shuttered and unused for years. The college has been working to regain its accreditation after losing it 27 years ago, and a search is underway for a new president.

The historic private Black College was founded in 1875 by the Presbyterian Church and has important ties to Knoxville’s civil rights history. In recent decades, the college has struggled with debt, declining enrollment, building closings, and the loss of national and state accreditation.

Investigators are looking for the source of the fire

Heavy flames and smoke were already visible when the fire was reported to 911 around 8:30 p.m. Nov. 4, KFD said in a news release.

Firefighters were initially hampered by the lack of a working water system on the vacant campus and had to run hoses up to the fire, which caused water pressure problems and required the assistance of tanker trucks, said Mark Wilbanks, deputy chief of the Knoxville Fire Department, for the Knox News.

The fire was so large that crews could not enter the building and had to fight the flames from outside.

After the walls partially collapsed from the fire, the Department of Municipal Services knocked down the remainder to prevent the remaining walls from falling on first responders.

A city excavator dug through the rubble into the late morning of Nov. 5, with a fire investigator nearby.

“I can’t say it 100 percent at this point, but there is a high probability (that the fire was human-caused),” Wilbanks told Knox News as the investigation continued on Nov. 5. “Until I have an investigator come. back to me and say we know someone started the fire, I can’t say that, but there’s a high probability that’s the case based on what we know now.”

The college has had repeated cases of people breaking into locked buildings on campus. A dumpster fire believed to have been started by a criminal occurred on an upper floor of another building on Oct. 30, Wilbanks said.

Officials did not believe anyone died in the fire, but Wilbanks said he did not know what they might find under the rubble.

Community members react

Knoxville residents and supporters of the college reacted with sadness to the news of the loss.

Dasha Lundy, former chief operating officer and vice president of Knoxville College, he cited campus safety concerns when he resigned in 2023. In a written message to Knox News on Nov. 5, she criticized the school’s current leadership.

“Last night’s fire at Elnathan Hall ignited a call to honor the legacy and purpose of Knoxville College. Elnathan, which means ‘Gift from God,’ is a testament to our mission and heritage,” Lundy said. “While I am deeply frustrated by the Board’s neglect and ongoing accreditation issues, I remain steadfast in my commitment to the full restoration of Knoxville College.”

Beck Center for Cultural Exchange President Reneé Kesler said in an emailed statement that she was “overwhelmed” when she learned of the fire.

“Images of swirling flames from Elnathan Hall, a beloved place, evoked a deep sense of the erasure of history,” Kesler said. “Historical preservation is central to the mission of the Beck Center for Cultural Exchange.”

In a Facebook post, Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon wrote: “Sad night for our community as fire engulfs the historic (Elnathan) Hall Administration Building on the Knoxville College campus. The historic building has not been occupied for over 40 years. A big thank you to our Knoxville Firefighters for responding so quickly and making sure the Fire did not spread, luckily no one appears to have been injured.”

Earlier, Elnathan Hall also lost to the fire

The building destroyed by this week’s fire was built to replace an earlier incarnation of Elnathan Hall, which was lost to a fire in 1896. Then serving as a girls’ dormitory for the college, Elnathan Hall earlier remained “a table of smoking ruins,” the December 15, 1896 Knoxville Sentinel reports.

Like the recent fire, efforts to extinguish the 1896 fire were also hampered by firefighters’ difficulty getting enough water, according to news reports.

The new Elnathan Hall opened as a dormitory in 1898 and was later one of several historic buildings on campus to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Recent struggles of a historic institution

Classes have not been held on campus since 2017 due to safety issues with the buildings.

The college began offering online distance learning courses in 2018. Online course offerings for an Associate of Arts in General Studies are listed on its website, although the most recent academic calendar posted online is for 2022-23.

Knoxville College launched a search for a new president this summer after Leonard Adams announced his resignation from the position. College leadership said in June that a new president would be named in August, but no update on the search process or announcement of a new president has been made public.

The college announced in an August newsletter that it had applied for reaccreditation from the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools, a step seen as critical to the college’s future.

The school is $1.8 million in debt, according to Knoxville College’s most recently filed Form 990, an Internal Revenue Service form for tax-exempt organizations, Knox News reported in August. The college owes the city of Knoxville more than $28,000 in property taxes, according to the city’s property tax database.

Knox News attempted to reach Knoxville College officials and board members by phone and email Nov. 5 for comment on the fire and what effect it might have on efforts to hire a new president and revitalize the college’s academic programs , but did not get an immediate response.

Sarah Riley and Ryan Wilusz contributed to this report.