William C. Young

William Clarke Young (April 23, 1842 – September 16, 1896) was an American minister, educator, and academic administrator who was the eighth president of Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, from 1888 until his death in 1896. The son of Centre's fourth president, John C. Young, William attended Centre and the Danville Theological Seminary, graduating in 1859 and 1865, respectively. He had a 23-year career in the ministry, serving congregations in Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois, before returning to Centre to accept the presidency following the resignation of Ormond Beatty. During Young's eight-year presidency, the college established a law school, constructed numerous buildings, and retroactively conferred degrees upon some of its first female graduates. Young was also the moderator of the Presbyterian Church General Assembly in 1892, as his father had done some thirty-nine years earlier.

Early life and education William C. Young was born on April 23, 1842, in Danville, Kentucky. He was the sixth child of Centre College president John C. Young and the second child he had with his second wife, Cornelia Crittendon Young. Young attended Centre during the last years of his father's presidency, which ended with John's death in 1857, and he graduated from the college in 1859. The following year, Centre boasted 133 full-time students with an additional 101 students in its preparatory academy, the school's largest enrollment in 25 years.

Multiple buildings were also constructed on campus around this time, including the Boyle-Humphrey Gymnasium in 1891, the Breckinridge Hall dormitory (named for Robert Jefferson Breckinridge) in 1892, and a new Sayre Library in 1894. In June 1891, he made a request of the trustees that the college build an additional building for "scientific work", which would eventually be dedicated in 1909 and named Young Memorial Hall, in memory of William and his father, John. Under Young's leadership, Centre awarded degrees to some of its first female graduates, albeit retroactively. All four of Young's half-sisters had studied at Centre and completed coursework (Mary and Caroline in 1849, and Jane and Frances in 1851), though none of them received degrees at the time. This was the same position to which his father was elected for the 1853 General Assembly, held in Philadelphia. Young's performance as moderator was widely praised, with compliments given to his "courage and tact and impartiality". The General Assembly was a particularly eventful one, as it included the church's formal denunciation of historical criticism and the heresy trial of Charles Augustus Briggs.

Personal life and death Young's grave (left) alongside the grave of his father, John, at Bellevue Cemetery in Danville. Young married Lucy Waller in 1874, though Waller was in poor health for much of their marriage, which limited the amount of time they were able to spend together. He was preparing to hear the students' recitations when he retired to the office of professor Alfred B. Nelson, laid back in his chair and "gave a gasp" before dying. Young was formally succeeded by William C. Roberts, who assumed the presidency on June 7, 1898.