renamed Peace College in 1943
Peace College accredited by SACS in 1947
Peace College adds the School of Professional Studies in 2009 (which admits men)
Peace College renamed William Peace University, July 2011
University president Brian Ralph said on March 22, 2022, that "listening sessions" were planned to determine whether the university's name should be changed again. A statue of Peace was taken down that same day because Peace owned slaves and a major campus building was built with slave labor.
=== Becoming coeducational ===
The college has always educated women, with the only exception being the admittance of some boys in primary grades from its opening years through the 1920s when the school served levels from kindergarten through junior college years. Today, the college maintains records of nearly 10,000 living alumnae, including many who were pioneers in public service. In the 1930s, Gertrude Dills McKee, a graduate of the 1890s, became the first woman elected to the North Carolina Senate. Lilly Morehead …
