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Former names | Lewis-Clark Normal School (1955–1971) Northern Idaho College of Education (1947–1951) North Idaho Teachers College (1943–1947) Lewiston State Normal School (1893–1943) |
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| Type | Public college |
| Established | 1893; 132 years ago (1893) |
Parent institution | Idaho State Board of Education[1] |
| Accreditation | NWCCU |
Academic affiliations | Space-grant |
| President | Cynthia Pemberton |
| Students | 3,706 (Fall 2023)[2] |
| Location | , Idaho ,United States 46°24′40″N117°01′34″W / 46.411°N 117.026°W /46.411; -117.026 |
| Campus | Small city[3], 46 acres (0.19 km2) |
| Other campuses | Coeur d'Alene |
| Newspaper | The Pathfinder |
| Colors | Navy, white, and red[4] |
| Nickname | Warriors |
Sporting affiliations | NAIA –CCC |
| Website | www |
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Lewis-Clark State College is apublic college inLewiston, Idaho, United States. It was founded 132 years ago in 1893 and has an approximate annual enrollment of 3,600. The college offers more than 130 degrees.
In 1893, GovernorWilliam J. McConnell signed an act on January 27 authorizing the establishment of theLewiston State Normal School in Lewiston,[5] "provided the mayor and common council of that city on or before May 1, 1893, donate ten acres, within the city limits and known as part of the city park, and authorizing the said mayor and council to convey to the trustees of said normal school the said tract of land," etc.
The first Trustees on the school's Board wereJames W. Reid (who had done the most to shepherd the authorization bill through theIdaho Legislature),Norman B. Willey (who had just stepped down as Idaho governor), Benjamin Wilson (a previous gubernatorial candidate), J. Morris Howe, and C. W. Schaff. Reid was elected President of the Board,[6] a position he held until his death in 1902.
Lewiston residents lost no time in obtaining the required space for the school. However, the legislature acted slowly in providing construction funds, and then construction lagged. George E. Knepper[6] had been hired as first President of the Normal School. Frustrated by the delays in getting his building, Knepper leased space in downtown Lewiston and opened for classes on January 6, 1896. The building itself was not ready until May.[6] Over the next several years, more structures were added to the campus, including dormitories and a gymnasium.[7][8]
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In keeping with thenormal school philosophy, Lewiston Normal focused on practical, hands-on training for new teachers. That meant the school provided a great deal of “manual training”—what is now calledvocational education. Also, to insure that teachers truly knew how to handle a classroom, the school ran an on-campus training school. In it, real teachers taught real pupils, and student teachers also learned-by-doing under the supervision of experienced teacher-critics.
Until the 1920s,one-room schools served well over half of Idaho's primary students. In most, only the teacher knew anything at all about running a school. Thus, “teachers assumed responsibility for shaping a district's entire educational policy.”[6]
TheFirst World War certainly impacted the nation's normal schools, but not as much as it did conventional institutions. Generally, male students were in the majority at regular colleges, many of which experienced brutal enrollment losses. Normal schools attracted a predominantly female student body, so the declines were much smaller—about 15% at Lewiston Normal.
The school experienced a painful crisis on December 5, 1917, when the Administration Building suffered severe damage in a fire,[9][10] later determined to bearson by a student.[7][8] Itscupola collapsed into the gutted interior of the main structure and the older east wing was totally destroyed.
Lewiston Normal continued to grow, as the demand for pre-college teachers increased. However, by the late 1920s, the "normal school" idea was being supplanted by a "teachers college" approach. Such colleges still focused on teacher education, but now students could earn abachelor's degree—more and more often required for certification. Recognizing this trend, school supporters began a campaign to change Lewiston Normal's status. They also began the process of upgrading the faculty—inciting much ill will.Supporters also fought an ongoing battle just to keep the school open; some legislators still wanted to close the Normals to save money. The advent ofWorld War II squelched that notion. Not only did the school continue to turn out desperately needed teachers, it also expanded its nurse-training program, and produced large numbers of fliers in its Navy Air School. In 1943, the Board of Education raised the school to full four-year status and becameNorth Idaho Teachers College (NITC).[11][12] Now with the ability to grant aBachelor of Education degree, school leaders took it upon themselves to use the nameNorthern Idaho College of Education (NICE), and the legislature approved the name change in 1947.[13]
The school got another temporary reprieve from the cost-cutters when a deluge of veterans funded by theG.I. Bill hit the campus after the war. However, that wave passed, and in 1951 budget hawks succeeded in closing the school, as well as its counterpart, theSouthern Idaho College of Education (SICE), which had previously been calledAlbion State Normal School, inAlbion in southern Idaho.[14][15] The state's other colleges had assured legislators that they could supply all the teachers needed. That promise proved disastrously wrong: In just three years, the state found itself issuing nearly 40% more provisional teaching certificates than it had in 1951.[6]
Under that pressure, the legislature re-opened the school asLewis-Clark Normal School in 1955[16] as a two-year school under the administration of theUniversity of Idaho, thirty miles (50 km) north inMoscow.[17] The first dean of the school was appointed for the third year in 1957,[18][19] and enrollment was 319 in the fall of 1961.[20] The arrangement with the university proved difficult and it ended abruptly in 1963 when the affiliation seemed like it might damage the university's academic accreditation.
The ongoing need for teachers, a developing shortage of nurses, and a new push for vocational education from thefederal government combined to rescue the school from oblivion. The state legislature voted to elevate it to four-year status in 1963 but did not approve funding until two years later.[21][22] Enrollment of the now-independent, four-year school grew, from 465 in 1964 to 1,033 in the fall of 1968.[23] It continued to grow and in July 1971 the name was officially changed toLewis-Clark State College,[24] and was the last normal school in the country to make the change.[6]
In April 2025 the Idaho State Board of Education approved a request to rebrand the school as Lewis-Clark State University to better reflect the institution’s offerings, which extend beyond two-year degrees.[25]
The Lewis-Clark State athletic teams are called the Warriors and Lady Warriors. The college is a member of theNational Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), primarily competing in theCascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) since autumn 2020. The Warriors and Lady Warriors previously competed in theFrontier Conference from 1998 to 2000.
LC State competes in twelve intercollegiate varsity sports: men's sports are baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, tennis, and track & field; women's sports include basketball, cross country, golf, tennis, track & field, and volleyball. Theschool colors are navy blue, white, and red.[4] The nickname "Warriors" was adopted after the school reopened in 1955;[26][27][28][29] earlier nicknames include "Pioneers" in the 1930s,[30] "Loggers" was adopted through a contest in October 1938,[31][32] and continued until the 1951 closure.[33][34][35]
Absent for a decade (1952–1961),[36][37] baseball returned as an intercollegiate sport in 1962.[38][39][40][41] Since 1984, the team has won nineteen NAIAnational championships;[42] sixteen were under head coachEd Cheff, who retired after 34 years in 2010.[43] LC State has hosted theNAIA World Series atHarris Field since 2000, and also from 1984 through 1991.[42]
| Race and ethnicity | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| White | 76% | ||
| Hispanic | 9% | ||
| Two or more races | 5% | ||
| Unknown | 3% | ||
| American Indian/Alaska Native | 2% | ||
| International student | 2% | ||
| Asian | 1% | ||
| Black | 1% | ||
| Economic diversity | |||
| Low-income[a] | 38% | ||
| Affluent[b] | 62% | ||
 Sports teams based inIdaho | |||||||||
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