Skidmore College
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| Motto | Scuto amoris divini (Latin: Under the shield of divine love) |
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| Established | 1903 (as the Young Women's Industrial Club), 1911 (as Skidmore School of the Arts), 1922 (as Skidmore College) |
| Type | Private liberal arts |
| Endowment | $248 Million |
| President | Philip A. Glotzbach |
| Faculty | 211 |
| Undergraduates | 2,200 |
| Postgraduates | 50 |
| Location | Saratoga Springs, New York, USA |
| Campus | Suburban, park |
| Mascot | Thoroughbreds |
| Website | www.skidmore.edu |
Skidmore College is a private, four-year college located in Saratoga Springs, New York. Consistently ranked among the nation's top liberal arts colleges,[1] Skidmore is known for a rigorous curriculum that prepares students for careers, graduate school, and community leadership. The college currently enrolls approximately 2,200 students and offers B.A. and B.S. degrees in more than fifty areas of study. Admission is very competitive; Newsweek/Kaplan identified Skidmore as a 'New Ivy,' an elite school providing an excellent education outside of the Ivy League.[2]
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[edit] History
Since its founding in the early twentieth century as a women's college, Skidmore has undergone several transformations. The Young Women's Industrial Club was formed in 1903 by Lucy Skidmore Scribner with inheritance money from her father, Joseph Russell Skidmore, a prosperous coal merchant. In 1911, the club was chartered under the name "Skidmore School of Arts" as a college to vocationally and professionally train young women.
Charles Henry Keyes became the first president of the school in 1912, and in 1919 Skidmore conferred its first baccalaureate degrees under the State University of New York. By 1922 the school was independently chartered as a four-year, degree-granting college.
Skidmore was first located in downtown Saratoga Springs, but on October 28, 1961, the college began its move to the Jonsson Campus, an 850-acre plot of land on the edge of Saratoga. The Jonsson Campus was named for Skidmore trustee Erik Jonsson, the founder and president of Texas Instruments and a former mayor of Dallas, Texas (1964-1971).
Trustee Josephine Young Case delivered a charge on the development of the new campus, a speech which to this day guides Skidmore's development. For example, on Scribner Library she wrote, "And at the heart of the beating center, you must set the library where every book wanted is immediately at hand, and a thousand others wait beside them to be discovered."[3]
1971 was an important year for Skidmore. For the first time, the college began admitting men to the regular undergraduate program (a few dozen male World War II veterans were briefly enrolled in the late 1940s). Skidmore also launched an innovative program called University Without Walls (UWW), which allows nonresident students over age 25 to earn bachelors degrees. Finally, Skidmore established a Phi Beta Kappa chapter.
In 1988, Skidmore faculty formed the Collaborative Research Program, which provides students with opportunities to co-author papers and studies with professors. Skidmore began granting masters degrees in 1991 through its Master of Arts in Liberal Studies (MALS) program. The Skidmore Honors Forum was founded in 1998.
2006 marked the start of the largest campaign in Skidmore's history, named: Creative Thought. Bold Promise. The goal of it is to raise $200 million for Skidmore, and as of November 2006 $121 million has already been raised.
[edit] Presidents of Skidmore:
- Charles Henry Keyes (1912 - 1925)
- Henry T. Moore (1925 - 1957)
- Val H. Wilson (1957 - 1965)
- Joseph C. Palamountain, Jr. (1965 - 1987)
- David H. Porter (1987 - 1999)
- Jamienne S. Studley (1999 - 2003)
- Philip A. Glotzbach (2003 - present)
[edit] Academic Departments and Programs:
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[edit] Campus and facilities
Most of the buildings on Skidmore's 850-acre campus were constructed after 1960. Consequently, the grounds have a contemporary ambience that is enhanced by the numerous sculptures and murals that decorate the quads and other common areas.
The Tang Art Museum is the college's most prominent arts facility. In addition to the Tang, Skidmore has substantial undergraduate studio space as well as several smaller galleries. The Saisselin Art Building houses studios for animation, ceramics, communication design, drawing, fibers, metals, painting, photography, printmaking, and sculpture. Skidmore has a well-known music program and is currently building a large concert hall with state-of-the art facilities to replace its current music building.
Most humanities classes are held in one of four academic buildings: Palamountain, Tisch, Bolton, and Ladd. Harder Hall houses math and computer science; geology, chemistry, physics, and biology operate out of Dana Science Center. Almost every classroom at Skidmore is equipped with a computer and a projector, and many contain other audiovisual equipment such DVD players and slide projectors.
The Lucy Scribner Library, which houses approximately half a million volumes, is notable for both its function and beauty. It contains a large computer lab, classrooms, private offices for seniors who are working on theses, and many areas for individual and group study. A substantial collection of rare books is kept in the second floor Pohndorff Room.
Skidmore maintains nine on-campus dorms and one off-campus dorm, Moore Hall (now closed), which is located in downtown Saratoga. The college is currently constructing additional on-campus housing and plans to sell Moore within a few years. Most dorm rooms at Skidmore are quite large, and the college usually appears on the Princeton Review's "Dorms Like Palaces" list. Upperclassmen may apply to live in the new North Woods Apartments[4] or in Scribner Village, an on-campus apartment community.
Much of Skidmore's property is taken up by North Woods, a 530-acre forest that adjoins the academic campus. The woods contain extensive hiking and cycling trails that are open to the general public.
[edit] Tang Museum
The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery was opened in 2000, and was designed by the world-renowned architect Antoine Predock. Predock's striking, innovative design includes two major gallery wings (the Wachenheim Gallery and the Malloy Wing), two smaller galleries (the State Farm Mezzanine and the Winter Gallery), digitally-equipped classrooms, and several event spaces. The Tang is nationally known for both its architecture and its holdings, and its excellence has been recognized by the New York Times, Art in America, and Architectural Digest, among other publications.
The Tang has a private collection of over 4,500 works, including pieces by Rembrandt van Rijn, Albrecht Dürer, Francisco de Goya, William Hogarth, Roy Lichtenstein, Gary Winogrand, W. Eugene Smith, Eugene Atget, and Nan Goldin. The museum also maintains extensive collections of African, Indian, Chinese, and South American art.
An ambitious program of relevant, scholarly exhibitions is perhaps the Tang's greatest draw. Artists who have shown at the Tang include Kara Walker, Kate Ericson and Mel Ziegler, Trisha Brown, and Richard Pettibone. Among other recent exhibitions are "Brushing the Present: Contemporary Academy Painting from China," "From Pop to Now: Selections from the Sonnabend Collection," "The World According to the Newest and Most Exact Observations: Mapping Art and Science," and "Work: Shaker Design and Recent Art."
The Tang is an educational center as well as a museum. Skidmore classes regularly meet in the galleries and classrooms, and groups from other schools visit to view exhibits, hear lectures, and participate in workshops. Tours, demonstrations, and other events are generally open to the general public. In addition to visual arts exhibitions, the Tang often hosts plays, musical performances, and dance recitals.
[edit] Arthur Zankel Music Center
Because of a record breaking donation made by the estate of Arthur Zankel, Skidmore will be gifted $42 million dollars, a portion of which will be used as a lead gift to make the state of the art Arthur Zankel Music Center. Designed by Ewing Cole the building has already won awards even though it has not been constructed. It is lauded for its environmentally friendly nature. For example, rain water will be collected on the roof and turned into usable water in restrooms.[5]
[edit] Dining facilities
A new dining hall was opened in Fall 2006 with futuristic architecture and a new kitchen which has greatly improved food quality. The new dining hall is still under construction, but is still offering a variety of food selections including 8 food sections; The International, Pasta, Garden, Hot Food, Sandwich, Dessert, Vegan, and Pizza sections. The Pizza section has a brand new wood burning oven that is warm and earthy, contrasting with the rest of the dining hall's modern design.
[edit] Campus Plan
Lo-Yi Chan, architect and campus planner, and apprentice of famous architect I M Pei has created Skidmore's next major Campus Plan. The expansion of the campus will provide Skidmore with the growth needed to continue as a top academic institution in the years to come.
[edit] Student life
[edit] Student Government Association
The Skidmore College Student Government Association (SGA) is the governing body of the 100+ student-run clubs and organizations on campus, the largest of which is the Student Entertainment Company (SEC). In addition to being the official liaison between students and the administration, the Skidmore SGA advocates for college policies that benefit the short- and long-term interests of the student body. The SGA is composed of an Executive Committee, an Executive Board, an Inter-Hall Board, a Senate, and countless other individual students appointed to campus policy committees and adjudicatory bodies. Skidmore is known for having a particularly strong student government association and an administration that prides itself on working with the SGA to develop effective college policy. Recent Skidmore Student Government Association Presidents include Andy Kirshenbaum (2003), Scott Minkoff (2004), Betsy Sheridan (2005), Petria Fleming (2006), and Dan Moran (2007).
[edit] Student media
[edit] Salmagundi
Salmagundi is a quarterly journal that focuses on the humanities and social sciences. Founded by Robert Boyers, a long-time faculty member in the English department, it has been published at Skidmore since 1969 and now has an international subscriber base of several thousand readers.
Each issue generally includes poetry, fiction, interviews, and essays. Salmagundi's editors often devote large sections of an issue to a timely special subject. Recent theme issues include "The Culture of the Museum," "Homosexuality," "Art and Ethics," "The Culture Industry," "Kitsch," and "FemIcons."
Nadine Gordimer, J. M. Coetzee, Tzvetan Todorov, George Steiner, Orlando Patterson, Norman Manea, Christopher Hitchens, Seamus Heaney, Mary Gordon, Susan Sontag, Benjamin Barber, Joyce Carol Oates, Richard Howard, Carolyn Forche, Martin Jay, and David Rieff are among the writers who have contributed to Salmagundi. Regular columnists include Benjamin Barber, Tzvetan Todorov, Martin Jay, Charles Molesworth, Marilynne Robinson, Carolyn Forché, and Mario Vargas Llosa.
Salmagundi's website is located at http://www.skidmore.edu/salmagundi/.
[edit] The Skidmore News
The Skidmore News is the college's official student-run newspaper. Its staff is composed entirely of students, and it is published on a weekly basis during the academic year. [6]
[edit] WSPN
WSPN 91.1 FM is Skidmore's radio station. It is administered by a board of directors composed entirely of undergraduates. Students, college employees, and residents of the local community are eligible to host shows, but they must apply to the board in order to win timeslots. Competition for high-profile slots is fierce.
WSPN's staff strives to create a cutting-edge mix of musical programming and talk shows. Although it is a small station with a small broadcast area, it has built up a reputation for innovative programming. The Princeton Review consistently ranks it among the nation's top college radio stations, and its internet broadcast reaches listeners throughout the country.
[edit] Alcohol and drugs
Like many colleges and universities, Skidmore has had problems with students abusing drugs and alcohol. In 2004, an intoxicated student was injured when he fell from a third-story window. This incident compelled Skidmore's students and administration to rework the college's policy on alcohol & illegal drugs. As a result, the school went from being ranked first on the Princeton Review's "reefer madness" list in 2003 to not appearing on the list at all in 2005; however, in the 2007 release of the annual list, Skidmore ranked eleventh. View List. Beginning in Fall 2006, most on-campus housing is officially "dry." However, alcohol will be permitted in Scribner Village and the North Woods Apartments, which primarily house upperclassmen who are over 21. Furthermore, students of legal age will still be allowed to serve and consume alcohol at on-campus social events like dances and parties.
[edit] Athletics
Skidmore's intercollegiate athletics program offers some of the nation's top sports opportunities for student-athletes. In 2003-2004, players from twelve Thoroughbred teams qualified for regional or national team and individual honors, and more than 95 Skidmore athletes earned league honors. In 2005 the Skidmore Men's Baseball and Lacrosee teams won their conference championships and appeared for the first time in the prestigous NCAA Tournament. The current Athletic Director is Gail Cummings-Danson.
Skidmore is a member of the Liberty League.
[edit] Notable Alumni of Skidmore
- Hessa Hamad Al Thani, Class of 2005, daughter of present Emir of Qatar
- Miranda Bailey, producer
- Rosemary Bourne, first woman mayor of Oyster Bay Cove, NY
- Senator Joseph L. Bruno, New York State Senate Majority Leader (also received an honorary doctorate)
- Eddie Cahill, actor (attended)
- Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream (attended)
- Evan Dando of The Lemonheads (attended)
- Garrett "G. Love" Dutton of G. Love and Special Sauce (attended)
- Nancy Evans, founder of iVillage
- Holter Graham, actor and producer
- Ellen Hannan, One of Wall Streets most well known analyst, (Oil/Gas~Bear Stearns)
- John Hall, of the Addison Groove Project
- Gay Fiore Hartigan, COO and co-founder of Liberty Healthcare Management
- Heather Hurst, archaeologist and a MacArthur Fellow
- Matthew Hyson, a professional wrestler whose stage name is Spike Dudley
- Maxine Isaacs, Walter F. Mondale's press secretary and Deputy Campaign Manager, Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
- Elizabeth LeCompte, cofounder and director of the Wooster Group, and a MacArthur Fellow
- Ryan Morrison, celebrity chef
- Karen Levin Coburn, author of bestselling books on parenting, families, and relationships
- Scott Martin, producer
- Jeffrey H Michaels, International Analyst
- Grace Mirabella, author and former editor-in-chief of Vogue
- Ariana Richards, actress
- Walter Schubert, Founder and Chairman, Gay Financial Network (attended)
- Sara Lee Lubin Schupf, Class of 1962
- Todd "Stroker" Sweedock, Alcoholic Bartender and a real wiz with the ladies. Founder of Urban Tailgate [7]
- Sybil Shearer, modern dance pioneer and writer
- Wilma Stein Tisch, philanthropist
- Jeff Treuhaft, senior vice president of VeriSign, Inc.
- Alice Wilder, research director, producer, and writer for Nickelodeon
- Evan Mast and Mike Stroud of electronic music duo Ratatat
[edit] Trivia
- The S.S. Skidmore Victory, A WWII Victory Ship, was named after Skidmore College.[8]
- Skidmore students and faculty were extras in the films Billy Bathgate and Seabiscuit.[9]
- Randy Harrison, "Justin" on Queer as Folk, studied at Skidmore's summer theater program, SITI. [10]
- The William's Club: Skidmore Alumni & Faculty can become Affiliate Members of the NYC's The William's Club.
- Skidmore College was named one of the 25 New Ivies by the Kaplan College Guide. [11]
