Hamilton College

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Hamilton College
Motto Γνωθι Σεαυτον (Know Thyself)
Established 1793 as Hamilton-Oneida Academy, 1812 as Hamilton College
Type Private coeducational
President Joan Hinde Stewart
Staff 183
Undergraduates 1,780
Location Clinton, NY, USA
Address 198 College Hill Road
Campus rural
Colors Buff and Blue
Nickname Continentals
Website www.hamilton.edu

Hamilton College is a private, independent, highly selective and prestigious liberal arts college located in Clinton, New York. The college is renowned for its emphasis on writing and speaking, and is widely regarded as one of the nation's leaders in language study. It has been coeducational since 1978, when it merged with Kirkland College.

Hamilton is sometimes referred to as the 'College on the Hill', due to the school's location on top of College Hill, just outside of downtown Clinton. Hamilton College was ranked as the 17th best Liberal Arts College in the U.S. by U.S. News & World Report in 2007.[1]

Contents

[edit] Academics

Hamilton currently offers the Bachelor of Arts degree in any of over 50 areas of concentration.[2] Additionally, Hamilton students may study abroad. There are long-standing programs in China, France, and Spain, as well as programs closer to home in New York City and Washington, DC. Hamilton is well known for its unique "open" curriculum, for which there are no distributional requirements; students have nearly total freedom over their course selection. Hamilton College and Brown University are the only institutions in the country with such a policy. The college has a tradition of adherence to an academic honor code. Every student matriculating at Hamilton must sign a pledge to observe the Honor Code, and many examinations are not proctored. Hamilton has been part of the SAT optional movement for undergraduate admission since 2002.

[edit] History

Hamilton began in 1793 as the Hamilton-Oneida Academy, a K-12 school, and was chartered as Hamilton College in 1812. The college was founded by Samuel Kirkland as part of missions work with the Oneida tribe. The college is named for Alexander Hamilton, who was a member of the first Board of Trustees of the Hamilton-Oneida Academy (though he never set foot on campus). Baron von Steuben, acting as Hamilton's surrogate, laid the college's cornerstone.

In 1978, the all-male Hamilton College merged with the all-female Kirkland College, which had been located adjacent to and founded by Hamilton. The primary public reason for the merger was Kirkland's imminent insolvency. This merger was not done lightly, overnight or without loud dissension, including large student protests on campus and their occupation of the President's Building for a few hours. It took nearly 7 years to complete the merger; female students were given the option of receiving a Kirkland diploma instead of a Hamilton diploma until 1979. Several former Kirkland faculty members teaching at Hamilton still fondly remember being part of a very different academic community prior to the merger.

Today, the original Hamilton campus is referred to by students and some school literature as the "light side" or "north side" of the campus. Formerly that side of campus was referred to as the "Stryker Campus" after its former president, Melancthon Woolsey Stryker (or incorrectly "Striker Campus"). On the other side of the street separating the two campuses, the former Kirkland campus is referred to as the "dark side" (a reference to a historical, large-scale power outage).

Hamilton College is the third oldest college established in New York, after Columbia and Union.

Since the 1970s, Hamilton has been a member of the NESCAC athletic conference (despite being located outside of New England), which includes Amherst, Bates, Bowdoin, Colby, Connecticut College, Middlebury, Trinity, Tufts, Wesleyan, and Williams.

[edit] Campus Life

The current Hamilton College campus consists of the original Hamilton College campus and the neighboring former campus of Kirkland College. The campus is located within walking distance of downtown Clinton, New York.


Starting in the mid 1990s, the administration and the trustees have tried to work together to improve life on the campus. They required all underclassmen to live in college housing (which caused the closure of all of the fraternity and sorority houses, as well as the Emerson Literary Society, a nonselective residential alternative to the Greek system), created social spaces for student use, improved funding for on-campus events, and pursued several other changes. This process caused a great deal of controversy—mostly surrounding the decision to preclude fraternities from exercising any use of their houses. As a result, the majority of fraternities felt they had no choice but to sell their houses to the college, though some fraternities refused to sell their houses until well into the next decade. As the college purchased the houses, it has carried out extensive renovations. Since the discussion, a few fraternities and sororities have had their charters revoked or suspended for extreme behavior (causing additional controversy among the students and alumni). Only one sorority on campus (Omega Phi Beta) has national affiliation.

[edit] Housing

Nearly all students now live in college-owned dorms. There are a variety of styles of residence halls, including former fraternity houses, suites, apartment style housing, and more traditional dormitory style housing. Hamilton currently offers a cooperative living option to students, after a two year break from previous co-op residence options, as well as substance-free and quiet housing.

[edit] On campus events

The changes have allowed the student community to increase the number and types of activities available on campus. The college has also provided significant funding for student activities through student-run organizations. College-sponsored student-run groups routinely bring music, movies, plays, and other performers to the college. Over a quarter of a million dollars is distributed to student groups each year.

[edit] Campus Media

WHCL FM: During the academic year, Hamilton students, faculty, and community members produce a variety of music, news, sports, and talk radio programs at FM frequency 88.7 The station is available through most of the Mohawk Valley region and online at WHCL.org. It is the only radio station Clinton.

The Spectator: Hamilton College's primary news publication is published weekly and is freely available in the campus dining halls, mail center, and library. The Spectator covers campus, local, and national news as well as Hamilton sports and campus life. It is older than the New York Times, which is the paper's official slogan.

The Daily Bull: A daily bulletin that features original humor pieces, campus satire, cultural commentary, classified advertisements, and local weather. The Daily Bull is noted for being printed on yellow legal size paper, and is distributed on dining hall tables every morning.

The Wag: Hamilton's biannual satire magazine, published near the end of every semester. Featuring written and graphical satire of campus news and life. The Wag has also produced short feature films about the "Hamilton experience" in the past.

The Duel Observer: A weekly humor and satire publication that adopts the format of a parody newspaper (i.e. the Onion).

[edit] Annual Events and Traditions

Class and Charter Day: On the last day of spring term classes, all afternoon classes are cancelled for a campus wide picnic and party. Additionally, a ceremony is held during which students, faculty, and other members of the Hamilton community are recognized for their academic, leadership, and community-development accomplishments. During the ceremony, chosen students are also inducted into Hamilton's three secret honor socities: Doers and Thinkers, Was Los, and Pentagon. Class and Charter Day is also the biggest party day of the year at Hamilton.

Citrus Bowl: The Citrus Bowl is the first men's home hockey game of the season. Traditionally, upon the first Hamilton-scored goal, oranges and other citrus fruits that students had smuggled into the rink were thrown onto the ice at the visiting goalie. This often resulted in a delay-of-game penalty against Hamilton while the ice was cleaned. In recent years, the orange throwing has been very strongly discouraged by the College administration and by NESCAC officials, but the event is still well attended. Orange T-shirts commemorating the event have been distributed in recent years.

FebFest: Rooted in the long standing tradition of the winter carnival at Hamilton, FebFest is a relatively recent revival at Hamilton. A week-long combination of performances, parties, free food, fireworks, and various other events, FebFest intends to keep student morale high during the winter.

May Day Music Festival: Started in 2004, May Day is an outdoor music festival sponsored by several on-campus organizations including:

Past performers have included: The New Pornographers, The Pharcyde, Dead Meadow, Tim Reynolds, The Virginia Coalition, Jennifer Gentle, Rainer Maria, Ted Leo, The Unicorns, J-Live, Catch-22 and Sleater-Kinney. It should be noted that the name "May Day" has no association with other May Day events and activities elsewhere in the world. Rather, the name simply refers to the fact that the festival is staged in early May or late April.

HamTrek: Started in 2004, HamTrek is an annual sprint-triathlon consisting of a 525-yard swim, 9-mile bike ride, and 3.1-mile run. Participants can compete individually, in unisex teams of 3, or co-ed teams of 3. Prizes are awarded to the winners of the different competing groups. Also, many athletic coaches now require their teams to compete. HamTrek takes place on Class and Charter day.

[edit] Diversity

Like most small colleges in the United States, Hamilton struggles to achieve diversity when it comes to race. Ongoing efforts seek to improve this situation. See Statistics for more information.

[edit] Athletics

Hamilton is a NCAA Division III school and has been a member of the New England Small College Athletic Conference since 1971. The college sports teams are known as the Hamilton Continentals. Hamilton sponsors 28 sports, including: Baseball (M), Basketball (M&W), Crew (M&W), Cross Country (M&W), Field Hockey (W), Football (M), Golf (M), Ice Hockey (M&W), Lacrosse (M&W), Outdoor and Indoor Track & Field (M&W), Soccer (M&W), Softball (W), Squash (M&W), Swimming & Diving (M&W), Tennis (M&W), Volleyball (W).

About 30% of the Hamilton student body participates on the athletics program. In addition to varsity sports, Hamilton sponsors several club sports and intramural activities each year. All students have the opportunity to participate at a level enjoyable to them, including the creation of a streaking team in 2002. The Hamilton Streaking Team received favorable coverage from the New York Times in 2004. Hamilton College remained undefeated in their collegiate record until the Williams College springstreakers defeated Hamilton in spring 2005. Fifteen members of the Williams team made a full circuit of the Hamilton library the night before their final exams began, streaking about 200 people and giving the Hamilton team their first loss.

[edit] Facilities

Hamilton has an impressive library for a school of its size. During the summer of 2006 a $56 million dollar science building was completed. The art department has separate studios for each of the studio arts taught, which shall soon receive a $37.5 million dollar renovation. In addition to the standard fields for soccer, football, rugby, etc., Hamilton's athletic facilities include an ice rink, swimming pool, several athletics fields, a golf course, and a state of the art 10 Court Squash Center, opened in 2006, all of which are open to use by the student body. Hamilton also has a world class concert hall.

[edit] Carol Woodhouse Wellin Performance Hall

The 700 seat hall features some of the best acoustics on the East Coast of the United States. Wellin Hall hosts the College Orchestra, Choir, Jazz Band, and Oratorio Society, as well as guest artists from around the globe. It is rumored that several rock acts (most notably Phish and Dave Matthews) have reached out to the college to use Wellin Hall as a recording facility; these rumors are unconfirmed.

[edit] The Sage Rink

The Sage Rink is the nation's second oldest indoor college hockey rink only after Northeastern's. It was renovated in 1993, when it received better lighting, ice-making equipment, and structural enhancements. The rink houses the college's Men's and Women's varsity hockey teams, intramural ice hockey, physical education classes, and local youth hockey games.

[edit] Bristol Swimming Pool

Complete in 1988, the pool was christened by a Guinness Book of World Records setting event in April 1989 when the world's longest swim relay was completed in the Bristol pool.

[edit] Steuben Field

Home to the Hamilton College football team, Steuben Field was founded in 1897, and is one of the ten oldest collegiate football fields in the United States. See NESCAC Football Record Book.

[edit] Litchfield Observatory

IAU code 789, whence C. H. F. Peters discovered some 48 asteroids. The observatory, a quarter of a mile from campus, is powered by solar energy and is open for student use.

[edit] Campus Speakers

Hamilton hosts many different speakers on many different subjects. Notable recent speakers have included Salman Rushdie, Jared Diamond, Stanley Lombardo, Peter Meineck, Kenneth Miller, and the speakers of the Great Names series (see below).

Early in 2005, the college received national media attention in the United States when a scheduled appearance by Professor Ward Churchill was cancelled after the college received threats of violence protesting his speech. In an essay written in 2001, Churchill compared victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks to "Little Eichmanns," referring to Adolf Hitler's genocide architect Adolf Eichmann. The public and many alumni voiced disapproval of Churchill's statements and his $3500 speaking fee. The Hamilton administration emphasized its concerns about placing limits on academic freedom and censoring speech. The College issued a statement at the time of the panel's cancellation. According to the campus newspaper, The Spectator, the Kirkland Project, the sponsor of the event, paid Churchill's fee even though the event was cancelled.

[edit] The Sacerdote Series Great Names at Hamilton

Starting in 1996 the Sacerdote Series Great Names at Hamilton has brought some of the most sought after speakers to campus for presentations. While most of these have been in the form of speeches, they have also included a concert by B. B. King.

To-date the speakers that have been part of this series are:

[edit] College Statistics

Source: Hamilton College
Source: Hamilton College[3]
General Information:
Enrollment: ~1,780
Applicants for class of 2009 ~4200
Percentage Male: 50%
Percentage Female: 50%
Target Entering Class Size: 470
Applicants for class of 2008: 4,444
Acceptance Rate: 36%
SAT Scores:
-75th percentile: 1480
-25th percentile: 1320
High School Rank: 79% were in the top 10%
High School public to private ratio: 60-40
Ethnic Diversity:
International 5%
African-American 5%
Native American 1%
Asian/Pacific Islander 8%
Hispanic 4%
Caucasian 69%
Unknown 8%

Geographic Diversity: Hamilton students come from 44 U.S. states and 40 countries[citation needed]

[edit] Historical Landmarks on Campus

[edit] Hamilton College Chapel

The college's chapel is a historically protected landmark and is the only three story chapel still standing in New York. The chapel is topped by a signature quill pen weather vane, which represents Hamilton College's long standing commitment to producing graduates with exceptional writing and communication abilities.

[edit] Kirkland Cottage

The cottage was the original residence of Samuel Kirkland when he began his missionary work to the Oneida that resulted in the founding of the Hamilton-Oneida Academy. The cottage itself is completely original, although it was moved from its original location to its current place on the main quadrangle of the Light Side. The cottage is currently used for matriculation ceremonies.

[edit] Birthplace of Elihu Root

This house originally belonged to the Root family and was the birthplace of Secretary of State Elihu Root, one of Hamilton's leading alumni. The house has since been renamed Buttrick Hall. Originally built in 1812 as the student dining hall, Buttrick Hall is as old as the College itself. In 1834 it became the home of Horatio Buttrick, then superintendent of the Buildings and Grounds Department as well as registrar. Through Oren Root’s marriage to a daughter of Horatio Buttrick, the building became the birthplace of Elihu Root, U.S. secretary of state and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. The house currently serves as office space for the President of the College and the Dean of Faculty.

[edit] Elihu Root House

This house originally belonged to Elihu Root and served as his summer home. It currently houses the Office of Admission, though it will house the president's offices when the Office of Admission is relocated to the former Sigma Phi house.

[edit] Alumni Achievements

In the two centuries that Hamilton College has been educating young men and, more recently, young women, thousands of graduates have gone on to make remarkable contributions across the entire spectrum of human endeavor, from science to politics, and from the arts to commerce. Hamilton counts Nobel laureates, a Secretary of State, the diplomat who brokered the Panama Canal Treaty, several members of Congress, Governors, authors, inventors, scientists, poets, teachers, and captains of industry as alumni, from the 1800s to the present day. This list, due to length, is now maintained under List of Hamilton College people.

[edit] College Trivia

  • The Academy Award-nominated 1969 film The Sterile Cuckoo (which starred a young Liza Minnelli) was based upon the novel of the same name written by Hamilton alumnus John Nichols. A fictionalized version of Hamilton was the location of most of the plot action in The Sterile Cuckoo and portions of the film were shot on the Hamilton Campus. An original print of the film was recently donated to the College.
  • Alex Haley was a professor at Hamilton for a brief period immediately before he wrote Roots. Though he was not an active faculty member when he wrote Roots, Haley was living in the Village of Clinton when he wrote most of Roots.
  • Previous faculty members at Hamilton include poets Agha Shahid Ali and Howard Nemerov.
  • In Act III of Thornton Wilder's play Our Town, the character Mr. Webb was returning on the early-morning train after having been away for several days in Clinton, New York, to make a speech at Hamilton College, his alma mater.
  • Author and former Time Magazine editor, Barrett Seaman is a Hamilton alum and trustee. His book Binge: What Your College Student Won't Tell You was inspired by the changes that have occurred at Hamilton since he graduated in the late 1960s.
  • Hamilton was cited as the second most "preppy" college in the United States in Lisa Birnbach's Official Preppy Handbook.

[edit] References

  1. ^ US News & World Report Ratings
  2. ^ Hamilton College - Academics
  3. ^ Hamilton College

[edit] College songs

  • Carissima
  • We Never Will Forget Thee, the fight song of Hamilton College, often performed by the Hamilton College Buffers, an all-male student a cappella group. The Hamilton College Football team also sings a slightly modified version of this song upon winning a football game.

[edit] External links

Liberty League
Clarkson • Hamilton • Hobart • RPI • Rochester • St. Lawrence • Skidmore • Union • Vassar • William Smith
Associates: U.S. Merchant Marine (football) • Susquehanna (football) • WPI (football)
New England Small College Athletic Conference
Amherst • Bates • Bowdoin • Colby • Connecticut College • Hamilton • Middlebury • Trinity • Tufts • Wesleyan • Williams
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