Austin College

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Austin College
Image:AustinCollege-logo.png

Motto: Learning, Leadership, Lasting Values
Established: 1849
Type: Private
Endowment: $144 million
President: Oscar C. Page
Staff: 104
Undergraduates: 1,291
Postgraduates: 29
Location: Sherman, Texas, USA
Campus: Suburban, 70 acres
(City of Sherman, Grayson County, Texas)
Religious Affiliation: Presbyterian Church USA
Mascot: Kangaroo
Website: www.austincollege.edu

Austin College is a private liberal arts college affiliated with the Presbyterian Church USA and located in Sherman, Texas, an hour north of Dallas.

The undergraduate student body of Austin College (typically referred to as "AC" by students and faculty) is limited to about 1,250. Most students are required to live on campus for the first three years in an attempt to create a close-knit community. Austin College actively promotes various study abroad programs; 70% of students study abroad during their four years at the college. The college states that it attempts to foster the close interaction between the students and professors.The college maintains a 12:1 student to faculty ratio and the average class size is less than 25 students. The college has no teaching assistants, so regular faculty teach all levels of coursework.

Chartered in November 1849, it is the oldest college in Texas under original charter and name as recognized by the State Historical Survey Committee.

Contents

[edit] History

The college was founded on October 13, 1849 in Huntsville, Texas by Princeton-educated missionary Dr. Daniel Baker. The college moved to Sherman in 1876 and became co-educational in 1918, merging in 1930 with the all female Texas Presbyterian College.

Baker named the school after Texas hero Stephen F. Austin and his sister Emily, who deeded 1,500 acres (6 km²) of land to the college. Another important figure in Texas history, Sam Houston, served on the original board of trustees for the school.

The college was the first in Texas to grant a graduate degree, and is also one of the oldest colleges in the state.[citation needed]

[edit] College Information

[edit] Leadership

The current president of Austin College is Dr. Oscar C. Page, who has held the position since 1994. He is known for often appearing at student events and athletic games to show his support, and visited the service group who traveled to New Orleans over spring break in 2006 to provide relief from Hurricane Katrina, where he helped in the repairs.

[edit] Accomplishments

U.S. News & World Report ranked Austin College among the top 100 colleges in the category of "Best Liberal Arts Colleges" for 2006. Austin College also ranked among the "Best 361 Colleges" in the 2006 Princeton Review, was profiled in Loren Pope's Colleges That Change Lives, and was profiled in the 2005 edition of Kaplan's Unbiased Guide to the 331 Most Interesting Colleges. Austin College is also ninth on the U.S. News' 2006 list for "most students studying abroad." It is a member of the International 50, a group of the top colleges in the nation for international focus.

[edit] Academics

Austin College offers about 35 majors and pre-professional programs for study, and students can also create a specialized major to match their academic interests. The college is known for its nationally recognized five-year Master of Arts in Teaching program, its pre-medical, international studies, and pre-law programs, which draw many students to the campus. The school also has a music program, and is home to the Austin College A Cappella Choir and the Sherman Symphony Orchestra made up of students and local musicians, and assorted smaller musical ensembles. It also sponsors the Posey Center of Excellence in Leadership, the Center for Environmental Studies[1], and the Center for Southwestern and Mexican Studies [2], three specialized programs that give students numerous research and internship opportunities. The school also has active programs in over 40 academic disciplines. The school's student newspaper, the Austin College Observer, is a bi-monthly publication.

[edit] Communication/Inquiry

The Communication/Inquiry class is one of a number of classes and program that the school believes sets it apart from other private universities. Communication/Inquiry, or "C/I" as it is abbreviated, is a seminar course taken by freshmen during the fall of their entry year. The professor becomes a mentor for the students in the class over the next four years. Students choose the topic of their C/I soon after matriculating. It serves as the initial course in the undergraduate core curriculum. Each section of C/I is meant to emphasize the enhancement of many core academic skills, among them general writing, oral communication, computer technology, and library usage, as well as intellectual inquiry and critical thinking. As with most Austin College classes, the classes are never more than 25 people, and usually less. Freshmen are encouraged to use the class as an opportunity to make friends. On the opening weekend, students participate in activities and games with their C/I group. Course topics, which are generally aligned with specialty of the instructors, have in the past included an analysis of children's literature, a studio art class where the participants create sculptures on campus, and a study of how food and culture have intertwined throughout history. C/I professors and topics rotate every year.[3]

[edit] Heritage of Western Culture

Heritage of Western Culture, known on campus as "Heritage" or "HWC", was the Austin College core curriculum. Starting in the Fall of 2007, "Heritage" ceased to exist. The purpose of the Heritage classes was to tie together various liberal arts disciplines into an overview of the development of western culture.

All students were required to take three Heritage classes during their time at AC. In the most recent incarnation, these classes were:

  • 101, "The Early Western World," usually taken as a freshman or sophomore, is a study of selected aspects of early western culture (antiquity to the Enlightenment) with particular attention to critical issues in the study of cultural heritage before the modern era and the legacy of the early west.
  • 201, "Integrated Science," usually taken during sophomore or junior year, is a study of notable scientific achievements to develop an understanding of the nature of science, the structure of scientific thought, and the influence of some of the achievements of science on western ideas from the 17th through the 21st centuries.
  • 301, "Individual and Society in the Modern World," usually taken during junior or senior year, is a study of the evolution of western culture and civilization from the Enlightenment until the present. Special attention is given to those ideas and events that shape the contemporary world, and may include aspects of non-western culture.[4]

Each class focused on a particular topic or subject and traced it through time in order to ascertain its effect on contemporary western culture. The topics were taught on a rotating basis (the same topic was generally taught for four years consecutively, then the topic was changed), as the professors that taught them rotated as well. The majority of the classes were taught jointly, with 2-5 professors sharing the class and taking turns giving lectures, in order to provide a cross-section of disciplines and professors who specialize in various aspects of the class. The average class size is considerably larger, around 100 students, as opposed to the usual 25. For many AC students, the class was their only exposure to a lecture-hall type of class commonly found at larger universities. To supplement the lectures, each professor usually had what is termed a "small group" of about 25 students that meets several times throughout the semester in addition to the "large group" meetings that took place regularly.

Opinions differed on the value of Heritage, as many students viewed it as worthless (though some alumni remember the courses as some of the most valuable they took). This attitude led to increasing numbers of students taking the course on a pass/fail basis (and devoting minimal effort), leading Austin College to disallow such a grading system for the course. Currently, the class cannot be taken at a pass/fail for those under the program graduating in 2008 and beyond. Many professors agreed with the negative student assessment of Heritage, although the program did have its supporters among the faculty too.

During the fall semester of 2006, the decades-old program was made the subject of a full scale re-evaluation by the faculty. A committee of faculty members who teach in the course met to determine the future of the course sequence. That committee made its report and the faculty voted on the future of Heritage. There was strong sentiment to do away with the courses completely in some quarters, while others argued that Heritage (or something like it) should be retained. In early March, 2007, the Austin College faculty voted to end the HWC program, and after the spring semester of 2007 HWC courses will no longer be offered.

[edit] January Term

January Term is Austin College's mini-semester, a three-week course taught every January. Students are required to take three Jan-terms during their time at AC, and many use the semester to either take a class in a different area than their regular studies, intensify their study in their designated field, or travel abroad on one of the many travel Jan-terms. Off-campus Jan-terms are an opportunity for those who cannot study abroad during the normal school year to do so. Destinations rotate from year to year, and past and current locations include Scotland, England, France, Spain, Greece, Mexico, Costa Rica, Peru, Brazil, Japan, India, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Egypt, West Africa, Hawaii, Australia and New Zealand. There are also a number of domestic travel locations, such as Ghost Ranch in New Mexico (where students can take landscape photography, creative writing, pottery, and silversmithing), Washington D.C., and New York City.

Courses are taught on-campus as well. A longstanding policy requires freshmen to spend their first Jan-term on-campus, although some instructors allow exceptions. Many students can only afford only one off-campus Jan-term over the course of their Austin College career, and take the rest on campus. Topics have included bird-watching, a writing class on utopian literature, an analysis of contemporary comic books, the philosophy of mythological archetypes, medical QiGong, as well as wine making and beer brewing, instructed by chemistry faculty.

[edit] Jordan Family Language House

Completed in 1998, the Jordan Family Language House is both a residence hall and a place of study for German, Spanish, French, and Japanese language and culture. The hall is divided into four sections, one for each language. Each section functions independently, with the number of students varying from Spanish (the largest) to Japanese (the smallest, with a capacity for eight). Students are encouraged to speak in their language of study when in the house.

A native speaker, always coming from abroad, resides in each section to assist students in their study of the language. The native speaker also holds intermediate and advanced conversation classes for the students. The Jordan House contains a multimedia language laboratory.

Students who live in the house are enrolled in a half-credit course, in addition to another course in the language or literature. Course requirements include meeting several times a week for language table, weekly house meetings with skits, games, and other presentations in the target language, and a variety of other culturally appropriate activities. [5]

[edit] Model United Nations

Austin College has participated in Model United Nations around the country since 1983. Model UN conferences simulate the workings of the United Nations, with delegates assuming the current positions of the countries they represent.

The purpose of the program is to gain skills in leadership, verbal and written communication, teamwork, decision-making, and research. At the National Model U.N. Conference in New York City, the AC program has earned more than 20 top rankings for Outstanding Delegation. AC has also attended conferences in Chicago, Washington, DC, Hawaii and Russia.[6]

[edit] Posey Leadership Institute

The Austin College Posey Leadership Institute is intended to instruct student leaders in leadership and service. Each fall, 15 entering freshmen and up to five sophomores are selected to participate, based on demonstrated leadership ability and potential. Participants receive a scholarship of around $11,000 a year.

Participating students complete special courses beyond their normal academic workload. These include a freshman introductory leadership course, an internship on leadership in action, a Jan-term course, a second-year course on national and international leadership, and a senior conference on advanced leadership studies.[7]

[edit] Study Abroad

AC has a strong emphasis on international learning opportunity. 72% of students in a recent graduating class had studied abroad.

[edit] Student Life

[edit] Residence Halls

Austin College currently has five residence halls on campus, as well as additional housing for upperclassmen. School-owned residences contain kitchens, lounges, laundry facilities, and computer labs with printers. Halls remain locked at all times, requiring an electronic card (a student ID) to enter.

AC's traditional dormitory rooms have movable furnishings including detachable bunk beds (which are extra-long twin size), dressers, study chairs and built-in desks.

  • Baker Hall is a men's hall named after Rev. Daniel Baker, the founder of Austin College. Constructed in 1958 and renovated in 1996, Baker contains 71 double-occupancy rooms and four single-occupancy rooms. It is known for its "Baker Bun Run," where volunteers run in their underwear to each of the all-girl dormitories to serenade the girls on the night before finals start.
  • Caruth Hall, the largest women's residence hall, holds 77 double rooms and three single-occupancy rooms. Caruth was constructed in 1963 and renovated in 1997. A large basement area is used for meetings, exercise and recreation. Caruth is the only residence hall with normally sized twin beds.
  • Clyce Hall, also a women's residence hall, contains 64 double rooms and two single-occupancy rooms. Clyce was constructed in 1957 and renovated in 1991. Clyce rooms have a nightstand.
  • Dean Hall, the largest residence hall on campus, has 116 double-occupancy rooms and seven single-occupancy rooms. The only co-educational dorm, floors are divided with freshmen men in one wing and freshmen women in the other. Upper-class men and women reside in centrally-located rooms between the wings in an area known as "the T."
  • Bryan Apartments are college-owned apartments on campus. The 16 two-bedroom apartments are occupied by up to four people. Apartments are furnished with standard bunk beds, dressers, desks and chairs per bedroom, a movable sofa and chair in the living room, and a movable dining table with four chairs. All apartments contain kitchens with a full-size refrigerator, garbage disposal, microwave and electric stove.
  • Johnson 'Roo Suites are the newest college-owned apartments, completed in the fall of 2003. Adjacent to Bryan Apartments, they house 152 students in four separate structures. The residence is available to juniors and seniors, with priority given to juniors. Each 1,200-square-foot (110 m²) suite has four bedrooms and two bathrooms, as well as a common living area and a kitchenette.
  • The Jordan Family Language House is a residence for 48 men and women students of German, Spanish, French, and Japanese. The house is divided into four areas, one for each language. Each section has bedrooms and a common living area surrounding an interior courtyard.

Luckett Hall used to serve as an all-male dormitory on the northeast side of campus. Luckett Hall was one of the oldest buildings on campus, built in 1907. It was three stories tall with the first story partially below ground. It was demolished in 2003-2004 after mold was found. The location of the building is now being used as the Founders Plaza which now stands as the entrance to the school.

[edit] Abell Library

Abell Library contains over 200,000 books and bound periodical volumes. The library subscribes to almost 1,000 periodicals in paper format and provides access to thousands of full-text books, periodicals, and reference sources in electronic format. The library also contains items in various microformats. The Austin College Archives and Special Collections are located on the second floor of Abell Library.

[edit] Other Buildings

Other major buildings on campus are the Wright Campus Center (student union), Caruth Administration Building, Wynne Chapel, Dickey Fitness Pavilion, Abell Library and the Adams Center (health and career services). Classes are taught in Sherman Hall (humanities), Hopkins Center (social sciences), Moody Science Building and Thompson Hall (science and mathematics), Ida Green Communication Center (performing arts) and Craig Hall (art and music). [8] In the fall of 2007, a new studio art complex was constructed.

Student organizations include the Student Assembly (SA), Indian Cultural Association, Asian Student Association (ASA), Black Expressions, Los Amigos, Student International Organization (SIO), Muslim Student Association (MSA), the Austin College ACtivators (a traveling Presbyterian youth ministry program), Campus Activities Board, Student Development Board, Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship, Canterbury Society (an organization for Episcopal students), Catholic Student Organization (CSA), Young Democrats, Amnesty International, Evironmentally Concerned Organization of Students (ECOS), People Reaffirming identity Differences and Educating (PRiDE), Peace, Unity, Racial Harmony, and Equality of men and women (PURE), ACCares, Pre-Med Society, Pre-Law Society, Student Organization of Modern Art (SOMA), Rotaract, Habitat for Humanity, Circle K, and Alpha Phi Omega (a national service co-ed fraternity).

Musical organizations include the Austin College A Cappella Choir, the Sherman Symphony Orchestra (sponsored jointly with Sherman Musical Arts, Inc.), Woodwind, Brass, and String Ensembles, Austin College Jazz Ensemble, AC Chorale, Austin College Concert Band, and two college a cappella ensembles, the Consort and the Quartette.

National and International Academic Honor Societies at Austin College include Alpha Chi, Alpha Psi Omega, Beta Beta Beta, Delta Phi Alpha, Eta Sigma Phi, Omicron Delta Epsilon, Phi Alpha Theta, Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Sigma Iota, Pi Delta Phi, Pi Gamma Mu, Pi Sigma Alpha, Psi Chi, Sigma Delta Pi, and Sigma Pi Sigma.

[edit] Greek Life

There are no national fraternities and sororities at Austin College. There are, however, a wide variety of local fraternities and sororities. Austin College students in good standing who have completed at least one semester and meet the RUSH guidelines may participate in RUSH. Formal RUSH takes place every year in February. Austin College's pledgeship season is from mid-February until the beginning of spring break, usually about one month. There are currently six sororities and six fraternities active: [9]

Sororities

  • Kappa Gamma Chi (ΚΓΧ) was founded in 1919 as a literary society and the first women’s organization on campus. In 1940 it became a social sorority.
  • Alpha Delta Chi (ΑΔΧ) was founded in 1933 as the first social sorority on the Austin College campus. While fostering tradition, the individual members of the group vary in goals and interests while maintaining a common bond in sisterhood through friendship, fellowship, and service.
  • Delta Phi Nu (ΔΦΝ) currently suspended.
  • Theta Sigma Chi (ΘΣΧ) was founded in 1985 and encourages the development self-expression, sincerity, and positive self-esteem. Their symbol, the star, represents the ability to come together as a group while still remaining individuals.
  • Xi Epsilon (ΞΕ) was chartered in 1985 as a united group that would also maintain the growth of the individual.
  • Omega Zeta (ΩΖ) was founded in 2000 and promotes and encourages service, sisterhood, academics, identity, and leadership. Their motto is "so much to do, so much to be"
  • Sigma Phi Chi (ΣΦΧ) was founded in 2001 to form an ecumenical sisterhood of women who glorify Jesus Christ with their lives and who strive to follow His perfect example by promoting love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Fraternities

  • Phi Sigma Alpha (ΦΣΑ) was founded in 1932 and is the oldest fraternity on campus. Their motto is "There's nothing one man can do that two men couldn't do better."
  • Chi Delta Eta (ΧΔΗ) was founded in 1957 to achieve and uphold their motto “Character through Brotherhood.”
  • Gamma Gamma Gamma (ΓΓΓ) has promoted perseverance, scholarship, unity, and brotherhood between members, since its founding in 1963.
  • Lambda Chi (ΛΧ) was founded in 1982. Its fundamental theme is well expressed by its motto “Unity without Uniformity.”
  • Phi Kappa Omega (ΦΚΩ) was founded in 1989 and believes in offering an unrestricted environment where one need not change to be accepted. Their motto is “What You See What You Get.”
  • Chi Tau Chi (ΧΤΧ) was chartered in 1998 and formed to enable an ecumenical brotherhood of Christian men to love, serve, and bear one another's burdens in spiritual and social fellowship.
  • Rho Lambda Theta (ΡΛΘ) was temporarily suspended by the school in 2005. The organization is set to return to campus 4 years from their date of suspension.

[edit] Religious Life

  • ACtivators The Austin College ACtivators are a group of Austin College students who work with Chaplain John Williams to plan and lead regional Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) youth ministry events. Since 1995, the ACtivators program has involved 352 Austin College students who have traveled over 121,000 total miles to plan and lead 339 events in 12 states (Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas) involving over 28,000 youth, children, college students, and adults. Twenty-nine former ACtivators have gone on to graduate from seminary. Twenty former ACtivators will be enrolled in seminary in the Fall of 2007.

[edit] Athletics

Austin College participates in NCAA Division III athletics. Kangaroo varsity teams include football, men and women's soccer, volleyball, men and women's basketball, swimming and diving, tennis, baseball and softball, which was added for the 2006-2007 season. More than 225 student-athletics participate in varsity intercollegiate athletics each year. In 2004-2005, 28 students were recognized with all-conference athletic honors and 61 students received all-conference academic honors.

Austin College joined the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference on July 1, 2006, replacing Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. Austin College was previously a member of the American Southwest Conference.

Austin College also has a student-run dance team named the Aussies.

[edit] Traditions

[edit] Homecoming

Homecoming is the biggest event of the year, drawing large numbers of alumni to campus.

[edit] Mascot

The Austin College mascot is the kangaroo. The unusual mascot name traces its roots to the 1850s, when Austin College upperclassmen held mock trials — called Kangaroo Kourt — in which freshmen were "tried" by upperclassmen. The practice was abolished in 1915, but some students had, through the tradition, grown fond of the kangaroo. Accordingly, the class of 1923 bought a live kangaroo from a zoo in California. Named after trustee Pat E. Hooks, "Pat" the three-year-old kangaroo, who stood five feet tall, came to campus in 1922 and lived under the steps of Luckett Hall, a men's dormitory which has, since that time, been demolished.

Pat was a rallying point for student morale, taken on a leash to home football games, pre-game bonfires, biennial games with archrival Trinity in San Antonio, and to games with SMU in Dallas. Pat and the 12-piece band gave Austin College students "the conviction that the Kangaroos could compete athletically with any school in the Southwest."

However, Pat died accompanying the team to training camp at Woodlake. He was buried just north of the current Baker Hall at a funeral service held by students after chapel. A second kangaroo was purchased from a circus in 1924, but after "Pat II" met a similar fate, the student body decided a kangaroo was too delicate a creature to survive in Texas. Pat II was not replaced until the fall of 1950, when Austin College students bought a six-month-old female Australian wallaby named Katy.

Katy was smaller than Pat, standing three feet tall and weighing 75 pounds, and lived next to the gymnasium in a pen. Students fitted Katy with a harness, who entertained the crowd at during halftime at football games by running up and down the sidelines. She appeared at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas during an Austin College-Mexico City University game. Katy died in the summer of 1960, the last live mascot. A student now plays the kangaroo in a costume.[10]

[edit] Colors

The Austin College colors are crimson and gold.

[edit] Birthdays

On students' birthdays, AC tradition is for the student's friends to throw him or her into a fountain on campus, usually the fountain outside the Dickey Fitness Pavilion because it is large, shallow and easily accessed.

[edit] Notable Faculty

[edit] Notable Alumni

[edit] Recent developments

In the fall of 2005, Austin College began implementing the initial phase of its multi-year, approximately $1 million campus landscape master plan. The landscape project will ultimately add an entry esplanade, pedestrian mall, and other landscape enhancements. The school upgraded the baseball field in the summer of 2006. Construction on the Betsy Dennis Forster Art Studio Complex began in the fall of 2006 and was completed March, 2008.

In 2006, Austin College's first external graduate/professional school alumni organization was formed to provide support and encouragement to Austin College alumni and friends attending or interested in attending Texas Tech School of Law.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "From Religious Childhood To Reins of a U.F.O. Cult", New York Times, 1997-03-29. Retrieved on 2008-05-08. 
  2. ^ "Jack B. Jackson, 83, Ex-Chief at Penney", New York Times, 1999-08-25. Retrieved on 2008-05-08. 
  3. ^ List of Distinguished Alumni Award Recipients, retrieved 2008-05-19
  4. ^ Stowers, Carlton, and Carroll Pickett, Within These Walls: Memoirs of a Death House Chaplain, ISBN 978-0312287177, St. Martin's Press, 2002, Google Books
  5. ^ At the Death House Door official web site, retrieved 2008-05-19
  6. ^ From out of Texas to Everywhere! The Presbyterian Sun, August 2006, retrieved 2008-05-19

[edit] External links

Coordinates: 33°38′49.22″N, 96°35′50.16″W