Jamestown College

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Motto:	Your Success. Our Tradition.
Established:	1883
Type:	Private Liberal Arts College
President:	Robert S. Badal
Dean:	Gary Watts
Students:	1,000
Undergraduates:	1,000
Location:	Jamestown, ND, USA (46°54′50″N 98°41′53″W / 46.914, -98.698Coordinates: 46°54′50″N 98°41′53″W / 46.914, -98.698)
Campus:	Urban (110 acres)^[1]
Colors:	Orange and Black
Nickname:	Jimmies
Mascot:	Knight
Affiliations:	DAC; NAIA
Website:	www.jc.edu

Jamestown College is a private liberal arts college affiliated with the Presbyterian Church located in Jamestown, North Dakota. It has about 1,000 students enrolled today and has been co-educational from its founding.

For the 2007 - 08 school year, US News and World Report ranked Jamestown College 47th among the best undergraduate colleges in the Midwest^[1], making Jamestown the first North Dakota college or university to make the top tier of the list^[2] .

1 History
- 1.1 1980s: Low Ebb
- 1.2 Renaissance
2 Recent Developments
- 2.1 The Jamestown Journey to Success
3 Notable Alumni
4 Notable Faculty
- 4.1 Current Faculty
- 4.2 Former Faculty
5 Notes
6 External links

[edit] History

Jamestown College was founded in 1883, but closed fairly quickly during the depression of 1893. The school reopened in 1909 and has remained in operation ever since.

Jamestown College has been notable for three things: its athletics, its science and nursing programs, and its choir. In 1979, the Jamestown College football team went to the NAIA Division 3 National Championships. Jamestown's pre-medical students have long-standing tradition of higher than average medical school acceptance rates.

In 1972 the college's choir—directed by Richard Harrison Smith and for decades one of the top small-college choirs in the United States—became the first American choir to sing at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France, an honor they repeated four more times during the 1970s and 1980s. The choir continues to tour Europe every four years, with their most recent tour in May 2006 to Italy where the choir received the honor of singing at the main altar of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

[edit] 1980s: Low Ebb

In the mid-1980s, a difficult farm economy, along with alleged mismanagement by several former college administration officials, led the college into difficult times; in 1986, the school graduated 92 students, had a full-time enrollment of only 500 students, and reportedly came within 24 hours of closing its doors. A few 11th-hour donations and some radical restructuring brought the college back from the brink. The fundraising charge was led by Marvin E. Seibold ('56) and R.G. "Bob" Lyngstad who formed the "Committee of 100"—a group of 100 donors who each gave $10,000 to keep the College open.

[edit] Renaissance

Today, after nearly twenty years of aggressive fundraising, the school has nearly triple the students, and has been able to embark on a large building program to replace some of the buildings, which in many cases date from the college's original heyday in the 1920s.

The $30 million capital campaign to finance both this new construction and a larger scholarship base recently surpassed its goal several months ahead of its self-imposed 2008 deadline.^[3]

[edit] Recent Developments

The Unruh and Sheldon Center for Business and Computer Science

Jamestown College has recently added many new building to the campus:

residence halls for upperclassmen.
renovations to the nursing program building, featuring a state of the art simulated Intensive Care Unit.
the Unruh and Sheldon Center, home to the college's Business, Accounting and Economics, and Computer Science and Information Technology departments. This building is one of the most wired and high-tech buildings in the midwest; construction of the $5 million facility was completed in the summer of 2006 using gifts from Jim Unruh and Agnes (Sheldon) Griffin.
the Ed and Elaine Nafus Student Center, including a two-story atrium entrance, an open commons area for students, a new coffee lounge, and full handicap-accessibility.
an expansion of the Larson Center gymnasium and indoor track facility.

Construction of a new student wellness center is currently in progress. Construction work is slated to be finished summer 2008.

A recent addition to the JC curriculum as of the 2006-07 school year is the "Character in Leadership" program, giving entering freshmen the ability to receive a minor in leadership.^[4]

[edit] The Jamestown Journey to Success

In 2007, Jamestown announced the Journey to Success, a new program targeted at preparing students for rapidly changing environments. The program has five elements: a combination of liberal arts education and professional preparation, more personalized advising and career counseling, first-year student mentors, a proven placement service and guaranteed internships, and finally, guaranteed graduation in four years.^[5]

[edit] Notable Alumni

Richard Armey, former U.S. Congressman from Texas (R), is a 1962 graduate of Jamestown College.
Barbara McClintock (1976), award-winning illustrator of children's books;
Louis L'Amour (1972: Honorary PhD), internationally-renowned Western author;
Carol Jolin (1975), musician, recording artist, and former arranger and conductor for Bobby Vinton and Barry Manilow;
Mick Wagner (1975), renowned choral arranger and nationally-known jazz DJ.
Alvin Plantinga (1950), John A. O'Brien Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame. Author and renowned philosopher in the areas of religion, epistemology, and metaphysics.

Incidentally, McClintock, Jolin and Wagner were all members of the award-winning Jamestown College Concert Choir at the same time.

[edit] Notable Faculty

[edit] Current Faculty

Larry Woiwode, accomplished author and poet, serving as Poet Laureate of the State of North Dakota since 1995
J. Aaron McDermid, director of the Concert Choir since 2006 and prominent composer of a cappella choir music

[edit] Former Faculty

Richard Harrison Smith, director of the Concert Choir from 1969 to 1989, during which time it was the first American choir to sing at Paris' Cathedral of Notre Dame and an acclaimed writer and arranger of modern choral music
Robert Scriba, one of the country's leading authorities on Asian theatre and music
James Edwards, notable theologian, author of five books, four New Testament commentaries, and contributing editor of Christianity Today