Lewis & Clark College | |
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Motto | Explorare, Discere, Sociare (Latin) |
Motto in English | To explore, to learn, to work together |
Established | 1867 |
Type | Private |
Endowment | $179 million as of May 2010 [1] |
President | Barry Glassner |
Admin. staff | 745 (All three schools) |
Undergraduates | 1,964 (fall 2005) |
Postgraduates | 1,469 (fall 2005) |
Location | Portland, OR, USA |
Campus | Residential, 137 acres |
Mascot | Pioneers |
Website | www.lclark.edu |
Lewis & Clark College is a private institution of higher learning located in Portland, Oregon. Made up of an undergraduate College of Arts and Sciences, a School of Law, and a Graduate School of Education and Counseling. Lewis & Clark is a member of the Annapolis Group of colleges with athletic programs competing in the NCAA's Division III Northwest Conference. Just under 2,000 students attend the undergraduate College of Arts and Sciences ,[2] which is regarded as "more selective,"[3] with a student body representing more than 50 countries across six continents as well as most US states.[4] The School of Law is best known for its environmental law program,[5] while the Graduate School of Education & Counseling is active in community engagement and social justice.
Originally chartered as the Albany Collegiate Institute in 1867 in the town of Albany, the school moved to the Portland campus in 1938 and in 1942 adopted the name Lewis & Clark College after the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Today, the three schools and their supporting offices occupy a campus of 137 acres (554,000 m²), centered on the M. Lloyd Frank Estate on Palatine Hill in the Collins View neighborhood of Southwest Portland.
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Like many modern universities, the institution that would eventually become Lewis & Clark was initially intended to provide secondary as well as higher education for a specific religious community, in this case Presbyterian pioneers in Oregon's Willamette Valley. To this end the Presbyterian church incorporated Albany Academy in 1858,[6] making Lewis & Clark one of four Oregon colleges with foundations predating Oregon's statehood (along with Willamette University, Pacific University, and Linfield College). Within a decade of its founding, Albany Academy began to focus more exclusively on higher education, changing its official name to the Albany Collegiate Institution in 1866. Lewis & Clark's official founding date comes from the current charter, which has been legally valid since the Presbyterian church reincorporated the Albany Collegiate Institution as Albany College in 1867.[6] Unlike most Oregon colleges of the pioneer-era, the college has been coeducational since the first class, which graduated in 1873. The early campus of 7 acres (28,000 m2) in Albany was situated on land donated by the Monteith family. In 1892, the original school building was enlarged, and in 1925 the school re-located south of Albany where it remained until 1937.[6]
Albany College established a junior college to the north in Portland in 1934, with the entire school moving to Portland in 1939.[6] The campus grounds later became home to the federal government's Albany Research Center.[7] In 1942 the College trustees acquired the Lloyd Frank (of the historic Portland department store Meier & Frank) “Fir Acres” estate in Southwest Portland, and the school name was changed to Lewis & Clark College.[6] The original school mascot, the Pirates, was changed to the Pioneers in 1946.
University rankings (overall) | |
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Liberal arts colleges | |
U.S. News & World Report[8] | 71 |
The three schools of the college include the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), the Law School, and the Graduate School of Education and Counseling.
CAS departments include Art, East Asian Studies, English, Foreign Languages and Literatures (French, Chinese, German, Greek, Spanish, Latin, Russian, and Japanese), History, Music, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Theatre, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science & Mathematics, Environmental Studies, Physics, Communication, Economics, Classical Studies, Gender Studies, International Affairs, Latin American Studies, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology and Anthropology, and Academic English Studies.
Lewis & Clark has nationally-regarded programs in Biology, International Affairs, Psychology, Foreign Languages and Environmental Studies, and several Political Science students have recently received prestigious awards in that field. The college has held two worldwide symphonic festivals in the past five years with professional-level performances in Dublin and the Greek islands. Lewis & Clark is ranked 71st in the list of best liberal arts colleges in U.S. News & World Report's 2009 rankings.[9] Currently Lewis & Clark holds not only the top best Liberal Colleges ranking but also by Princeton Reviews is ranked as the Second most beautiful Campus ranking in the country.
Lewis & Clark is also known for its active and diverse overseas study program. The college offers approximately 36 programs in various countries, and since the 1960's, more than 60% of all Lewis & Clark undergraduates have studied abroad.[10] For a small liberal arts college, Lewis & Clark's overseas offerings are impressive in both breadth and scope; there are, for example 7 discrete programs in Spanish-speaking countries. Lewis & Clark is also one of the few U.S. institutions with an overseas program in Cuba. This international component is integrated into the college's academics, especially in departments such as International Affairs and Foreign Languages, and is also part of Lewis & Clark College's identity and reputation as an international institution.
Lewis & Clark's 137-acre (0.55 km2) forested campus sits atop Palatine Hill in the Collins View neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, and is contiguous with the 645 acre (2.61 km2) Tryon Creek State Natural Area. Campus buildings include an award-winning environmentally sustainable academic building,[11] as well as notable historic architecture such as the Frank Manor House and Rogers Hall (formerly Our Lady of Angels convent of The Sisters of St. Francis).[12] Due in large part to the college's natural environment, Lewis & Clark was recently named one of America's top ten "Most Beautiful Campuses" by the Princeton Review,[13] as well as an independent architecture blog.[14]
All students are required to live on campus for the first two years, unless already a Portland resident.[15] Residence halls include SOA (Stewart-Odell-Akin), Forest, Hartzfeld, Platt-Howard, Copeland and also include East, Roberts, and West, the on campus apartments.
Several of the student residence halls have themes. Stewart is "Substance Free/Wellness", providing a home for those who wish to live in a drug and alcohol-free environment. Akin is known as the "Multicultural Dorm", hosting a majority of students from outside of the United States as well as some U.S. students with international experience. Platt-Howard: Platt West houses the Platteau student-run arts center, and the "Visual and Performing Arts" (or VAPA) and Howard has an "Outdoor Floor". Spruce, in the Forest complex, offers all-female housing. Juniper, also in Forest, is the "Pioneers in Environmental Action and Service" (PEAS) Floor, more generally known as the "green" floor. Hartzfeld requires sophomore standing or higher to live in. East Hall, Roberts Hall and West Hall are a series of on-campus apartments completed in 2003 and require junior class standing or higher to live in. Many of the apartments have language themes, with residents grouped into a single apartment based on language. Languages include French, Spanish, German, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, and more.
Sustainability is an important issue for many students, faculty, and college administrators. Currently, wind power provides 30% of the college's total electricity,[16] and LEED 'Certified' level must be met for all of the college's projects.[17] Reuters recently listed Lewis & Clark as one of the 10 best universities in the United States for studying Cleantech.[18]
Lewis & Clark maintains 9 male and 10 female varsity sports teams, and athletic facilities including Pamplin Sports Center and Griswold Stadium.[19] Lewis & Clark athletic teams are called the Pioneers, and team colors are orange and black. The Pioneers compete mainly in the Northwest Conference against eight other NCAA Division III institutions in the Pacific Northwest. One in five undergraduates are officially designated student athletes.[20] Recent accomplishments in varsity athletics include the men's rowing team winning its conference, women's swim team winning third in conference, and men's and women's basketball both earning third in conference.[21] A large number of smaller club and intramural sports such as Ultimate Frisbee,[22] and Boffing[23] enjoy broad participation. Lewis & Clark students have invented several intramural competitive sports, including Ninja[24] and Wolvetch,[25] which are popular at Lewis & Clark but seldom played elsewhere. While some varsity athletic events are well attended, there has long been tension between varsity athletes and non-athletes regarding perceived social and cultural differences, as well as the substantial financial support varsity sports teams enjoy.[26][27]
Throughout the year the college operates a shuttle bus between campus and Pioneer Square in downtown Portland (called the Pio Express, or colloquially The Raz, due to its operation by Raz Transportation). During winter months they also operate a daily shuttle to Mount Hood Meadows Ski Resort. TriMet line 39 operates between the college and the Hillsdale neighborhood, where students can transfer to buses to downtown Portland. First year students are not permitted to have cars on campus.
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