| Gettysburg College | |
|---|---|
| Motto | "Do great work." |
| Established | 1832 |
| Type | Private liberal arts college |
| Religious affiliation | Evangelical Lutheran Church in America |
| Endowment | $207 million[1] |
| President | Janet Morgan Riggs |
| Academic staff | 180 |
| Students | 2,600 |
| Location | Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, United States of America |
| Colors | Orange and Blue |
| Nickname | Bullets |
| Website | gettysburg.edu |
Gettysburg College is a private, four-year liberal arts college founded in 1832, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, United States, adjacent to the famous battlefield. Its athletic teams are nicknamed the Bullets. Gettysburg College has about 2,700 students, with roughly equal numbers of men and women. Gettysburg students come from 43 states and 32 countries.[2][3][4]
The college is the home of The Gettysburg Review, a literary magazine.
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Gettysburg College was founded in 1832, as a sister institution for the Lutheran Theological Seminary. Both owe their inception to Thaddeus Stevens, a Radical Republican and abolitionist from Gettysburg. The college's original name was Pennsylvania College; it was founded by Samuel Simon Schmucker. Seven years after Gettysburg College was first founded, it established a medical school, which was located in Philadelphia. The college was forced to close the medical school in 1861, when students from the seceding southern states withdrew to return home, leaving it without adequate revenue.
In June 1863, southern Pennsylvania was invaded by Confederate forces during the Gettysburg Campaign. Many local militia forces were formed around the area between Chambersburg and Philadelphia to face the oncoming foe.
Among these units was Gettysburg's 26th Pennsylvania Emergency Militia Regiment (PEMR). Composed mostly of students from the College and Seminary, the 26th PEMR was mustered into service on June 22, 1863. Four days later, the students saw combat just north of town, skirmishing with advanced units of Confederate division commander Jubal A. Early. Neither side suffered many casualties, but about 100 of the militiamen were captured.
During the Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Hall, or Old Dorm, was used as both a signal corps station and field hospital. Penn Hall is an interesting anomaly in the battle. Due to the geographic position it held, it was used by both Confederate and Union troops during the battle for signal work and surgery.
On November 19, 1863, College President Henry Louis Baugher gave the benediction at the ceremony opening the National Soldiers’ Cemetery at Gettysburg; speaking after Abraham Lincoln. Henry Baugher was the president of Gettysburg College from 1850 until his death in 1868.
Early in his military career, Dwight D. Eisenhower and his wife, Mamie, lived in a house in Gettysburg that was across the street from the college. Both were fond of the town, so they decided to retire to a working farm adjacent to the battlefield after he left the army. It was there that President Eisenhower recuperated from his 1955 heart attack.
While living in Gettysburg, Eisenhower became involved with Gettysburg College. He served on the Gettysburg College Board of Trustees, and he was given an office, which he used when writing his memoirs. Eisenhower’s old office is now named Eisenhower House and is occupied by Gettysburg College’s office of admissions. [2] Eisenhower’s grandson, David, and his granddaughter Susan continue a certain level of family involvement with the institution.
Today the Eisenhower Institute, a nationally recognized center for leadership and public policy based in Gettysburg and Washington, D.C., is formally recognized as a distinctive program of the college [5].
The college is located on a 200-acre (81 ha) campus adjacent to the Gettysburg National Military Park. Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, is 36 miles (60 km) from Harrisburg, 55 miles (89 km) from Baltimore, 80 miles (130 km) from Washington, D.C., 117 miles (188 km) from Philadelphia, and 212 miles (341 km) from New York City, and 425 miles (684 km) from Boston.
The college's main campus is roughly divided in half by Pennsylvania Hall (administration). The northern half contains Plank Gym, Masters Hall (physics and astronomy), Musselman Library, the College Union Building, the College Dining Center, Briedenbaugh Hall (English), and several freshman dorms and fraternities. A section of this part of campus—known as "Stine Lake," is not actually a lake, but rather a quad located outside of the library. Prior to Musselman Library being built in the late 1970s, and due to Gettysburg's wet climate and drainage issues, the quad and library site would be prone to accumulating water, creating a large, muddy "lake" of sorts. Today, however, Stine Lake does not flood, but the name has stuck, to the confusion of first-year students. Additionally, the College Dining Center is known to students and faculty as "Servo," after a now defunct 1980s food service company, Servomation.
The southern half of the main campus includes McKnight Hall (languages), Glatfelter Hall (economics, managmenent, political science, mathematics, and others), Schmucker Hall (art and music), Kline Theater, and several fraternities. Over the last half-century, the campus has expanded considerably to include land to the east of North Washington Street and to the west of the traditional campus. Since approximately 96% of students live on campus, most of this additional land is dedicated to housing. It also includes the college chapel, the admissions building, a large gymnasium and field house complex, and several athletics fields. The college has also purchased or leased a large number of buildings for student housing, including residences on Washington Street, Carlisle Street, Middle Street, Stratton Street, and others.[6]
Musselman Library houses the college collection of books, journals, videos, sound recordings, online publications, rare books, manuscripts, and digital collections. An online catalog, MUSCAT, provides a gateway to all library materials and is accessible through any computer terminal connected to the college network. In addition, the building contains a media theatre, computer lab, and media production center. Musselman Library is open around the clock when classes are in session. The library operates 24 hours a day on weekdays and selected hours during the weekends. In order to help facilitate late night studying, the library provides free coffee, tea, and hot chocolate at midnight to patrons who bring their own mugs.
Full network capabilities in all campus buildings and each residence hall room. Students have access to more than 1,300 computers and a complex system of workstations and laboratories. Wireless connectivity is available across 97% of the campus (the other 3% being the practice fields) and in all of the residence halls.
As an independent institution, the college operates under a charter granted in 1832 by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The College is governed by a 39-member board of trustees comprising leaders from a range of professions and walks of life. Thirty of the College’s trustees are graduates of Gettysburg.
On the student level, adjudication of academic disputes takes place through an Honor Commission, which holds hearings in which students are given a chance to have their say on charges brought against them.
The Academic Honor Code has been in effect since 1957, and recently has been updated to fit better with today's technology.
Fraternities: Alpha Chi Rho, Alpha Tau Omega, Lambda Chi Alpha, Phi Delta Theta, Phi Gamma Delta, Phi Kappa Psi, Phi Sigma Kappa, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Sigma Chi, Sigma Nu, Phi Beta Sigma, Alpha Phi Alpha
Sororities: Alpha Delta Pi, Chi Omega, Delta Gamma, Gamma Phi Beta, Sigma Sigma Sigma, Sigma Gamma Rho
Service Fraternities: Alpha Phi Omega
Music Sorority: Sigma Alpha Iota
Past Greek Organizations on Campus: Alpha Xi Delta, Chi Phi, Kappa Delta Rho, Rho Beta (local), Sigma Kappa, Theta Chi, Phi Kappa Rho (local), Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Tau Kappa Epsilon, Zeta Psi
Students can only rush as sophomores.
"The Gettysburgian" (Campus Print Newspaper), The Forum (www.gburgforum.com, the independent online news source), Channel 34 Gburg TV (Campus Television Station), WZBT 91.1 (Campus Radio Station), The Spectrum (College yearbook).
Every year, the media groups on campus work together to host a journalism and media conference entitled Speak Up, Write Out, bringing in members of the world, national, and local media to speak in panels open to students of Gettysburg and other nearby colleges.
Nearly 2,700 students, approximately one-half men and one-half women and representing 40 states and 35 foreign countries, attend the college.[7]
Some 75% of the student body is from outside Pennsylvania.[8]
The Class of 2014 had a 40% acceptance rate, making Gettysburg more selective than comparable schools Dickinson and Franklin & Marshall. [3]
The college employs 180 full-time faculty, with 100% of the permanent faculty holding a doctorate or highest earned degree in their fields. The student/faculty ratio is 10:1, with an average class size of 18 students. The college hosts one of only 19 chapters of Phi Beta Kappa in Pennsylvania.
Twenty-four sports programs, for both men and women, participate in NCAA Division III. Gettysburg has earned the distinction of having the best win/loss record in the Centennial Conference for the past 12 years.
The Gettysburg College women's lacrosse team won the Division III National Championship in 2011.
The college also offers an extensive array of club, intramural, and recreational programs. Twenty-five percent of Gettysburg's students participate in intercollegiate programs, which include twelve sports for men and twelve sports for women.
The College broke ground on the new $25 million athletic center, named the Center for Athletics, Recreation and Fitness, on May 30, 2008.[9] The 55,000 foot Center is an upgrade from the former athletic facility, known as the Bream/Wright/Hauser Complex. Bream/Wright/Hauser still exists next to the additions. The Center opened in stages. A dedication ceremony on April 30, 2010 marked its completion.[10]
The Center features:
The Center was created in order to provide more opportunities for the high percentage of students who like to maintain their fitness regimens and engage in intramural, club sports programs, and exercise classes. About 25 percent of the student body participates in varsity sports, while over 75 percent are active in intramural sports. More space was needed, and the Center is important to improve life on campus.[11]
John Jaeger, a 1965 Gettysburg College graduate, donated $1.2 million to encourage others to fund the project. Another important donor, Robert Ortenzio, provided the largest single gift by a living person in the history of the College, by giving $2 million.[11]
However, another rendition exists with a few differences:
Due to its close relationship to a crucial battle in the American Civil War, Gettysburg College hosts a number of activities and awards:
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