| Wellesley College | |
|---|---|
| Motto | Non Ministrari sed Ministrare |
| Motto in English | Not to be ministered unto, but to minister |
| Established | Chartered in 1870; commenced classes in 1875 |
| Type | Private college |
| Endowment | $1.27 billion[1] |
| President | H. Kim Bottomly |
| Academic staff | 347 full-time and part-time faculty |
| Undergraduates | Approximately 2,300 |
| Location | Wellesley, Massachusetts, USA |
| Campus | Suburban, 450 acres |
| Nickname | Blue |
| Website | wellesley.edu |
Wellesley College is a women's liberal-arts college located in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Its 500-acre (200 ha) campus is located approximately 12 miles (19 km) west of Boston.
Boston lawyer and lay preacher Henry Fowle Durant and his wife Pauline Fowle Durant founded the college in 1870 (enrollment began in 1875). Wellesley is one of the original Seven Sisters Colleges. After the destruction of the central College Hall in 1914, the college adopted a master plan developed by Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., Arthur Shurcliff, and Ralph Adams Cram in 1921 and expanded into several new buildings. The campus hosted a Naval Reserve Officer training program during the second World War and began to significantly revise its curriculum after the war and through the late 1960s.
Wellesley enrolls approximately 2,400 women in fifty-six baccalaureate degrees. The college also offers research collaborations and cross-registration programs with other Boston-area institutions such as Babson College, Olin College, MIT, and Brandeis University. Wellesley students have a number of traditions and also participate in 13 varsity sports in the NCAA Division III's New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference.
Contents |
Founded by Henry and Pauline Fowle Durant, the charter for Wellesley College was signed on March 17, 1870 by Massachusetts Governor William Claflin. The original name of the College was the Wellesley Female Seminary, and the renaming to Wellesley College was approved by the Massachusetts legislature on March 7, 1873. Opening day was September 8, 1875.
The first president of Wellesley was Ada Howard. There have been twelve more presidents in its history: Alice Elvira Freeman Palmer, Helen Almira Shafer, Julia Josephine Thomas Irvine, Caroline Hazard, Ellen Fitz Pendleton, Mildred H. McAfee (later Mildred McAfee Horton), Margaret Clapp, Ruth M. Adams, Barbara Wayne Newell, Nannerl Overholser Keohane (later the president of Duke University from 1993–2004), Diana Chapman Walsh and H. Kim Bottomly.
The original architecture of the College consisted of one very large building, College Hall, which was approximately 150 meters in length, and up to five stories in height. The architect was Hammatt Billings. From its completion in 1875 until 1914, it was both a principal academic building and a principal residential building. On March 17, 1914 College Hall was destroyed by fire. The precise cause of the fire was never officially established. The fire was first noticed by students who lived on the fourth floor near the zoology laboratory. It has been suggested that an electrical or chemical accident in this laboratory- specifically, an electrical incubator used in the breeding of beetles- triggered the fire. A group of residence halls, known as the Tower Court complex, are located on top of the hill where the old College Hall once stood. Wellesley is also home to Green Hall, the only building bearing the name of famed miser Hetty Green; Galen L. Stone Tower, in which a 32-bell Carillon is housed, is part of the building.
The college is renowned for the picturesque beauty of its 500-acre (200 ha) campus which includes Lake Waban, evergreen and deciduous woodlands and open meadows. Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., Boston's preeminent landscape architect at the beginning of the 20th century, described Wellesley's landscape as "not merely beautiful, but with a marked individual character not represented so far as I know on the ground of any other college in the country." [2] He also wrote: I must admit that the exceedingly intricate and complex topography and the peculiarly scattered arrangement of most of the buildings somewhat baffled me. [3] The original master plan for Wellesley's campus landscape was developed by Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., Arthur Shurcliff, and Ralph Adams Cram in 1921. This landscape-based concept represented a break from the architecturally-defined courtyard and quadrangle campus arrangement that was typical of American campuses at the time. The 720-acre (2.9 km2) site's glaciated topography, a series of meadows, and native plant communities shaped the original layout of the campus, resulting in a campus architecture that is integrated into its landscape. The most recent master plan for Wellesley College was completed in 1998 by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc. (MVVA). According to the designers, this plan was intended to restore and recapture the original landscape character of the campus that had been partially lost as the campus evolved through the 20th century.
The current president of Wellesley College is H. Kim Bottomly.[4] The previous president was Diana Chapman Walsh, class of 1966. As of June 30, 2008, the endowment for this college was about $1.63 billion. Wellesley's last fund-raising campaign, in 2005, set a record for liberal arts colleges with a total of $472.3 million, 18.1% more than the goal of $400 million. According to data compiled by The Chronicle of Higher Education, Wellesley’s campaign total is the largest of any liberal arts college.
According to admissions literature, classes at Wellesley average 12 to 24 students per class, and there are approximately nine students for every faculty member. Wellesley's libraries contain over 1.5 million catalogued books, journals, media recordings, maps, and other items. Wellesley has 30 academic departments, each offering a major, as well as 17 interdepartmental majors and an option for an individual major, designed by the student.[5]
The college also has a special program for women over age 24, called Davis Scholars.[6] The program allows women who, for various reasons, were unable to start or complete a bachelor's degree at a younger age, to attend Wellesley.
Noted faculty currently at Wellesley include:
According to the 2010 U.S. News and World Report rankings, Wellesley College is the #4 liberal arts college in the United States, tied with Middlebury College, behind Williams, Amherst and Swarthmore. In addition, Forbes' 2010 "America's Best Colleges" ranked Wellesley College as #12.[7][8] In 2009 Forbes ranked Wellesley College #6, ahead of schools such as Stanford and Yale.[9] In July 2010, The Global Language Monitor ranked Wellesley College as the #6 college in the U.S., based on an analysis of appearances in the global print and electronic media, on the Internet, throughout the blogosphere, and social media such as Twitter.[10] The College is ranked #10 in the 2010 Washington Monthly ranking of liberal arts colleges, which purports to measure "Social Mobility," "Research," and "Service."[11]
According to the Wall Street Journal, Wellesley College also ranks fifth in the top liberal arts colleges (#15 as one of the top total undergraduate colleges) for sending more students to the selected 15, elite graduate school programs in medicine, law, and business. Wellesley College is one of the Hidden Ivies: Thirty Colleges of Excellence in a college educational guide published in 2000.
Wellesley's 2,400 students come from more than 62 countries and every State of the United States.
Nearly all students live on campus in one of the 21 residence halls. Some cooperative housing is available. Wellesley offers housing for Davis Scholars as well [1], though not for their children or spouses, which is an issue of constant debate on campus.[12] A June 3, 2008 article in The New York Times discussed the move by women's colleges in the United States to promote their schools in the Middle East. The article noted that in doing so, the schools promote the work of graduates of women's colleges such as Hillary Rodham Clinton, Emily Dickinson, Diane Sawyer, Katharine Hepburn and Madeleine K. Albright. The Dean of Admissions of Bryn Mawr College noted, "We still prepare a disproportionate number of women scientists [...] We’re really about the empowerment of women and enabling women to get a top-notch education." [13]
For more than 30 years, Wellesley has had a cross-registration program with MIT. In recent years, cross-registration opportunities have expanded to include nearby Babson College, Brandeis University, and Olin College of Engineering. To facilitate cross-registration, the College operates a bus, the Wellesley College Exchange Bus, to the MIT campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts as well as a bus to the Olin College campus in Needham, Massachusetts.
The College has approximately 180 student organizations, ranging from cultural and political organizations to community service, campus radio, and club sports.
The College also has five dining halls, one each in Pomeroy, Tower Court, Stone-Davis, and Bates Halls, and another in the Lulu Chow Wang Campus Center. Additional food options on campus include a convenience store/coffee shop in the Campus Center, a bakery in Claflin Hall, Collins café outside the movie theater, El Table, a sandwich shop located in Founders Hall (an academic building housing many of the humanities classes) that uses many local and organic products, and the Cafe Hoop, a coffee shop in the basement of the Campus Center that is known for its late hours and gay-friendly environment. Next to Cafe Hoop is the pub, Punch's Alley, which serves alcohol to those over 21. The pub hosts several parties over the course of the year.
Wellesley College does not have any sororities, but rather, it has societies that are technically social and academic clubs. These includes the Shakespeare Society, Alpha Phi Sigma Lecture Society, Tau Zeta Epsilon Arts and Music Society, and Society Zeta Alpha, the Literary Society. The four societies sponsor many lectures on campus, bring in speakers, and contribute funding to academic departments and organizations that wish to hold lectures. Phi Sigma, Tau Zeta Epsilon, and Zeta Alpha hold a process similar to "rushing" a sorority that is called "tea-ing." These societies are known on campus as some of the few groups who hold parties on campus.
In addition to the societies, many of the multicultural student organizations have parties. The Wellesley College radio station, WZLY 91.5 FM, also sponsors parties every semester. Dyke Ball, one of the most well-attended parties on campus, is a "creative black-tie" event hosted by Spectrum, Wellesley's LGBT organization.
There are several a capella groups at Wellesley, four all-female and one co-ed group with MIT. The Wellesley College Tupelos are known for their red and black attire. In 2010 they won the renowned ICCA (International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella) Quarterfinals and advanced to the ICCA Semifinals for the first time in their history. The Blue Notes are known for their black and blue clothing and their more jazzy style of music, and they had the opportunity in 2009 to meet and record music with musician Ben Folds. The Wellesley Widows wear all black and perform in evening gowns for their final concerts. The Widows are the longest running all-female a cappella group in the nation. Awaken the Dawn is the newest group on campus, and they are the only religiously affiliated group, being Christian. Finally, the Wellesley/MIT Toons provide an opportunity for co-ed a capella for Wellesley students.
Wellesley College has a beautiful lake and path around the lake which is about 3 miles (4.8 km) total. In the beginning of freshman year, the girls throw pennies into Lake Waban. As is the case with many colleges, especially the Seven Sisters, Wellesley College has many traditions, many of them carried over from the late 19th century.
Hoop rolling is also a highly competitive annual tradition at the college dating back to 1895.[14] Each upperclasswoman has a wooden hoop, often passed down to her from her "big sister". Before graduation, the seniors, wearing their graduation robes, run a short race while rolling their hoops. The winner of the race is said to be the first woman in her class to achieve success however she defines it, though this title has itself changed over the years (in early 20th century, it used to be the first woman to get married, later the first woman to become a CEO [15]). She is also awarded flowers by the college president and tossed into Lake Waban. The tossing of the winner into the lake began several decades ago when a Harvard University male, dressed as a Wellesley student, won the race. When, upon his victory, it was discovered that he wasn’t a Wellesley student, he was thrown into the lake. The night before the race, many "little sisters" will camp out on the racecourse near the Library to save a good starting position for their "big sisters".
Some other traditions include step-singing, dorm and class crew races, "Lake Day", "Spring Week", and "Marathon Monday". Each graduating class plants a tree during its sophomore year. Class trees, as they are called, can be found all over the campus, marked with each class year on a stone at the base of the tree. During sophomore year, students also design and purchase class sweatshirts.
Step-singing is one of the college's oldest traditions and occurs twice during the year. Each graduation class has its own color (purple, red, green, or yellow). Students dress in their class colors and they sing songs on the steps of the chapel. In-between some of the songs, the classes shout cheers that make fun of the other classes.
Each fall, on a date that is not announced until the night before, students celebrate Lake Day. The event consists of fun outdoor activities ranging from fried-dough stands to moonwalks and is deejayed by the college radio station, WZLY. In the past, students skipped classes on Lake Day, but in recent years professors have objected to the practice and hold classes as planned.
One of the most popular traditions is the celebration of Marathon Monday which occurs on Patriots Day each spring, and is highlighted by the Boston Marathon. The course of this marathon passes the college campus, which marks the race's halfway point. Students line up along the street with posters and cheer for the runners. Since they are so loud, the students have created what is widely known as the "Wellesley Scream Tunnel".
Spring Week, held in April, is a week-long series of concerts sponsored by SBOG (Schneider Board of Governors).
Since 1970 three alumnae are honored at the Alumnae Achievement Awards every February for outstanding achievements in their respective fields.
Ruhlman and Tanner Conferences, supported by Wellesley alumnae, are held every year for students to share their learning experience within the college community. Classes are usually canceled on these days. Tanner Conference is held in the fall to celebrate outside-the-classroom education, including internships and summer or winter session research projects. Ruhlman, in the spring, is a chance for students to present projects they’ve been working on in courses or independent research during the year. Both conferences encompass panels, readings, and multimedia projects.
Before finals, Wellesley has Midnight Breakfast every semester where students can take a break and eat late-night munchies with other fellow classmates that will be staying up late studying for exams, and dormitories supplied snacks and drinks for students until Spring 2009, when the Midnight Breakfast was moved to the student center to reduce costs.
Fifty-six percent of all Wellesley students receive financial aid.[16] In February 2008, the College eliminated offering financial-aid loans to students from families with incomes under $60,000 (and for international students and Davis Scholars) and it lowered the total amount of student loans by one-third (to a maximum of $8,600 total over four years) to students from families with incomes between $60,000 and $100,000. The maximum loan level for other students on aid is $12,825 total for four years. Wellesley is one of few colleges or universities to meet 100% of a student's demonstrated financial need.[17]
Wellesley has been the alma mater of many women in top positions in Corporate America. Wellesley has also graduated more female directors of Fortune 500 companies than any other college in the country.
|
|||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||