Principia College

Principia College
Motto	As The Sowing, The Reaping
Established	1912
Type	Private
Endowment	$367 million (USD)[1]
President	Dr. Jonathan Palmer
Admin. staff	120
Students	550
Location	1 Maybeck Place Elsah, Illinois, 62028, United States 38°56′56″N 90°20′56″W / 38.949°N 90.349°W / 38.949; -90.349Coordinates: 38°56′56″N 90°20′56″W / 38.949°N 90.349°W / 38.949; -90.349
Campus	Rural, 2,500 acres (10 km2)
Mascot	Panther, Thunder Chicken (Rugby)
Colors	Blue and Gold
Website	PrincipiaCollege.edu

Principia College (commonly referred to as Principia or Prin) is a private liberal arts college located in Elsah, Illinois, United States. A four-year coeducational institution, Principia College was founded in 1912 by Mary Kimball Morgan. The institution is a designated National Historic Landmark by the United States Department of the Interior and in 2009, Forbes rated it 57th of America's Best Colleges.^[2]

Principia College campus sits on bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River between Alton and Grafton. The campus is located on rural total of 2,500 acres (10 km²) acres in the Metro East region of Southern Illinois, thirty miles north of St. Louis.

History

Principia College was born out of The Principia, founded by Mary Kimball Morgan in 1897, though the name Principia was not adopted until the year 1898.^[3] As Morgan's school grew, founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy approved The Principia's reference as a Christian Science school.^[3] Emerging from the Principia Lower, Middle, and Upper Schools founded between 1898 and 1906, Principia College was established with a purpose of "serving the Cause of Christian Science through appropriate channels open to it as an educational institution."^[4][5] The college, however, has no official affiliation with the Christian Science Church and Christian Science is not taught as a subject, but its principles form the basis of community life at Principia.^[6] The first Upper School class graduated in 1906 and it is from this class that a junior college was established, whose first alumni graduated in 1917. Following this time period architect Bernard Maybeck was commissioned to design a new college campus in Elsah, Illinois and by 1931 ground was broke on what would become Maybeck's largest commission.^[3][7]

In 1934, Principia College graduated its first class as a full four-year institution and in 1935 the college was officially moved to its present-day location in Elsah. On April 19, 1993, the campus was designated a National Historic Landmark by the United States Department of the Interior. The year 1998 marked centennial celebrations by the school. The Principia College campus was once considered as the site for the United States Air Force Academy though ultimately the Air Force chose a location in Colorado Springs, Colorado instead.

Academics

Principia College offers twenty-seven majors in the liberal arts and sciences. The college does not currently offer a graduate program though graduates of the college later attend institutions such as Boston University, George Mason University, Georgetown University, Harvard University, Northwestern University, Pepperdine University, Purdue University, Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley, University of Chicago, and Yale University among others.^[8] The most popular majors at this Illinois college include mass communication, biology, sociology, anthropology, studio and fine art, and business administration.^[9][10]

Principia offers various Study Abroad & Field Programs, International Student Programs, Conferences, and International Student Experiences.^[11][12]

In 2009, Forbes rated it 57th of America's Best Colleges.^[13] As of 2012, Principia College's annual tuition costs were $23,675 and the average financial aid package awarded to its student body totaled $19,560.^[14]

Campus

Housing and student life facilities

There are ten student dormitories on campus: Anderson House, Rackham Court, Howard House, Sylvester House, Buck House, Brooks House, Ferguson House, Joe McNabb, Lowrey House, and Clara McNabb. The first six mentioned were designed by former University of California, Berkeley professor and AIA Gold Medal winner Bernard Maybeck in 1935, as was the campus' chapel.^[15] Maybeck attempted to use different architectural styles and building techniques for each of these dormitories and for the chapel. In an effort to ensure success with his designs and materials, he experimented with them through the creation of a small building known affectionately by Principians as the "Mistake House."^[16]

Student life

Principia College has a diverse student composition and amount of organizations given its size. 20% of its students are international and represent thirty countries on six of the world's seven continents.^[17] The college has forty student clubs and organizations, among these the Euphrates and Leadership institutes.^[17][18] The Public Affairs Conference at the college is one of oldest student-led conferences in America and has been held annually since 1939.^[19] The Principia College Speaker Series is a group of past, present, and future events that has featured United States President Barack Obama, American statesmen and retired four-star general Colin Powell, former United States president George H.W. Bush, former United States president Jimmy Carter, American author and poet Maya Angelou, David McCullough, Elie Wiesel, American actor and director Robert Duvall, Val Kilmer, Coretta Scott King, and Margaret Thatcher among others.^[20] In addition to the Public Affairs Conference Principia College holds a Pan-African Conference with a focus on human rights in Africa.^[21]

Technology

Of the technological programs present at Principia College, most prevalent and distinguished is its study in solar energy. The college has competed in solar car world events since 1995 and finished second in the North American Solar Challenge of 2008 and seventh in the World Solar Challenge of 2009.^[22]

Athletics

Principia College teams participate as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division III in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC). The Principia Panther is the official mascot of Principia College and has been since its change from the Indian in 1984.^[3] There are sixteen varsity athletic teams at Principia College of which men's sports are baseball, basketball, cross country, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field, and rugby; and women's sports include basketball, cross country, soccer, softball, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field and volleyball.^[17]

In 1983, the women's tennis team won the NCAA Division III national championship.^[3]

In 2013, the men's rugby team won the first ever Open Division USA Rugby 7s Collegiate National Championship, beating the University of Wisconsin-Stout 27-12.^[23]

Alumni

Notable Principia College alumni include:

• Robert Bruegmann — architectural historian ^[24]
• Chandler Burr — author ^[25]
• Candy Crowley (attended) — CNN political correspondent ^[26]
• Robert Duvall (class of 1953) — actor: Academy Award for Best Actor winner (1983, Tender Mercies)
• Ketti Frings — author, writer: Pulitzer Prize for Drama winner (1958, Look Homeward, Angel)
• Larry Groce — host of public radio's Mountain Stage
• Peter Horton (attended) — actor and movie director^[27]
• Mindy Jostyn (attended) — singer songwriter^[28]
• Egil Krogh — part of U.S. President Richard Nixon's administration and was convicted as part of the Watergate scandal.
• Terry Melcher — Record producer and son of Doris Day.
• Brad Newsham (history and sociology, class of 1972) — writer
• Vaughn Obern, filmmaker, Department Chairman, Cinema-Television, Los Angeles City College^[29]
• John H. Rousselot (B.A. 1949) — United States Congressman from California (1961–1962, 1969–1982)^[30]
• David Rowland (1924–2010), industrial designer who created the 40/4 stacking chair.^[31]
• Christopher Shays (B.A. 1968) — United States Congressman from Connecticut (1987–2009)^[32]

See also

• Principia College Historic District
• Principia Astronomical Observatory

References

External links

• Principia College
• Principia College official Athletics
• Audio Recordings of the College's Radio Station in the 1970s