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Smith College, located in Northampton, Massachusetts, is the largest women's college in the United States. It is a private, non-denominational liberal arts college and one of the Seven Sisters.

Smith is also a member of the Five Colleges consortium, which allows its students to attend classes at four other Pioneer Valley institutions: Mount Holyoke College, Amherst College, Hampshire College, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The Five Colleges are geographically close to one another and are linked by buses which run between the campuses.

History

The college was established in 1871 by a bequest of Sophia Smith. It opened in 1875. In 1915-16 the student enrollment was 1,724 and the faculty numbered 163. It has a well-regarded botanical garden designed by Frederick Law Olmstead.

In 1975 the college celebrated its centenary.

Presidents

Notable deans, administrators, and faculty (past and present)

Academics

Smith College is the first and only women's college in the United States to grant its own undergraduate degrees in engineering. The Picker Engineering Program offers a single Bachelor of Science in engineering science, combining the fundamentals of multiple engineering disciplines.

The Ada Comstock Scholars Program is a bachelor's degree program for nontraditionally-aged students.

Smith also has special one-year graduate programs for international students. One of such programs, an American Studies Diploma Program, was founded during the early 1960s, one of the hottest periods of the Cold War, to serve as a counterweight of international misunderstanding and violence.

More than half of Smith's juniors study overseas.

The school has been criticized in Dinesh D'Souza's "Illiberal Education" as being emblematic of the wide trend of grade inflation at liberal arts colleges.

Individuals may also enroll as nondegree students by registering for one or more courses.

Undergraduate majors and minors

Both major and minor are offered in each subject unless otherwise noted.

In addition, students can design specialized majors and minors with the approval of the College and related departments.

Arts

Humanities and language

Sciences

Social sciences and history

Interdisciplinary

Graduate degrees and study options

Although little-known, Smith's graduate programs are open to both men and women. Each year approximately 100 men and women pursue advanced graduate work at Smith.

The college has a limited program leading to PhDs, and is part of a cooperative doctoral program co-administered by Amherst College, Hampshire College, Mount Holyoke College and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

  • Other Graduate Study Options

Traditions

Colors and mascot

Smith College does not have college colors in the usual sense. Its official color is white, trimmed with gold, but the official college logo is currently blue and yellow (a previous logo was burgundy and white). Athletic teams have competed in blue and white (or blue and yellow, in the case of the crew team) uniforms since the 1970s, and selected Pioneers as the official name and mascot in 1986.

Smith has a rotating system of class colors dating back to the 1880s, when intramural athletics and other campus competitions were usually held by class. Today, class colors are yellow, red, blue and green, with incoming first-year classes assigned the color of the previous year's graduating class; their color then "follows" them through to graduation. Alumnae classes, particularly at reunion, continue to identify with and use their class color thereafter.

Residential culture

Smith requires all first year undergraduate students, as well as most other undergraduates, to live in on-campus houses. This policy is intended to add to the camraderie and social cohesion of its students. Unlike most institutions of its type, Smith College does not have dorms, but rather 36 separate houses each with their own unique flavor, built in the style that was popular during the time they were constructed (a common misconception here is that Sophia Smith stated in her will that each house be constructed in the style of the period--this is only a fun rumor perpetuated by the college's Gold Key tour guides who provide tours to perspective students). It can be said that this housing system creates a great sense of community between students within each respective house. Smith College also has the largest art collection of any liberal arts college in the United States and was one of the first schools to get its own atom-breaker in a move to encourage women in science. An example of any tree in nature can also be found on Smith College campus, whether planted along the many paths or inside the greenhouse. The campus also houses a Japanese tea house, a traditional rock garden and an exotic greenhouse with many examples of tropical plants. Also, it should be noted that Chapin House was the inspiration for Tara in Gone with the Wind (although it was not where Ms. Mitchell lived on campus. She lived in a nearby house that has since been torn down).

A novelty of Smith's homelike atmosphere is the continuing popularity of Sophia Smith's recipe for molasses cookies. These are often served at the traditional Friday afternoon tea held in each house, where students, faculty and staff members and alumnae socialize.

Sources: http://www.smith.edu/about_justthefacts.php (Scroll down to see "Housing" description.)

Academic year events

Mountain Day is observed early in the fall semester. The President of the College selects a crisp, sunny, beautiful autumn day when the leaves are in full color, and announces the cancellation of classes by having bells rung on campus at 7:00 AM on the chosen day. The eager anticipation of Mountain Day leads to intense speculation and a higher-than-normal interest in meteorology by students in the weeks leading up to the surprise announcement. Traditional observance of Mountain Day by students might involve New England road trips or outdoor pursuits, and college dining services provides box lunches to be taken off-campus.

Otelia Cromwell Day, named for Smith's first known African-American alumna, began in 1989 to provide students with an in-depth program specifically addressing issues of racism and diversity. Regular classes are cancelled, and students are invited to participate in lectures, workshops, symposia and cultural events, centered around a different theme each year.

In February 1876, the College began an annual observance of George Washington's birthday. In 1894, a rally became part of the day's events, and the focus of the celebration became primarily patriotic rather than exclusively social—though always with a women's college twist. Students that year staged a mock debate on the subject, "Does Higher Education Unfit a Man for Domestic Life?" In 1906 the celebration was first referred to as Rally Day (although the name was not used officially by the College until 1992). In 1944, seniors made Rally Day the first public wearing of their graduation caps and gowns; since then, mortarboards have been replaced by wacky, often homemade hats. Today, the Rally Day Convocation is centered around a historical theme, and features a distinguished keynote speaker and the awarding of Smith College Medals to accomplished alumnae.

Rally Day is observed in the Spring; an all-college gathering honors distinguished alumnae, and a musical is held depicting life at Smith.

Reunions and Commencement events

The Alumnae Association of Smith College hosts official class reunions every five years, plus a special two-year reunion. All alumnae from all classes are welcome to return in any year; "off-year" alumnae attend campus-wide events as the "Class of 1776".

Traditional reunion and Commencement events are linked, and celebrate the close ties between Smith's alumnae and its graduating seniors and their families. At the conclusion of final exams, most underclasswomen leave the campus, while seniors remain in their houses for a week to celebrate and prepare for Commencement. Alumnae arrive for reunions later in the week, and many alumnae arrange for official accommodations in the campus houses, right alongside senior residents.

Ivy Day, the day before Commencement, is the high point of reunion and a significant event for seniors as well. Junior ushers lead a parade through campus, carrying vines of ivy to be planted by the departing seniors as a symbol of their lifelong connection to the college. Alumnae (and, often, their children), dressed in white and wearing sashes in their class color, line up in reverse order by class along both sides of the route. Seniors line up nearest the end of the parade route, wearing traditional white dresses and each carrying a single red rose. All cheer each alumnae class as it marches past, then fall in to join the end of the parade. Many alumnae classes carry signs with humorous poems or slogans, or hold balloons or wear hats in their class color. Ivy Day festivities conclude in the Quad, where the seniors plant their ivy and speakers address alumnae on the progress of fundraising and the state of the college.

Illumination Night, beginning at dusk on the evening before Commencement, is a beautiful celebration of the campus and a send-off of sorts for graduating seniors. Throughout central campus, electric street lights are replaced for one night by multicolored Japanese-style paper lanterns, lit with real candles. These hang on both sides of every walking path and cast a soft glow over the buildings and lawns. Student acapella singing groups and improv comedy troupes roam the campus, stopping occasionally to entertain the crowds. A jazz band, hired by the college, turns the science buildings' courtyard into a dance floor. Seniors, alumnae, faculty and their families spend the evening on walking tours of the illuminated campus and Botanic Gardens. The major official event of the night is the Senior Step Sing: seniors gather on the steps of Neilson Library, where they are serenaded by members of the Sophomore Push committee, then are physically pushed off the stairs and "into the real world".

Until the early 1990s, all alumnae reunions were held during Commencement weekend. However, as the number of returning alumnae grew beyond the capacity of the campus, reunions were split into Reunion I/Commencement Weekend and Reunion II, held the following weekend. "Significant" reunions (50-, 25- and 10- year, but also 2-year) and the earliest reunion classes (65-year and prior) are assigned to Reunion I; "lesser" reunions (5-, 15-, 20-, 30-year, and so on) are assigned to Reunion II. Although the AASC sponsors an Alumnae Parade (in place of Ivy Day) and a second Illumination Night, these events are far less festive as the seniors and their families have long since graduated and left campus.

Campus folklore

Smith has numerous folk tales and ghost stories surrounding the campus and historical events. One such tale holds that Sessions House is inhabited by the ghost of Lucy Hunt, who died of a broken heart after being separated from her lover, General Burgoyne. Another tale tells of a girl who haunts the basement of one of the houses near the river, after a tunnel which led down to the pond collapsed as she was sneaking out to meet a lover.

Notable alumnae

In 2006 15 Smith graduates won prestigious national fellowships for graduate study. The Alumnae Association of Smith College considers all former students to be members, whether they graduated or not, and does not generally differentiate between graduates and non-graduates when identifying Smith alumnae.

Fictional alumnae

Pop culture references

Notes

References

  • Horowitz, Helen Lefkowitz. Alma Mater: Design and Experience in the Women's Colleges from Their Nineteenth-Century Beginnings to the 1930s. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1993 (2nd edition).

External links

Smith College | Universities and colleges in Massachusetts | New England Association of Schools and Colleges | Liberal arts colleges | Women's universities and colleges in the United States

Smith College | Smith College | Smith College

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Smith College".

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