Haverford College
Encyclopedia
Haverford College is a private
, coeducation
al liberal arts college
located in Haverford
, Pennsylvania
, United States
, a suburb of Philadelphia. All students of the College are undergraduates, and nearly all reside on campus.
The College was founded in 1833 by area members of the Orthodox Philadelphia Yearly Meeting
of the Religious Society of Friends
(Quakers) to ensure an education grounded in Quaker values for young Quaker men. Although the College no longer has a formal religious affiliation, the Quaker philosophy still influences campus life. Originally an all-male institution, Haverford began admitting female transfer students in the 1970s and became fully co-ed in 1980. Currently, more than half of Haverford's students are women. For most of the 20th century, Haverford's total enrollment was kept below 300, but the school went through two periods of expansion after the 1970s, and its current enrollment is 1,190 students.
Haverford is a member of the Tri-College Consortium
, which allows students to register for courses at both Bryn Mawr College
and Swarthmore College
. The College enjoys an especially close relationship with Bryn Mawr College
. It is also a member of the Quaker Consortium
("Penn-Pal") which allows students to cross-register at the College of General Studies (CGS) and the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania
. The college was ranked 7th among all colleges and universities in the 2011 edition of Forbes' "Top Colleges" and 10th among national liberal arts colleges by U.S. News and World Report.
to govern academic affairs. Since then, every student has been allowed to schedule his or her own final exams. Take-home examinations are also common at Haverford. These exams may include strict instructions such as time limits, prohibitions on using assigned texts or personal notes, and calculator
usage. All students are bound to follow these instructions by the Code.
Originally conceived as a code of academic honesty, the Honor Code had expanded by the 1970s to govern social interactions. The code does not list specific rules of behavior, but rather outlines a philosophy of trust, concern, and respect for others that students are expected to follow. When a student (or other community member) feels that another student has broken the Code, he or she is encouraged not to look the other way but rather to confront the possible offender and engage in a dialogue with him or her, before taking matters to an Honor Council which can help mediate the dispute. Ideally, many potential violations are worked out through dialogue (mediated or not) and common understanding.
Student government officers administer the Code, and all academic matters are heard by student juries. More severe matters are addressed by administrators. Abstracts from cases heard by students and joint administrative-student panels are distributed to all students by several means, including as print-outs in mailboxes. The trial abstracts are made anonymous by the use of pseudonyms, which are often characters from entertainment or history.
The student body convenes every semester in a plenary session
with a 50 percent quorum. At these meetings, the Honor Code or Student Constitution can be amended, and at Spring Plenary the student body votes to put the Honor Code up for ratification (now done electronically with 2/3 quorum). In addition to revisions of self-governance, the student body debates resolutions that get passed to the faculty and administration for approval and action.
The Honor Code is touted by the Office of Admissions, and every student is required to sign a pledge agreeing to the Code prior to matriculation. Unlike Honor Codes at institutions such as Brigham Young University
, which are imposed on the students by the administration, the Haverford Honor Code is entirely student-run. The Code originated with a body of students who felt it necessary, and current Haverford students administer and amend it every year.
and Bachelor of Science
degrees among 31 majors in the natural sciences, social sciences and the humanities. All departments require a senior thesis, project or research for graduation, and many departments also have junior-level seminar
or year-long project such as in biology
(superlab) and chemistry
(superlab). The College also maintains a distribution requirement, spreading course work in all three areas of humanities
, social sciences
and natural sciences, in addition to major course works. Additional program and course offerings are available via the Quaker Consortium
.
In addition to majors and minors, Haverford offers concentrations in Africana studies
, biochemistry
, biophysics
, computer science
, East Asian studies
, education
, feminist
and gender studies
, health and society, Latin American
and Iberian studies, mathematical economics
, neural and behavioral sciences, and peace studies
. Students may pursue pre-medical, pre-law or pre-business intentions through any major; the College offers special advising by professionals in those fields. Music students enjoy close proximity to Philadelphia's music tradition: the Philadelphia Orchestra
and The Curtis Institute of Music, where students can receive discounted concert tickets and take on extra instrument or voice lessons.
was the first institution in America to teach modern laboratory biology (molecular biology
) to undergraduates; within the department of physics is the only National Academy of Sciences
member to currently teach at a liberal arts college; many current faculty also are recipients of national awards for undergraduate teaching such as the Lindback
and NSF CAREER awards, American Physical Society Award for Research in an Undergraduate Institution, The Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, and The Bruce H. Mahan Memorial Teaching Award.
Haverford graduates have also been eminent figures in their respective fields. Both physics
and chemistry
departments boast graduates who have been awarded the Nobel Prize
. On two occasions since 1996 have Haverford physics students won the prestigious LeRoy Apker Award.
Haverford does not maintain its own program in engineering, but students may elect to pursue the "3/2 liberal arts and engineering" course of study. This option allows students to enroll in three years of liberal arts and science courses at Haverford and then two years of engineering courses at the California Institute of Technology
, ultimately obtaining bachelor degrees from both institutions.
ranks Haverford #7 among liberal arts colleges, and #13 among all colleges and universities in the United States, for producing the greatest number of science and engineering students to pursue PhDs per capita many of which continue their studies at top national universities including Harvard University
, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
, the University of Chicago
, the University of California, Berkeley
, and Stanford University
among others. Of these graduates, many also receive postgraduate research fellowships under NSF-GRF
, Fulbright and Churchill
scholarships.
In a 2003 publication on the placement of recent graduates into "top" programs in business, law and medicine, The Wall Street Journal ranked Haverford among the top twenty colleges and universities in the United States.
about 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Philadelphia
. The school is connected to center city Philadelphia by the Paoli/Thorndale Line
commuter rail system and Norristown High Speed Line
(R100). The northwest portion of the campus is located in Haverford Township
in Delaware County
, and the southwest part of the campus is located in Lower Merion Township
in Montgomery County
. The campus itself is situated is an affluent suburban neighborhood, adjacent to the Haverford School, the Merion Golf Club
and the Merion Cricket Club
, one of the oldest country clubs in the United States. Nearby attractions within walking distance include various food markets, grocery stores, fast food restaurants, and Suburban Square
, which hosts retail stores, restaurants and a local farmer's market.
, and the oldest collegiate arboretum in the United States. The year after the College's founding, the English landscape gardener William Carvill was hired to design the plan for the campus. Carvill developed a design to replace the tilled fields, woodlots and pastures, using trees to frame and complement open spaces. He bordered the lanes with alleés of trees and planted groups of trees in odd numbers. Carvill also constructed grape arbors and a serpentine walk, reflecting the English landscape tradition of Sir Humphrey Repton. Carvill’s mark is still evident today in the pastoral landscape which includes several original trees including a Swamp white oak, Quercus bicolor, and Bur oak, Quercus macrocarpa, on Founders Green.
In 1901, a group of students and alumni formed the Campus Club to help preserve the campus landscape after discovering Carvill’s original plan. Their work eventually led to the founding of the Haverford College Campus Arboretum Association (now the Haverford College Arboretum Association) in 1974, which continues to perpetuate Carvill’s original design. To date, the arboretum's 216 acre (0.87412176 km²) contain a nature trail, a pinetum with 300 different conifers, a duck pond, historic trees of diverse species, sculpture, as well as flower and Asian gardens.
Themed housing options include La Casa Hispanica, which "supports the endeavors of students actively engaged in organizing programs concerned with the cultures and civilizations of the Spanish-speaking world," the Ira de A. Reid House, which seeks students active in the Black Students' League or members of the African Diaspora interested in the culture and politics of Africans, the Cadbury house, which provides a substance-free and quiet living environment, and Yarnall, which has no permanent theme.
Various housing and room arrangements exist, including suites of singles, doubles, and triples. Housing policy is very liberal and many non-freshman suites are co-ed. In 2000, at the urging of Haverford’s inQUEERy, co-ed roommate options were officially permitted for the first time, having occurred without official sanction since 1974.
singing group performances, sponsored music events, college radio, bi-college news and fashion publications, an academic journal, an anual yearbook, to multiple community service groups. Haverford has no fraternities or sororities, but Drinker House
is considered to be the closest resemblance to one on campus.
In 2002, a group of students founded a computing club called FIG (a recursive acronym
for FIG Is Good). Services provided by FIG include the College's student portal, Go!, server space for students, and an online discussion forum called the Go! Boards. Amid controversy, the boards have become a major venue for discussion on campus.
The College regularly sponsors events, such as a "Screw-Your-Roommate" Dance, where roommates set each other up on blind dates, formal and informal dances, to smaller adventures, such as tag or sardines
in the sciences center. Fords Against Boredom (FAB) is a school-funded student group that began in 1993, and plans and sponsors free non-alcoholic events on campus and in Philadelphia. FAB has become known for its traditional events such as Ben & Jerry’s Bingo, Bowling Night, Midnight Cheese Steak Run, FAB Quizzo, and trips to sporting events and the many arts and theatre venues in Philadelphia, the FAB Film Series (the screening of a film's pre-DVD release every other weekend) and other unorthidox events such as Love Shack: Valentines Ginger Bread House building and Iron Chef: Dining Center. Additionally, FAB co-sponsors events with other student groups and is open to ideas and proposals.
Of the nation's 357 "best" colleges, the Princeton Review ranks Haverford as #6 for Best Overall Undergraduate Experience. In addition, Haverford, unlike many of its peers, is located within easy travel of a large metropolitan center and the opportunities that Philadelphia offers. Princeton Review placed Haverford on several other lists for the 2007 year. On the list for "Best Overall Academic Experience for Undergraduates," Haverford ranks #8; "School Runs Like Butter," #17; "The Toughest to Get Into," #20; "Best Quality Of Life," #14; "Happiest Students," #16.
is a widely popular student activity at Haverford College. The College's own groups include the Haverford College Humtones, The Oxford Blues, The Mainliners, The Outskirts, and the 'Ford S-Chords. Three a cappella groups shared within the bi-co are the Looney Tunes, The Extreme Keys and Counterpoint. A single group shared between both Bryn Mawr College and Swarthmore College
is Chaverim. In total, including shared a cappella groups, Haverford is believed to maintain a world record for the number of a cappella groups per capita.
More formal music organizations also exist within the bi-college consortium. Chamber Singers is a mixed choir of 30 voices from Haverford and Bryn Mawr who perform challenging repertoire ranging from the Renaissance to the present day in a variety of languages and styles. Chorale is a Wednesday night institution in bi-college life. A symphonic choir of 150 singers, the Chorale performs a major work with an orchestra each semester.
Additionally, free music events are often presented in the basement of the student dorm Lunt, adjacent to the Lunt Café, through the campus organization the Federation of United Concert Series, showcasing genres including funk, rock, blues, and jazz. Student musicians have also created a vibrant musical community on campus, forming a number of bands with eclectic styles. Haverford boasts practice facilities, a recording studio, and a record label, Black Squirrel Records, which releases compilation albums that feature Haverford student bands. Students also run their own college radiostation, WHRC Radio, which broadcasts streaming audio.
that serves both campuses; Feathers & Fur, a fashion magazine also in collaboration with students at Bryn Mawr College
; The Haverford Review, a student literary magazine; Without a (Noun), the Haverford satire/humor magazine; the Haverford Journal, an academic journal; and The Record, the student yearbook.
The Throng was founded in 2000 among Haverford students and focuses on exclusively on long-form improvisation, creating its own brand of comedy in the process. The Throng has performed with such professional groups as Dillinger and The Shoves at the UCB Theatre in New York, as well as the Rare Bird Show in Philadelphia.
The Lighted Fools was founded officially in 1991 within the bi-college and claims to focus on the "satirical, weird, and zany." This group is also involved in the burgeoning Philadelphia improvisation scene, and have performed at the Dirty South Improv Festival, Skidmore College Comedy Festival, Oberlin College Improv Conference, Delaware Improv and Sketch O'Festival, and the UMass-Amherst Improv Festival, as well as nationwide in New York at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, Magnet Theater, and in Chicago City Limits at the Improv Olympic, and in Los Angeles at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater.
, College Republicans, and College Democrats have a presence on campus. The student body tends to be politically liberal, but is not without its vocal conservative elements. High value is placed in listening to many sides without disrespect or vitriol, in spirit with the Honor Code.
and has a rich history in collegiate athletics: Haverford boasts the only varsity
cricket
team in the United States; its men's and women's track and field
and cross country
teams are perennial powerhouses in their division, and men's cross country winning the 2010 Cross Country Division III National Championship; its soccer team is the nation's oldest and won the first intercollegiate soccer match in 1905 against Harvard College
; its lacrosse team has recently become a national power after placing well in the NCAA championships; its fencing team has competed since the early 1930s and is a member of both the Middle Atlantic Collegiate Fencing Association (MACFA) and the National Intercollegiate Women's Fencing Association (NIWFA).
s, 4 MacArthur Fellows, 20 Rhodes Scholarship
s, 10 Marshall Scholarship
s, 9 Henry Luce
Fellowships, 56 Watson Fellowships, 2 George Mitchell Scholarship
, 2 Carnegie Endowment
Junior Fellowships, 2 Churchill Scholars, 1 Gates Cambridge Scholar, 13 All Americans, and 23 NCAA Post-graduate winners. Since March 1961, over 138 Haverford
alumni have served in 64 developing countries as Peace Corps
Volunteers.
Private university
Private universities are universities not operated by governments, although many receive public subsidies, especially in the form of tax breaks and public student loans and grants. Depending on their location, private universities may be subject to government regulation. Private universities are...
, coeducation
Coeducation
Mixed-sex education, also known as coeducation or co-education, is the integrated education of male and female persons in the same institution. It is the opposite of single-sex education...
al liberal arts college
Liberal arts colleges in the United States
Liberal arts colleges in the United States are certain undergraduate institutions of higher education in the United States. The Encyclopædia Britannica Concise offers a definition of the liberal arts as a "college or university curriculum aimed at imparting general knowledge and developing general...
located in Haverford
Haverford, Pennsylvania
Haverford is an unincorporated community located partially in Haverford Township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, USA, but primarily in Lower Merion Township in Montgomery County, about west of Philadelphia. It is on the Main Line, which is known historically for its wealth. As of August 2009,...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, a suburb of Philadelphia. All students of the College are undergraduates, and nearly all reside on campus.
The College was founded in 1833 by area members of the Orthodox Philadelphia Yearly Meeting
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, or simply Philadelphia Yearly Meeting or PYM, is the central organizing body for Quaker meetings in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, area....
of the Religious Society of Friends
Religious Society of Friends
The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...
(Quakers) to ensure an education grounded in Quaker values for young Quaker men. Although the College no longer has a formal religious affiliation, the Quaker philosophy still influences campus life. Originally an all-male institution, Haverford began admitting female transfer students in the 1970s and became fully co-ed in 1980. Currently, more than half of Haverford's students are women. For most of the 20th century, Haverford's total enrollment was kept below 300, but the school went through two periods of expansion after the 1970s, and its current enrollment is 1,190 students.
Haverford is a member of the Tri-College Consortium
Tri-College Consortium
The Tri-College Consortium consists of three private liberal arts colleges in the Philadelphia suburbs: Bryn Mawr College, Haverford College and Swarthmore College. The consortium allows students to cross register for courses at the other colleges. Haverford enjoys an especially close relationship...
, which allows students to register for courses at both Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr College is a women's liberal arts college located in Bryn Mawr, a community in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, ten miles west of Philadelphia. The name "Bryn Mawr" means "big hill" in Welsh....
and Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College is a private, independent, liberal arts college in the United States with an enrollment of about 1,500 students. The college is located in the borough of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, 11 miles southwest of Philadelphia....
. The College enjoys an especially close relationship with Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr College is a women's liberal arts college located in Bryn Mawr, a community in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, ten miles west of Philadelphia. The name "Bryn Mawr" means "big hill" in Welsh....
. It is also a member of the Quaker Consortium
Quaker Consortium
The Quaker Consortium is an arrangement between three liberal arts colleges, Bryn Mawr College, Haverford College, Swarthmore College, and one research university, the University of Pennsylvania, in the greater Philadelphia area...
("Penn-Pal") which allows students to cross-register at the College of General Studies (CGS) and the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
. The college was ranked 7th among all colleges and universities in the 2011 edition of Forbes' "Top Colleges" and 10th among national liberal arts colleges by U.S. News and World Report.
Honor Code
In 1896, the students and faculty of Haverford voted to adopt an Honor CodeHonor code
An honour code or honour system is a set of rules or principles governing a community based on a set of rules or ideals that define what constitutes honorable behavior within that community. The use of an honor code depends on the idea that people can be trusted to act honorably...
to govern academic affairs. Since then, every student has been allowed to schedule his or her own final exams. Take-home examinations are also common at Haverford. These exams may include strict instructions such as time limits, prohibitions on using assigned texts or personal notes, and calculator
Calculator
An electronic calculator is a small, portable, usually inexpensive electronic device used to perform the basic operations of arithmetic. Modern calculators are more portable than most computers, though most PDAs are comparable in size to handheld calculators.The first solid-state electronic...
usage. All students are bound to follow these instructions by the Code.
Originally conceived as a code of academic honesty, the Honor Code had expanded by the 1970s to govern social interactions. The code does not list specific rules of behavior, but rather outlines a philosophy of trust, concern, and respect for others that students are expected to follow. When a student (or other community member) feels that another student has broken the Code, he or she is encouraged not to look the other way but rather to confront the possible offender and engage in a dialogue with him or her, before taking matters to an Honor Council which can help mediate the dispute. Ideally, many potential violations are worked out through dialogue (mediated or not) and common understanding.
Student government officers administer the Code, and all academic matters are heard by student juries. More severe matters are addressed by administrators. Abstracts from cases heard by students and joint administrative-student panels are distributed to all students by several means, including as print-outs in mailboxes. The trial abstracts are made anonymous by the use of pseudonyms, which are often characters from entertainment or history.
The student body convenes every semester in a plenary session
Plenary session
Plenary session is a term often used in conferences to define the part of the conference when all members of all parties are to attend.These sessions may contain a broad range of content from keynotes to panel discussions and are not necessarily related to a specific style of delivery.The term has...
with a 50 percent quorum. At these meetings, the Honor Code or Student Constitution can be amended, and at Spring Plenary the student body votes to put the Honor Code up for ratification (now done electronically with 2/3 quorum). In addition to revisions of self-governance, the student body debates resolutions that get passed to the faculty and administration for approval and action.
The Honor Code is touted by the Office of Admissions, and every student is required to sign a pledge agreeing to the Code prior to matriculation. Unlike Honor Codes at institutions such as Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...
, which are imposed on the students by the administration, the Haverford Honor Code is entirely student-run. The Code originated with a body of students who felt it necessary, and current Haverford students administer and amend it every year.
Academic Program
Haverford offers Bachelor of ArtsBachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
and Bachelor of Science
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
degrees among 31 majors in the natural sciences, social sciences and the humanities. All departments require a senior thesis, project or research for graduation, and many departments also have junior-level seminar
Seminar
Seminar is, generally, a form of academic instruction, either at an academic institution or offered by a commercial or professional organization. It has the function of bringing together small groups for recurring meetings, focusing each time on some particular subject, in which everyone present is...
or year-long project such as in biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
(superlab) and chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
(superlab). The College also maintains a distribution requirement, spreading course work in all three areas of humanities
Humanities
The humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....
, social sciences
Social sciences
Social science is the field of study concerned with society. "Social science" is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside of the natural sciences usually exclusive of the administrative or managerial sciences...
and natural sciences, in addition to major course works. Additional program and course offerings are available via the Quaker Consortium
Quaker Consortium
The Quaker Consortium is an arrangement between three liberal arts colleges, Bryn Mawr College, Haverford College, Swarthmore College, and one research university, the University of Pennsylvania, in the greater Philadelphia area...
.
In addition to majors and minors, Haverford offers concentrations in Africana studies
Africana studies
In United States education, Africana studies, or Africology is the study of the histories, politics and cultures of peoples of African origin both in Africa and in the African diaspora....
, biochemistry
Biochemistry
Biochemistry, sometimes called biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes in living organisms, including, but not limited to, living matter. Biochemistry governs all living organisms and living processes...
, biophysics
Biophysics
Biophysics is an interdisciplinary science that uses the methods of physical science to study biological systems. Studies included under the branches of biophysics span all levels of biological organization, from the molecular scale to whole organisms and ecosystems...
, computer science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
, East Asian studies
East Asian studies
East Asian Studies is a distinct multidisciplinary field of scholarly enquiry and education that promotes a broad humanistic understanding of East Asia past and present...
, education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
, feminist
Women's studies
Women's studies, also known as feminist studies, is an interdisciplinary academic field which explores politics, society and history from an intersectional, multicultural women's perspective...
and gender studies
Gender studies
Gender studies is a field of interdisciplinary study which analyses race, ethnicity, sexuality and location.Gender study has many different forms. One view exposed by the philosopher Simone de Beauvoir said: "One is not born a woman, one becomes one"...
, health and society, Latin American
Latin American Studies
Latin American studies is an academic discipline dealing with the study of Latin America and Latin Americans.-Definition:Latin American studies critically examines the history, culture, politics, and experiences of Latin Americans in Latin America and often also elsewhere .Latin American studies...
and Iberian studies, mathematical economics
Mathematical economics
Mathematical economics is the application of mathematical methods to represent economic theories and analyze problems posed in economics. It allows formulation and derivation of key relationships in a theory with clarity, generality, rigor, and simplicity...
, neural and behavioral sciences, and peace studies
Peace and conflict studies
Peace and conflict studies is a social science field that identifies and analyses violent and nonviolent behaviours as well as the structural mechanisms attending social conflicts with a view towards understanding those processes which lead to a more desirable human condition...
. Students may pursue pre-medical, pre-law or pre-business intentions through any major; the College offers special advising by professionals in those fields. Music students enjoy close proximity to Philadelphia's music tradition: the Philadelphia Orchestra
Philadelphia Orchestra
The Philadelphia Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. One of the "Big Five" American orchestras, it was founded in 1900...
and The Curtis Institute of Music, where students can receive discounted concert tickets and take on extra instrument or voice lessons.
The Sciences
Despite its relatively small size and academic strength in the humanities and arts, Haverford is also notable in the sciences. In the 1950s, HaverfordHaverford
Haverford can mean several things:*Haverford College, a coeducational, undergraduate liberal arts college in Haverford, Pennsylvania*The Haverford School, a private, non-sectarian, all-boys collegiate preparatory day school, junior kindergarten through grade twelve, in Haverford,...
was the first institution in America to teach modern laboratory biology (molecular biology
Molecular biology
Molecular biology is the branch of biology that deals with the molecular basis of biological activity. This field overlaps with other areas of biology and chemistry, particularly genetics and biochemistry...
) to undergraduates; within the department of physics is the only National Academy of Sciences
United States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
member to currently teach at a liberal arts college; many current faculty also are recipients of national awards for undergraduate teaching such as the Lindback
Lindback Award
The Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Award is given out by the Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Foundation.-History:Christian Lindback was President and owner of Abbotts Dairies. He was also a Trustee of Bucknell University...
and NSF CAREER awards, American Physical Society Award for Research in an Undergraduate Institution, The Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, and The Bruce H. Mahan Memorial Teaching Award.
Haverford graduates have also been eminent figures in their respective fields. Both physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
and chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
departments boast graduates who have been awarded the Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
. On two occasions since 1996 have Haverford physics students won the prestigious LeRoy Apker Award.
Haverford does not maintain its own program in engineering, but students may elect to pursue the "3/2 liberal arts and engineering" course of study. This option allows students to enroll in three years of liberal arts and science courses at Haverford and then two years of engineering courses at the California Institute of Technology
California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...
, ultimately obtaining bachelor degrees from both institutions.
Postgraduate placement
The National Science FoundationNational Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
ranks Haverford #7 among liberal arts colleges, and #13 among all colleges and universities in the United States, for producing the greatest number of science and engineering students to pursue PhDs per capita many of which continue their studies at top national universities including Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
, the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
, the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, and Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
among others. Of these graduates, many also receive postgraduate research fellowships under NSF-GRF
NSF-GRF
The National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program is an annual grant awarded by the National Science Foundation to approximately 2,000 doctoral-level students in the natural, social, and engineering sciences at US institutions...
, Fulbright and Churchill
Churchill Scholarship
The Churchill Scholarship is awarded by the Winston Churchill Foundation of the United States to graduates of the more than one hundred colleges and universities participating in the Churchill Scholarship Program, to pursue research and study in engineering, mathematics, or other sciences for one...
scholarships.
In a 2003 publication on the placement of recent graduates into "top" programs in business, law and medicine, The Wall Street Journal ranked Haverford among the top twenty colleges and universities in the United States.
Campus
Haverford College is located on the Main LinePennsylvania Main Line
The Main Line is an unofficial historical and socio-cultural region of suburban Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, comprising a collection of affluent towns built along the old Main Line of the Pennsylvania Railroad which ran northwest from downtown Philadelphia parallel to Lancaster Avenue , a road...
about 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
. The school is connected to center city Philadelphia by the Paoli/Thorndale Line
Paoli/Thorndale Line
The Paoli/Thorndale Line is a SEPTA Regional Rail line running from Center City Philadelphia to Thorndale in Chester County.-Route:This branch utilizes one of the oldest sections of what is now Amtrak's Keystone Corridor, an electrified 104-mile two to four-track high-speed route between Harrisburg...
commuter rail system and Norristown High Speed Line
Norristown High Speed Line
The Norristown High Speed Line is an interurban line system operated between Upper Darby and Norristown, Pennsylvania, USA by SEPTA...
(R100). The northwest portion of the campus is located in Haverford Township
Haverford Township, Pennsylvania
Haverford Township is a home rule township in Delaware County, near Philadelphia, in southeastern Pennsylvania, United States. It maintains its legal name as the Township of Haverford, presumably for historic reasons...
in Delaware County
Delaware County, Pennsylvania
Delaware County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of 2010, the population was 558,979, making it Pennsylvania's fifth most populous county, behind Philadelphia, Allegheny, Montgomery, and Bucks counties....
, and the southwest part of the campus is located in Lower Merion Township
Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania
Lower Merion Township is a township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania and part of the Pennsylvania Main Line. As of the 2010 census, the township had a total population of 57,825...
in Montgomery County
Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
Montgomery County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, in the United States. As of 2010, the population was 799,874, making it the third most populous county in Pennsylvania . The county seat is Norristown.The county was created on September 10, 1784, out of land originally part...
. The campus itself is situated is an affluent suburban neighborhood, adjacent to the Haverford School, the Merion Golf Club
Merion Golf Club
Merion Golf Club is a private golf club located near Ardmore, Pennsylvania that is consistently rated by Golf Digest, among America's greatest golf courses, and will host the U.S. Open in 2013...
and the Merion Cricket Club
Merion Cricket Club
Merion Cricket Club is a private club in Haverford, Pennsylvania, founded in 1865. The current clubhouse is its sixth, the last four having been designed by Philadelphia architect Frank Furness and his partner, Allen Evans .-History:...
, one of the oldest country clubs in the United States. Nearby attractions within walking distance include various food markets, grocery stores, fast food restaurants, and Suburban Square
Suburban Square
Suburban Square is a shopping center located in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, United States, in the Philadelphia area. The center opened in 1928, and is notable as one of the earliest shopping centers in the United States...
, which hosts retail stores, restaurants and a local farmer's market.
Buildings
The College operates more than 50 academic, athletic, and residential buildings, which are mostly stone and reflect Quaker and colonial design principles. The most recent additions are the Marian E. Koshland Integrated Natural Science Center and the Douglas B. Gardner '83 Integrated Athletic Center. Haverford's Magill Library boasts more than a half million of its own volumes and has access to nearly two million more through its unusual Tripod computerized catalog system, which integrates its library with those of neighboring Bryn Mawr and Swarthmore Colleges. In addition to Magill's main resources, the College houses a number of special collections including the Quaker Collection, the C.C. Morris 1904 Cricket Library, and numerous rare books and other treasures; the College also maintains three smaller music, science, and astronomy libraries on campus. Planned additions in the future include renovations for a larger humanities center, new performing arts space, a student center and a new dorm to decompress current housing.Arboretum
The campus is a national arboretumArboretum
An arboretum in a narrow sense is a collection of trees only. Related collections include a fruticetum , and a viticetum, a collection of vines. More commonly, today, an arboretum is a botanical garden containing living collections of woody plants intended at least partly for scientific study...
, and the oldest collegiate arboretum in the United States. The year after the College's founding, the English landscape gardener William Carvill was hired to design the plan for the campus. Carvill developed a design to replace the tilled fields, woodlots and pastures, using trees to frame and complement open spaces. He bordered the lanes with alleés of trees and planted groups of trees in odd numbers. Carvill also constructed grape arbors and a serpentine walk, reflecting the English landscape tradition of Sir Humphrey Repton. Carvill’s mark is still evident today in the pastoral landscape which includes several original trees including a Swamp white oak, Quercus bicolor, and Bur oak, Quercus macrocarpa, on Founders Green.
In 1901, a group of students and alumni formed the Campus Club to help preserve the campus landscape after discovering Carvill’s original plan. Their work eventually led to the founding of the Haverford College Campus Arboretum Association (now the Haverford College Arboretum Association) in 1974, which continues to perpetuate Carvill’s original design. To date, the arboretum's 216 acre (0.87412176 km²) contain a nature trail, a pinetum with 300 different conifers, a duck pond, historic trees of diverse species, sculpture, as well as flower and Asian gardens.
Housing
Roughly 99% of the student body resides on campus, where housing options include apartments, themed houses and traditional dormitories. The minute fraction who choose to seek other accommodations do so nearby in neighboring townships. Approximately 75% of faculty also reside on campus, which is unusually high for liberal arts colleges.Themed housing options include La Casa Hispanica, which "supports the endeavors of students actively engaged in organizing programs concerned with the cultures and civilizations of the Spanish-speaking world," the Ira de A. Reid House, which seeks students active in the Black Students' League or members of the African Diaspora interested in the culture and politics of Africans, the Cadbury house, which provides a substance-free and quiet living environment, and Yarnall, which has no permanent theme.
Various housing and room arrangements exist, including suites of singles, doubles, and triples. Housing policy is very liberal and many non-freshman suites are co-ed. In 2000, at the urging of Haverford’s inQUEERy, co-ed roommate options were officially permitted for the first time, having occurred without official sanction since 1974.
Student life
Activities available at Haverford range from a cappellaA cappella
A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
singing group performances, sponsored music events, college radio, bi-college news and fashion publications, an academic journal, an anual yearbook, to multiple community service groups. Haverford has no fraternities or sororities, but Drinker House
Drinker House
The Henry S. Drinker House was constructed in 1902 on the campus of Haverford College. Located just beyond Founder's Green, the house is situated directly next to Haverford's soccer pitch and across Walton Road from Gummere, which houses freshmen. Drinker was originally built for Haverford...
is considered to be the closest resemblance to one on campus.
In 2002, a group of students founded a computing club called FIG (a recursive acronym
Recursive acronym
A recursive acronym is an acronym or initialism that refers to itself in the expression for which it stands...
for FIG Is Good). Services provided by FIG include the College's student portal, Go!, server space for students, and an online discussion forum called the Go! Boards. Amid controversy, the boards have become a major venue for discussion on campus.
The College regularly sponsors events, such as a "Screw-Your-Roommate" Dance, where roommates set each other up on blind dates, formal and informal dances, to smaller adventures, such as tag or sardines
Hide and seek
Hide-and-seek or hide-and-go-seek is a variant of the game tag, in which a number of players conceal themselves in the environment, to be found by one or more seekers.-Variants:Numerous variants of the game can be found around the world...
in the sciences center. Fords Against Boredom (FAB) is a school-funded student group that began in 1993, and plans and sponsors free non-alcoholic events on campus and in Philadelphia. FAB has become known for its traditional events such as Ben & Jerry’s Bingo, Bowling Night, Midnight Cheese Steak Run, FAB Quizzo, and trips to sporting events and the many arts and theatre venues in Philadelphia, the FAB Film Series (the screening of a film's pre-DVD release every other weekend) and other unorthidox events such as Love Shack: Valentines Ginger Bread House building and Iron Chef: Dining Center. Additionally, FAB co-sponsors events with other student groups and is open to ideas and proposals.
Of the nation's 357 "best" colleges, the Princeton Review ranks Haverford as #6 for Best Overall Undergraduate Experience. In addition, Haverford, unlike many of its peers, is located within easy travel of a large metropolitan center and the opportunities that Philadelphia offers. Princeton Review placed Haverford on several other lists for the 2007 year. On the list for "Best Overall Academic Experience for Undergraduates," Haverford ranks #8; "School Runs Like Butter," #17; "The Toughest to Get Into," #20; "Best Quality Of Life," #14; "Happiest Students," #16.
Music
A cappellaA cappella
A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
is a widely popular student activity at Haverford College. The College's own groups include the Haverford College Humtones, The Oxford Blues, The Mainliners, The Outskirts, and the 'Ford S-Chords. Three a cappella groups shared within the bi-co are the Looney Tunes, The Extreme Keys and Counterpoint. A single group shared between both Bryn Mawr College and Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College is a private, independent, liberal arts college in the United States with an enrollment of about 1,500 students. The college is located in the borough of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, 11 miles southwest of Philadelphia....
is Chaverim. In total, including shared a cappella groups, Haverford is believed to maintain a world record for the number of a cappella groups per capita.
More formal music organizations also exist within the bi-college consortium. Chamber Singers is a mixed choir of 30 voices from Haverford and Bryn Mawr who perform challenging repertoire ranging from the Renaissance to the present day in a variety of languages and styles. Chorale is a Wednesday night institution in bi-college life. A symphonic choir of 150 singers, the Chorale performs a major work with an orchestra each semester.
Additionally, free music events are often presented in the basement of the student dorm Lunt, adjacent to the Lunt Café, through the campus organization the Federation of United Concert Series, showcasing genres including funk, rock, blues, and jazz. Student musicians have also created a vibrant musical community on campus, forming a number of bands with eclectic styles. Haverford boasts practice facilities, a recording studio, and a record label, Black Squirrel Records, which releases compilation albums that feature Haverford student bands. Students also run their own college radiostation, WHRC Radio, which broadcasts streaming audio.
Journalism
Student publications include the Bi-College News, a newspaper in collaboration with students at Bryn Mawr CollegeBryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr College is a women's liberal arts college located in Bryn Mawr, a community in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, ten miles west of Philadelphia. The name "Bryn Mawr" means "big hill" in Welsh....
that serves both campuses; Feathers & Fur, a fashion magazine also in collaboration with students at Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr College is a women's liberal arts college located in Bryn Mawr, a community in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, ten miles west of Philadelphia. The name "Bryn Mawr" means "big hill" in Welsh....
; The Haverford Review, a student literary magazine; Without a (Noun), the Haverford satire/humor magazine; the Haverford Journal, an academic journal; and The Record, the student yearbook.
Improvisation
Haverford is home to two satirical improvisation groups which hold free shows throughout the year:The Throng was founded in 2000 among Haverford students and focuses on exclusively on long-form improvisation, creating its own brand of comedy in the process. The Throng has performed with such professional groups as Dillinger and The Shoves at the UCB Theatre in New York, as well as the Rare Bird Show in Philadelphia.
The Lighted Fools was founded officially in 1991 within the bi-college and claims to focus on the "satirical, weird, and zany." This group is also involved in the burgeoning Philadelphia improvisation scene, and have performed at the Dirty South Improv Festival, Skidmore College Comedy Festival, Oberlin College Improv Conference, Delaware Improv and Sketch O'Festival, and the UMass-Amherst Improv Festival, as well as nationwide in New York at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, Magnet Theater, and in Chicago City Limits at the Improv Olympic, and in Los Angeles at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater.
James House
James House was begun as a student initiative in 2005 whose goal was to create a space in the former security building located between Gummere, Parker House and Woodside that could be used entirely by students to make art on their own time. To date, the space is filled with comfy furniture, tons of art supplies, and a continually rotating set of murals on the walls. Each semester several student-led workshops are held on arts and crafts projects ranging from tie-dye to scrapbooking to chip carving. James House also generally holds one or two arts-themed parties a semester. James House is headed by a board of students, which maintains the house and hosts workshops and parties. It is a designated student space and is accessible 24-hours a day, seven days a week.Community Service
Many students are involved in volunteering, either on their own or through Haverford's volunteer coordination organization, Eighth Dimension. Volunteer opportunities are especially plentiful due to Haverford's proximity to Philadelphia. Activism is also a part of student life, and groups such as the Sexuality and Gender Alliance (SAGA), Students Toward a New Democracy (STAND), Amnesty InternationalAmnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
, College Republicans, and College Democrats have a presence on campus. The student body tends to be politically liberal, but is not without its vocal conservative elements. High value is placed in listening to many sides without disrespect or vitriol, in spirit with the Honor Code.
Athletics
Haverford College competes at the NCAA Division III level in the Centennial ConferenceCentennial Conference
The Centennial Conference is an athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. Member teams are located in Maryland and Pennsylvania....
and has a rich history in collegiate athletics: Haverford boasts the only varsity
Varsity team
In the United States and Canada, varsity sports teams are the principal athletic teams representing a college, university, high school or other secondary school. Such teams compete against the principal athletic teams at other colleges/universities, or in the case of secondary schools, against...
cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
team in the United States; its men's and women's track and field
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
and cross country
Cross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
teams are perennial powerhouses in their division, and men's cross country winning the 2010 Cross Country Division III National Championship; its soccer team is the nation's oldest and won the first intercollegiate soccer match in 1905 against Harvard College
Harvard College
Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...
; its lacrosse team has recently become a national power after placing well in the NCAA championships; its fencing team has competed since the early 1930s and is a member of both the Middle Atlantic Collegiate Fencing Association (MACFA) and the National Intercollegiate Women's Fencing Association (NIWFA).
Notable people
Haverford is a smaller college and has a smaller alumni population than its peers. Because expansion occurred in the 1980s, most of Haverford's alumni are still quite young. Despite this, as of 2010, Haverford alumni include 4 Nobel PrizeNobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
s, 4 MacArthur Fellows, 20 Rhodes Scholarship
Rhodes Scholarship
The Rhodes Scholarship, named after Cecil Rhodes, is an international postgraduate award for study at the University of Oxford. It was the first large-scale programme of international scholarships, and is widely considered the "world's most prestigious scholarship" by many public sources such as...
s, 10 Marshall Scholarship
Marshall Scholarship
The Marshall Scholarship, a postgraduate scholarships available to Americans, was created by the Parliament of the United Kingdom when the Marshall Aid Commemoration Act was passed in 1953. The scholarships serve as a living gift to the United States of America in recognition of the post-World War...
s, 9 Henry Luce
Henry Luce
Henry Robinson Luce was an influential American publisher. He launched and closely supervised a stable of magazines that transformed journalism and the reading habits of upscale Americans...
Fellowships, 56 Watson Fellowships, 2 George Mitchell Scholarship
Mitchell Scholarship
The George J. Mitchell Scholarship is a scholarship given annually by the US-Ireland Alliance to twelve Americans aged 18-30 to fund one year of graduate study in Ireland. Unlike in the United Kingdom or in the United States, one year is usually enough to complete an Irish master's degree...
, 2 Carnegie Endowment
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace is a foreign-policy think tank based in Washington, D.C. The organization describes itself as being dedicated to advancing cooperation between nations and promoting active international engagement by the United States...
Junior Fellowships, 2 Churchill Scholars, 1 Gates Cambridge Scholar, 13 All Americans, and 23 NCAA Post-graduate winners. Since March 1961, over 138 Haverford
Haverford
Haverford can mean several things:*Haverford College, a coeducational, undergraduate liberal arts college in Haverford, Pennsylvania*The Haverford School, a private, non-sectarian, all-boys collegiate preparatory day school, junior kindergarten through grade twelve, in Haverford,...
alumni have served in 64 developing countries as Peace Corps
Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is an American volunteer program run by the United States Government, as well as a government agency of the same name. The mission of the Peace Corps includes three goals: providing technical assistance, helping people outside the United States to understand US culture, and helping...
Volunteers.
Further reading
- Haverford College Alumni Association. A History of Haverford College For the First Sixty Years of Its Existence. Philadelphia, Pa: Porter & Coates, 1892.
- Jones, Rufus Matthew. Haverford College: A History and Interpretation. New York: Macmillan, 1933.
- Kannerstein, Gregory, ed. The Spirit and the Intellect: Haverford College 1883-1983. Haverford, Pa.: Haverford College, 1983.
- Langlieb, David M. Haverford College Off the Record. Pittsburgh, Pa: College Prowler, 2005.
- Sharpless, Isaac. The Story of a Small College. Philadelphia, Pa: The John C. Winston Company, 1918.