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Swarthmore College

Swarthmore College is a private liberal arts college Liberal arts college

A liberal arts college is an institution of higher education [i], most commonly found in the United States [i]... 

 in the United States United States

The United States of America, also known as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., a... 

 with an enrollment of about 1450 students. The college is located in the borough of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a state [i] in the northeastern [i] ... 

, 11 miles southwest of Philadelphia Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, colloquially referred to as Philly, and known as The City of Brotherly Love i... 

. The school was founded in 1864 by a committee of Quakers who were members of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends Religious Society of Friends

The Religious Society of Friends began in England [i] in the 17th century [i] by people who were dissati ... 

. Swarthmore dropped its religious affiliation and became officially non-sectarian in the early 20th century. The college has been coeducational since its founding.

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Encyclopedia

Swarthmore College is a private liberal arts college Liberal arts college

A liberal arts college is an institution of higher education [i], most commonly found in the United States [i]... 

 in the United States United States

The United States of America, also known as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., a... 

 with an enrollment of about 1450 students. The college is located in the borough of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a state [i] in the northeastern [i] ... 

, 11 miles southwest of Philadelphia Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, colloquially referred to as Philly, and known as The City of Brotherly Love i... 

.

The school was founded in 1864 by a committee of Quakers who were members of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends Religious Society of Friends

The Religious Society of Friends began in England [i] in the 17th century [i] by people who were dissati ... 

. Swarthmore dropped its religious affiliation and became officially non-sectarian in the early 20th century. The college has been coeducational since its founding.

"Swarthmore" can be pronounced with the first "r" either vocalized or dropped due to differences in rhotic and non-rhotic accents Rhotic and non-rhotic accents

English [i] pronunciation is divided into two main accent [i] groups, the rhotic an ... 

.

Swarthmore's campus is home to the Scott Arboretum.

History

The name "Swarthmore" has its roots in early Quaker history. In England England

England is the largest and most populous constituent country [i] of the United Kingdom [i]. ... 

, Swarthmoor Hall in Cumbria Cumbria

Cumbria is a county [i] in the North West [i] region of England [i] ... 

 was the home of Thomas and Margaret Fell in 1652 when George Fox George Fox

George Fox was an English Dissenter [i] and a major early figure often considered t ... 

, fresh from his epiphany atop Pendle Hill in 1651, came to visit. The visitation turned into a long association as Fox persuaded Thomas and Margeret Fell and the inhabitants of the nearby village of Fenmore of Friendly, and Swarthmoor was used for the first Friends' meetings.

The school was founded in 1864 by a committee of Quakers who were members of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends. Edward Parrish was its first president. A more detailed history of Swarthmore can be found .

Solomon Asch and Wolfgang Köhler Wolfgang Köhler

Wolfgang Khler was a German [i] Gestalt psychologist [i]. ... 

 were two noted psychologists who were professors at Swarthmore. Asch joined the faculty in 1947 and served until 1966, while Köhler came to Swarthmore in 1935 and served until his retirement in 1958. The Asch conformity experiments Asch conformity experiments

The Asch conformity experiments, published in 1951 [i], were a series of studies that starkly demonstrat ... 

 took place at Swarthmore.

Academics


In its most recent college ranking, U.S. News & World Report U.S. News & World Report

U.S.News & World Report is a weekly newsmagazine [i]. ... 

ranked Swarthmore as the number-three liberal arts college, with an overall score of 98/100, behind Williams Williams College

Williams College is a private [i], coeducational [i], highly selective liberal arts college [i] ... 

 and Amherst Amherst College

Amherst College is an independent liberal arts college [i] in Amherst [i], Massachusetts [i] ... 

, respectively. Swarthmore is regularly cited as one of the "Little Ivies Little Ivies

Little Ivies is a colloquialism referring to a group of small, selectiveThe Business Times [i] of Si... 

." Swarthmore's endowment was about $1.169 billion, ranking 45th amongst all institutions of higher education in the United States. Endowment per student is $766,500, 12th in the U.S. .

The school is particularly notable for its Oxford University of Oxford

The University of Oxford, located in the city of Oxford [i], England [i], is the oldest university [i]... 

 tutorial-inspired Honors Program, which allows students to take intense, double-credit seminars from their junior year and often write extensive honors theses. Seminars are usually composed of four to eight students. Students in seminars will usually write at least three ten-page papers per seminar, and often one of these papers is expanded into a 20-30 page paper by the end of the seminar. At the end of their senior year, Honors students take oral and written examinations conducted by outside experts in their field. Around one student in each discipline is awarded "Highest Honors"; others are either awarded "High Honors" or "Honors"; rarely, a student is denied any Honors altogether by the outside examiner. Each department usually has a grade threshold for admittance to the Honors program.

Unusual for a liberal arts college, Swarthmore has an engineering program; at the end of four years, students are granted a B.S. in Engineering. Other notable programs include minors in peace and conflict studies, cognitive science Cognitive science

Cognitive science is usually defined as the scientific study either of mind [i] or of intelligence [i] ... 

, and interpretation theory.

Swarthmore is a member of the Tri-College Consortium with nearby Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College

Bryn Mawr College is a highly selective women's [i] liberal-arts college [i] located in ... 

 and Haverford College Haverford College

Haverford College is a private [i], coeducational [i] liberal arts college [i] ... 

, which allows students from any of the three to cross-register for courses at any of the others. The consortium as a whole is additionally affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania is a private [i], nonsectarian research university loc... 

 and students are able to cross-register for courses there as well.

Though students and faculty tout the College's relative lack of grade inflation, Swarthmore's average undergraduate GPA increased from 2.83 in 1973 to 3.24 in 1997. Swarthmore argues that the methodology overstates the change .

Since the 1970's, Swarthmore students have won 135 Fulbright Scholarships, 25 Rhodes Scholarships Rhodes Scholarship

The Rhodes Scholarships were initiated after the death of Cecil John Rhodes [i] and have been awarde ... 

, 8 Marshall Scholarships, 13 Luce Scholarships, 68 Watson Fellowships, 21 Truman Scholarships, and 1 Mitchell Scholarship.

Tuition and Finances

The total cost of tuition, fees, room, and board for a student entering in the fall of 2005 was $41,280 .

As previously mentioned, Swarthmore is currently ranked third among all liberal arts colleges . Since the inception of the rankings, Swarthmore has consistently ranked first, second, or third in what has become a predictable rotation among Williams, Amherst, and Swarthmore, schools sometimes referred to as "Little Ivies Little Ivies

Little Ivies is a colloquialism referring to a group of small, selectiveThe Business Times [i] of Si... 

." Swarthmore's endowment at the end of FY2005 was approximately $1.169 billion, ranking 45th amongst all institutions of higher education in the United States, and fifth amongst liberal arts colleges. Endowment per student was $766,500 for 2004-2005, 12th in the U.S. amongst all institutions of higher education and ahead of both Amherst and Williams. .

Operating revenue for the 2004-2005 school year was $104,489,000, over 42% of which was provided by the endowment. As is the case with most every elite institution of higher education, actual costs as measured on a per-student basis far exceed revenue from tuition and fees, and so Swarthmore's endowment serves to offset ever-rising costs of education, subsidizing every student's education at Swarthmore--even those paying full tuition. For the 2005-2006 year, tuition, fees, and room & board charges fell well short of the actual cost of education per student, which was approximately $70,300.

Swarthmore is currently engaged in a $230 million capital campaign, christened "The Meaning of Swarthmore" and underway officially since the fall of 2001.

Campus


The campus consists of 357 acres in Swarthmore, Pennslyvania, 11 miles southwest of Philadephia. It is based on a north-south axis anchored by Parrish Hall, which houses the office of admissions, the dean, and the registrar, as well as two floors of student housing. The campus radio station WSRN-FM broadcasts from the top.

From the SEPTA Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority is a regional quasi-public state agency [i] ... 

 Swarthmore commuter train station and the ville of Swarthmore to the south, the oak-lined Magill Walk leads north up a hill to Parrish. The campus is also coterminous with the Scott Arboretum, cited by some as a main staple of the campus's renowned beauty.

The majority of the buildings housing classrooms and department offices are located to the north of Parrish, as is the quaint Woolman dormitory. McCabe Library is to the east of Parrish, as are the dorms of Willets, Mertz, Worth, and Alice Paul. To the west are the dorms of Wharton, Dana, and Hallowell, Sharples dining hall, the Scott Amphitheater, the two non-residential fraternities , the athletic facilities, and the Crum Creek in the sprawling Crum Woods. Palmer, Pittenger, and Roberts dormitories are south of the railroad station, while Mary Lyon dorm is off-campus to the southwest.

Clubs and organizations

There are more than 100 chartered clubs and organizations at Swarthmore, in addition to many other unchartered groups. Clubs and organizations are a fundamental part of the College, and the center of many students' energies and social life. This extracurricular involvement contributes to the frequent characterization of Swarthmore students as both motivated and overworked.

Sports


Swarthmore offers the full panoply of sporting teams. Varsity teams include badminton Badminton

Badminton is a racquet sport [i] played by either two opposing players o ... 

, baseball Baseball

Baseball is a team sport [i] popular in North America [i], parts of Latin America [i], the Caribbean [i] ... 

, basketball Basketball

Basketball is a sport [i] in which two teams of five players each try to score points on one another by ... 

, cross country Cross country running

Cross-country running is a sport [i] in which teams of runners compete to complete a course over open or ... 

, field hockey Field hockey

Field hockey is a popular sport for men and women in many countries around the world.... 

, golf Golf

Golf is a sport where individual players or teams hit a ball [i] into a hole using various clubs [i] ... 

, lacrosse Lacrosse

Lacrosse is a fast-paced team sport [i] that is played by ten players or twelve players , each of whom ... 

, soccer Football (soccer)

Football is a team sport [i] played between two teams, of 11 players each, and is widely considered to ... 

, softball Softball

Softball is a team [i] sport [i] in which a ball [i], eleven to twelve inches in circumferenc ... 

, swimming Swimming

Swimming is a technique that humans, and other animals, use to move through water [i] using only movemen ... 

, tennis Tennis

Tennis is a game played between either two players or two teams of two players .... 

, track and field Athletics (track and field)

Athletics, also known as track and field or track and field athletics, is a collection of sport [i]... 

 and volleyball Volleyball

Volleyball is an Olympic [i] sport [i] in which two teams separated by a high net use thei ... 

. Notably lacking among these teams is football, which was controversially eliminated in 2000, along with wrestling, largely due to a lack of suitable athletes on campus.,

Publications


The main student newspaper at Swarthmore is The Phoenix, a weekly school-sponsored newspaper published every Thursday, except during exam and vacation time. Some staff positions are paid a token amount. The newspaper was founded in 1881, with online editions beginning in 1995. Its current tabloid format is more similar to a newsmagazine than a newspaper, with a color front cover. Two thousand copies, free of charge, are distributed across the college campus and to the borough of Swarthmore. The newspaper is printed at The Delaware County Daily Times in Primos, Pennsylvania Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a state [i] in the northeastern [i] ... 

. Its online website is hosted by the Swarthmore College Computer Society, with bandwidth-search engine capability provided by the Swarthmore College Information Technology Services. In 2000, The Phoenix was an Online Pacemaker for the Associated Collegiate Press Associated Collegiate Press

The Associated Collegiate Press is the largest and oldest national membership organization for college s... 

 award.

The Daily Gazette is another student newspaper; unlike The Phoenix, it is a daily electronic "paper" and is independent of both the administration and student government. Its coverage includes news, arts, and daily sports reporting. The first issues were distributed through e-mail during the fall semester of 1996, with an online edition soon following. Currently, the Daily Gazette has 1700 subscribers. The Agora is another small student newspaper with a liberal, activist outlook, though it is published only sporadically.

There are a number of magazines at Swarthmore, most of which are published biannually at the end of each semester. One is Spike, Swarthmore's humor magazine. The others are literary magazines, including Small Craft Warnings, which publishes poetry, fiction and artwork; Scarlet Letters, which publishes women's literature; Enie, for Spanish literature; OURstory, for literature relating to diversity issues; Bug-Eyed Magazine, a very limited-run science fiction/fantasy magazine published by SWIL; Remappings , published by the Swarthmore Asian Organization; Alchemy, a collection of academic writings published by the Swarthmore Writing Associates; Mjumbe, published by the Swarthmore African-American Student Society; and a magazine for French literature. An erotica magazine, ! was briefly published in 2005 in homage to an earlier publication, Untouchables. Most of the literary magazines print approximately 500 copies, with around 100 pages.

Radio


WSRN 91.5 FM is the college radio station. It has a mix of indie, rock, hip-hop Hip hop music

Hip hop music is a style of popular music [i] which came into existence in roughly the mid '70s but beca ... 

, folk Folk music

Folk music, in the original sense of the term, is music [i] by and for the common people.
... 

 and classical music, as well as a number of radio talk shows. At one time, WSRN had a significant news department, and covered events such as the "Crisis of '69" extensively. Many archived recordings of musical and spoken word performances exist, such as the once-annual Swarthmore Folk Festival. Today WSRN focuses virtually exclusively on entertainment, though it has covered significant news developments such as the athletic cuts in 2000 and the effects of 11 September 2001 on campus.

Activism


Swarthmore is also known as a center of social and political activism. The college has recently received significant coverage due to two student groups founded in 2004, the Genocide Intervention Network Genocide Intervention Network

The Genocide Intervention Network is a non-profit organization [i] that "envisions a world in which the ... 

  and War News Radio. Swarthmore's political landscape is generally considered fairly left-wing, though student activism is far less a part of student culture than at other schools, or in the heyday of protest culture in the 1960s, a period of activism that prompted former vice-president Spiro Agnew to label the College the "Kremlin on the Crum." Recent high-profile campaigns included a living wage organization , actions surrounding the electronic voting Electronic voting

Electronic voting is a term encompassing several different types of voting [i]. ... 

 machine manufacturer Diebold Diebold

Diebold, Incorporated is a security systems corporation [i] which is engaged primarily in the sale, manu ... 

 by campus groups FreeCulture.org FreeCulture.org

FreeCulture.org is an international student organization working to promote free culture [i] ideals, suc ... 

 and Why War?, and a "Kick Coke" campaign aimed at replacing soda machines offering Coca-Cola Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola is a carbonated cola [i] and the world's most popular soft drink [i]. ... 

 with alternative products.

Alumni


Swarthmore's alumni include eight MacArthur Foundation fellows and four Nobel Prize Nobel Prize

The Nobel Prizes are prize [i]s instituted by the will [i] of Alfred Nobel [i], awarded to people... 

 winners, most recently Edward C. Prescott Edward C. Prescott

Edward C. Prescott, born 26 December 1940 in Glens Falls, New York [i], received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics [i] ... 

, who graduated in 1962. In addition, hundreds of prominent figures in law, art, science, business, politics, and other fields have attended Swarthmore.

The most famous Swarthmore graduates are probably Massachusetts Governor Governor of Massachusetts

The Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the executive magistrate of the United States [i] Commonwealth [i] ... 

 Michael Dukakis Michael Dukakis

Michael Stanley Dukakis is an American Democratic [i] politician, former Governor of Massachusetts [i]... 

 , who was the Democratic candidate in the 1988 presidential election United States presidential election, 1988

The U.S. presidential election of 1988 featured an open primary for both major parties.... 

, and novelist James A. Michener James A. Michener

James Albert Michener was the American [i] author of such books as Tales of the South Pacific [i] ... 

 , both of whom graduated with highest honors. Michener left his entire $10 million estate to Swarthmore.

Other prominent alumni include Senator United States Senate

he United States Senate is one of the two chambers of the Congress of the United States [i], the other b ... 

 Carl Levin Carl Levin

Carl Milton Levin is a Democratic [i] United States Senator [i] fr ... 

 of Michigan Michigan

Michigan is a Midwestern [i] state [i] of the United States [i], located in the east north central [i] ... 

 , astronomer Sandra M. Faber , The Corrections author Jonathan Franzen , Caltech California Institute of Technology

The California Institute of Technology is a private [i], coeducation [i]al university lo ... 

 president and Nobel laureate David Baltimore , and Justin Hall Justin Hall

Justin Hall, is an American [i] freelance journalist [i] who is best known as a pioneer blogger [i] ... 

 , widely considered to be the first blog Blog

Blog is the contraction universally used for weblog, a type of website where entries are made , di... 

ger. Wall Street Wall Street

Wall Street is the name of a narrow street [i] in lower Manhattan [i] in New York City [i], running eas... 

 magnate and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co is a New York City [i]-based private equity [i] firm that focuses primarily ... 

 founder Jerome Kohlberg, Jr.  founded the Philip Evans Scholarship Foundation in 1986 at Swarthmore. Suffragist and National Women's Party National Woman's Party

The National Woman's Party, was a women [i]'s organization founded in 1913 that fought for women's rights [i] ... 

 founder Alice Paul Alice Paul

Alice Stokes Paul was an American [i] suffragist [i] leader. ... 

 graduated in 1905; students voted to name a newly completed residence hall after her in 2005. Astronaut Astronaut

An astronaut, cosmonaut , spationaut or taikonaut is a person who travels into space [i]... 

 Sally Ride Sally Ride

Sally Kristen Ride is a former astronaut [i] and became the first American [i] woman to re ... 

, the first American woman in space, attended but later transferred to Stanford University Stanford University

The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly known as Stanford University , is a private university [i] ... 

 to major in Physics and English.

Points of interest

  • Scott Arboretum

See also

  • Swarthmore College Computer Society
  • List of Swarthmore College people List of Swarthmore College people

    The following is a list of notable people associated with Swarthmore College [i]. ... 



External links