Connecticut College
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Connecticut College is a coeducational, highly selective private liberal arts college located in New London, Connecticut. Chartered in 1911, it was a women's college until 1969. It is located on the Thames River, on which the college's crew and sailing teams regularly practice. Connecticut College's riverside location and its wooded campus are reflected in the College seal.
In fall 2004, Connecticut College published its fourth strategic plan, which included the college's new mission statement: Connecticut College educates students to put the liberal arts into action as citizens in a global society.
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About Connecticut College
Connecticut College's enrolls about 1,900 men and women from 41 states, Washington D.C., and 42 countries. Forty percent of students are men.The college is particularly known for interdisciplinary studies, international programs, funded internships, student-faculty research and service learning.
Students live under the College's 84-year-old student-adjudicated Honor Code and without a Greek system. The Honor Code, which distinguishes Connecticut College from its peers, underpins all academic and social interactions at the College and creates a palpable spirit of trust and cooperation between students and faculty. Other benefits of the Code include the tradition of shared governance among faculty and students and self-scheduled, unproctored final exams.
According to The Princeton Review 2005 and Campus Compact, Connecticut College is one of the nation’s best colleges for fostering social responsibility and public service. A [January 2006 ranking] noted that Connecticut College is among the 25 top small colleges in terms of the number of graduates who serve in the Peace Corps.
Connecticut College is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the Watson Foundation List, the Annapolis Group and the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC), which also includes Amherst, Bates, Bowdoin, Colby, Hamilton, Middlebury, Trinity, Tufts, Wesleyan, Williams.
Connecticut College Statistics
- In "America's Best Colleges 2006" published by U.S. News and World Report, Connecticut College was ranked 36th out of 215 national liberal arts colleges. In subcategories, ranked No. 27 for admission selectivity, No. 26 for graduation and retention rates, and No. 32 for alumni giving.
- Connecticut College has 162 full-time professors in Academic Year 2005-06; 89 percent hold a doctorate or equivalent. All classes are taught by professors. The student-faculty ratio is 10:1.
- For the 2005-06 academic year, domestic students of color accounted for about 16% of all full-time and part-time students. International students accounted for about another 2% of the student body. The countries from which the most international students come are Turkey, China, Bulgaria, and India.
Academics at Connecticut College
The College offers more than 1,000 courses in 29 academic departments and 7 interdisciplinary programs, and students can choose from 54 traditional majors plus opportunities for self-designed courses of study. The most common majors among graduates of the Class of 2005 were Government, Economics, English, Psychology, International Relations, Biological Sciences, Anthropology, and History. About 18-20% of Connecticut College students graduate with double majors (the most common combinations of which are Government/History, Economics/International Relations, and Economics/Government).Connecticut College has four [Interdisciplinary Centers] that administer certificate programs, plus a fifth center that helps coordinate the teaching and researching of race and ethnicity across the curriculum. If accepted into one of the College's four certificate programs, students of any major complete a self-designed series of courses that relate to their academic interest, complete a College-funded summer internship, and complete an integrative project in their senior year. These four centers routinely attract the college's best students and are a model for the kinds of integrated educational pathways the college offers its students.
- Ammerman Center for Arts and Technology (CAT) Through the [Ammerman Center], faculty and students can shape the study, use and creation of new technologies, probe the forefront of their fields and work in new markets with innovative products.
- Toor Cummings Center for International Studies and the Liberal Arts (CISLA) The [CISLA] mission is to encourage students to become public intellectuals: those who are politically concerned, socially engaged, and culturally sensitive and informed. CISLA prepares them to internationalize their majors and become responsible citizens in a global community.
- Holleran Center for Community Action and Public Policy (PICA) The [Holleran Center] orchestrates College and community resources to build on assets, respond to needs, and facilitate community revitalization and problem solving.
- Goodwin-Niering Center for Conservation Biology and Environmental Studies (CCBES) The [Goodwin-Niering Center] is a comprehensive, interdisciplinary program that builds on one of the nation's leading undergraduate environmental studies programs. The Center fosters research, education, and curriculum development aimed at understanding contemporary ecological challenges. The Center is named in honor of Richard H. Goodwin, Katharine Blunt Professor Emeritus of Botany, and William A. Niering, Lucretia L. Allyn Professor Emeritus of Botany. Professor Goodwin was among the early leaders of the Nature Conservancy, serving as its president from 1956-58 and 1964-66.
Between 50 and 55% of the student body studies abroad at some point during their four years. Connecticut College offers several ways for students to study abroad, including traditional study away programs, semester-long [Study Away, Teach Away] (SATA) programs, and shorter [Traveling Research and Immersion Programs] (TRIPs) that are typically related to specific courses.
In addition to its five Interdisciplinary Centers, Connecticut College has a history of undergraduate research work and students are encouraged to publish while an undergraduate under the guidance of a professor.
Campus and facilities
- The Connecticut College Arboretum is a fine 750-acre (3 km²) arboretum and botanical garden, and popular place for students to go and wander around and study. The arboretum is also open to the community, and its staff host frequent workshops, guided hikes, and other interpretive activities.
- The College's Shain Library houses a collection of more than 500,000 books and bound periodicals, along with an extensive collection of microforms, computer files, audio and video tapes. The library is also home to the [Charles Chu Asian Art Reading Room], a space used for studying, public lectures, and receptions. [The Blue Camel Cafe] opened in 2004 in the library basement, providing a space for socializing and study where coffee, tea, pastries and other items can be purchased.
- The College's Harkness Chapel is a fine example of noted architect James Gamble Rogers' colonial Georgian style, with twelve stained glass windows by G. Owen Bonawit. The building is used for several denominational religious services each week, as well as for ceremonies, concerts and recitals, weddings, and other public functions.
- The College has a variety of quality indoor and outdoor [athletic facililties].
- The College's science facilities include a rooftop observatory, lab for NMR spectroscopy, a digital transmission electron microscope, a scanning electron microscope, a greenhouse, a channel flow laboratory, and a GIS lab. Its computer facilities include standard UNIX and PC labs as well as specialized labs in robotics, networks, virtual reality and digital signal processing. The robotics lab is equipped with Sun workstations, PCs, robots, and overhead cameras. The virtual reality and signal processing lab (which is also part of the Ammerman Center for Arts and Technology) has high-end graphics PCs, head-mounted displays, 3-D trackers, force feedback devices, spatialized audio devices, and software for producing high-end animations and graphics.
- The [Lyman Allyn Art Museum] is located on the Connecticut College campus, although it is not a formal part of the College. The museum's web site describes it as follows: "Housed in a handsome Neo-Classical building designed by Charles A. Platt, the permanent collection includes over 10,000 paintings, sculpture, drawings, prints, furniture and decorative arts, with an emphasis on American art from the 18th through 20th centuries."
- The Cummings Arts Center contains a concert hall, the Center for Electronic and Digital Sound, pianos, practice rooms, a pipe organ, the Greer Music Library, and a collection of music recordings, scores, and music reference works.
Notable Connecticut College graduates
- Nikki Palmieri ('04): Winner of the 2004 Miss Connecticut pageant; competed for the title of Miss America 2005
- Christof Putzel ('02): Winner of a [Student Academy Award] from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2002 for his AIDS orphan documentary "Left Behind."
- Joshua Green ('94): [senior editor] of the Atlantic Monthly and a contributing editor of the Washington Monthly
- Peter Som ('93): [Fashion designer], winner of the 2002 [Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation prize]
- Leslie King ('92): Executive Producer, CNN Headline News
- Tim Young ('92): [Silver medalist in quadruple sculling, 1996 summer Olympics]
- Charles Chun ('90): Hollywood film and television actor (My Favorite Martian, Deep Impact, Yellow, The Living Reed, Little Murders, Dumb and Dumber, Party of Five, Charmed, Arliss, Sentinel, NYPD Blue, Chicago Hope, Ellen, The Single Guy)
- Karen Church ('90): Vice President for Talent and Casting, CBS Television
- Kimberly Williams ('90): Senior Vice President of Finance for the National Football League
- Martha Witt ('90): [novelist]
- Jeffrey Idelson ('86): Vice President of Communications and Education for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
- Ned Colt ('79): [NBC News correspondent]
- David R. Foster ('77): [Director of the Harvard Forest] ecological research site, Harvard University, 1990-present
- Luanne Rice ('77): [novelist]
- Michael Collier ('76): Poet Laureate of Maryland, 2001-2004; Professor of English, University of Maryland
- Bruce Hoffman ('76): terrorism expert, Corporate Chair in Counterterrorism and Counterinsurgency, Director of the RAND Corporation's Washington Office
- Trish May ('75): "venture philanthropist" and founder of [Athena Partners]; former director of marketing and strategic planning at Microsoft
- James Berrien ('74): President and Publisher of Forbes Magazine Group
- Anita DeFrantz ('74): Vice President of the International Olympic Committee, 1997-2001; member, 1986-present; member of bronze medal U.S. women's eight-oared shell, 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics.
- Allen Carroll ('73): [chief cartographer], National Geographic magazine
- Drew Ketterer ('71): Attorney General of Maine, 1995-2000
- Dorcas Hardy ('68): Commissioner of Social Security Administration, 1986-89; author, public policy expert
- [Judy Irving] ('68): Emmy and Sundance award-winning filmmaker (Dark Circle, Secrets of the Bay, [The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill])
- Kimba Wood ('66): Federal judge, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, 1987-present.
- Cecelia Holland ('65): novelist
- [Mary Lake Polan] ('65): Professor and Chair of the Gynecology and Obstetrics Department at Stanford University, 1990-present
- Ellen Vitetta ('64): Director, Cancer Immunobiology Center, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
- [Amy Gross] ('63): Editor-in-Chief, O, The Oprah Magazine
- Cynthia Enloe ('60): [research professor of international relations and women's studies], Clark University
- Agnes Gund ('60): President of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1991-2002; recipient of the 2005 [Andrew Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy]
- Marie L. Garibaldi ('56): first woman to serve on the New Jersey Supreme Court (served from 1982-2000); first woman to serve as President of the New Jersey State Bar Association.
- Suzi Oppenheimer ('56): [New York State Senator]
- Estelle Parsons ('49): Stage, film, and television actor; winner of 1967 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Bonnie and Clyde (film)
- Patricia McGowan Wald ('48): U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia judge; member of International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia; member of the Iraq Intelligence Commission
Other highlights
- Connecticut College students maintain a localized wiki called [Connwiki].
- Connecticut College English professor William Meredith won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1988, the National Book Award for Poetry in 1997, and [numerous other honors and prizes].
- WCNI - the college radio station, billed as "Ground Zero Radio," based on the story that the station's transmitter was actually a target of Soviet ICBM's because it was the highest point in the area and close to SUBASE New London. It broadcasts a variety of unique music unheard on most other stations including popular polka, blues, and celtic music shows at 90.9 FM. A 2,000 watt transmitter installed in 2003 reaches much of Connecticut, parts of Rhode Island, and parts of southwest Massachusetts. I
- the Dance Department - Connecticut College has a very good dance department; there are always well respected visiting artists and professors in the department. Also, the students regularly perform during the year.
- the Theater Department - student productions, some student-directed, of excellent caliber, both at Palmer Auditorium and the blackbox Tansill Theater.
- Connecticut College has six collegiate a cappella groups. There are two all female groups (The Connchords and [The Shwiffs]), an all-male group (The Coco Beaux), and three co-ed groups (The ConnArtists, The Williams Street Mix, and Vox Cameli). The a cappella groups' concerts in the College's chapel are usually standing-room-only events.
- The Honor Code - signed by all students upon matriculation, allows a strong student voice in shared governance through the SGA (Student Government Association), the luxury of self-scheduled, unproctored exams. Despite the Honor Code, students are treated by faculty, staff, and the administration as mature adults. A student-run Judicial Board governs infractions of the Honor Code.
- Study Abroad - many opportunities for conventional study abroad are available, as well as the special programs CISLA (one of the academic centers), which allows students to "internationalize" their major, whatever it may be, and SATA (Study Away Teach Away), in which a Connecticut College professor takes a small group of students for a semester to a country which that professor has experience with, and there the students take classes at a local university, and one with the Conn professor.
- Located in New London, Connecticut, a diverse, historic city which offsets the homogeneous campus of Connecticut College. Over the past year, several stories in the Connecticut section of the Sunday New York Times have highlighted New London's growing arts and live music scenes. New London attracted national attention in spring 2005 when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the city's use of eminent domain to empower a private developer to seize private land as part of a waterfront urban redevelopment scheme involving the Pfizer Corporation.
- Students get the luxury of free printing and few limits on their accounts.
- The Fitness Center is open Monday-Thursday from 7:30-10, Friday 7:30-7, and Saturday and Sunday 10-5.
Programs and Offices
- Career Enhancing Life Skills (CELS) is a four-year program through which students explore career options, assess interests and skills, learn to consider lifetime goals when planning coursework and activities, look for a career-related junior-year internship, and get help with a job search as seniors.
- Unity House is the college's multicultural center. Unity House promotes, supports, educates, and implements multicultural awareness programs on campus. It also houses a library and group meeting room, open to all. It also hosts many intercultural organizations, including but not limited to Umoja (African Diaspora club), SOUL (Sexual Orientations United for Liberation), and CCASA (Connecticut College Asian/Asian American Student Association).
- Office of Volunteers for Community Service (OVCS) helps students find volunteering opportunities in the community. Also provides a student-staffed van service (the Camel Van) to drive students to their community service.
- Friday Nites Live The Student Activities Council hosts a series of weekly concerts performed by on-campus and off-campus bands. Some of the recent acts include: Reel Big Fish, ViV, Paranoid Social Club, M-Dodger Unplugged, and Ari Hest.
Campus publications
- [Daily CONNtact (newsletter)]
- Friends of CC Library
- Inside Information
- Propose It!
- Source, faculty/staff newsletter
- College Voice (newspaper)
- Ethos (magazine)
- Koine (yearbook)
- Menagerie (literary magazine)
- Wanderlust (travel magazine)
- [Expose] (interdisciplinary academic journal)
- [Speakleft!] (campus radical publication. distributed at student center, library, and one other location)
Connecticut College presidents
- 1913-1917: Frederick H. Sykes
- 1917-1928: Benjamin T. Marshall
- 1929-1943: Katharine Blunt
- 1943-1945: Dorothy Schaffter
- 1945-1946: Katharine Blunt
- 1947-1962: Rosemary Park
- 1962-1974: Charles E. Shain
- 1974-1988: Oakes Ames
- 1988-2001: Claire L. Gaudiani
- 2001-2006: Norman Fainstein
- 7/1/2006- : Leo I. Higdon
External links
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