Gettysburg College

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Gettysburg College is a private four-year liberal arts college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, founded in 1832, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, adjacent to the famous battlefield. Its athletic teams are nicknamed the Bullets. Gettysburg College has an enrollment of slightly over 2,500 students, the majority of whom come from Pennsylvania and the nearby states of New Jersey, Maryland, Connecticut, and New York.

History

Founding and early roots

Gettysburg College was founded in 1832 as a sister institution for the Lutheran Theological Seminary. Both owe their inception to Thaddeus Stevens, a Radical Republican and abolitionist. The college's original name was Pennsylvania College, and was founded by Samuel Simon Schmucker.

Battle of Gettysburg

In June 1863, southern Pennsylvania was invaded by Confederate forces during the Gettysburg Campaign. Many local militia forces sprung up around the area between Chambersburg and Philadelphia to face the oncoming foe.

Among these units was Gettysburg's 26th Pennsylvania Emergency Militia Regiment (PEMR). Comprising mostly students from the College and Seminary, the 26th PEMR was mustered into service on June 22, 1863. Four days later, the students would fight just to the north of town, skirmishing with troops of Confederate division commander Jubal A. Early. Neither side sustained heavy casualties, although around one hundred of the militiamen were taken captive.

During the Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Hall, or Old Dorm, was used as both a signal corps station and field hospital. Penn Hall is an interesting anomaly in the battle. Due to the geographic position it held, it was used by both Confederate and Union troops during the battle for signal work and surgery.

Relationship with the Eisenhowers

Early in his military career, Dwight D. Eisenhower and his wife, Mamie, lived in a house in Gettysburg that was near the college. Both were fond of the town, so they decided, after President Eisenhower left office, to retire to a working farm adjacent to the battlefield.

While living in Gettysburg, Eisenhower became involved with Gettysburg College. He served on the Gettysburg College Board of Trustees, and he was given an office by the college, which he used when writing his memoirs. Today, Eisenhower’s old office is named Eisenhower House” and houses Gettysburg College’s office of admissions. [link] Meanwhile, Eisenhower’s grandson, David, continues a certain level of family involvement with the institution.

Campus

The college is located on a 200 acre (800,000 m²) campus adjacent to the Gettysburg National Military Park. Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, is 36 miles (60 km) from Harrisburg, 55 miles (80 km) from Baltimore, 80 miles (130 km) from Washington, D.C., 117 miles (190 km) from Philadelphia, and 212 miles (340 km) from New York City, and 425 miles (680 km) from Boston.

Approximately 96% of students live on campus in more than 40 residence halls, which include Theme Housing and the First-Year Residential College Program.

Academic Facilities

Library

Musselman Library houses the college collection of books, journals, videos, sound recordings, online publications, rare books, and manuscripts. An online catalog, [Muscat], provides a gateway to all library materials and is accessible through any computer terminal connected to the college network. In addition, the building contains a media theatre, computer lab, and media production center. Musselman Library is open around the clock when classes are in session. The library operates 24 hours a day on weekdays and selected hours during the weekends. And in order to help facilitate late night studying, the library provides free coffee and hot chocolate at midnight to students bringing their own mugs.

Technology

Full network capabilities in all campus buildings and each residence hall room. Students have access to more than 1,300 computers and a complex system of workstations and laboratories. Wireless connectivity is available across campus and in a majority of residence halls.

Organization

As an independent institution, the college operates under a charter granted in 1832 by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The College is governed by a 39-member board of trustees comprising leaders from a range of professions and walks of life. Thirty of the College’s trustees are graduates of Gettysburg.

On the student level, adjudication of academic disputes takes place through an Honor Commission, which holds hearings in which students are given a chance to have their say on charges brought against them.

The Academic Honor Code has been in effect since 1957, and recently has been updated to fit better with today's technology.

Academic Programs

Majors

Anthropology/Sociology, Art History, Art Studio, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Biology, Chemistry, Classical Studies, [Computer Science], Economics, English, Environmental Studies, French, German, Greek, Health and Exercise Sciences, History, Japanese Studies, Latin, Management, Mathematics, Music, Music Education, Philosophy, Physics, Political Science, Psychology, Religion, Sociology, Spanish, Spanish & Latin American Studies, Theatre, Women’s Studies

Special Interest Programs (Minors)

African American Studies, American Studies, Asian Studies, Civil War Era Studies, Comparative Literature, East Asian Studies, Global/Area Studies, International Affairs Concentration, Law, Ethics, and Society, Neuroscience, Writing, Film Studies

Students and Faculty

Nearly 2,500 students (approximately one-half men and one-half women), representing 40 states and 35 foreign countries attend the college.

The college employs 180 full-time faculty, with 95% of the permanent faculty holding a doctorate or highest earned degree in their fields. The student/faculty ratio is 11:1, with an average class size of 18 students. The college hosts one of only 19 chapters of Phi Beta Kappa in Pennsylvania.

Athletics

Gettysburg College competes in NCAA Division III within the Centennial Conference. Twenty-five percent of Gettysburg's students participate in extensive intercollegiate programs comprising twelve sports for men and twelve sports for women.

\"Loyalty\"--the College Fight Song

Fair Gettysburg our Alma Mater, hear us praise they name.

We'll ever lend our hearts and hands to help increase thy fame.

The honor of old Gettysburg calls forth our LOYALTY,

So cheer (Ra Ra!) our G-Burg Bullets on and fight for victory!

However, another rendition exists with a few differences:

Hail Gettysburg our Alma Mater, help us praise they name.

We'll ever lend our hearts and hands to help increase thy fame.

The honor of old Gettysburg calls forth our LOYALTY,

So cheer (Ra Ra!) our G-Burg Bullets on to fight for victory!

This second version is used by the current Gettysburg Bullet Marching Band, which performs a drum corps-style fieldshow at each home football game. The band, known as "The Pride of the Centennial Conference," began using these lyrics in the fall of 2002 after finding them in a "G-Book" from the 1960s. ("G-Books" were pocket-sized handbooks given to incoming freshmen to acquaint them with college traditons.) By tradition, the band plays the fight song three consecutive times whenever a touchdown or field goal is scored by Gettysburg. The first is just a straight playing. In the second, only the low brass and Drumline play their parts while the rest of the band and color guard sing the lyrics. The third time through, the entire band resumes and gradually speeds up the tempo until it is twice as fast (and sometimes faster) than at the beginning.

Notable Alumni

• Carol Bellamy, former New York City Council President and former executive director, UNICEF
• J. Michael Bishop, 1989 Nobel Laureate in Medicine for cancer research
• Rev. David Bittle, first president of Roanoke College, the nation's second oldest Lutheran college after Gettysburg
• Fred F. Fielding, former deputy to the White House counsel (1970-1972), former Counsel to the President (1981-1986), member of 9/11 Commission
• Bruce S. Gordon, former American business executive, current head of the NAACP
• Herman Haupt, American Civil War general who ran the Union military railroad system
• Carson Kressley, fashion consultant, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy
• George M. Leader, former Governor of Pennsylvania (1955-1959)
• Ron Paul, U.S. Congressman from Texas, 1988 Libertarian Party Presidential nominee
• Jeffrey E. Piccola, Pennsylvania State Senate Majority Whip
• Eddie Plank, Baseball Hall of Fame, pitcher
• Keller E. Rockey, Lieutenant General, United States Marine Corps, commander of the Fifth Marine Division during the Battle of Iwo Jima
• Jerry Spinelli, author, winner of the Newbery Medal for Maniac Magee
• F. William Sunderman, Physican, Editor, Musican, and Inventor. Medical Director for the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos, N.M. [link]
• Charles Willoughby, Chief of Intelligence on General Douglas MacArthur's staff during World War II, member of Military Intelligence Hall of Fame
• George Winter, former Major League Baseball player

Civil War History activities

Due to its close relationship to a crucial battle in the American Civil War, Gettysburg College hosts a number of activities and awards:

• In 1982, professor and historian Gabor Boritt founded the Civil War Institute, which hosts annual seminars and tours on Civil War themes. Scholarships are granted to high school students and history teachers to attend the week-long summer event.

• Since 1998, the Gettysburg Semester, a semester-long immersion in Civil War academic study has been offered.

• Gettysburg College students may elect to pursue a unique interdisciplinary minor in Civil War Era Studies. Requirements include a general introduction course about the Civil War and a capstone senior-level seminar. Students must also select four classes of at least two disciplines. Some of the classes offered include (but are not limited to): military history, Economics of the American South, Civil War Literature, films about the Civil War, and Gender Ideology in the Civil War.

• The Lincoln Prize has been awarded annually since 1991 for the best non-fiction historical work of the year on the Civil War.

• Starting in 2005, the Michael Shaara Prize has been awarded for excellence in Civil War fiction. (Shaara was the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about the Battle of Gettysburg, The Killer Angels.)

Trivia

• Gettysburg College changed its name from Pennsylvania College to Gettysburg College following the Battle of Gettysburg. This was done to capitalize on the town of Gettysburg's newfound national celebrity.

• Seven years after Gettysburg College was first founded, it established a medical school, which was located in Philadelphia. The college was forced to close the medical school in 1861, when southern students withdrew, leaving it without adequate revenue.

• Partly due to the role the college played during the Battle of Gettysburg, numerous legends about haunted buildings exist. One building, Pennsylvania Hall, was on an episode of Unsolved Mysteries for this reason. Other buildings also have been featured in documentaries shown on The History Channel and other outlets.

• One of the most famous ghost at the college is the Blue Boy. The Blue Boy is the ghost of a young boy who froze to death on a window ledge.

External links

• [Gettysburg College website]
• [Civil War Institute]
• [Musselman Library]

 

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