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Lafayette College

Encyclopedia : L : LA : LAF : Lafayette College

Lafayette College, located in Easton, Pennsylvania, United States, in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania, is an independent, undergraduate, coeducational, residential institution.

Contents

Admissions and rankings

The College is selective in admissions and has a well-known reputation for academic excellence. As of 2006, US News and World Report ranks Lafayette the 27th best National Liberal Arts College in the United States. In addition, Lafayette's engineering program is ranked 12th among non-doctoral schools. Nearly half of Lafayette students study abroad during their time at the school, making it a leader even among peer institutions.

History

Lafayette was founded in 1826 by citizens of Easton, led by local lawyers James Madison Porter and Joel Jones, and Jacob Wagener, an amateur botanist and mineralogist.

The initial prospectus called for a college "combining a course of practical Military Science with the course of Literature and General Science pursued in the Colleges of our Country." This unique educational philosophy led Lafayette to become the first institution to give a degree in engineering.

Porter had met the French Revolutionary War hero Marquis de Lafayette during his farewell tour of America, and urged that they name the new college for him as "a testimony of respect for (his) talents, virtues, and signal services .... the great cause of freedom."

The governor of Pennsylvania signed the new college's charter on March 9, 1826. But it was not until 1832 that the Rev. George Junkin took up the charter and moved the curriculum and student body of the Manual Labor Academy of Pennsylvania from Germantown, Pennsylvania.

Francis March taught at Lafayette, and became the first superintendent of the Oxford English Dictionary's American reading programme. A chaired professorship now exists to honor his achievements in the field of English.

Currently, Lafayette has 2,346 students, of which 52% are men and 48% are women. The school has 195 full-time faculty and a $658 million endowment.

Trivia

[The Lafayette], Lafayette's student newspaper, is the oldest college newspaper in Pennsylvania.

Alpha Phi Omega National Service Fraternity was founded in 1925 at Lafayette College by Frank Reed Horton in Brainerd (now Hogg) Hall.

The Rho Chapter of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity is the oldest fraternity and the oldest student organization at Lafayette College, having been chartered on October 15, 1855. Among the distinguished members of this chapter are Peyton C. March, U.S. Army Chief of Staff during World War I, and William E. Simon, former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury.

The '60s pop group, The Cyrkle, were graduates of Lafayette College. They had a hit with a Paul Simon song called "Red Rubber Ball."

There is a campus legend about a secret library in Van Wickle Hall where a professor allegedly committed suicide. Supposedly, the library is located behind the Van Wickle lounge and has been sealed off for years.

The Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house was in the Guinness Book of World Records for a number of years as the largest house ever moved. For 70 years the house stood just in front of Markle hall on the Quad. Lafayette wanted to build Skillman Library at that location, with the house standing in their way. The school agreed to move the house at their expense to its current location on March Field.

Students enjoy debating what is really on the 5th floor of Pardee Hall. While some students have claimed that confiscated kegs from partying heydays were stored there, the 5th floor of the building is actually just a storage space and a glorified custodial closet.

Pardee Hall was devastated by fire twice in the 1800s. One fire began when a science experiment was carelessly left in a drawer. The other fire was arson, deliberately set by (ironically) a professor of moral philosophy who reportedly enjoyed watching the building burn from across the Delaware River in Phillipsburg, New Jersey.

Colton Chapel is a popular wedding location for Lafayette alumni, many of whom fall in love during their four years at the school.

Farinon Center, the student union, was architecturally inspired by McKelvy House, a college-owned mansion just off campus. Farinon has, at some points, been known as "The Non" in Lafayette slang.

Gilbert's, a pub-like coffeehouse in Kirby Hall, was opened in 1999 to provide a late-night hangout for students. Its name was the subject of a contest, and the winning student selected one of the Marquis de Lafayette's middle names: Gilbert. Recently a sinkhole was discovered underneath Kirby Hall and so the much beloved coffeehouse, as well as the dormitory, is currently closed for the Spring of 2006.

During the winter or after a drenching spring rain, sledding is popular on the hill "behind" Pardee Hall. Although Pardee Hall is truly oriented southward, with the gently sloping hill leading to its front entrance, the students refer to this as the "back" of Pardee because the other side (the true back) faces the Quad.

The Kirby Hall of Civil Rights, the interior of which is constructed of travertine marble, was rumored to have been the most expensive collegiate building, per square foot, built at its time. Fred M. Kirby was criticized by many for spending so much money on the building during the Great Depression. To answer them, he had emblazoned across the front of the building a quote from the Bible that basically states "I'll do with my money as I please." The building was designed by the same architectural firm as New York City's Grand Central Terminal.

WJRH 104.9FM

The campus radio station, WJRH 104.9FM, first established licensure with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 1946, broadcasting under a Class D educational license on 90.5 FM. As FM frequencies grew in demand, the FCC mandated that stations operating in the frequency range currently provided to WJRH increase their power to serve larger audiences. Since WJRH was only to serve the Lafayette community, it was decided to give the frequency to another facility and relocate to its current home frequency, 104.9. WJRH alumni have become influential individuals in the broadcasting field, ranging from Engineering Directors for networks such as the American Broadcasting Company, to public broadcasting policy makers.

the station is constantly being upgraded with the latest broadcasting technology; as well as organizational changes. Several additions have included the relaunch of WJRH Broadband (a live Windows Media Player stream available to Lafayette students) and [WJRH PC] (an online database of MP3 Podcasts of select shows as part of an overall website renovation).

Over the past couple years there has been a drive for select student broadcasters to DJ parties on campus. This has been met with great approval by students.

WJRH has been housed for over 30 years in its current location, Hogg Hall. The station's web site is: [WJRH 104.9FM].

Lafayette-Lehigh rivalry

Lafayette College and Lehigh University are both well known for their intense football rivalry. Since 1884, the two teams have met 141 times, making the rivalry the most played in the history of college football. Lafayette leads the all-time series 74-62-5.

Photo gallery

Image:LafayetteCollegeTheQuad.JPG|The Quad is the center of Lafayette College. Image:South College at Lafayette College.jpg|The South College building is currently being used as a dormitory. Image:Kirby Hall of Civil Rights library at Lafayette College.jpg|The library in the Kirby Hall of Civil Rights building

Greek organizations

Notable alumni

Notable non-alumni attendees and faculty

  • Stephen Crane, author of "The Red Badge of Courage." Attended for one semester before failing out.
  • Theodore Roethke, poet, served on faculty, prior to his publication and fame.

Athletics

right

External links

 

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