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Macalester College

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Macalester College (commonly called "Mac" by those affiliated with the college) is a privately supported, coeducational liberal arts college in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It was founded in 1874 as a Presbyterian-affiliated but nonsectarian college. Its first class entered September 15, 1885. The college is located on a 53-acre (214,000 m?) campus in a historic residential neighborhood and includes seven academic buildings, ten residences, a library, and a technology center. Famous alumni include Bob Mould, Kofi Annan, Walter Mondale, DeWitt Wallace, and Tim O'Brien. It enrolls approximately 1,800 undergraduate students and no graduate students.

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Internationalism and domestic diversity

Macalester desires internationalism and diversity in its student body. Accordingly, international students represent 80 different countries and comprise 14% of the student body, a high share relative to most American colleges. In addition as of 2005, 4% of students are dual citizens or permanent residents of foreign countries. U.S. students, 15% of which are not caucasian, come from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The United Nations flag is flown on campus alongside the U.S. flag in honor of this ideal. U.S. News & World Report: America's Best Colleges 2005 noted the college's affinity for international diversity. [The World, in St. Paul].

Academics

In the past 10 years, Macalester students have earned honors including Rhodes Scholarships, Fulbright Scholarships, Foreign Government Grants, National Science Foundation Fellowships, Truman Scholarships, Watson Fellowships, Mellon Fellowships and Goldwater Scholarships.

As a member of CLIC (Cooperating Libraries in Consortium), the Macalester library provides students with substantial academic resources. Through the consortium, students have access to books, articles, and other media available from liberal arts colleges in the Twin Cities. Students also have access to the University of Minnesota libraries, and can obtain copies of papers and articles therefrom on campus.

The college hosts the MITY (pronounced "mighty"), Minnesota Institute for Talented Youth, which is a two-week program that offers junior high and high school students classes and optional residential stay.

Housing

As at many small liberal arts colleges, students at Macalester are required to live on campus for their first two years. Dupre Hall, which houses first-year students and sophomores, is located on the corner of Summit and Snelling Avenues, and was built in 1962. Renovated in 1994, Dupre houses about 260 first-years and sophomores and is Macalester's largest dorm. Turck Hall was built in 1957 and most recently remodeled in 2004. It houses nearly 180 first-year students. Doty Hall was built in 1964 and is one of two dorms on campus to feature single-sex floors. Doty also houses first year students.

Bigelow Hall is on the corner of Grand Avenue and Macalester Street. Built in 1947 and most recently remodeled in 1992, it is connected via tunnels to Wallace, Doty and 30 Macalester Street and features single-sex and co-ed floor arrangements. It is also connected to Turck via a skyway, and houses over sophomores. 30 Macalester Street is one of the newest dorms on campus, and is more handicap accessible than other dorms and houses small amount of students. Wallace Hall is the oldest dorm on campus, built in 1907 and renovated in 2002.

Kirk Hall at Macalester, an upperclassmen dorm. This dorm is also home to the Hebrew House.
Enlarge
Kirk Hall at Macalester, an upperclassmen dorm. This dorm is also home to the Hebrew House.
Upperclassmen living on campus at Macalester have a wider range of options than underclassmen. They can live in either George Draper Dayton or Kirk Hall, or in one of six cottages. Students can also apply to live in the Veggie Co-op, the Cultural House, the Hebrew House (part of Kirk Hall), or one of the Language Houses, where students are expected to speak the language of their particular house as much as possible. Currently there are five Language Houses, focusing on German, Japanese, French, Spanish, and Russian.

Recently, Macalester has made news by offering limited gender open housing options for juniors and seniors. George Draper Dayton Hall, the Grand-Cambridge Apartments, and the six cottages are all gender-open. Student-led groups are working to increase these options and make gender-open bathrooms available.

Athletics

Macalester College is a member of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC). The college's team nickname is the Scots. The football team, after many years of poor performance in the MIAC (including losing 50 straight games in the 1970s), has competed independently since 2002. In 2006, the football team made college history by playing against Northwestern College who played Macalester and Trinity Bible College in the same day, one at home and the other on the road, winning both.

Soccer has always been a popular sport. Both men and women's teams remain competitive, appearing in multiple NCAA playoffs since 1995. The women's team won the NCAA championship in 1998.

The Cross Country Ski Team was cut as a varsity team in 2004, without any input from the general college community. It was the first team to be dismantled since Hockey was cut in the 1970s. A women's hockey team formed in 2000 and continues to play at the club level.

Macalester's athletic facility, of which the original gymnasium was built in 1925 (and a fieldhouse, weightrooms and a natatorium were added later) is, with the exception of the swimming pool, slated to be torn down in December, 2006. A new facility is scheduled to come on line in September, 2008.

Student life

In general, most students are left-leaning and very politically aware. Political debate on campus occurs largely between the radical and mainstream left, although there is a small, but active, group of conservative students. The sizable number of international students also contributes to the political atmosphere on campus.

The main campus newspaper is [The Mac Weekly], a student-run operation. It has a circulation of approximately 1,600 and was established in 1914. Almost all the newspaper staff works on a volunteer basis. The paper publishes twelve or thirteen volumes, ranging from 16 to 24 pages, each semester, with a satirical section, The Mock Weekly, added at the end of each semester. In April, 2006, the paper published a magazine for the first time.

Popular student groups include the African Music Ensemble, The Trads and other a cappella groups, CHEEBA, MacBike, Macalester Democrats (Mac Dems), Macalester International Organization (MIO), MacPlayers, NARAL Pro-Choice Macalester and Queer Union.

Of note is the absence of a Greek system.

Traditions and Trivia

Awards and Recognition

Notable Alumni

Academics and Thinkers

Actors

Artists and Architects

Musicians

Politicians and Leaders

Writers and Journalists

Notable Faculty

External links

 

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