College of Wooster

The College of Wooster

File:COW seal!!!.jpeg
Motto	Scientia et religio ex uno fonte (Science and religion from one source)
Type	Private
Established	1866
Endowment	US $270.1 million
President	Grant H. Cornwell
Academic staff	133
Undergraduates	1,827
Postgraduates	0
Location	Wooster , Ohio , USA
Campus	Suburban, 240 acres (1 km²)
Athletics	22 varsity sports teams
Colors	Old Gold and Black
Mascot	Fighting Scots Fighting Scot
Website	www.wooster.edu

The College of Wooster is a private liberal arts college primarily known for its "Independent Study" program. It has roughly 1,800 students and is located in Wooster, Wayne County, Ohio (approximately 60 miles (97 km) south of Cleveland). Founded in 1866 by the Presbyterian church as the University of Wooster, it was from its creation a co-educational institution. The school is a member of The Five Colleges of Ohio and the Great Lakes Colleges Association. As of September 2007, Wooster's endowment stood at approximately $280 million.

The current president of the college is Grant H. Cornwell, who previously served as Vice-President and Dean of Academic Affairs at St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York. He was selected by the Board of Trustees to replace R. Stanton Hales, who announced his intention to retire effective June 30, 2007. Cornwell comes to Wooster with a background in philosophy and strong experience in liberal arts advocacy and administration. Distinguished faculty have included Dijana Plestina, former assistant professor of political science, and former part-time faculty member, who is former first lady of Croatia, and Gordon Collins, Emeritus Professor of Psychology, recent initiate to the Tarkio College Athletic Hall of Fame.

This college is one of forty named in Loren Pope's influential book Colleges That Change Lives.

History

The University of Wooster was founded in 1866 by Presbyterians who wanted to do their part in the education of young people, and in 1870 opened its doors with a faculty of five and a student body of thirty men and four women. Wealthy Wooster citizen Ephraim Quinby donated the first 22 acres, a large oak grove situated on a hilltop overlooking the town. By the early 20th century, there were eight divisions, including a medical school whose faculty outnumbered those in the college of arts and sciences. However, the university had gradually begun to define itself as a liberal arts institution and, in 1915, after a bitter dispute between the faculty and the Trustees, chose to become The College of Wooster in order to devote itself entirely to the education of undergraduate students in the liberal arts. The College's 240-acre (0.97 km²) campus boasts of an unusual tree endowment, established in 1987, which supports a tree conservation, maintenance and replacement program.

Academics

Students entering Wooster are provided with a liberal arts education, a learning approach that encourages students to experience different fields of study and once majors are chosen, to bring those varied experiences to their selected fields of study. Upon completion of at least 32 courses, students may earn a Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Music, or Bachelor of Music Education degree.

In addition to the programs listed below, students may design their own major with approval from the registrar and the dean of the faculty. Some of the pre-professional programs listed below are cooperative programs, in which students spend a certain period of time at the College of Wooster before transferring to accelerated courses at other colleges and universities.

Academic Programs

• Majors: Africana Studies, Anthropology, Archaeology, Art History, Art (Studio), Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Biology, Business Economics, Chemical Physics, Chemistry, Classical Studies, Communication Sciences and Disorders, Communication Studies, Comparative Literature, Computer Science, Cultural Area Studies, Dance, Economics, English, French, Geology, German, History, International Relations, Mathematics, Music, Music Education, Music History and Literature, Music Performance, Music Theory (Composition), Music Therapy, Neuroscience, Philosophy, Physics, Political Science, Psychology, Religious Studies, Russian Studies, Sociology, Spanish, Theater, Urban Studies, Women's Studies
• Additional minors: Chinese, Education (with teaching licensure in early childhood, adolescent/young adult, and multi-age), Dance, Environmental Studies, Film Studies, International Business, Physical Education
• Pre-professional programs: Pre-Architecture, Pre-Engineering, Forestry and Environmental Studies, Dentistry, Nursing, Pre-Social Work, Pre-Business, Pre-Medicine, Pre-Veterinary Medicine, Pre-Law, Pre-Seminary Studies, Dual-Degree Programs

Independent Study program

The College of Wooster is especially noteworthy for its Independent Study program, in which all students work one-on-one with a faculty advisor to complete a written thesis or other significant project during the course of the senior year. The student also presents an oral defense of the thesis before a faculty committee. The program, begun in 1947 by Howard Lowry (the College's 7th President), has received considerable attention from other colleges and universities, and a number of other institutions have modeled programs after it. In 2003, the independent study program at Wooster was recognized by US News and World Report as the second best "senior capstone experience" in the US, behind only Princeton University. This unique approach to education has long kept Wooster competitive against more well-known colleges. As evidence of this fact, Wooster ranks 14th in the United States among independent colleges whose graduates earned Ph.D.'s between 1920 and 1995 (according to the Baccalaureate Origins of Doctorate Recipients,1998).

Special traditions have been developed surrounding Independent Study. Upon completion, a student will receive a yellow button that says "I did it!" as well as the highly coveted Tootsie Roll. The tradition developed when the registrar at the time, Lee Culp (also a graduate of the College of Wooster), decided to give out candy along with the buttons one year; the Tootsie Roll itself was chosen simply because it was cheap to buy in bulk. The "due date," or the last day that students can turn in their completed Independent Study project, is the first Monday after spring break. On I.S. Monday, the pipe band begins a drone and, with the Dean of the Faculty leading the way, the seniors travel through Kauke Arch in a jubilant parade ending at Kittredge dining hall, where a celebratory dinner with their advisors and college administrators follows.

A database exists on the College of Wooster website which allows anyone to browse the myriad Independent Study topics from every class year since the late 1940s.

Student Life

Wooster has long emphasized international education. An unusually high percentage of its early graduates went overseas as missionaries (Wooster has its own unique collection of artifacts sent back from those alumni, including among other things an Egyptian mummy), and soon not only their sons and daughters, but also the students from their schools, were enrolling at Wooster as students. This international presence affected the entire campus, establishing a tradition which continues to influence the College. Today, approximately seven percent of the student body is international in origin, representing more than 30 different countries.[1] Majors in Cultural Area Studies and International Relations, instruction in seven foreign languages, many overseas programs, and the popularity of Babcock Hall International Program attest to a global awareness that is a vital part of the educational fabric of the College. The majority of Wooster's international students currently come from South Asia (India and Pakistan), and West Africa (many from Ghana).. Fifty-three percent of Wooster students are from outside of Ohio.[2]

Athletics

Wooster is a member of the NCAA Div-III North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC). Its school colors are black and old gold, and its mascot is the "Fighting Scot." Scottish culture is an important part of the school's heritage; its football games feature a Scottish pipe band with Highland dancers in addition to a traditional marching band, with all three groups clad in the yellow and black MacLeod tartan. Before being known as the "Fighting Scots", the college teams were known as the "Presbyterian Steamroller". This was changed by an alumnus who wanted to fund a dormitory and other things at the college but required that his MacLeod tartan become the college's banner. The College now continues with that tradition.

For many years, the athletic teams at Wooster have had considerable success. Among other achievements, the baseball team has made three appearances in the NCAA Division III World Series and nine NCAC championships (a league record). The men's basketball team has nine NCAC regular season championships, nine NCAC Tournament titles, and twelve appearances in the Div-III NCAA Tournament. In 2003, the team earned third place at the NCAA Men's Division III Basketball Championship, compiled its best ever record (30-3), and Wooster center Bryan Nelson was named Div-III Men's Basketball Player of the Year. In 2007, the men's basketball team again reached the Div-III Final Four, placing fourth overall with a record of 29-5. In 2004, the football team went undefeated in the regular season, won its first outright NCAC conference championship, and won its first NCAA tournament game.

Performing Arts

Besides having a well-respected music department, Wooster is the home of the Ohio Light Opera, an endeavor founded within the college in 1979, but is not a part of the college curriculum, and does not engage any of the college faculty or students directly. It is the only professional company in the United States entirely devoted to operetta. OLO performs the entire Gilbert & Sullivan repertoire, but also regularly revives rarely performed continental works of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Over the years, the Company has produced eighty different operettas. The College is proud to have this company rent its facilities.

The college is also one of a few colleges in America to have an active on-campus pipe band. Officially called the College of Wooster Pipe Band, members perform at many official on-campus events such as commencement, sports games (football, basketball, swim meets, and sometimes lacrosse games), and many spontaneous student-run events. During the spring season they perform and compete at a grade 3 level, having won prizes at the Scots wi' Shotts event in Cleveland hosted by the local Lochaber Pipe Band

In 2007, Wooster's theatre production of "Nocturne" was invited to perform at the Kennedy Center's American College Theatre Festival in Washington, D.C. Wooster's production was one of four shows chosen from a field of approximately 400 entries.

Student activities and clubs

The College of Wooster has over one hundred student organizations, from the Jenny Investment Club, which allows students to invest real money for the College as they learn about the stock market, to Common Grounds, a student-run coffee shop and house program offering "an alternative atmosphere to the partying scene" for the College community.[3]

There are currently ten active Greek groups at the College of Wooster, six sororities and four fraternities. Called clubs and sections, these groups are not affiliated with national Greek organizations, and approximately fifteen percent of the student body participates.

The college has a wide variety of student-run media. The Wooster Voice is the weekly student newspaper, and has been published continuously since 1886 (see list of college newspapers), while WCWS (WOO 91) is the college radio station. The Goliard is the annual literary magazine. Each year, English professor Daniel Bourne also publishes an international literary magazine called Artful Dodge. Additionally, the English Department has classes every two years on journalism and magazine writing; these students create and publish a newspaper and a magazine respectively.

Pictures

Kauke Hall

Notable alumni

• Karl Taylor Compton, Philosophy, class of 1908, President of MIT from 1930 to 1948, National Academy of Sciences Member, co founder of the American Research and Development Corporation with Georges Doriot - the first public venture capital group.
  Attended before the IS program existed

• Arthur Holly Compton, class of 1913, Nobel Prize-winning physicist, National Academy of Sciences Member, Chancellor of Washington University from 1945 to 1953
  Attended before the IS program existed

• George W. Thorn, Biology, class of 1927, Chief of Medicine Bringham & Woman's Hospital Harvard University, NAS Public Welfare Medal Winner, Chairman Emeritus Howard Hughes Medical Institute
  Attended before the IS program existed

• James V. Neel, Biology, class of 1935, Distinguished Professor of Human Genetics University of Michigan, Albert Lasker Award Winner, National Medal of Science Winner, National Academy of Sciences Member -- "Father of Modern Human Genetics."
  Attended before the IS program existed

• Helen Murray Free, Chemistry, class of 1945, Elected President of the American Chemical Society in 1993, Inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2000.
  Attended before the IS program existed

• Stanley Gault, Geology, class of 1948, Former CEO of Rubbermaid and Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company.
  Attended before the IS program existed

• E. W. "Bud" Wendell, Economics, class of 1950, Former President and CEO of Opryland USA, member Country Music Hall of Fame.
  Attended before the IS program existed

• Mary Crow, English, class of 1955, Poet Laureate, State of Colorado
  IS title: Study of Some Elizabethan Sonnetiers - Sidney, Daniel, Drayton

• Norman Morrison, Religion, class of 1956, pacifist, Vietnam War protester.
  IS title: The Christian Approach to Pacifism, 1900-1950

• John Dean, Political Science, class of 1961, White House Counsel (1970-1973) to President Richard Nixon.
  IS title: The Social Responsibilities of the Political Novelist

• James S. Toedtman, Political Science, class of 1963, Editor for the AARP Bulletin.
  IS title: An Analysis of the 1962 Congressional Campaign in the 13th District of Ohio

• Donald Kohn, Economics, class of 1964, Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the United States Federal Reserve.
  IS title: Flexible Exchange Rates as a Means to Stable International Markets - Theory, Practice, and Evaluation

• Timothy Smucker, Economics, class of 1967, CEO of The J.M. Smucker Co..
  IS title: PERT and Plant Location

• Stephen R. Donaldson, English, class of 1963, New York Times bestselling science fiction author.
  IS title: A Creative Writing Project

• John Travis, Chemistry, class of 1965, preventive medicine physician, founder of first wellness center in US,
  IS title: Computer Controlled-Potential Polarography

• Susan Stranahan, History, class of 1968, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, former reporter for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
  IS title: The Mining Camp

• Solomon Oliver Jr., Philosophy and Political Science, class of 1969, U.S. District Court judge for the Northern District of Ohio.
  IS title: The Problem of Civil Disobedience in Philosophy of Law

• Mark Stephens (aka Robert X. Cringely), History, class of 1975, Technology journalist for Public Broadcasting Service.
  IS title: The Battle Of Britain: A Strategic Reassessment

• Vince Cellini, Speech, class of 1981, Current host on The Golf Channel and former anchor for CNN Sports.
  IS title: Communication Theory: Its Use in the Formation of Public Opinion

• Mary Neagoy, English, class of 1983, Former Senior Vice President of Communications for Nickelodeon.
  IS title: Narrative Authority and Female Characters in the Novels of William Faulkner

• David Means, English, class of 1984, short story writer, winner of 2000 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction.
  IS title: Bullfighting in Boston and other Poems

• Duncan Jones, Philosophy, class of 1995, Television/film director (inc. fcuk's "Fashion vs Style"); son of David Bowie.
  IS title: How to Kill Your Computer Friend: An Investigation of the Mind/Body Problem and How It Relates to the Hypothetical Creation of a Thinking Machine

Notable faculty

• Daniel Bourne, poet, professor of English
• Jack Lengyel, Wooster head football coach and lacrosse coach 1966-1970; head coach of the Marshall University Thundering Herd football team, 1971 until 1974
• Orange Nash Stoddard, professor of natural history

External links

• Official website
• Colleges That Change Lives: The College of Wooster
• College of Wooster Libraries
• Search the Independent Study database
• Student Government Association
• The Wooster Voice student newspaper
• City of Wooster Homepage