- Elms College
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College of Our Lady of the Elms 
Seal of the College of Our Lady of the ElmsLatin: Collegium Dominae Nostrae In Ulmis Motto Viam Veritatis Elegi Motto in English “I have chosen the way of truth" Established 1928 Type Private Religious affiliation Sisters of St. Joseph Endowment US $12 million President Sister Mary Reap, ihm Academic staff 63 Undergraduates 1,118 Location Chicopee, Massachusetts, United States
Coordinates: 42°8′32.15″N 72°36′5.00″W / 42.1422639°N 72.60139°WColors Green, Gold, White Athletics NCAA Division III Nickname Blazers Website www.elms.edu "Lady of the Elms" redirects here. For the Ohio school, see Our Lady of the Elms High School.The College of Our Lady of the Elms, often called Elms College, is a Catholic liberal arts college located in Chicopee, Massachusetts, near Springfield.
Contents
History
Elms was founded as a girls' preparatory academy in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, the Academy of Our Lady of the Elms, in 1897.[1] In 1899, Rev. John McCoy and Bishop Thomas Beaven of the Springfield diocese purchased property in Chicopee and it became St. Joseph's Normal College.
In 1927, the Sisters of Saint Joseph petitioned the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to charter the school as a women's liberal arts college, the charter was approved in 1928, and the name was changed to the College of Our Lady of the Elms with Rev. Thomas Mary O'Leary as the first president.
Under increasing financial and enrollment pressures, the Elms College board of trustees voted 23-5 to begin admitting men, starting with the 1998-1999 school year, on October 7, 1997. It was recently placed on a watchlist by the US Department of Education, due to fiscal instability.[2]
Campus
The campus is about two miles north of Metro Center Springfield, Massachusetts. It is focused on the Keating Quadrangle, which lies at its center, and has 14 buildings.[3]
Academics
Elms is a four-year liberal arts college. It offers thirty-three academic majors to 701 full-time students, and it employs sixty-three full-time faculty members.[citation needed]
Student life
Traditions include Elms Night, an event in the beginning of the fall semester to welcome incoming first-year students. The event starts with an outdoor dinner where all Elms students and staff are invited. Freshmen are encouraged by seniors to sing a few lyrics from a song of choice during dinner. Following dinner, everyone meets in the Berchman's Hall Rotunda. Each class is assigned a pop song and sings for the other classes. At this point in the evening, seniors toss items from the second floor balcony to the freshmen on the first floor. Traditionally, the items were beanie caps. Now they vary from towels to wallets or other items. Often an Elms College student will keep this item at least until they graduate and, in many cases, long after that.[citation needed]
Athletics
The Elms College Blazers got their nickname from an old tradition when sophomore students would receive 'blazers' to wear as a seniority right. Although this tradition has long since been discontinued, the team name has stuck.
The Elms College Blazers team colors are a green, gold, and white. Elms competes at the Division III level as part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association in baseball, basketball, cross-country, golf, soccer, softball, volleyball, field hockey, lacrosse, and swimming.[4] The athletics at Elms are based out of The Maguire Center.[5]
Notable faculty
- Thomas Michael O'Leary, co-founder and first president of Elms College
- Christopher Joseph Weldon, president of Elms College from 1958 to 1977
- Paul Jenkins, professor of poetry
Notable alumni
- Joan Hartley, state senator from Connecticut
- Tracy Butler, creator of the award-winning comic Lackadaisy
Notes and references
- ^ American universities and colleges: a dictionary of name changes by Alice H. Songe. Rowman & Littlefield (1978), p. 45
- ^ http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/07/03/financial_pressure_forces_reinvention_at_small_colleges/
- ^ Elms College Campus Map
- ^ Elms College Athletics
- ^ http://athletics.elms.edu/information/facilities/index Maguire Center
External links
Categories:- Buildings and structures in Chicopee, Massachusetts
- Universities and colleges in Massachusetts
- Educational institutions established in 1928
- Former women's universities and colleges in the United States
- New England Association of Schools and Colleges
- Roman Catholic universities and colleges in the United States
- Council of Independent Colleges
- National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities members
- Universities and colleges in Hampden County, Massachusetts
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