Albion College is a small, private liberal arts
college located in Albion, Michigan. Related to the United Methodist Church, it was founded in 1835 and was the first
private college in Michigan to have a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. It has a student
population of about 1900.
The school's sports teams are called the Britons and the school colors are purple and gold. They participate in
NCAA's Division III and the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA).
Albion College is a member of the Great Lakes College Association
and the Michigan Campus Compact, an organization dedicated to encouraging student volunteerism.
Albion Time refers to the fact that classes begin at 10 minutes past the hour. This has led to the common practice of
beginning events 10 minutes later than the scheduled time.
History
The origin of Albion College lies not in the city of Albion, but about 10 miles southeast of the present location of the
college. On March 23, 1835, Methodist
Episcopal settlers in Spring Arbor Township obtained a charter
for the Spring Arbor Seminary from the Michigan Territorial Legislature. Foundations
for a building were begun in 1837 at a location about 3 miles southwest of the current village of
Spring Arbor but were soon abandoned due to the economic turmoil caused by the
Panic of 1837. No classes were ever held at the Spring Arbor location. The trustees
applied to move the seminary to Albion in 1838, and the legislature approved the move in
1839.
With 60 acres (243,000 m²) of land donated by Albion pioneer, Jesse Crowell, the
cornerstone was laid for the first building in 1841. In 1843, now
named the Wesleyan Seminary, classes were first held in the local Methodist Church. In 1844,
classes began in the newly constructed Central Building, which was rebuilt as the present Robinson Hall in 1907.
The Albion Female Collegiate Institute was founded in 1850 by the Wesleyan Seminary
Corporation. The two schools merged in 1857 under the name The Wesleyan Seminary and Female
College at Albion.
On February 25, 1861, both schools were completely merged
under the name Albion College when the school was fully authorized by the State legislature to confer a full four-year
college degree upon both men and women.
Academics
Dr. Gene Cline, Professor of Philosophy, directs a seminar-style honors class
Albion College offers approximately 25 academic majors leading to Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees. In
addition to the academic majors, numerous concentrations, academic institutes, and special programs are offered. These include
the Environmental Institute, Fritz Shurmur Education Institute, the Gerald R. Ford Institute for Public Policy and Service, the
Carl A. Gerstacker Institute for Professional Management, the Prentiss M. Brown Honors Institute, and pre-professional programs
in engineering, medicine, and law.
The Albion College student body is composed of approximately 1,970 students. The student to faculty ratio is 14:1. The average
class size of 19 is comparable to other small liberal arts colleges. Albion College employs more than 130 full time faculty, of
whom more than 95% have earned the highest degree offered in their field.
Albion College offers many opportunities for students to travel and study at other institutions. Programs are offered in
Philadelphia, Chicago, London, Heidelberg, Tuebingen, Tokyo, Japan,
Seoul, South Korea , Capetown, South Africa, Aix-en-provence, France, Ballyvaughan, Ireland, and Paris.
Albion College appears on the US News & World Report list of
America's Top Liberal Arts Colleges.
Construction on a new science complex recently ended. The new Kresge Hall and remodeled Palenske Hall, Putnam Hall and the
Norris Center house the Chemistry, Geology, Biology, Physics, Mathematics, and Computer Science departments of the college.
Campus Life
Albion College's 225 acre campus houses 93% of the students that attend the college in four dormitories (Wesley Hall, Seaton Hall, Whitehouse Hall, and the Mitchell Towers), a dormitory that focuses on
foreign languanges and international programs (the Gerstacker International House) aka "I-House", upper-class apartments (the Mae
Harrison Karro Residential Village, Munger Place, the Burns Street Apartments, and the Briton House Apartments), three women-only
housing options (Octagon House, Ingham Hall, and Dean Hall), a Christian house (Fiske Hall), six fraternity houses, and numerous annexes. In addition to campus housing, several students
live at The Goodrich Club, a co-op founded in 1932. Wesley and Seaton Halls
traditionally house mostly first-year students. Wesley Hall is, by far, the largest residential building on campus with over 450
residents. Mitchell Towers and Whitehouse Hall typically are home to Sophomores and some Juniors. The Mae Karro Residential
Village (commonly called "The Mae") houses Seniors. The majority of rooms in Wesley and Seaton Halls house two students with
residents of each hallway sharing one community bathroom. All other dormitories have suite-style housing with two rooms sharing
one bathroom between them.
Albion's campus is home to well over 100 student organizations. These groups — dedicated to academia, politics, sports and
recreation, diversity awareness, and community service — are a large part of student life at Albion College. Groups such as "The
Midnight Runners", The Albion Croquet League, College Democrats,
College Republicans, Habitat
for Humanity, and "Break the Silence" are examples of some of the prominent groups on campus.
In 2006 Albion College designated one of the schools annexes as the "Environmental House." Since this time the students who
live in the house have worked towards self sustainablity and raising environmental awareness on campus.
The Albion College British Eighth Marching Band plays halftime shows during all home football games
The recently constructed Nancy G. Held Equestrian Center is the only equestrian center owned by a private college in Michigan.
The 340 acre facility features a state-of-the-art 81 stall barn, a grass outdoor competition arena, a sand outdoor riding arena,
a 100x400ft indoor riding arena, on-site instructional facilities, three instructors, many school horses, and three competing
teams. The teams compete in IDA dressage competitions and IHSA hunt seat and western competitions. In the last two years, Albion
has had several riders advance to regional and zone champions with IHSA hunt seat and 2 riders compete at the IDA national
championships.
The Albion College Music Department offers students numerous ensembles in which to participate. The British Eighth, the
Albion College Marching Band is one of the most visible examples of the school's mascot. The British Eighth wears uniforms
reminiscent of those worn by the British Royal guards at Buckingham Palace. Under the direction of current Director of Bands Dr. Sam "Mac" McIlhagga, the band
has increased in size to approximately 80 members. The British Eighth achieved national recognition by marching in the 2006
Detroit Thanksgiving Day Parade. The Albion College Symphony
Orchestra, Symphonic Band, Concert Choir, Jazz Ensemble, and
Briton Singers perform regularly throughout the school year. The Jazz Ensemble is particularly active in performing in the Albion
community.
Athletics
Albion College's Alumni Field
The Albion College Britons field 18 intercollegiate teams, nine for men and nine for women. Albion College is a charter member
of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association and
competes in the NCAA's Division
III. Men's sports at Albion include cross country, football, golf, and soccer in
the fall, basketball and swimming and diving in the winter,
and baseball, tennis, and track and field in the spring. The Albion women compete in cross country, golf, soccer, and
volleyball in the fall, basketball and swimming and diving in the winter, and softball,
tennis, and track and field in the spring.
During the 2005 season, both the men's and women's basketball teams advanced to the Division III playoffs. Throughout the 2006
season, the men have been ranked in the top 10 by D3Hoops.com [1] since the beginning of the season. Albion also had the distinction of winning the Division III football
championship in the year 1994.
National Championships:
- 1994 - Football - NCAA Division III
Greek Life
Albion College is home to six general purpose social fraternities and
seven general purpose social sororities. The six social fraternities each
lease a house from the college. These essentially identical buildings are occupied by members of Alpha Tau Omega, Delta Sigma Phi, Delta Tau Delta, Sigma Nu, Sigma
Chi, and Tau Kappa Epsilon. The seven social sororities at Albion College do
not live in their lodges, but rather hold meetings and other events there. The social sororities at Albion are Alpha Chi Omega, Alpha Kappa Alpha, Alpha Xi Delta, Delta Gamma, Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Delta, and Phi
Mu.
More than 40% of Albion College students are members of a social Greek organization.
Albion College is also home to nearly a dozen honorary, professional, service, and special interest fraternities. They include
Alpha Lambda Delta, Alpha Phi Omega,
Sigma Xi, Theta Alpha Phi, Kappa Kappa Psi, Omicron Delta Kappa, Order of Omega, Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Pi Sigma Alpha, Psi Chi, Sigma Alpha Iota, and Sigma Gamma
Epsilon.
Fight Song
Fyte Onne!
Fyte Onne, for Albion,
Her destiny is in your hands!
Fyte Onne, and don't give in,
No fighting Briton ever has!
Fyte Onne, You Britons strong,
For at the top you do belong!
So don't give in, I know you'll win,
Fyte Onne for Albion!
Fight Cheer - The "Io"
The school's fight cheer was a gift to the school by the class of 1900 and has no meaning in particular, but is a
conglomeration of several fragments from various languages. The fight cheer is mostly recited by the British Eighth (marching
band) at football games and other athletic teams at Albion.
Io triumphe! Io triumphe!
Haben swaben rebecca le animor
Whoop te whoop de sheller-te-vere
De boom de-rah de-i de-pa
Hooneka henaka whack a whack
A-hob dob bolde bora bolde bara
Con slomada hab dob rah
Albion rah!
Alma Mater
The college's song is titled "Albion, Dear Albion"
Albion, Dear Albion
Hear our song to thee
Let our joyous praise be heard
Over land
and sea
Of thy noble college halls
Of thy campus fair
Sing we with gladness
Here and everywhere.
Albion, Dear Albion
Let thy pure light shine
In the hearts of noble ones
Radiantly
sublime
All who in thy college halls
Learned thy precepts rare
Let them sing
praises
To alma mater fair.
Albion, Dear Albion
Fondest memories
Light our pathway far from home
Through the
distant days
So we now our homage bring
Breathe this fervent prayer
Father in
Heaven
Keep our Albion Fair
Father in Heaven
Keep our Albion fair.
Notable alumni & friends
- Bob Bemer, 1940, computer scientist
- Bruce C. Berndt, 1961, mathematician
- J Harlen Bretz, 1906, geologist
- Prentiss Marsh Brown, 1911, U.S.
Senator from Michigan
- David L. Camp, 1975, U.S.
Representative from Michigan
- Barbara Ann Crancer, 1960, Missouri state circuit court judge and daughter of
former Teamsters Union president Jimmy Hoffa
- Philip Campbell Curtis, 1930, surrealist-inspired painter.
- Michael David, 1964, president of Dodger Theatricals,
producer of the Tony Award-award winning Broadway
musical Jersey Boys
- Harriet G. Eddy, 1896, Early California Library Organizer
- William C. Ferguson, Chairman (Retired), NYNEX NKA
Verizon Communications
- Matthew Gillard, politician, member of the Michigan House of Representative
- Daniel Henney, 2000, Korean model and actor, most notably in My name is Kim Sam Soon
- Robert E. Horton, 1897, hydrologist
- Arnold G. Langbo, Chairman (Retired), Kellogg
Company
- Sherry Hood Livingston, 1959, Former Chancellor, University of Massachusetts-Boston
- John S. Ludington, 1951, Chairman Emeritus, Dow Corning
Corporation
- Thomas Ludington, 1976, U.S. Distric
Court judge for the Eastern District
of Michigan and Albion College trustee
- Geoffery Merszei, CFO of
Dow Chemical Company
- Forest Ray Moulton, 1894, astronomer
- Doug Parker, 1984, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of US Airways
- Jon Scieszka, 1976, children's book author
- Anna Howard Shaw, attended 1872-1875, civil rights leader, first female Methodist
minister in the U.S.
- Richard M. Smith, 1968, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, Newsweek
- William K. Stoffer, 1974, Chief Executive Officer, Albion Machine and Tool Company, Mayor of
Albion 1984-86
- Kelley Stoltz, 1994, Musician, Recording artist with Sub Pop
Records
- Robert M. Teeter, 1961, Republican pollster
- Hazen Graff Werner, 1920, Bishop of the United Methodist Church
- Edwin B. Winans, attended in 1840s, U.S. Representative and Governor of
Michigan
Presidents
- Dr. Donna M. Randall (2007 - )
- Dr. Peter T. Mitchell(1997 - 2007)
- Dr. Melvin L. Vulgamore (1983 - 1997)
- Dr. Bernard T. Lomas (1970 - 1983)
- Dr. Louis W. Norris (1960 - 1970)
- Dr. William W. Whitehouse (1945 - 1960)
- Dr. John Lawrence Seaton (1924 - 1945)
- John Wesley Laird (1921 - 1924)
- Dr. Samuel F. Dickie (1901 - 1921)
- John Ashley (1898 - 1901)
- Lewis Ransom Fiske (1877 - 1898)
- William B. Silber (1870 - 1871)
- J.L.G. McKown (1869 - 1870)
- George Beiners Jocelyn (1864 - 1869 and 1871 - 1877)
- Thomas H. Sinex (1854 - 1864)
- Ira Mayhew (1853 - 1864)
- Clark T. Hinman (1846 - 1853)
- Rev. Charles Franklin Stockwell (1843 - 1845)
Note: William C. Ferguson served as interim president for six months in 1997.
Sources
External links
Notes and References
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