A mermaid sits atop Dickinson College's Old West.
Dickinson College is a private, selective,[1]
liberal arts college in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Originally established as a Grammar School in 1773 , Dickinson was
chartered September 9, 1783, five days after the signing of
the Treaty of Paris, making it the first college to be founded in the
newly-recognized United States. Dickinson was founded by Dr. Benjamin Rush, a signer of the United States
Declaration of Independence from Philadelphia and named in honor of
a signer of the Constitution, John Dickinson. The College's first building, West College (or, more affectionately, Old
West), was built in 1803, burned, and reopened in 1805. It was designed by noted Architect of the Capitol Benjamin Latrobe and
financed through gifts by President Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State
James Madison, and Chief Justice John Marshall.
In 2006, Dickinson decided to stop publicizing its ranking in "America's Best Colleges" from U.S. News & World Report. In May, 2007, Dickinson President William G. Durden
joined with other college presidents in asking schools not to participate in the reputation portion of the magazine's
survey.[2]
With an enrollment of nearly 2,300 students, Dickinson is known for its innovative curriculum and outstanding international
education programs, which have received national recognition from the American
Council on Education and NAFSA: Association of
International Educators.[3]
In 2006, the college was ranked the most physically fit school in America by Men's
Fitness.
Dickinson College is not to be confused with the Dickinson School of Law,
which abuts the campus but has not been associated with the college since the late 19th century. The Law school merged with
The Pennsylvania State University in 1997, and its students study at both
the Carlisle and State College campuses. Dickinson is frequently mistaken for, yet has no relation to, Fairleigh Dickinson University, a private university in the state of New Jersey.
Sports Teams
Dickinson has a variety of men's and women's sports, including:
Baseball, men's and women's soccer, football, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's track, men's and women's basketball,
softball, men's and women's lacrosse, men's and women's swimming, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's riding,
women's volleyball, cheerleading, women's field hockey, and ice hockey. The Washington
Redskins NFL football team has used Dickinson as a summer training camp
in the past.
Student Life
Dickinson has a rich and varied student life with a variety of organizations involved in many different causes and interests.
There are over a hundred organizations representing different facets of the college.[4].
Greek Organizations
Fraternities
Sororities
Honor Societies
Other Greek Letter Societies
Alumni
- For a complete list see List of Dickinson College
alumni
- Robert Cooper Grier, 1788, Supreme Court Justice 1846-1870
- Roger Brooke Taney, 1795, Fifth Chief Justice of the United States
- William Wilkins, 1802, U.S. Representative, Senator, Secretary of War
- James Buchanan, 1809, Fifteenth President of the United States
- Harmar Denny, 1813, U.S. Representative
- Elijah Barrett Prettyman, second principal of Maryland State Normal School
(Towson University)
- Alfred V. du Pont, 1818, Head of the du Pont
Company
- Robert McClelland, 1829, U.S. Representative, Governor of Michigan, U.S. Secretary
of the Interior
- Spencer Fullerton Baird, 1840, U.S. Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution
- Theodore George Wormley, 1844, Author of Microchemistry of Poisons, first published in
1869
- William Perry Eveland, 1892, Bishop of the
Methodist Episcopal Church
- Joseph Clemens, 1894, U.S. Army chaplain, missionary and plant collector
- Jason Riggs, 1909, First man to parajump without a parachute and live.
- Clarence Muse, 1911, lawyer, writer, director, composer, and actor
- George Gekas, 1952, U.S. Representative
- Stuart Pankin, 1968, Television actor
- Barry W. Lynn, 1970, Executive Director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State
- Charles Strum, 1970, Associate Managing Editor at the New York Times
- Christopher Abernethy, ESQ, 1970
- William Durden, 1971, President of Dickinson College
- David Hirshey, 1971, Vice President and Executive Editor at HarperCollins publishers
- Rick Smolan, 1972, Former Time, Life and National Geographic photographer
- Susan Stewart, 1973, American poet and literary critic
- Jim Greenwood, 1973, U.S. Representative
- Stephen Giannetti, 1973, Vice President and Publisher, National Geographic magazine
- Andy MacPhail, 1976, Major League Baseball Executive.
- John E. Jones III, 1977, U.S.
District Judge who decided the Dover Intelligent Design
Case
- Jim Gerlach, 1977, U.S. Representative
- Bill Shuster, 1983, U.S. Representative
- Jennifer Haigh, 1990, New York Times
best-selling author, winner of PEN/Hemingway Award
- Scott Cohen, 1991, Director of Pro Personnel, Philadelphia Eagles
- Jennifer Ringley, 1997, Famous for the pioneering website JenniCam.org
- Rosie O'Donnell, attended, but dropped out and did not graduate
- Robert J. Wise, founder of Wise Potato Chips, Co.
References
External links
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
