Goucher College

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Goucher College is a private liberal arts college in Towson, Maryland. As of 2018, the school had approximately 1,480 undergraduate students studying in 33 majors and six interdisciplinary fields and 1,200 students enrolled in graduate programs. In addition to bachelor's and master's degrees, Goucher offers professional certificates in several areas, as well as a post-baccalaureate pre-medical program.

The college was founded in 1885 following a conference in Baltimore led by several notable ministers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, including Dr. John F. Goucher, for whom the school is named. Formerly an all-women's college, Goucher became coeducational in 1986 after a vote by its board of trustees. Originally situated in northern Baltimore, Goucher established its current campus in 1953, where it occupies a 287-acre parcel of land in downtown Towson.

A member of the Landmark Conference, Goucher competes in multiple sports, including lacrosse, tennis, soccer, and horseback riding. Goucher is one of the only colleges in the United States, along with Susquehanna University, to require a study abroad experience of all its undergraduates. Goucher is also one of forty institutions profiled in the book Colleges That Change Lives by Loren Pope.

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History

The school's beginnings date back to 1881 when the Baltimore Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church passed a resolution to found a seminary. In arguing for the formation of a college instead, John B. Van Meter asserted "that the Conference [should] make the foundation and endowment of a female college the single object of its organized effort." Though they faced some objection, Methodist ministers John Franklin Goucher (1845-1922) and John B. Van Meter continued to advocate founding a college rather than a seminary, eventually winning unanimous agreement. The need for a local women's college intensified after the collapse of an earlier institution known as the Baltimore Female College, which was also sponsored by the local Methodist Episcopal Church and led by noted classics scholar Nathan C. Brooks, (1809-1898), who served as its president from 1849 until its ultimate closure in 1890 when it lost significant state support.

As a result of the Baltimore conference, the Methodist-sponsored Women's College of Baltimore City was chartered on January 26, 1885. Although the school accepted students of all religious backgrounds, its founders' association with the Methodist Episcopal Church had a significant impact on the complexion of the college and its campus. The school was renamed to Goucher College in 1910 in honor of John Goucher, who died 12 years later while acting as president emeritus. At the time, Goucher was one of only six "Class I" colleges for women in the U.S.

Under John Goucher's stewardship, the college saw growing enrollment but also suffered financial deficits. In 1913, Goucher inaugurated its fourth president, William W. Guth, a trained attorney and academic, who oversaw the construction of several new residence halls and a successful million-dollar fundraising campaign by the college's alumni association. Around this time, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, whose daughter Jessie was a Goucher alumna, expressed support for the college's fundraising efforts in correspondences with President Guth, writing in March 1913, "It would, indeed, be... evidence that our great educational public does not fully understand its own interests if an institution which has served with such faithfulness... in the cause of woman's [sic] education should be allowed to break up for the lack of money." The college also developed plans in the early 20th century to move from the city into the suburbs and started searching for a suitable location.

In 1921, Goucher took its first major step towards relocating by acquiring property in nearby Towson, purchasing 421 acres of land that had previously belonged to the estate of a prominent Baltimore family for approximately $150,000. Some of that land was later resold by the college to provide funding for construction and other expenses. The college completed its move in 1953 under the supervision of President Otto Krausharr, who is also credited with facilitating Goucher's emergence as a nationally ranked women's college during that period. Goucher became coeducational in 1986 when the board of trustees voted to admit men citing declining enrollment and reduced interest by women nationally in single-sex colleges. Though the decision was controversial among some students and alumni at the time, it was followed by increased enrollment and sustained support from the school's donor and alumni base, with Goucher's endowment growing nearly five-fold from $45 million in 1986.

The college's former campus was located in then Peabody Heights in northern Baltimore. The area is now known as the Old Goucher College Historic District, and many of the original structures have been preserved. The complex was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

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Campus

Goucher occupies a green, wooded 287-acre (1.16 km²) campus that is proximate and northeast to downtown Towson. Surrounding the central campus infrastructure is a dense forest, owned by the school, that features low hills as well as hiking and jogging trails. Newsweek magazine described the campus as "unusually bucolic." The campus has also been referred to by CBS Baltimore as one of the county's most scenic college campuses. Slightly north of the campus library lies the non-denominational Haebler Memorial Chapel. A single road, Van Meter, runs through the campus and connects students to most of the primary residential, academic, recreational, and athletic buildings.

Academic buildings

Goucher's main academic buildings, including Van Meter Hall and Julia Rogers, are located at the northern portion of campus, called the "academic quad." The majority of the campus's classrooms and faculty offices are based out of these two buildings. The Hoffberger Science Building on the academic quad houses the school's sciences departments and is adjacent to the Meyerhoff Arts Building, which contains a theater, photo studio, and several galleries and out of which the theater and arts departments are based. Student Administrative Services and the Admissions Office are located in the Rhoda M. Dorsey College Center. At the center of the campus is Athenaeum, or "the Ath," a 100,000-square-foot (9,300 m²) modern, multipurpose facility that was built in 2009 featuring an expansive modern library, an on-campus restaurant, numerous classrooms, and an open auditorium. The Athenaeum is where speakers who visit the campus are typically hosted. The Merrick Lecture Hall, a partial amphitheater situated near Van Meter Hall, is also a common location for on-campus recitals, performances, sponsored political debates, and other productions.

Housing and residential

The college's residence halls are concentrated on the south side of the campus. They are Heubeck, Froelicher, Stimson, Mary Fisher, Sondheim, Stimson, and the newer Welsh Hall, known by students as "the T" for its T-shaped design, which was completed in 2005. Students on campus live in singles, doubles, triples, suites, and on-campus apartments. Sondheim is the sole residence hall designated as substance-free by the college. In July 2018, Goucher announced a new campus-wide "smoke-free" policy prohibiting the use of all smoking devices and tobacco, including e-cigarettes, anywhere on campus. Prior to the new policy, smoking was permitted only in certain areas.

Athletic and recreational facilities

The campus's outdoor sports facilities include a 107,000 square foot turf stadium field, a track, eight tennis fields, and an equestrian center. The Decker Sports and Recreation Center offers a six-lane, 25-yard pool, dance rooms, basketball courts, and a fully equipped gym and fitness center. The equestrian center lies on the northernmost edge of campus and contains a set of stables and riding arena.

Design, layout, and sustainability

In a shift away from a traditional collegiate layout characterized by symmetry and quadrangles, the architectural design firm responsible for planning the campus, Moore and Hutchins, elected to group buildings together into informal zones based on function, departing from the Romanesque style of the previous Baltimore campus. The majority of buildings on campus are clad in tan-colored Butler stone, which was chosen to reflect a Modernist theme. Over the years, the architecture and development of the campus have won many awards. Notably, Goucher's campus was added to the National Register of Historic Places 2007. The campus has also been recognized for its commitment to sustainability and energy efficiency, being called a "Top 25 Green College." In 2009, Goucher implemented a plan for all new buildings and existing buildings to achieve at least a Silver rating according to the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green-Building Rating System.

Recent construction

The campus underwent significant changes when in 2017 several of its primary residential buildings were relocated as part of an extensive plan to construct a "First Year Village," comprising modernized residential halls and recreational facilities for newly matriculated freshmen. The new freshmen dorms will have a capacity of 450 students and are set to open in Fall 2018. These developments coincided with substantial renovations to Mary Fisher Hall, in which its campus cafe was upgraded to a full-fledged dining hall. In order to raise capital for these projects, the school initiated a fundraising campaign to raise $100 million from alumni and other donors, of which the school has raised $43 million to date.

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Academics

Rankings

In the 2018 edition of the U.S. News and World Report annual college rankings, Goucher tied for 112th among national liberal arts colleges. In the same publication, Goucher was ranked 86th in Best Value Schools and 71st in High School Counselor Rankings. Goucher was also ranked by USNWR in its 2017 edition as a top 10 "Most Innovative School." Forbes 2017 college rankings placed Goucher at #151 in Liberal Arts Universities and #161 of colleges in the northeast. Goucher was also included in the Princeton Review's 2018 edition of the "Best 382 Colleges" and recognized as a top producer of Fulbright scholars by The Chronicle of Higher Education in 2018.

Undergraduate level

Students choose from 33 different majors and six interdisciplinary programs; there are also special introductory courses for first-year students to orient them to the campus, as well as life at the college. The most popular majors are in the humanities and social sciences, languages, biological sciences, and performing arts. Goucher is also well-known for its creative writing, dance, and pre-med departments. The student-faculty ratio is 10:1, and the average class size is 17.

In fall 2006, the college launched an educational curriculum including proficiency in English composition and in a foreign language; an international experience; and foundations in history, abstract reasoning, scientific discovery and experimentation, problem-solving, social structures, and environmental sustainability. The same year, Goucher began requiring all students to have completed at least one study-abroad experience prior to graduation, making it the first college in the United States to do so. A popular choice among many students is to participate in a three-week intensive course abroad made up of an on-campus classroom component, followed by three weeks abroad during the winter or spring. Goucher also allows students to participate in semester and yearlong study-abroad programs offered by other schools. Undergraduates are expected to fulfill an additional requirement by completing an internship, participating in community engagement work, or working as a faculty research assistant. Goucher also sponsors a grant program for students participating in summer internships.

Graduate level

Goucher has a graduate program that is run by the Welch Center for Graduate and Professional Studies which grants Master of Arts, Master of Education, and Master of Fine Arts degrees.

Certificate and continuing education programs

For the past 30 years, Goucher has offered a competitive post-baccalaureate pre-med program with 96% of students over the course of its history gaining acceptance to medical school and 99.7% over the past decade. Goucher also hosts a certificate-granting program for teachers called the AP (Advanced Placement) Summer Institute. Participants may be granted certificates demonstrating specialties with at-risk learners, middle school, reading instruction, improving school leadership, and educational technology.

Other programs on campus

Goucher has served as a campus for the Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth summer program for gifted students. The campus was also used to film a scene from season 4 of the Netflix series House of Cards.

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Extracurricular activities

Goucher has over 60 student-run clubs in different areas such as the Chem Club (the oldest continuously-operating club on campus), Hillel, and a student-labor action committee. The college also publishes a bi-weekly school newspaper called The Quindecim and a literary arts journal called Preface. Other media run by the school is Goucher Student Radio, which contains a host of student, staff, and faculty programming. It is accessible through Goucher's website as streaming media. Many students also participate in Goucher Student Government, which oversees the activities of clubs, passes resolutions, and votes on matters affecting the general student body. Students from the college also are credited with conceiving the popular campus game Humans vs. Zombies, which is similar to tag and often played on college campuses, and also the commercial party game Cards Against Humanity.

Goucher College was once home to a thriving sorority system; however, the college discontinued recognition of the system in 1950. The former chapters are:

• Alpha Phi, Zeta Chapter, 1891-1950
• Delta Gamma, Psi Chapter, 1891-1950
• Gamma Phi Beta, Zeta Chapter, 1893-1950
• Kappa Alpha Theta, Alpha Delta Chapter, 1896-1950
• Pi Beta Phi, Maryland Alpha Chapter, 1897-1950
• Delta Delta Delta, Xi Chapter, 1898-1941
• Alpha Gamma Delta, Theta Chapter, 1908-1950
• Kappa Kappa Gamma, Delta Theta Chapter, 1933-1942

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Athletics

Goucher athletic teams are known as the Gophers. The college competes in NCAA Division III, fielding men's and women's teams in lacrosse, soccer, basketball, track and field, cross country, swimming, and tennis, as well as women's teams in field hockey and volleyball, as well as coed equestrian sports (Intercollegiate Horse Show Association Zone IV Region I/American National Riding Commission). In 2007 the college joined the Landmark Conference after competing as a member of the Capital Athletic Conference from 1991 to 2007.

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Demographics

Goucher has one of the highest percentages of Jewish students in the country with over 30% of the student body identifying as Jewish. The male-to-female ratio is about 35:65 as of 2017. About 35% of the undergraduate population are either African-American, Asian, Hispanic, or Native-American. Goucher also attracts students both nationally and internationally; students from the class of 2017 came from 45 states and 50 countries. Twenty-five percent of Goucher students qualify for Pell grants, and the school has been recognized for its success in graduating Pell grant recipients as compared to the national average.

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Administration and faculty

Notable faculty

Some of Goucher's most well-known faculty members include Jean H. Baker and Julie Roy Jeffrey of the history department; former President Sanford J. Ungar; and authors Madison Smartt Bell and Elizabeth Spires, who oversee the college's Kratz Center for Creative Writing.

Presidents of Goucher College

The following is a chronological list of Goucher's presidents:

1. William Hersey Hopkins (1886-1890)
2. John Franklin Goucher (1890-1908)
3. Eugene Allen Noble (1908-1911)
4. John Blackford Van Meter (1911-1913) (acting)
5. William Westley Guth (1913-1929)
6. Hans Froelicher (1929-January 1930) (acting)
7. Dorothy Stimson (January 1930-June 1930) (interim)
8. David Allan Robertson (June 1930-1948)
9. Otto Krausharr (1948-1967)
10. Marvin Banks Perry Jr. (1967-1973)
11. Rhoda Dorsey (1973-1974) (acting) (1974-1994)
12. Judy Jolley Mohraz (1994-2000)
13. Robert S. Welch (2000-2001) (acting)
14. Sanford J. Ungar (2001-2014)
15. José Antonio Bowen (2014-present)

Despite being the school's namesake and his role in its founding, John Goucher was not the first president of Goucher. Although offered the post as the first president of the college, before its renaming in his honor, he refused, instead indicating his desire to continue as the pastor of First Methodist Episcopal Church of Baltimore (Lovely Lane Church) and maintain his involvement in Methodist mission work around the world. When William Hersey Hopkins resigned as the first president to join the faculty, the board of trustees nominated Goucher for the role and voted, without giving him an option to decline the nomination. With a unanimous vote from the board, Goucher felt obligated to serve the college as its second president.

Following Goucher's retirement in 1908, the college's third president, Eugene Allen Noble, successfully advocated renaming the college in honor of Goucher to recognize his involvement in the founding of the college, financial support, and eighteen-year service as president. The name change was made official in 1910. Dorothy Stimson, the dean of the college, served as acting president from January to June 1930. She was the first woman to lead the college. The board then named David Robertson as the permanent president of the college and he led the college through the difficult years of the Great Depression and World War II and he oversaw the beginning of college's move from the city of Baltimore to its current location in Baltimore County. Later, the college appointed Rhoda Dorsey as president. Dorsey is notable for many firsts: the first woman to be selected as a permanent president of Goucher College, the first acting president to be elected president, and the first faculty member of the college to be chosen as the permanent president. She also is notable for serving the longest period as Goucher's president, twenty years.

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Notable alumni

Goucher has over 21,000 living alumni, and many of its graduates have gone on to make contributions in the arts and literature, journalism, academia, government, sciences, and other fields. Well-known alumni include conservative commentator and senior editor for the National Review Jonah Goldberg, former first lady of Puerto Rico Lucé Vela, 27th Vice Commandant of the United States Coast Guard Sally Brice-Ohara, former president of Public Citizen Joan Claybrook, president of California State University, San Marcos, Karen S. Haynes, federal judges Ellen Lipton Hollander for the United States District Court for the District of Maryland and Phyllis A. Kravitch for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, and former chairwoman of the U.S. International Trade Commission Paula Stern.

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References

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External links

• Official website
• Official athletics website

Source of the article : Wikipedia