Elms College
Encyclopedia
The College of Our Lady of the Elms, often called Elms College, is a Catholic
liberal arts college located in Chicopee, Massachusetts
, near Springfield
.
in Pittsfield, Massachusetts
, the Academy of Our Lady of the Elms, in 1897. 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.
Springfield, Massachusetts
. It is focused on the Keating Quadrangle, which lies at its center, and has 14 buildings.
. It offers thirty-three academic major
s to 701 full-time students, and it employs sixty-three full-time faculty
members.
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
. The athletics at Elms are based out of The Maguire Center.
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
liberal arts college located in Chicopee, Massachusetts
Chicopee, Massachusetts
Chicopee is a city located on the Connecticut River in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States of America. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 55,298, making it the second largest city in...
, near Springfield
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is the most populous city in Western New England, and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers; the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern...
.
History
Elms was founded as a girls' preparatory academyAcademy
An academy is an institution of higher learning, research, or honorary membership.The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 385 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the goddess of wisdom and skill, north of Athens, Greece. In the western world academia is the...
in Pittsfield, Massachusetts
Pittsfield, Massachusetts
Pittsfield is the largest city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Its area code is 413. Its ZIP code is 01201...
, the Academy of Our Lady of the Elms, in 1897. 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
Sisters of Saint Joseph
Sisters of Saint Joseph may refer to seven Roman Catholic congregations of women religious:* Religious Hospitaliers of St. Joseph* Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet* The Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Peace...
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.
Campus
The campus is about two miles north of Metro CenterMetro Center, Springfield, Massachusetts
Metro Center is the original colonial settlement of Springfield, Massachusetts, located beside a bend in the Connecticut River. As of 2011, Metro Center features a majority of Western Massachusetts' most important cultural, business, and civic venues...
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is the most populous city in Western New England, and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers; the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern...
. It is focused on the Keating Quadrangle, which lies at its center, and has 14 buildings.
Academics
Elms is a four-year liberal arts collegeLiberal arts colleges in the United States
Liberal arts colleges in the United States are certain undergraduate institutions of higher education in the United States. The Encyclopædia Britannica Concise offers a definition of the liberal arts as a "college or university curriculum aimed at imparting general knowledge and developing general...
. It offers thirty-three academic major
Academic major
In the United States and Canada, an academic major or major concentration is the academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits....
s to 701 full-time students, and it employs sixty-three full-time faculty
Faculty (university)
A faculty is a division within a university comprising one subject area, or a number of related subject areas...
members.
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.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
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
in baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
, basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, cross-country
Cross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
, golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
, soccer, softball
Softball
Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
, volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
, field hockey
Field hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
, lacrosse
Lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...
, and swimming
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
. The athletics at Elms are based out of The Maguire Center.
Notable faculty
- Thomas Michael O'LearyThomas Michael O'LearyThomas Michael O'Leary was the third Roman Catholic Bishop of Springfield in Massachusetts .The third of seven children, O'Leary was born in Dover, New Hampshire, to Michael and Margaret O'Leary...
, co-founder and first president of Elms College - Christopher Joseph WeldonChristopher Joseph WeldonChristopher Joseph Weldon was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Springfield in Massachusetts from 1950 to 1977.-Biography:...
, president of Elms College from 1958 to 1977 - Paul JenkinsPaul JenkinsPaul Jenkins may refer to:*Paul Jenkins , Welsh Mixed Martial Artist*Paul Jenkins , British comic-book writer*Paul Jenkins , professor of poetry, Hampshire College*Paul Jenkins , U.S...
, professor of poetry
Notable alumni
- Joan HartleyJoan HartleyJoan V. Hartley is an American politician. Hartley, a Democrat, has been a state senator from Connecticut since 2001.Hartley, a resident of Waterbury, represents the western half of the city as well as its southern suburbs of Naugatuck and Prospect in the Connecticut Senate.Hartley was born in...
, state senator from Connecticut - Tracy Butler, creator of the award-winning comic LackadaisyLackadaisyLackadaisy is a webcomic created by artist Tracy J. Butler. Set in a Prohibition-era 1927 St. Louis with a population of anthropomorphic cats, the plot chronicles the fortunes of the Lackadaisy speakeasy after its founder is murdered...