Everything about Bryn Mawr College totally explained
Bryn Mawr College (correctly
brin mauer, colloquially most often /brɪnˈmɑr/
brin mar) is a highly selective
women's liberal arts college located in
Bryn Mawr, a community in
Lower Merion Township,
Pennsylvania, ten miles west of
Philadelphia. The name "Bryn Mawr" means "large hill" in
Welsh (not "high hill,"
Bryn Uchel, as is often mistakenly given as the translation).
The College is known for its academics, close relationship between students and faculty, and sense of community and shared values. Bryn Mawr College is one of the nation's premier
liberal arts colleges. In terms of academics, percentage of doctorates earned by graduates, placement among select professional schools, student satisfaction/quality of life, and social impact on America according to
US News,
Princeton Review,
NSF data, the
Wall Street Journal and the
Washington Monthly, Bryn Mawr has consistently ranked in the top 20 of liberal arts colleges in America, and sometimes among undergraduate institutions (including universities) as well.
The Washington Monthly also ranked Bryn Mawr College as #1 college in America based on social mobility, fostering scientific and humanistic research, and how well it promotes an ethic of service to the country. It is also home to one of the country's oldest and most highly respected
postbaccalaureate premedical programs.
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Bryn Mawr is one of the
Seven Sister colleges, and is part of the
Tri-College Consortium along with two other colleges founded by
Quakers —
Swarthmore College and
Haverford College. The school has an enrollment of about 1300
undergraduate students and 400
graduate students.
Academics
Students at Bryn Mawr are required to complete divisional requirements in the
social sciences,
natural sciences (including lab skills) and
humanities. In addition, they must fulfill a two-year
foreign language requirement, a quantitative skills requirement and a College Seminar requirement.
History
Bryn Mawr College was founded in
1885, and named after the original home of its founder, a house near Dolgellau, Merionnydd (Merioneth) Gwynedd, Wales, and largely founded through the bequest of
Joseph W. Taylor. It was the first higher education institution to offer graduate degrees, including
doctorates, to women. The first class included 36 undergraduate women and eight graduate students. Bryn Mawr was originally affiliated with the
Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), but by
1893 had become non-denominational.
In
1912, Bryn Mawr became the first college in the
United States to offer doctorates in
social work, through the Department of Social Economy and Social Research. This department became the Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research in
1970. In
1931, Bryn Mawr began accepting men as graduate students, while remaining women-only at the undergraduate level.
College presidents
Vickers has announced that she'll retire in June 2008.
Jane McAuliffe will assume the position July 1st 2008
Notable alumnae and faculty
A number of Bryn Mawr alumnae have gone on to become notable in their respective fields. The list includes
Drew Gilpin Faust, the first woman president of
Harvard University,
modernist poets
H.D. and
Marianne Moore, classics scholar
Edith Hamilton, Nobel Peace Prize winner
Emily Greene Balch, and actress
Katharine Hepburn. Notable faculty include
Woodrow Wilson,
Thomas Hunt Morgan and
Richmond Lattimore.
Organization
Bryn Mawr undergraduates largely govern themselves in academic and social matters. Their Self-Government Association, formed in
1892, is the oldest such organization in the United States. A significant aspect of self-government is the Academic Honor System (
honor code).
Along with
Haverford College, Bryn Mawr forms the Bi-College Community. Students in the "Bi-Co" enjoy unlimited cross-registration privileges and may choose to major at the other institution. The two institutions join with
Swarthmore College to form the Tri-College Consortium, opening the Swarthmore course catalog to interested Bryn Mawr students as well. Free shuttles are provided between the three campuses. There is the Blue Bus between Bryn Mawr and Haverford College, and a van, known to the students as the "Swat Van", that goes between the three colleges.
In addition, the group is affiliated with the
University of Pennsylvania through a special association known as the
Quaker Consortium, allowing Bryn Mawr students to take classes there. Additionally, Bryn Mawr students in the Growth and Structure of Cities department may earn a
Bachelor of Arts at Bryn Mawr and a
master's degree in
city planning at Penn through the 3-2 Program in City and Regional Planning.
Facilities
Bryn Mawr's library holdings are housed in the Mariam Coffin Canaday Library (opened
1970), the Rhys Carpenter Library (opened
1997), and the Lois and Reginald Collier Science Library (opened
1993). TRIPOD, the online library catalog, automatically accesses holdings at Haverford and Swarthmore.
The majority of Bryn Mawr students live on campus in residence halls. Many of the older residence halls are known for their
Gothic revival architecture, modeled after
Oxford University. Each is named after a
county town in
Wales:
Brecon,
Denbigh (
1891),
Merion (
1885), and
Radnor (
1887). Pembroke East and West (
1892). Rhoads North and South was named after the college's first president, James E. Rhoads; Rockefeller is named after its donor,
John D. Rockefeller. The newest residence halls are Erdman (opened
1965, designed by architect
Louis Kahn) and the Haffner Language and Culture House (opened
1971). In addition, students may choose to live in Perry House (the Black Cultural Center) or Batten House (an environmentally-friendly co-op). Glenmede (formerly graduate student housing) is an estate located about a half mile from the main campus which was available housing for undergrduate students. In 2007, it was sold to a conservation buyer as the annual costs of upkeep were too great for the college.
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The campus was designed in part by noted landscape designers
Calvert Vaux and
Frederick Law Olmsted, and has subsequently been designated an
arboretum (the
Bryn Mawr Campus Arboretum).
Architecture and Significant Places
Blanca Noel Taft Memorial Garden
In 1908,
John C. Olmsted designed a private garden for
M. Carey Thomas adjoining the Deanery. Today this garden is modified and renamed the Blanca Noel Taft Memorial Garden. It was designed as a small, serene enclosure with two wall fountains, one with a small basin and the other with a sunken reflecting pool, another smaller reflecting pool, as well as a statuary based on designs Thomas and Garrett had seen in Italy. The decorative wall tiles were purchased from
Syria.
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Erdman Hall Dormitory
In 1960, architect
Louis I. Kahn and Bryn Mawr College president,
Katharine McBride, came together to create one of this century’s great buildings, the Erdman Hall dormitory.
For over a year, Kahn and his assistants struggled to translate the college’s design program of 130 student rooms and public spaces into a scheme (well documented by the letters written between McBride and Kahn). The building comprises three
geometrical square structures, connected at their corners. The outer walls are formed by interlocking student rooms around three inner public spaces: the entry hall, dining hall and living hall. These spaces receive light from towering light monitors.
The Marjorie Walter Goodhart Theater
The Marjorie Walter Goodhart Theater houses a vaulted
auditorium designed by
Arthur Meigs, two smaller spaces that are ideal for intimate performances by visiting artists, practice rooms for student musicians, and the Office for the Arts. The building's towers and
gables,
friezes, carvings and ornamental ironwork were designed by
Samuel Yellin in the
gothic revival style.
(External Link) (External Link) It is about to undergo a $19 million renovation, to be completed in 2009.
M. Carey Thomas Library
Named after Bryn Mawr's first Dean and second president, the M. Carey Thomas Library is no longer a
library. Today, it's a space for performances, readings, lectures, public gatherings and was once the home of the
Athena statue (which was damaged in 1997) which is now located in a high alcove in the Rhys Carpenter Art and Archaeology Library. The Great Hall (formerly the reading room of the old Library) features a
cathedral ceiling painted with geometric
Renaissance patterns and tall, lead-paned windows, which flood the space with light. This area was renovated and conserved by Voith & Mactavish Architects LLP.
(External Link) M. Carey Thomas Library encloses a large open courtyard called "The
Cloisters", which is the site of the College's traditional Lantern Night Ceremony. The
cremated remains of M. Carey Thomas are in the courtyard cloister. Alumna
Katharine Hepburn used to go
skinny dipping in the Cloisters fountain, a fact confirmed by the source in her 1985 graduation address. A popular
tradition is for undergraduates to do the same before graduating and conveniently the fountain contains
chlorinated water.
Rhys Carpenter Art and Archaeology Library
Named for Bryn Mawr’s late professor of Classical
Archaeology, the Rhys Carpenter Library was designed by
Henry Myerberg of New York and opened in 1997. The space is attached to the rear of the M. Carey Thomas Library. The entrance is a four story
atrium. Names of art and archaeology faculty are on the main wall with a
frieze of plaster casts from ancient
Halicarnassus. Most of the stacks, study areas, lecture halls and seminar rooms were built underground. The roof comprises a wide grassy area used for outdoor concerts and picnics. The building won a 2001 Award of Excellence for Library Architecture from the Library Administration and Management Association and the American Institute of Architects. Carpenter Library also houses the College's renowned collections in Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology, History of Art and Classics
(External Link). The building also contains a large lecture hall and a seminar room.
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Traditions
The four major traditions are Parade Night, which takes place on the first night of the academic year; Lantern Night, which takes place in late October or early November; Hell Week, which takes place in mid-February; and May Day, which takes place on the Sunday after classes end in the spring semester. Step sings, when students bring their class lanterns and congregate at Taylor Hall, singing songs such as "
Bread and Roses", occur around these events as well.
The two traditions mistresses of the College, elected by the student body, are in charge of organizing and running traditions.
In addition to events, Bryn Mawr's traditions extend to superstitions around the campus, some of which date back to the opening of the college in
1885.
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Parade Night
On the first night of classes, first year students are gathered near the main entrance to the college. The remainder of the college community gathers, by class, lining the sides of the road leading to the steps of Taylor Hall. The Freshmen must run through the road first pelted by
water balloons by the Sophomore class, then showered with candy by the Junior class as the Senior class looks on.
Older parade nights (until the 60s or 70s) were quite different. There was a large
bonfire built on Merion Green and a parade led by the local firemen's band that led to the bonfire. Freshmen joined hands in circles around the bonfire and the Sophomores tried to break through these circles. Part of the older Parade Night ceremony has survived to date. Each Freshman class writes a Parade Night Song, which the Sophomores attempt to steal a copy of so that they can write a Parade Night
Parody. The songs are sung on the steps of Taylor Hall after the "Parade" in a Step Sing.
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Lantern Night
Dressed in traditional black
academic robes, Freshmen are given lanterns from the upperclasswomen in their class color symbolically representing the light of knowledge being passed from one class to another. The color of the lantern's panes are the same as the previous year's departing class, either red, dark blue, green or light blue or the McBride scholar color of purple. During this intricate ceremony, Sophomores hand out the lanterns while the Juniors and Seniors lead the singing of college hymns in
Greek. The tradition concludes with a Step Sing on the Taylor Hall steps.
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Hell Week
Hell Week occurs in mid-February, about a month after students return from winter break. It serves as a way to break the monotony in the time between winter and spring breaks.
Freshmen are put through academic and social paces by gentle "hazing" conducted by the Sophomore class. Freshmen often perform random or ridiculous tasks, such as asking silly questions in class, reciting poetry extolling the virtues of the Sophomore class in public, or performing on a stage erected in the main dining hall. Juniors attempt to provide relief for the Freshmen by giving them gifts or providing them "safe havens".
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May Day
Bryn Mawr College now celebrates
May Day on the first Sunday following the end of classes. Somewhat akin to a mini
renaissance festival, it's a day long celebration in which students and faculty participate. The students dress in white and begin the day by feasting on
strawberries and
cream. Students then perform in a myriad of traditional
parades,
plays, and
concerts including various cultural dancing display such as
Maypole and
Scottish Country dancing.
Like Lantern Night and Parade Night, May Day ends in a Step Sing and then is concluded with the traditional showing of "
The Philadelphia Story," starring Alumna
Katharine Hepburn.
(External Link)Further Information
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