AnIntroductiontoDartmouth.doc

An Introduction to Dartmouth

Dartmouth, a member of the Ivy League, is a private, four-year, coeducational undergraduate college with graduate schools of business, engineering and medicine and 16 graduate programs in the arts and sciences.

Dartmouth is the nation's ninth-oldest college, founded in 1769 by Rev. Eleazar Wheelock for the education of "youth of the Indian Tribes ... English Youth and others ..." Dartmouth became coeducational in 1972. Its colors are Dartmouth Green and white; its nickname is "The Big Green."

Famous alumni of the college include Daniel Webster (1801), U.S Supreme Court Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase (1826), poet Robert Frost (1896), Kanichi Asakawa, the founder of Asian Studies in the United States (1899), pioneering biologist E.E. Just (1907), Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel (1925), Vice President Nelson Rockefeller (1930), former U.S. Surgeon General C Everett Koop M.D. (1937), former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich (1968), and writer Louise Erdrich (1976).

Dartmouth's unique blending of a world-class research university's resources with a college's focus on undergraduate education offers small classes, top-flight facilities, and an outstanding faculty. Professors here are among the leaders in their fields yet remain committed to teaching. Students have the opportunity to take advantage of faculty accessibility throughout their Dartmouth careers, and Dartmouth's strong graduate programs in the arts and sciences allow faculty to further enrich the students' learning experience by offering direct involvement in cutting-edge research.

A flexible academic schedule (the Dartmouth Plan) is possible through the use of a year-round calendar consisting of four ten-week academic terms (fall, winter, spring, and summer). Students include terms of on-campus study, off-campus study in Dartmouth programs or at other institutions, and vacation terms in their individual Dartmouth Plans. Fifty-eight percent of all Dartmouth students participate in at least one of the approximately 45 different off-campus options.

At the heart of the college is one of the oldest research libraries in the United States -- Baker Library. Dartmouth is also at the forefront of educational computing; Dartmouth's high-speed computer network links all dormitory rooms, administrative and academic buildings, and mainframe computers on- and off-campus. All Dartmouth undergraduates own a personal computer; more than 9,000 PCs are in use campuswide.

Dartmouth undergraduates participate in more than 200 student-run organizations ranging from the Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra to the college's student staffed and managed radio stations and the Dartmouth Outing Club. Included are religious organizations, affinity groups, numerous publications, pre-professional societies, and political, economic, social, sports, and recreational organizations. In keeping with Dartmouth's encouragement of student-initiated projects, new organizations and programs are constantly evolving to fill special needs and kindle new enthusiasms. Many Dartmouth student organizations are housed in the Collis Center, the hub of student activities at the college.

Community service is also a major part of the Dartmouth experience. More than 20 percent of undergraduates volunteer, through the Tucker Foundation, for some form of community service to the surrounding Upper Valley community.

The arts at Dartmouth flourish in the two excellent facilities designed to make artistic expression a vital part of community life: the Hood Museum of Art and the Hopkins Center for the Arts.

Dartmouth's 34 intercollegiate teams are members of NCAA Division I and compete largely within the Ivy League and the ECAC. With a strong emphasis on equal opportunity, Dartmouth's athletic opportunities include 16 women's programs, 16 men's programs and two coed teams. In addition, nearly a dozen club sports are available; 3,000 undergraduates annually take part in nearly two-dozen intramural sports.