Five Colleges (Massachusetts)
Encyclopedia
The Five Colleges comprises four liberal arts college
s and one university
in the Connecticut River
Pioneer Valley
of Western Massachusetts
, totaling approximately 28,000 students. The schools belong to a consortium called Five Colleges, Incorporated, established in 1965. They are geographically close to one another and are linked by buses which run among the campuses.
, Hampshire College
, Mount Holyoke College
, Smith College
, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst
. A similar organization exists directly to the south and is known as the Cooperating Colleges of Greater Springfield (CCGS).
was founded in 1969 by the Five College Astronomy Department. Together, the Five Colleges operate WFCR
, "Five College Radio", an NPR affiliate operating at 88.5 MHz
in the FM
band. They also participate in an interlibrary loan program, allowing students, staff, and faculty to take advantage of all five campuses' collections.
In addition, students at each of these schools often take classes at the other colleges ("cross-registration" is permitted and often encouraged). Student groups and organizations often draw participants from all five campuses and several academic programs (for example, astronomy
, dance
, some foreign languages, and women's studies
) are run by the Five Colleges.
among Five College students holds that the characters on the Saturday morning cartoon
Scooby-Doo
represent the five colleges. The legend has Daphne representing Mount Holyoke College and Velma as Smith College, with Fred representing Amherst College, Shaggy as Hampshire College, and Scooby as UMass Amherst. Hanna-Barbera Productions, CBS
executive Fred Silverman
, and some of the show's writers have said that this story is false, and that the show was actually based on the radio program I Love a Mystery
and the TV sitcom The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis
. However, these claims have never been proven and the Five College community still celebrates this fact with pride.
(PVTA) provides free inter-campus bus service to students. The bus line runs among the Five Colleges on frequent schedule seven days a week, allowing car-free travel to class and social events. Hourly buses run into the early morning on weekends, an alternative to driving after drinking. This service is funded through a contract with the member institutions. Schedules can be found at www.umass.edu/transit.
Greyhound Bus Lines and Peter Pan Bus Lines
also offer regional service. National service is offered through the Springfield, Massachusetts
Bus Terminal.
service is offered at the Amherst station (AMM). It is contiguous to the Amherst College campus and a PVTA bus stop. Service is North/South, although many more connections are available one stop away at the Springfield station (SPG). Service to Boston
, Montreal
, New York City
, Albany
, and distant points are available by connecting to regional service at Springfield.
(FAA: OB5) are the closest dedicated general aviation airports. They offer 24 hour access for private aircraft, including corporate jets. 7B2 and 0B5 can only accommodate very small corporate jets.
(FAA: BDL) in northern Connecticut (45 minutes) and Logan International Airport
(FAA: BOS) in Boston (90 minutes). Logan offers extensive international flights. Regular schedules are available shuttles for a fee.
Liberal 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...
s and one university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
in the Connecticut River
Connecticut River
The Connecticut River is the largest and longest river in New England, and also an American Heritage River. It flows roughly south, starting from the Fourth Connecticut Lake in New Hampshire. After flowing through the remaining Connecticut Lakes and Lake Francis, it defines the border between the...
Pioneer Valley
Pioneer Valley
The Pioneer Valley is the colloquial name for the U.S. Commonwealth of Massachusetts's portion of the Connecticut River Valley. The Pioneer Valley consists of three counties in Massachusetts which collectively feature much of New England's most fertile farmland...
of Western Massachusetts
Western Massachusetts
Western Massachusetts is a loosely defined geographical region of the U.S. state of Massachusetts which contains the Berkshires, the Pioneer Valley, and some or all of the Swift River Valley. The region is always considered to include Berkshire, Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden counties, and the...
, totaling approximately 28,000 students. The schools belong to a consortium called Five Colleges, Incorporated, established in 1965. They are geographically close to one another and are linked by buses which run among the campuses.
Members
The consortium is composed of Amherst CollegeAmherst College
Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...
, Hampshire College
Hampshire College
Hampshire College is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1965 as an experiment in alternative education, in association with four other colleges in the Pioneer Valley: Amherst College, Smith College, Mount Holyoke College, and the University of Massachusetts...
, Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College is a liberal arts college for women in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It was the first member of the Seven Sisters colleges, and served as a model for some of the others...
, Smith College
Smith College
Smith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters...
, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst
University of Massachusetts Amherst
The University of Massachusetts Amherst is a public research and land-grant university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States and the flagship of the University of Massachusetts system...
. A similar organization exists directly to the south and is known as the Cooperating Colleges of Greater Springfield (CCGS).
Overview
The five colleges operate both as independent entities as well as mutually dependent institutions. The Five College Radio Astronomy ObservatoryFive College Radio Astronomy Observatory
The Five College Radio Astronomical Observatory was an radio astronomy observatory located on a peninsula in the Quabbin Reservoir. It was sited in the town of New Salem, Massachusetts on land that was originally part of Prescott, Massachusetts...
was founded in 1969 by the Five College Astronomy Department. Together, the Five Colleges operate WFCR
WFCR
- WNNZ :WFCR provides a full-time NPR news/talk programming feed on WNNZ, 640 kHz, licensed to Westfield, Massachusetts, which was owned by Clear Channel Communications. WNNZ's grade B signal reaches into the Capital District of New York State....
, "Five College Radio", an NPR affiliate operating at 88.5 MHz
Hertz
The hertz is the SI unit of frequency defined as the number of cycles per second of a periodic phenomenon. One of its most common uses is the description of the sine wave, particularly those used in radio and audio applications....
in the FM
Frequency modulation
In telecommunications and signal processing, frequency modulation conveys information over a carrier wave by varying its instantaneous frequency. This contrasts with amplitude modulation, in which the amplitude of the carrier is varied while its frequency remains constant...
band. They also participate in an interlibrary loan program, allowing students, staff, and faculty to take advantage of all five campuses' collections.
In addition, students at each of these schools often take classes at the other colleges ("cross-registration" is permitted and often encouraged). Student groups and organizations often draw participants from all five campuses and several academic programs (for example, astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
, dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
, some foreign languages, and women's studies
Women's studies
Women's studies, also known as feminist studies, is an interdisciplinary academic field which explores politics, society and history from an intersectional, multicultural women's perspective...
) are run by the Five Colleges.
Five-College folklore
A popular urban legendUrban legend
An urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true...
among Five College students holds that the characters on the Saturday morning cartoon
Saturday morning cartoon
A Saturday morning cartoon is the colloquial term for the animated television programming that has typically been scheduled on Saturday mornings on the major American television networks from the 1960s to the present; the genre's peak in popularity mostly ended in the 1990s while the popularity of...
Scooby-Doo
Scooby-Doo
Scooby-Doo is an American media franchise based around several animated television series and related works produced from 1969 to the present day. The original series, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, was created for Hanna-Barbera Productions by writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears in 1969...
represent the five colleges. The legend has Daphne representing Mount Holyoke College and Velma as Smith College, with Fred representing Amherst College, Shaggy as Hampshire College, and Scooby as UMass Amherst. Hanna-Barbera Productions, CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
executive Fred Silverman
Fred Silverman
Fred Silverman is an American television executive and producer. He worked as an executive at the CBS, ABC and NBC networks, and was responsible for bringing to television such programs as the series Scooby-Doo , All in the Family , The Waltons , and Charlie's Angels , as well as the...
, and some of the show's writers have said that this story is false, and that the show was actually based on the radio program I Love a Mystery
I Love a Mystery
I Love a Mystery was a radio drama series about three friends who ran a detective agency and traveled the world in search of adventure. Distinguished by the high octane scripting of Carlton E...
and the TV sitcom The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis
The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis
The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from 1959 to 1963. The series and some episode scripts were adapted from a 1951 collection of short stories of the same name, written by Max Shulman, that also inspired the 1953 film The Affairs of Dobie Gillis with Debbie...
. However, these claims have never been proven and the Five College community still celebrates this fact with pride.
Bus
The Pioneer Valley Transit AuthorityPioneer Valley Transit Authority
The Pioneer Valley Transit Authority oversees and coordinates public transportation in the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts. Currently the PVTA offers fixed-route bus service as well as paratransit service for the elderly and disabled. The PVTA was created by Chapter 161B of the...
(PVTA) provides free inter-campus bus service to students. The bus line runs among the Five Colleges on frequent schedule seven days a week, allowing car-free travel to class and social events. Hourly buses run into the early morning on weekends, an alternative to driving after drinking. This service is funded through a contract with the member institutions. Schedules can be found at www.umass.edu/transit.
Greyhound Bus Lines and Peter Pan Bus Lines
Peter Pan Bus Lines
Peter Pan Bus Lines is a long-distance bus carrier headquartered in Springfield, Massachusetts. It operates in the northeastern United States. Over four million passengers per year travel on Peter Pan's bus routes....
also offer regional service. National service is offered through the 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...
Bus Terminal.
Rail
Limited AmtrakAmtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
service is offered at the Amherst station (AMM). It is contiguous to the Amherst College campus and a PVTA bus stop. Service is North/South, although many more connections are available one stop away at the Springfield station (SPG). Service to Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Albany
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
, and distant points are available by connecting to regional service at Springfield.
General Aviation
Northampton Airport (FAA: 7B2) and Turners Falls AirportTurners Falls Airport
Turners Falls Airport is a public airport located three miles north of the central business district of Montague, a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, USA. The airport is owned by the Town of Montague...
(FAA: OB5) are the closest dedicated general aviation airports. They offer 24 hour access for private aircraft, including corporate jets. 7B2 and 0B5 can only accommodate very small corporate jets.
Airlines
Major domestic scheduled airline service is available at both Bradley International AirportBradley International Airport
Bradley International Airport is a joint civil-military public airport located in Windsor Locks on the border with East Granby and Suffield, in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. It is owned by the State of Connecticut....
(FAA: BDL) in northern Connecticut (45 minutes) and Logan International Airport
Logan International Airport
General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport is located in the East Boston neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts . It covers , has six runways, and employs an estimated 16,000 people. It is the 19th busiest airport in the United States.Boston serves as a focus city for JetBlue Airways...
(FAA: BOS) in Boston (90 minutes). Logan offers extensive international flights. Regular schedules are available shuttles for a fee.
See also
- Museums10Museums10Museums10 is a consortium of art, science, and history museums in Western Massachusetts. It is composed of museums from the Five Colleges and Historic Deerfield.-Art museums:*The Mead Art Museum...
, a collaboration of several local museums run by the Five Colleges