Simon's Rock College of Bard
Encyclopedia
Bard College at Simon's Rock, more commonly known as Simon's Rock (see below), is a residential
four-year liberal arts college
located in Great Barrington, Massachusetts
, USA. Simon's Rock is an "early college", designed for students to enroll immediately after completing the tenth or eleventh grade, rather than after graduating from high school.
The college's founder, Elizabeth Blodgett Hall
, had formerly been a private girls' school headmistress at Concord Academy
. She concluded from her experience, and that of her colleagues, that for many students the latter two years of high school are wasted on repetitious and overly constrained work. Many young students, she thought, are ready to pursue college-level academic work some time before the usual system asks it of them.
While Simon's Rock is the only accredited four-year early college to date and still the singular college or university to take this approach with all of its students, it is now one of a number of early college entrance program
s that provide opportunities for students to enter college one or more years ahead of their traditional high school graduation date. A majority of students transfer to larger institutions after receiving an Associate of Arts degree
degree after two years, although many stay for four to receive a Bachelor of Arts.
, currently in the woods on the campus, a short walk from the main part of the campus. At the time that Simon's Rock earned its name (in the early 1920s), the woods that now surround it were part of the vast area of land called Great Pine Farm. The rock was a favorite spot for people who lived nearby, especially children. One neighborhood child, named Simon, claimed the rock as her own.
When envisioning the college in the early 1960s, Elizabeth Blodgett Hall deliberately named it nothing more than "Simon's Rock." Her reasoning for this was that even she didn't know if it would be a high school, a college, or something else.
Throughout its short history, Simon's Rock has gone through names such as "Simon's Rock," "Simon's Rock Early College," "Simon's Rock of Bard College" (for a period after 1979, when it was acquired by Bard College
) and "Simon's Rock College of Bard".
In 2006, it was announced that the school would once again change its name, making it "Bard College at Simon's Rock". Vice President and Provost Mary Marcy said that the reasons for the change include an effort "to be more clear about identity" and "to be very clear about the Bard College system." Reactions were mixed among students, employees and alumni, many of whom were staunchly opposed to the name. The relationship with Bard College
, which is more clear than it has ever been with the new name, has become a point of contention among members of the school community. The name change went into effect in August 2007.
, a small town (pop. 7,500) in the Berkshires region of Massachusetts
. The town of Great Barrington is neighbored by the towns of Lee
, Stockbridge
and West Stockbridge
to the north, Alford
and Egremont
to the west, Sheffield
and New Marlborough
to the south, and Monterey
and Tyringham
to the east.
The main section of the campus is on Alford Road, about two miles (3 km) from downtown Great Barrington, on an area that used to be a large farm. A few buildings are in an area known as Upper Campus, which is three-quarters of a mile from the main section of the campus along a road known as Drab Avenue (Bard backwards). Steep and often rutted and hazardous, Drab Ave. was repaired and opened for use during the Spring 2009 semester, directly relinking Upper Campus with the main campus, Lower Campus.
Bus service is available through request for transportation between the college campus and the town center, as well as other points throughout the Berkshires, by the Berkshire Regional Transit Authority. This service is on request. The college also runs a limited shuttle system into town.
In 1966, the first class, all women
, were admitted to Simon's Rock. These women, along with some of the other early classes, went through a four-year program that resulted in the associate's degree
, at which point students desiring a further degree would have to transfer to another school. This differs from the current system, in which students receive an associate's degree typically after two years, and a bachelor's degree
after four years of study.
1970 saw both the first commencement ceremonies at Simon's Rock as well as the first coeducational entering class.
Hall retired as Simon's Rock's president in 1972, handing the post off to Dr. Baird W. Whitlock, whose presidency ended in 1977. Though only serving for five years, Whitlock was very influential to Simon's Rock's development. He oversaw a complete change in the associate's program, which was condensed into two years, eliminating the high school components. He also oversaw the beginning of the bachelor's degree program, which was accredited in 1974 by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges
.
Dr. Samuel McGill was Simon's Rock's president from 1977 to 1979, at which point Bard College
became affiliated with Simon's Rock. The acquisition was completed as an attempt to bring Simon's Rock out of the major financial struggle it was experiencing. At the time that Simon's Rock was looking for a school to acquire it, some of the possible schools included Boston University
and Yale University
. The Bard acquisition took about one month from start to finish. This made Leon Botstein
, the president of Bard, the ex officio president of Simon's Rock, and he still holds both offices today.
In 1981, with the help of various donors, Simon's Rock purchased the 75 acres (303,514.5 m²) Upper Campus, a former seminary
three quarters of a mile uphill from the original Simon's Rock campus. This added a gymnasium, chapel and various forms of housing to Simon's Rock's assets.
In 1989, an arts and humanities building was built directly across Alford Road, near the college's other arts buildings. In the same year, the student union was established in the lower level of the dining hall.
In 1993, the then-unused chapel from upper campus was relocated to the main part of campus and renovated, becoming the college's music building. That same year, a number of the campus's arts and dormitory buildings were also renovated.
Since then, many buildings have been built or renovated. These include the Fisher Science and Academic Center (completed 1998), the Kilpatrick Athletic Center (completed 1999), the Daniel Arts Center (completed 2005), an apartment-like dormitory for upperclassmen (Pibly House, completed 2000), the Livingston Hall Student Union (completed 2006), and others.
In 2000, Simon's Rock became the first college in the United States to officially recognize International Workers' Day
.
On April 11, 2006, part of Carriage House, a residence in upper campus, burned in an electrical fire in the early morning. No one was hurt in the incident, but some student possessions were partially or entirely destroyed. The remnants of the building were burnt down by the Great Barrington Fire Department in January 2009 in a training exercise.
, a student at the school, shot and killed one student and one professor, and wounded three students and a security guard. His SKS
rifle soon jammed and Lo later surrendered to authorities without further incident.
The people killed in the shooting were 18-year-old Galen Gibson and 37-year-old Ñacuñán Saez. The shooting led to major upheaval in Great Barrington, including lawsuits against the college for failing to prevent it. Gibson's father, Gregory Gibson, later wrote a book about the tragedy, Gone Boy: A Walkabout, published in 2000. A scholarship was also established by the college in the name of Galen Gibson; it is still currently offered.
Over 40 concentrations are available, including art history, Asian studies, chemistry, mathematics, physics, and theater. The school offers study abroad and independent study opportunities, as well as a 3/2 dual-degree program with Columbia University
for those who wish to pursue engineering. Similar programs are available with Dartmouth College
and Washington University in St. Louis
. Students are encouraged to broaden their academic horizons by studying abroad such as spending one or more terms at Lincoln College
in the University of Oxford, or at other institutions during their time as a Simon's Rock enrollee.
While most students receive associate's degree degrees after two years and transfer to other institutions, others moderate into the Simon's Rock B.A. program. Those who wish to remain eligible for a bachelor's degree must complete senior theses, which become professionally printed, archived, and remain available to the public in the Alumni Library.
Classes are discussion-oriented, with lecture based offerings largely limited to low level science courses. The system is predicated on the idea that the students bring as much value to the class as the professors. In fact, orientation for incoming students is a mandatory week-long writing and thinking workshop, designed to readjust students to pedagogical, cooperative bidirectional learning.
It is a school policy that teachers are referred to on a first-name basis. For example, students don't refer to the former dean as "Dr. Bernard Rodgers," but instead call him "Bernie." Professors never receive tenure as a matter of policy.
U.S. News and World Report ranks Simon's Rock third among baccalaureate colleges in the Northern U.S.
Washington Monthly ranked Simon's Rock first among baccalaureate colleges in the nation in 2010.
In addition, The Princeton Review
gives Simon's Rock an academic rating of 98 out of 100; on par with schools like Yale University
, and only one point below Harvard University
.
There are only about 380 students (though due to its small size, large fluctuations in class enrollment and admissions are common), resulting in a very low student-to-faculty ratio, around 8:1. Few classes have more than 15 students; none have more than 30. Some classes have as few as three students, and independent study or tutorial courses in which one student works closely with a professor are common.
is the mascot of Bard College at Simon's Rock. This is due to the proximity of the college soccer
fields to Seekonk Veterinary Hospital, a veterinary clinic that, at one time, had a llama pasture. Interscholastic sports offered at the school include soccer, basketball, and swimming.
All students at Simon's Rock are required to fulfill athletic requirements through the "Recreational Athletic Program."http://www.simons-rock.edu/campus-resources/facilities/kilpatrick-athletic-center/student-raps/?searchterm=athletics RAP courses include traditional gym classes, such as martial arts, swimming lessons, weight training, and so on, but extend to things like bowling
, dodgeball
, hackeysack, gardening and scuba diving.
Eight dormitories are currently used to house students. Three of these are predominantly for first-year students, while the others are for other classes:
Crosby, Dolliver and Kendrick are known as the "TriDorms."
Both Pibly House and The Cottage are on Upper Campus, a portion of the campus that is about 3/4 mile uphill from the main section of the campus. Other buildings on Upper Campus include the provost's house, the Annex (a small building that houses staff), and formerly Carriage House. The majority of Carriage House was destroyed in a fire in 2005, and the remains stood until 2009. The remnants of the building were burnt down by the Great Barrington
Fire Department
as a training exercise. As mentioned above, a new Carriage has been built. During the Fall 2008 semester the College also provided overflow student housing at the nearby Days Inn hotel.
Residential college
A residential college is an organisational pattern for a division of a university that places academic activity in a community setting of students and faculty, usually at a residence and with shared meals, the college having a degree of autonomy and a federated relationship with the overall...
four-year liberal arts college
Liberal arts college
A liberal arts college is one with a primary emphasis on undergraduate study in the liberal arts and sciences.Students in the liberal arts generally major in a particular discipline while receiving exposure to a wide range of academic subjects, including sciences as well as the traditional...
located in Great Barrington, Massachusetts
Great Barrington, Massachusetts
Great Barrington is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 7,104 at the 2010 census. Both a summer resort and home to Ski Butternut, Great Barrington includes the villages of Van...
, USA. Simon's Rock is an "early college", designed for students to enroll immediately after completing the tenth or eleventh grade, rather than after graduating from high school.
The college's founder, Elizabeth Blodgett Hall
Elizabeth Blodgett Hall
Elizabeth Blodgett Hall was raised in Great Barrington, Massachusetts at a time when upper-class people fled there in order to avoid the economic pressures of the Great Depression....
, had formerly been a private girls' school headmistress at Concord Academy
Concord Academy
Concord Academy is a coeducational, independent, college preparatory school for grades nine through twelve, located in Concord, Massachusetts...
. She concluded from her experience, and that of her colleagues, that for many students the latter two years of high school are wasted on repetitious and overly constrained work. Many young students, she thought, are ready to pursue college-level academic work some time before the usual system asks it of them.
While Simon's Rock is the only accredited four-year early college to date and still the singular college or university to take this approach with all of its students, it is now one of a number of early college entrance program
Early college entrance program
Early college entrance programs, sometimes called early admission or early enrollment programs are educational programs that allow high school students to be accelerated into college, together with other such students, one or more years before the traditional age of college entrance, and without...
s that provide opportunities for students to enter college one or more years ahead of their traditional high school graduation date. A majority of students transfer to larger institutions after receiving an Associate of Arts degree
Associate's degree
An associate degree is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by community colleges, junior colleges, technical colleges, and bachelor's degree-granting colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study usually lasting two years...
degree after two years, although many stay for four to receive a Bachelor of Arts.
The name
The name "Simon's Rock" comes from a large rock, a glacial erraticGlacial erratic
A glacial erratic is a piece of rock that differs from the size and type of rock native to the area in which it rests. "Erratics" take their name from the Latin word errare, and are carried by glacial ice, often over distances of hundreds of kilometres...
, currently in the woods on the campus, a short walk from the main part of the campus. At the time that Simon's Rock earned its name (in the early 1920s), the woods that now surround it were part of the vast area of land called Great Pine Farm. The rock was a favorite spot for people who lived nearby, especially children. One neighborhood child, named Simon, claimed the rock as her own.
When envisioning the college in the early 1960s, Elizabeth Blodgett Hall deliberately named it nothing more than "Simon's Rock." Her reasoning for this was that even she didn't know if it would be a high school, a college, or something else.
Throughout its short history, Simon's Rock has gone through names such as "Simon's Rock," "Simon's Rock Early College," "Simon's Rock of Bard College" (for a period after 1979, when it was acquired by Bard College
Bard College
Bard College, founded in 1860 as "St. Stephen's College", is a small four-year liberal arts college located in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York.-Location:...
) and "Simon's Rock College of Bard".
In 2006, it was announced that the school would once again change its name, making it "Bard College at Simon's Rock". Vice President and Provost Mary Marcy said that the reasons for the change include an effort "to be more clear about identity" and "to be very clear about the Bard College system." Reactions were mixed among students, employees and alumni, many of whom were staunchly opposed to the name. The relationship with Bard College
Bard College
Bard College, founded in 1860 as "St. Stephen's College", is a small four-year liberal arts college located in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York.-Location:...
, which is more clear than it has ever been with the new name, has become a point of contention among members of the school community. The name change went into effect in August 2007.
Location
Simon's Rock is located on a 275 acre (1.1-km²) campus in Great BarringtonGreat Barrington, Massachusetts
Great Barrington is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 7,104 at the 2010 census. Both a summer resort and home to Ski Butternut, Great Barrington includes the villages of Van...
, a small town (pop. 7,500) in the Berkshires region of Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. The town of Great Barrington is neighbored by the towns of Lee
Lee, Massachusetts
Lee is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, metropolitan statistical area. The population was 5,943 which was determined in the 2010 census. Lee, which includes the villages of South and East Lee, is part of the Berkshires resort...
, Stockbridge
Stockbridge, Massachusetts
Stockbridge is a town in Berkshire County in Western Massachusetts. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,947 at the 2010 census...
and West Stockbridge
West Stockbridge, Massachusetts
West Stockbridge is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,416 at the 2000 census.- History :...
to the north, Alford
Alford, Massachusetts
Alford is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 494 at the 2010 census.- History :...
and Egremont
Egremont, Massachusetts
Egremont is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,225 at the 2010 census. Egremont consists of two villages, North Egremont and South Egremont....
to the west, Sheffield
Sheffield, Massachusetts
Not to be confused with the city of Sheffield in the UK, or Sheffield, Vermont.Sheffield is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 3,257 at the 2010 census. Sheffield is home to...
and New Marlborough
New Marlborough, Massachusetts
New Marlborough is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,494 at the 2000 census...
to the south, and Monterey
Monterey, Massachusetts
Monterey is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 934 at the 2000 census.- History :...
and Tyringham
Tyringham, Massachusetts
Tyringham is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 327 at the 2010 census.- History :...
to the east.
The main section of the campus is on Alford Road, about two miles (3 km) from downtown Great Barrington, on an area that used to be a large farm. A few buildings are in an area known as Upper Campus, which is three-quarters of a mile from the main section of the campus along a road known as Drab Avenue (Bard backwards). Steep and often rutted and hazardous, Drab Ave. was repaired and opened for use during the Spring 2009 semester, directly relinking Upper Campus with the main campus, Lower Campus.
Bus service is available through request for transportation between the college campus and the town center, as well as other points throughout the Berkshires, by the Berkshire Regional Transit Authority. This service is on request. The college also runs a limited shuttle system into town.
History
Simon's Rock was officially founded in 1964. From 1964 to 1970, the buildings of the campus were built on Great Pine Farm, a farm that was owned by Hall's family. These buildings were the college center, the library, the classroom buildings, three dormitories (now dormitories primarily for first-year students: Crosby, Dolliver, and Kendrick) and the dining hall. Some of the farm's buildings, such as Hall's own home, were incorporated into the college campus as well. Hall was the president of the college at its founding.In 1966, the first class, all women
Women's college
Women's colleges in higher education are undergraduate, bachelor's degree-granting institutions, often liberal arts colleges, whose student populations are composed exclusively or almost exclusively of women...
, were admitted to Simon's Rock. These women, along with some of the other early classes, went through a four-year program that resulted in the associate's degree
Associate's degree
An associate degree is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by community colleges, junior colleges, technical colleges, and bachelor's degree-granting colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study usually lasting two years...
, at which point students desiring a further degree would have to transfer to another school. This differs from the current system, in which students receive an associate's degree typically after two years, and a bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
after four years of study.
1970 saw both the first commencement ceremonies at Simon's Rock as well as the first coeducational entering class.
Hall retired as Simon's Rock's president in 1972, handing the post off to Dr. Baird W. Whitlock, whose presidency ended in 1977. Though only serving for five years, Whitlock was very influential to Simon's Rock's development. He oversaw a complete change in the associate's program, which was condensed into two years, eliminating the high school components. He also oversaw the beginning of the bachelor's degree program, which was accredited in 1974 by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges
New England Association of Schools and Colleges
The New England Association of Schools and Colleges, Inc. is the U.S. regional accreditation association providing educational accreditation for all levels of education, from pre-kindergarten to the doctoral level, in the six-state New England region. It also provides accreditation for some...
.
Dr. Samuel McGill was Simon's Rock's president from 1977 to 1979, at which point Bard College
Bard College
Bard College, founded in 1860 as "St. Stephen's College", is a small four-year liberal arts college located in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York.-Location:...
became affiliated with Simon's Rock. The acquisition was completed as an attempt to bring Simon's Rock out of the major financial struggle it was experiencing. At the time that Simon's Rock was looking for a school to acquire it, some of the possible schools included Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
and Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
. The Bard acquisition took about one month from start to finish. This made Leon Botstein
Leon Botstein
Leon Botstein is an American conductor and the President of Bard College . Botstein is the music director and principal conductor of the American Symphony Orchestra and conductor laureate of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, where he served as music director and principal conductor from 2003-2010...
, the president of Bard, the ex officio president of Simon's Rock, and he still holds both offices today.
In 1981, with the help of various donors, Simon's Rock purchased the 75 acres (303,514.5 m²) Upper Campus, a former seminary
Seminary
A seminary, theological college, or divinity school is an institution of secondary or post-secondary education for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for ordination as clergy or for other ministry...
three quarters of a mile uphill from the original Simon's Rock campus. This added a gymnasium, chapel and various forms of housing to Simon's Rock's assets.
In 1989, an arts and humanities building was built directly across Alford Road, near the college's other arts buildings. In the same year, the student union was established in the lower level of the dining hall.
In 1993, the then-unused chapel from upper campus was relocated to the main part of campus and renovated, becoming the college's music building. That same year, a number of the campus's arts and dormitory buildings were also renovated.
Since then, many buildings have been built or renovated. These include the Fisher Science and Academic Center (completed 1998), the Kilpatrick Athletic Center (completed 1999), the Daniel Arts Center (completed 2005), an apartment-like dormitory for upperclassmen (Pibly House, completed 2000), the Livingston Hall Student Union (completed 2006), and others.
In 2000, Simon's Rock became the first college in the United States to officially recognize International Workers' Day
International Workers' Day
International Workers' Day is a celebration of the international labour movement and left-wing movements. It commonly sees organized street demonstrations and marches by working people and their labour unions throughout most of the world. May 1 is a national holiday in more than 80 countries...
.
On April 11, 2006, part of Carriage House, a residence in upper campus, burned in an electrical fire in the early morning. No one was hurt in the incident, but some student possessions were partially or entirely destroyed. The remnants of the building were burnt down by the Great Barrington Fire Department in January 2009 in a training exercise.
1992 shooting
On December 14, 1992, a shooting occurred at Simon's Rock College. At around 10:30 pm, Wayne LoWayne Lo
Wayne Lo is a Taiwanese-American murderer who perpetrated the shooting at Simon's Rock College of Bard on December 14, 1992 in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. He killed one student and a professor, and wounded four people before he surrendered to police...
, a student at the school, shot and killed one student and one professor, and wounded three students and a security guard. His SKS
SKS
The SKS is a Soviet semi-automatic rifle chambered for the 7.62x39mm round, designed in 1943 by Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov. SKS-45 is an acronym for Samozaryadnyj Karabin sistemy Simonova, 1945 Simonov system, 1945), or SKS 45. The Sks is a scaled down version of the PTRS-41 anti-tank rifle also...
rifle soon jammed and Lo later surrendered to authorities without further incident.
The people killed in the shooting were 18-year-old Galen Gibson and 37-year-old Ñacuñán Saez. The shooting led to major upheaval in Great Barrington, including lawsuits against the college for failing to prevent it. Gibson's father, Gregory Gibson, later wrote a book about the tragedy, Gone Boy: A Walkabout, published in 2000. A scholarship was also established by the college in the name of Galen Gibson; it is still currently offered.
Academics
Faculty at Bard College at Simon's Rock are primarily appointed to one of the following four academic divisions: the Division of the Arts, the Division of Languages and Literature, the Division of Science, Mathematics and Computing, and the Division of Social Studies. Students may also hold one of several concentrations available under Interdivisonal Studies.Over 40 concentrations are available, including art history, Asian studies, chemistry, mathematics, physics, and theater. The school offers study abroad and independent study opportunities, as well as a 3/2 dual-degree program with Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
for those who wish to pursue engineering. Similar programs are available with Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
and Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis is a private research university located in suburban St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1853, and named for George Washington, the university has students and faculty from all fifty U.S. states and more than 110 nations...
. Students are encouraged to broaden their academic horizons by studying abroad such as spending one or more terms at Lincoln College
Lincoln College, Oxford
Lincoln College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is situated on Turl Street in central Oxford, backing onto Brasenose College and adjacent to Exeter College...
in the University of Oxford, or at other institutions during their time as a Simon's Rock enrollee.
While most students receive associate's degree degrees after two years and transfer to other institutions, others moderate into the Simon's Rock B.A. program. Those who wish to remain eligible for a bachelor's degree must complete senior theses, which become professionally printed, archived, and remain available to the public in the Alumni Library.
Classes are discussion-oriented, with lecture based offerings largely limited to low level science courses. The system is predicated on the idea that the students bring as much value to the class as the professors. In fact, orientation for incoming students is a mandatory week-long writing and thinking workshop, designed to readjust students to pedagogical, cooperative bidirectional learning.
It is a school policy that teachers are referred to on a first-name basis. For example, students don't refer to the former dean as "Dr. Bernard Rodgers," but instead call him "Bernie." Professors never receive tenure as a matter of policy.
U.S. News and World Report ranks Simon's Rock third among baccalaureate colleges in the Northern U.S.
Washington Monthly ranked Simon's Rock first among baccalaureate colleges in the nation in 2010.
In addition, The Princeton Review
The Princeton Review
The Princeton Review is an American-based standardized test preparation and admissions consulting company. The Princeton Review operates in 41 states and 22 countries across the globe. It offers test preparation for standardized aptitude tests such as the SAT and advice regarding college...
gives Simon's Rock an academic rating of 98 out of 100; on par with schools like Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, and only one point below Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
.
There are only about 380 students (though due to its small size, large fluctuations in class enrollment and admissions are common), resulting in a very low student-to-faculty ratio, around 8:1. Few classes have more than 15 students; none have more than 30. Some classes have as few as three students, and independent study or tutorial courses in which one student works closely with a professor are common.
Athletics
The llamaLlama
The llama is a South American camelid, widely used as a meat and pack animal by Andean cultures since pre-Hispanic times....
is the mascot of Bard College at Simon's Rock. This is due to the proximity of the college soccer
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
fields to Seekonk Veterinary Hospital, a veterinary clinic that, at one time, had a llama pasture. Interscholastic sports offered at the school include soccer, basketball, and swimming.
All students at Simon's Rock are required to fulfill athletic requirements through the "Recreational Athletic Program."http://www.simons-rock.edu/campus-resources/facilities/kilpatrick-athletic-center/student-raps/?searchterm=athletics RAP courses include traditional gym classes, such as martial arts, swimming lessons, weight training, and so on, but extend to things like bowling
Bowling
Bowling Bowling Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule...
, dodgeball
Dodgeball
Dodgeball is any of a variety of games in which players try to hit other players on the opposing team with balls while avoiding being hit themselves. This article is about a well-known form of team sport with modified rules that is often played in physical education classes and has been featured...
, hackeysack, gardening and scuba diving.
Housing
The vast majority of students at Simon's Rock live on-campus, and all students (except those with local families) are required to live on-campus during their first three years.Eight dormitories are currently used to house students. Three of these are predominantly for first-year students, while the others are for other classes:
- Crosby House is a women's dormitory
- Dolliver House is a men's dormitory
- Kendrick House is a coeducational dormitory
Crosby, Dolliver and Kendrick are known as the "TriDorms."
- Hill House is a coeducational dormitory for sophomores, juniors and seniors, and in exceptional cases, first-years
- Foster Houses (colloquially known as "The Mods") is a set of 12 townhouses, each built to house four non-first-year students. After the 2010-2011 academic year the Foster Houses were closed for long-term renovation and have yet to be reopened.
- Orchard Houses can each house five to seven non-first-years. Of the three that were built, all three currently house staff members and their families, while one still houses students of both sexes. Orchard 2, the last student house, was discontinued for student use in 2009-2010.
- Pibly House is a coeducational dormitory, consisting of eight two- or three-bedroom apartments for juniors and seniors
- The Cottage has been used as coeducational housing for three to five non-first-year students since 2007. Before 2007, it was mainly used for staff members.
- A new dorm, called Carriage House, has been built in 2009 on the site where the former Carriage House stood. It is for sophomores and above, and contains all double rooms.
- Annex was used as student housing during 2008-2009
- Red Brick House and Checker Chance are two dorms that housed small numbers of non first year students in house style during 2008-2009. They are located across the street from the main section of campus, on Hurlburt road. These are discontinued in 2009-2010.
Both Pibly House and The Cottage are on Upper Campus, a portion of the campus that is about 3/4 mile uphill from the main section of the campus. Other buildings on Upper Campus include the provost's house, the Annex (a small building that houses staff), and formerly Carriage House. The majority of Carriage House was destroyed in a fire in 2005, and the remains stood until 2009. The remnants of the building were burnt down by the Great Barrington
Great Barrington
Great Barrington is the name of more than one place:*Great Barrington, Gloucestershire in England*Great Barrington, Massachusetts in the United States...
Fire Department
Fire department
A fire department or fire brigade is a public or private organization that provides fire protection for a certain jurisdiction, which typically is a municipality, county, or fire protection district...
as a training exercise. As mentioned above, a new Carriage has been built. During the Fall 2008 semester the College also provided overflow student housing at the nearby Days Inn hotel.
Alumni
- Douglas Ahlers, e-commerce pioneer.
- Alison BechdelAlison BechdelAlison Bechdel is an American cartoonist. Originally best known for the long-running comic strip Dykes To Watch Out For, in 2006 she became a best-selling and critically acclaimed author with her graphic memoir Fun Home.-Early life:...
, creator of the comic Dykes To Watch Out ForDykes to Watch out ForDykes to Watch Out For was a comic strip by Alison Bechdel. The strip, which ran from 1983 to 2008, was one of the earliest ongoing representations of lesbians in popular culture and has been called "as important to new generations of lesbians as landmark novels like Rita Mae Brown’s Rubyfruit...
and graphic novel Fun HomeFun HomeFun Home is a 2006 graphic memoir by American writer Alison Bechdel, author of the comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For. It chronicles the author's childhood and youth in rural Pennsylvania, USA, focusing on her complex relationship with her father...
. - Veronica Chambers, novelist and journalist
- Mark CliffordMark CliffordMark L. Clifford is an author and former journalist who worked for BusinessWeek, the Far Eastern Economic Review, and Forbes. He was the publisher and editor-in-chief of The Standard newspaper in Hong Kong from January 2004 to February 2006, and the Editor-in-Chief the South China Morning Post, its...
, former Editor-in-Chief of the South China Morning PostSouth China Morning PostThe South China Morning Post , together with its Sunday edition, the Sunday Morning Post, is an English-language Hong Kong newspaper, published by the SCMP Group with a circulation of 104,000.... - Joel and Ethan Coen, Academy Award-winning filmmakers
- Martin Dosh, musician
- Mike DoughtyMike DoughtyMike Doughty is an American indie and alternative rock singer-songwriter. He led the band Soul Coughing in the 1990s, and in the 2000s, became a solo artist...
, singer/songwriter, founder of the band Soul CoughingSoul CoughingSoul Coughing was a popular New York-based alternative rock band. The band found modest mainstream success during the mid-to-late 1990s. Soul Coughing developed a devout fanbase and have garnered largely positive response from critics. Steve Huey describes the band as "one of the most unusual cult... - Daisy EaganDaisy EaganDaisy Eagan is an American actress.In 1991 she won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for playing Mary Lennox in The Secret Garden...
, actress - Ronan Farrow, son of Mia FarrowMia FarrowMia Farrow is an American actress, singer, humanitarian, and fashion model.Farrow first gained wide acclaim for her role as Allison Mackenzie in the soap opera Peyton Place, and for her subsequent short-lived marriage to Frank Sinatra...
and Woody AllenWoody AllenWoody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...
, enrolled at the age of 11, the youngest student in Simon's Rock history. - Henry FerriniHenry FerriniHenry Ferrini is an American non-fiction filmmaker best known for his portraits of Jack Kerouac and Charles Olson.Ferrini attended Bard College at Simon's Rock in Great Barrington, MA where he studied music...
, documentary filmmaker - Annie FinchAnnie FinchAnnie Finch is an American poet. She is author of numerous books of poetry as well as poetry translation, poetry anthologies and criticism, opera libretti, and poetic collaborations with visual art, music, theater, and dance. Her writings on poetry address topics including meter and prosody,...
, poet - Ben GoertzelBen GoertzelBen Goertzel , is an American author and researcher in the field of artificial intelligence. He currently leads Novamente LLC, a privately held software company that attempts to develop a form of strong AI, which he calls "Artificial General Intelligence"...
, artificial intelligence researcher - Meg HutchinsonMeg HutchinsonMeg Hutchinson is an American folk singer songwriter known for distinct alto vocals, poetic lyrics, and sophisticated songwriting. Originally from rural western-most Massachusetts, Hutchinson is now based in the Boston area. Influences include poet Mary Oliver, songwriter Shawn Colvin, and mood...
, singer-songwriter - Shahzad Ali Ismaily, musician, film composer scored Frozen RiverFrozen RiverFrozen River is a 2008 American drama film written and directed by Courtney Hunt. The screenplay focuses on two working-class women who smuggle illegal immigrants in the trunk of a car from Canada to the United States in order to make ends meet...
, records/performs with Laurie AndersonLaurie AndersonLaura Phillips "Laurie" Anderson is an American experimental performance artist, composer and musician who plays violin and keyboards and sings in a variety of experimental music and art rock styles. Initially trained as a sculptor, Anderson did her first performance-art piece in the late 1960s...
, Lou ReedLou ReedLewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades...
, Marc RibotMarc RibotMarc Ribot born May 21, 1954) is an American guitarist and composer.His own work has touched on many styles, including no wave, free jazz, and Cuban music. Ribot is also known for collaborating with other musicians, most notably Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, and composer John Zorn.-Biography:Ribot was...
, Secret Chiefs 3Secret Chiefs 3Secret Chiefs 3 is an instrumental rock group led by guitarist/composer Trey Spruance . Their studio recordings and tours have featured different line-ups, as the group performs a wide range of musical styles including surf rock, Persian, Arab, Indian, death metal, film music, electronic music,...
, Sean LennonSean Lennonis an American singer, songwriter, musician, guitarist and actor. He is the only child of John Lennon and Yoko Ono. His godfather is Sir Elton John.-Early life and education:... - Sarah Rose KarrSarah Rose KarrSarah Rose Karr is an American former child actress.She was best known for her roles in the movies Beethoven and Beethoven's 2nd as Emily Newton , and Kindergarten Cop , where she played a pupil of the kindergarten teacher Arnold Schwarzenegger...
, actress most known for her role as Emily Newton in BeethovenBeethoven (film)Beethoven is a 1992 American family comedy film, directed by Brian Levant and starring Charles Grodin and Bonnie Hunt. The film is the first in the Beethoven film series....
and Beethoven's 2ndBeethoven's 2ndBeethoven's 2nd is a 1993 American family film directed by Rod Daniel, and the first sequel to the 1992 film, Beethoven. It starred Charles Grodin and Bonnie Hunt, and Beethoven's four puppies, Chubby, Dolly, Tchaikovsky, and Moe. This is the second of six installments in the Beethoven film series... - Michael S. Kurth aka Curse (rapper)Curse (rapper)Michael Kurth , better known as Curse, is a former hip hop artist from Minden, Germany.- Biography :Curse has had a long musical past. In his youth, he played songs like "Zwei Mal In Den Kopf" in his former band Phat Kicks...
- Zachary MasonZachary MasonZachary Mason is a computer scientist and author. He is noted for his work The Lost Books of the Odyssey, his debut novel.Mason grew up in Silicon Valley, attended Bard College at Simon's Rock, and received a doctorate from Brandeis University, publishing his thesis A computational, corpus-based...
, writer, known for his debut work The Lost Books of the OdysseyThe Lost Books of the OdysseyThe Lost Books of the Odyssey is a 2007 novel by Zachary Mason, republished in 2010.Mason, who wrote the book while working full time, attempted to publish the book after it won first prize in a 2007 competition sponsored by Starcherone Books, an independent publisher in Buffalo, New York...
. - John McWhorterJohn McWhorterJohn Hamilton McWhorter V is an American linguist and political commentator. He is the author of a number of books on language and on race relations. His linguistic specialty is creole and the process through which it forms.-Early life:...
, Linguist, Manhattan InstituteManhattan InstituteThe Manhattan Institute for Policy Research is a conservative, market-oriented think tank established in New York City in 1978 by Antony Fisher and William J...
Senior Fellow and a commentator on issues of race, ethnicity and culture in America. - Eli PariserEli PariserEli Pariser is the former Executive Director of MoveOn.org, and the organization's current Board President....
, Executive Director, MoveOn.orgMoveOnMoveOn is an American non-profit, progressive or liberal public policy advocacy group and political action committee, which has raised millions of dollars for candidates it identifies as "moderates" or "progressives" in the United States. It was formed in 1998 in response to the impeachment of...
Political Action - Ashley Hope Perez, author of What Can(t) Wait
- Susan May PrattSusan May PrattSusan May Pratt is an American actress, perhaps best known for playing Maureen Cummings in Center Stage and Mandella in 10 Things I Hate About You....
, actress - Bill Scannell, privacy/civil rights activist http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/home/home?func=viewSubmission&sid=778&wid=10, http://www.wired.com/politics/security/news/2004/07/64249
- Randy A. Sharp, Founder and Artistic Director, Axis Theatre Co, noted Greenwich Village based experimental theatre company, and Director of independent film including the award winning Henry May Long
- Lee Stranahan, Writer, Blogger for The Huffington PostThe Huffington PostThe Huffington Post is an American news website and content-aggregating blog founded by Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer, and Jonah Peretti, featuring liberal minded columnists and various news sources. The site offers coverage of politics, theology, media, business, entertainment, living, style,...
, Filmmaker & Photographer
Faculty
- Karen AllenKaren AllenKaren Jane Allen is an American actress best known for her role as Marion Ravenwood in Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull...
, adjunct Faculty in the Arts, is an acclaimed actress best known for her roles in films such as Raiders of the Lost ArkRaiders of the Lost ArkRaiders of the Lost Ark is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, produced by George Lucas, and starring Harrison Ford. It is the first film in the Indiana Jones franchise...
, National Lampoon's Animal HouseNational Lampoon's Animal HouseNational Lampoon's Animal House is a 1978 American comedy film directed by John Landis. The film was a direct spin-off of National Lampoon magazine...
, StarmanStarman (film)John Carpenter's Starman is a 1984 science-fiction fantasy film directed by John Carpenter that tells the story of an alien who has come to Earth in response to the invitation found on the gold phonograph record installed on the Voyager 2 space probe.The screenplay was written by Bruce A. Evans,...
, and Cruising (film)Cruising (film)Cruising is a 1980 film directed by William Friedkin and starring Al Pacino. The film is loosely based on the novel of the same name, by New York Times reporter Gerald Walker, about a serial killer targeting gay men, in particular those associated with the S&M scene.Poorly reviewed by critics,...
. - Edgar ChamorroEdgar ChamorroEdgar Chamorro Coronel is an ousted leader of the Nicaraguan rebel Contras who later became a critic of the rebels and their Central Intelligence Agency sponsors, even cooperating with the Sandinista government in their World Court case, Nicaragua v. United States...
, Professor of Spanish and Latin, is a former leader of the NicaraguaNicaraguaNicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
n Contras and outspoken critic of the CIA's involvement in Latin AmericaLatin AmericaLatin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
. - Nancy BonvillainNancy BonvillainNancy Bonvillain is a professor of anthropology and linguistics at Bard College at Simon's Rock. She is author of over twenty books on language, culture, and gender, including a series on Native American peoples. In her field work she studied the Mohawk and Navajo, and she has published a grammar...
, professor of Anthropology and Linguistics, is an authority on Native American cultures and languages, and has written over twenty books on language, culture, and gender. - Emmanuel DongalaEmmanuel DongalaEmmanuel Boundzéki Dongala is a Congolese chemist and novelist. He is currently Richard B. Fisher Chair in Natural Sciences at Bard College at Simon's Rock....
, Professor of Chemistry and Richard B. Fisher Chair in Natural Sciences, is a leading African novelist. Writer Philip RothPhilip RothPhilip Milton Roth is an American novelist. He gained fame with the 1959 novella Goodbye, Columbus, an irreverent and humorous portrait of Jewish-American life that earned him a National Book Award...
and Simon's Rock President Leon Botstein found him a job at the college when he was forced to flee the war-torn Republic of the CongoRepublic of the CongoThe Republic of the Congo , sometimes known locally as Congo-Brazzaville, is a state in Central Africa. It is bordered by Gabon, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo , the Angolan exclave province of Cabinda, and the Gulf of Guinea.The region was dominated by...
.