Hamilton College

Hamilton College is a private liberal arts college located in Clinton, New York. It is sometimes referred to as the 'School on the Hill', due to the school's location on top of College Hill, just outside of downtown Clinton. Hamilton College was ranked as the 19th best Liberal Arts College in the U.S. by U.S. News & World Report in 2005.

Academics

Hamilton currently offers several areas of study (this list from the school’s website):

Additionally Hamilton students may study abroad. There are long standing programs in China and France. Some students also choose to study at other institutions within the United States, including the option to take part in long-standing programs in New York City and Washington, DC.

History

Hamilton began in 1793 as the Hamilton-Oneida Academy, and was chartered as Hamilton College in 1812. The college was founded by Samuel Kirkland as part of missions work with the Oneida tribe. The college is named for Alexander Hamilton, who was a member of the first Board of Trustees of the Hamilton-Oneida Academy.

In 1978, the all-male Hamilton College merged with the all-female Kirkland College, which had been located adjacent to Hamilton. The primary public reason for the merger was Kirkland's imminent insolvency. This merger was not done lightly, overnight or without loud dissention by some; including large student protests on campus and their occupation of the President's Building for a few hours. Today, the original Hamilton campus is referred to by students and some school literature as the "light side" or the "Stryker Campus" after its former president, Melancthon Woolsey Stryker (or incorrectly "Striker Campus"). On the other side of the street separating the two campuses, the former Kirkland campus is referred to as the "dark side" (a reference to the lighting in the Kirkland College buildings).

Hamilton College is the third oldest college established in New York.

Campus Life

Starting in the late 1990s, the administration and the trustees have worked together to improve life on the campus. Nearly all students now live in college-owned dorms, including several dorms that were formerly fraternity houses. A few fraternities and sororities have had their charters revoked for extreme behavior (causing a great deal of controversy among the students).

The changes have allowed the student community to increase the number and types of activities available on campus. The college has also provided significant funding for student activities through student-run organizations. College-sponsored student-run groups frequently bring music, movies, plays, and other proformers to the college.

Like most small colleges in the United States, ethnic diversity is an ongoing struggle for the college.

Athletics

Hamilton is a NCAA Division III school and has been a member of the New England Small College Athletic Conference since 1971. The college sports teams are known as the Hamilton Continentals. Hamilton sponsors 28 sports, including: Baseball (M), Basketball (M&W), Crew (M&W), Cross Country (M&W), Field Hockey (W), Football (M), Golf (M), Ice Hockey (M&W), Lacrosse (M&W), Outdoor and Indoor Track & Field (M&W), Soccer (M&W), Softball (W), Squash (M&W), Swimming & Diving (M&W), Tennis (M&W), Volleyball (W).

About 30% of the Hamilton student body participates on the athletics program. In addition to varsity sports, Hamilton sponsors several club sports and intramural activities each year. All students have the opportunity to participate at a level enjoyable to them. Including the creation of a Streaking team in 2002, which claims an undefeated record. The Hamilton Streaking Team received favorable coverage from the New York Times in 2004.

Facilities

Over the last few years, Hamilton has worked to greatly improve the academic and dorm facilities. Hamilton has an impressive library for a school of its size. The science building has recently undergone a multimillion dollar renovation, along with the creating a new building for the Computer Science department. The art department has separate studios for each of the studio arts taught, which are well regarded by the student's majoring in those departments. In addition to the standard fields for soccer, football, etc., Hamilton's athletic facilities include an ice rink, swimming pool, several athletics fields, a golf course, all of which are open to use by the student body.

Campus Speakers

Hamilton hosts many different speakers on many different subjects. While the college has often had a diverse collection of speakers on many different topics, this has not been without controvsy.

Early in 2005, the college received national media attention in the United States when a scheduled appearance by radical Professor Ward Churchill was cancelled after the college received threats of violence protesting his invitation from The Kirkland Project (an on-campus organization for the study of Gender, Society, and Culture). In an essay written in 2001, Churchill compared some victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks attacks to "Little Eichmanns", referring to Hitler's genocide architect Adolf Eichmann. The proposed talk and subsequent cancellation caused a great deal of upheaval from both inside and out of the college community. (It is somewhat ironic to note that the Kirkland Project had previously hosted "radical" speakers from all areas of the political spectrum, and that Churchill's talk would have been little more than a footnote had the controversy not erupted.)

The Sacerdote Series Great Names at Hamilton

Starting in 1996 the Sacerdote Series Great Names at Hamilton has brought some of the most sought after speakers to campus for presentations. While most of these have been in the form of speeches, they have also included a concert by B. B. King.

To-date the speakers that have been part of this series are:

• Bill Clinton November 9, 2004
• Bill Cosby October 15, 2003
• Rudolph Giuliani September 24, 2002
• Madeleine Albright March 6, 2002
• Jimmy Carter April 30, 2001
• Desmond Tutu April 11, 2000
• Lady Margaret Thatcher December 9, 1999
• B.B. King October 20, 1998
• F.W. de Klerk April 8, 1998
• Elie Wiesel April 3, 1997
• James Carville and Mary Matalin October 15, 1996
• Colin Powell April 1, 1996

Famous Alumni

Notable alumni of Hamilton College include:

• Samuel Hopkins Adams — Author
• Carter J. Bacot — Banker (former Chairman and CEO, Bank of New York)
• Albert Barnes — Theologian
• Terry Brooks — Author
• Michael N. Castle, 1961 — Representative to the United States Congress for Delaware  — Graduation Speaker 2004
• Bruce Cutler --Attorney
• Alf Evers --Historian
• Paul Greengard, 1948 — Nobel Prize winning scientist
• Sol M. Linowitz, 1935 — Attorney and Diplomat
• Robert Moses — Activist
• Ezra Pound — Author
• Elihu Root, 1864 — US Secretary of State
• James S. Sherman, 1878 — Vice-President of the United States
• B.F. Skinner, 1926 — Behavioral Psychologist
• Thomas Vilsack, 1972 — Iowa Governor — Graduation Speaker 2001
• Theodore Dwight Weld — Abolitionist
• Matthew Winterroth 1999 — Surfer
• Steve Wulf — Editor-in-Chief of ESPN the Magazine

Statistics

External links

• Hamilton College official site
• Hamilton's "Student Body at a Glance"
• US News & World Report Ratings