Monmouth College

This article is about the college in Illinois. For the university in New Jersey, see Monmouth University. For the former Monmouth College in Oregon, see Western Oregon University.

Monmouth College

File:Mcseal2.png
Motto	Sit Lux (Let there be Light)
Type	Private
Established	April 18, 1853
President	Dr. Mauri Ditzler
Students	1,360 undergraduate
Location	Monmouth , IL , USA
Campus	Small town
Mascot	Fighting Scots
Website	http://www.monm.edu

Monmouth College is a four-year coeducational private liberal arts college located in Monmouth, Illinois, United States.

History

Monmouth College was founded on April 18, 1853 by the Second Presbytery of Illinois, a frontier arm of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. The college celebrates this date annually as "Founders Day," cancelling classes for a day of celebration and an honors convocation. Founded as "Monmouth Academy," the school became Monmouth College after receiving a charter from the state legislature on September 3, 1856. The college remains affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and is a member of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest, a consortium of small, private liberal arts colleges. The college's motto "Sit Lux" ("Let there be Light") appears on its seal, but the college likes to describe itself as "What College Was Meant to Be."

The college's endowment in FY 2006 was $61,871,804.

Monmouth was one of the first institutions in the country to admit women from its inception. This increased the college's early popularity and logically made it the home of the women's sorority movement. Pi Beta Phi was founded on April 28, 1867 as I. C. Sorosis. Pi Beta Phi was the first national secret college society of women to be modeled after the Greek-letter fraternities of men. Kappa Kappa Gamma, founded in 1870, is another national sorority founded at Monmouth College.

Presidents

• James Cochran Porter

Founder of Monmouth Academy 1852

• Robert Ross

Founder of Monmouth Academy 1852

• Rev. David Alexander Wallace

1st President of Monmouth College 1856-1878

• Rev. J.B. McMichael, D.D.

2nd President, 1878-1897

• Rev. Samuel Ross Lyons, D.D.

3rd President, 1898-1901

• Rev. T. H. McMichael, D.D.

4th President, 1903-1936

• Rev. J. H. Grier, D.D.

5th President, 1936-1952

• Rev. Robert W. Gibson

6th President, 1952-1964

• G. Duncan Wimpress, Jr., Ph.D.

7th President, 1964-1970

• Richard Dengler Stine, Ph.D.

8th President,1970-1974

• DeBow Freed, Ph.D.

9th President, 1974-1979

• Bruce Haywood, Ph.D.

10th President, 1980-1994

• Sue Ann Huseman, Ph.D.

11th President, 1994-1997

• Richard Giese, Ph.D.

12th President, 1997-2005

• Dr. Mauri Ditzler--husband of Judith Ditzler and father of Lorin Ditzler, Meggan Young and Mark Ditzler--was inaugurated as the College's 13th President on October 21, 2005.

Students and staff

Sign in front of campus

Wallace Hall

Student profile

• Size: 1,360
• Points of origin: 24 states; 9 countries
• Diversity: 54.5% women; 44.5% men; 8% students of color; 2.6% international

Faculty profile

• Size: 130 (92 full-time, 38 part-time)
• Student-faculty ratio: 13:1
• Qualifications: 78 percent have Ph.D. or equivalent degree
• Average Class Size: 18.4

Fraternities

• Phi Delta Theta
• Sigma Phi Epsilon
• Alpha Tau Omega
• Zeta Beta Tau

Women's Fraternities

• Alpha Xi Delta
• Pi Beta Phi
• Kappa Kappa Gamma

Honorary Societies

• Alpha Lambda Delta (Freshmen Scholastic)
• Alpha Psi Omega (Theatre)
• (Student Affiliates) American Chemical Society
• Beta Beta Beta (Biology)
• Blue Key (Junior Service)
• Gamma Omicron of Eta Sigma Phi (Classics)
• Kappa Delta Pi (Education)
• Kappa Chapter of Lambda Pi Eta (Communication)
• Tau Pi Chapter of Mortar Board (Senior Service)
• Phi Alpha Theta (History)
• Pi Elta Pi (French)
• Pi Gamma Mu (Social Science)
• Psi Chi (Psychology)
• Sigma Delta Pi (Spanish)
• Sigma Omicron Mu (Senior Scholastic)
• Sigma Tau Delta (English)
• Society of Physics Students

Athletics

Monmouth College Football Field at dusk

Monmouth College is a member of the Midwest Conference and the National Collegiate Athletic Association NCAA Division III. The college offers 10 varsity sports for men and 10 for women. The college has won the Midwest Conference men's all-sports trophy each of the last two years.

The Monmouth College Men's Track and Field team brought back a third place team trophy from the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships on May 26 2007. This is the first national team trophy that a Monmouth College sports team has won.

Monmouth began its college football rivalry with Knox College in Galesburg in 1888, making it the sixth oldest college football rivalry in the country. The two schools play annually for the Bronze Turkey trophy in November (originally on Thanksgiving). Monmouth leads the series with 56 wins, 50 losses and 10 ties.

The Bronze Turkey has been stolen several times and was at one time buried under the old MC indoor track for six years.

The Monmouth College football team has appeared in the NCAA Playoffs in 2005 and 2008. In 2005 Monmouth college went 10-0 in the regular season, but lost in the first round to St. Johns 62-3. In 2008 the Scots went 10-0 in the regular season. In the first round they beat Aurora University 42-13, to win their first post-season game in school history. They lost in the second round of the NCAA Division III playoffs to Wartburg College 30-28.

Monmouth College was a member of the Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference from 1921-1937.

Notable alumni

• Joe Tait (1959) - Long time Radio Voice of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
• Jim Pate (1963, deceased) - Retired Chairman & CEO of Pennzoil.
• Harold "Red" Poling (1949) - Retired Ford Motor Company Chairman & CEO, member of Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity ΣΦΕ.
• James Stockdale (1946, deceased) * - Retired Vice-Admiral, US Navy & Former U.S. Vice-Presidential candidate, member of Alpha Tau Omega fraternity.
• Dwight Tierney (1969) - Senior Executive Vice President, Viacom & one of the Founders of MTV.
• William Trubeck (1968) - Executive Vice President and CFO, H&R Block.
• Helen Wagner (1938) - Long time star of the soap opera, "As The World Turns," for over 50 years, she uttered the show's first words in its debut in 1956.
• Roger Haynes (1982) - In 2007, Haynes was named the Division III Men's National Coach of the Year for the indoor season by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. He was inducted into the Monmouth M-Club Hall of Fame in 1997. Haynes also serves as Monmouth's Athletic Director and as an instructor in the Department of Physical Education.

Facilities

Haldeman-Thiessen Science Center

The 83 acre (336,000 m²) college campus has undergone a major facelift in recent years. Bowers Hall, a residence hall built in 2001, was the first new dormitory in over 30 years. The college purchased an apartment complex near the campus in 2003 and North Hall, built on the north side on the campus was completed before the Fall of 2005. Gracie Peterson Hall, a modern coed dorm opened in the fall of 2007. The Peacock Athletic Complex was built in 2000 and is in walking distance from the campus. The college also built new tennis courts in 2003 and reopened the completely renovated Dahl Chapel and Auditorium containing a 500 seat recital hall/auditorium as well as music rehearsal space. In the fall of 2008, the first phase of the April Zorn Memorial Stadium was completed, enlarging the seating capacity to 2,600 and adding a state-of-the-art press box.

The largest building on campus is the massive 155,000-square-foot (14,400 m²) Huff Athletic Center. It encompasses the college's old Glennie Gymnasium and includes a brand new fieldhouse with indoor tennis courts and track, natatorium, fitness complex, wellness suite, locker and training rooms, classrooms and offices.

The college maintains additional facilities including a state-of-the-art digital television studio and media (computer) lab, the Wells Theatre and WIT Experimental Theatre, hosting dramatic productions, a web-based radio station and the beautifully renovated Hewes Library complete with a wide range of print and electronic information resources, computing facilities, a digital classroom, an art gallery housing the James Shields collection of art and antiquities and a coffee shop. Nearby is the LeSeur Nature Preserve, a 16.5 acre (67,000 m²) nature preserve located a short 10 minute walk from campus.

The Minnie Billings Capron Classics Room located on the first floor of Wallace Hall, the main classroom building, honors the mother of Keith Capron. Keith Capron endowed a Classics chair in honor of his mother, who attended Monmouth College for one year. Mr. Capron also donated the funds to create the modern, technologically-equipped Capron Room, including a library and display of classical artifacts. A photo of Mrs. Capron hangs in the room.

See also

• Monmouth University, in West Long Branch, New Jersey, was also named Monmouth College until 1995.

References

• Monmouth College 2006-2007 Catalog
• Monmouth College Office of College Communications

External links and references

• Official website
• Campus map
• Delta Lambda Chapter of Zeta Beta Tau, Monmouth College
• Alpha Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma, Monmouth College
• Alpha Chapter of Pi Beta Phi, Monmouth College
• Gamma Chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon
• Gamma Omicron Chapter of Eta Sigma Phi
• Western Illinois Society of the Archaeological Institute of America