Lafayette College

Lafayette College

File:Seal Lafayette College.jpg
Motto	Veritas liberabit ("The truth shall make you free")
Type	Private
Established	1826
President	Daniel Weiss
Academic staff	188
Undergraduates	2,303
Location	Easton , PA , USA
Campus	Suburban
Student Life	250 groups, clubs, & sports
Mascot	Leopards
Website	www.lafayette.edu

Lafayette College, located in Easton, Pennsylvania, United States, in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania, is an independent, undergraduate, coeducational, residential institution.

Admissions and rankings

The College is extremely selective in admissions and has a well-known reputation for academic excellence. As of 2007, US News and World Report ranks Lafayette the 30th best National Liberal Arts College in the United States. In addition, Lafayette's engineering program is ranked 4th among non-doctoral schools. Nearly half of Lafayette students study abroad during their time at the school, making it a leader even among peer institutions.

History

Lafayette was founded in 1826 by citizens of Easton, led by local lawyers James Madison Porter and Joel Jones, and Jacob Wagener, an amateur botanist and mineralogist.

The initial prospectus called for a college "combining a course of practical Military Science with the course of Literature and General Science pursued in the Colleges of our Country." This unique educational philosophy led Lafayette to become the first institution to give a degree in engineering.

Porter had met the French Revolutionary War hero Marquis de Lafayette during his farewell tour of America and urged that they name the new college for him as "a testimony of respect for (his) talents, virtues, and signal services .... the great cause of freedom."

The governor of Pennsylvania signed the new college's charter on March 9, 1826. However, it was not until 1832 that the Rev. George Junkin took up the charter and moved the curriculum and student body of the Manual Labor Academy of Pennsylvania from Germantown, Pennsylvania.

Francis March taught at Lafayette and became the first superintendent of the Oxford English Dictionary's American reading program. A chaired professorship now exists to honor his achievements in the field of English.

Currently, Lafayette has 2,346 students, of which 52% are men and 48% are women. The school has 195 full-time faculty and a $658 million endowment.

Trivia

• The Lafayette, Lafayette's student newspaper, is the oldest college newspaper in Pennsylvania.

• Alpha Phi Omega National Service Fraternity was founded in 1925 at Lafayette College by Frank Reed Horton in Brainerd (now Hogg) Hall.

• The Rho Chapter of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity is the oldest fraternity and the oldest student organization at Lafayette College, having been chartered on October 15, 1855. Among the distinguished members of this chapter are Peyton C. March, U.S. Army Chief of Staff during World War I, and William E. Simon, former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury.

• Lafayette is widely considered the birthplace of the drinking game Beer Pong.

• The '60s pop group, The Cyrkle, were graduates of Lafayette College. They had a hit with a Paul Simon song called "Red Rubber Ball."

• There is a campus legend about a secret library in Van Wickle Hall where a professor allegedly committed suicide. Supposedly, the library is located behind the Van Wickle lounge and has been sealed off for years.

• There is a mine shaft under Markle Hall. Although Markle is now the Administration building, it was originally the Hall of Mining Engineering.

• The Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house was in the Guinness Book of World Records for a number of years as the largest free standing structure ever moved. Built in 1908 the "Old Grey Barn" stood just in front of Markle Hall on the campus Quad. The college wanted to build an addition to its Skillman Library at that location, with the house standing in their way. A deal was reached, and the school agreed to move the house at their expense to its current location on March Field, while the chapter kept ownership of the house. The move was conducted on July 1, 1971, to a crowd of press and onlookers. In 2003 the alumni and current brothers who owned the house in a LLC named the "Penn Theta Housing Corporation", began a capital campaign to raise 1.6 million dollars to renovate the "Old Grey Barn" and bring it up to code, to the dismay of the administration who had hoped to purchase the building. Ground was broke on the renovation at the Lafayette homecoming football game on October 21, 2006. The bank KNBT delivered a check for 1.2 million dollars on that day to cover the costs of renovation. Currently the Pennsylvania Theta chapter has raised over 50% of the 1.6 million needed in funds intended to cover not only renovation costs, but refurnishing of the building and increased academic scholarships for brothers.

• Students enjoy debating what is really on the 5th floor of Pardee Hall. While some students have claimed that confiscated kegs from partying heydays were stored there, the 5th floor of the building is actually just a storage space and a glorified custodial closet.

• Pardee Hall was devastated by fire twice in the 1800s. One fire began when a science experiment was carelessly left in a drawer. The other fire was arson, deliberately set by (ironically) a professor of moral philosophy, who reportedly enjoyed watching the building burn from across the Delaware River in Phillipsburg, New Jersey.

• Colton Chapel is a popular wedding location for Lafayette alumni, many of whom fall in love during their four years at the school.

• Farinon Center, the student union, was architecturally inspired by the McKelvy House, a college-owned mansion just off campus. Farinon has, at some points, been known as "F-Non" in Lafayette slang. While the top floor of Farinon is an "all-you-can-eat" style buffet payed for in blocks from a meal plan, the downstairs or "d-non" as it has become refered to, is a station based food court in which students pay itemized fees for food. The dining area for the downstairs area also serves as the stage for comedy acts brought in by the activities committee of the college.

• Gilbert's, a pub-like coffeehouse in Kirby Hall, was opened in 1999 to provide a late-night hangout for students. Its name was the subject of a contest, and the winning student selected one of the Marquis de Lafayette's middle names: Gilbert. Recently, a sinkhole was discovered underneath Kirby Hall, and the much-beloved coffeehouse (as well as the dormitory) was closed for the spring semester of 2006. However, it was reopened for the fall semester. Gilbert's is famous on campus for its nachos, which are so large that they are given to students in a pizza box, these nachos are a popular snack for students late at night weither they be partying or studying. Gilbert's also is the site of many open mic nights where student bands can preform for their fellow classmates. In the fall of 2006 Lafayette College signed a deal with MTV to designate the campus as an MTVu campus. As a result Lafayette hosted, for its spring concert, an MTVu concert - as opposed to the regular concert chosen by the student government. In accordance with the contract the television in Gilbert's is tuned to the newly formed MTVu network.

• During the winter, or after a drenching spring rain, sledding is popular on the hill "behind" Pardee Hall. Although Pardee Hall is truly oriented southward, with the gently sloping hill leading to its front entrance, the students refer to this as the "back" of Pardee because the other side (the true back) faces the Quad. The most popular sleds are stolen trays from one of the two dining halls on campus.

• The Kirby Hall of Civil Rights, the interior of which is constructed of travertine marble, was rumored to have been the most expensive collegiate building, per square foot, built at its time. Fred M. Kirby was criticized by many for spending so much money on the building during the Great Depression. To answer them, he had emblazoned across the front of the building a quote from the Bible that states "is it not my right to do what I will with mine own." Prof Lennertz's Government 101 class, taught in the building, begins with a reading of the quote. The building was designed by the same architectural firm that designed New York City's Grand Central Terminal.

WJRH 104.9FM

The campus radio station, WJRH 104.9FM, first established licensure with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 1946, broadcasting under a Class D educational license on 90.5 FM. As FM frequencies grew in demand, the FCC mandated that stations operating in the frequency range currently provided to WJRH increase their power to serve larger audiences. Since WJRH was only to serve the Lafayette community, it was decided to give the frequency to another facility and relocate to its current home frequency, 104.9. WJRH alumni have become influential individuals in the broadcasting field, ranging from Engineering Directors for networks such as the American Broadcasting Company, to public broadcasting policy makers.

The station is constantly being upgraded with the latest broadcasting technology, as well as organizational changes. Several additions have included the relaunch of WJRH Broadband (a live Windows Media Player stream available to Lafayette students) and WJRH PC (an online database of MP3 Podcasts of select shows as part of an overall website renovation).

Over the past couple years, there has been a drive for select student broadcasters to DJ parties on campus. This has been met with great approval by students.

WJRH has been housed for over 30 years in its current location, Hogg Hall. The station's web site is: WJRH 104.9FM. Lafayette can also be watched on television on the Lafayette Sports Network from various outlets. Find them on http://goleopards.cstv.com/multimedia/lafa-outlets.html link title. from [http://www.goleopards.com link title goleopards.com.

Athletics

File:Patr-04-logo-lafa.jpg

Lafayette has made two consecutive appearances in the NCAA Division I-AA football tournament. The men's basketball program has a long history, peaking in the late nineties under the leadership of Fran O'Hanlon, who led the Leopards to back-to-back Patriot League championships and NCAA Tournament appearances in 1999 and 2000. These seasons were documented by John Feinstein in his book,The Last Amateurs.

• Affiliation: NCAA Division I, except for football which is Division I-AA
• Conference: Patriot League
• Team name: Leopards
• Team colors: Maroon and white
• Main rival: Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
• Stadiums: Fisher Field at Fisher Stadium (Football), Kirby Sports Center (Basketball)
• National Football Championships:
  • Football: 1896 (National Championship Foundation, Parke Davis)
  • Football: 1921 (Boand, Parke Davis)
  • Football: 1926 (Parke Davis)
• Conference Championships:
  • Football: 1992, 1994, 2004, 2005 (Co-Champions).
  • Basketball: 1999, 2000.
• National Championship:
  • College Bowl: Undefeated Champions 1962

Lafayette-Lehigh Rivalry

Lafayette College and Lehigh University are both well known for their intense football rivalry. Since 1884, the two teams have met 141 times, making the rivalry the most played in the history of college football. Lafayette leads the all-time series 74-62-5. Lafayette has won the storied yearly matchup 3 of the last 4 years (heading into 2006). The rivalry between Lafayette and Lehigh is considered one of the best in all of college athletics. This game is sold out long before gameday each year.

2006 Football On-Air Schedule

Lafayette also can be watched on television on LSN (Lafayette Sports Network). The following is the television schedule for 2006, courtesy of Goleopards.cstv.com:

• Sacred Heart - Live, Saturday, Sept. 2 at 2 p.m. (LSN-TV); Tape Delay, Monday, Sept. 4 at 12 p.m. (FSN-P)
• Bucknell - Live, Saturday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. (LSN-TV); Tape Delay, Monday, Sept. 11 at 12 p.m. (FSN-P)
• Penn - Live, Saturday, Sept. 16 at 1 p.m. (LSN-TV); Tape Delay, Monday, Sept. 18 at 12 p.m. (FSN-P)
• Princeton - Live, Saturday, Sept. 23 at 6 p.m. (LSN-TV); Tape Delay, Monday, Sept. 25 at 12 p.m. (FSN-P)
• Yale - Live, Saturday, Sept. 30 at 1 p.m. (LSN-TV, CSTV)
• Harvard - Live, Saturday, Oct. 14 at 12:30 p.m. (LSN-TV, FSN-P)
• Holy Cross - Live, Saturday, Oct. 21 at 1 p.m. (LSN-TV); Tape Delay, Monday, Oct. 23 at 12 p.m. (FSN-P)
• Colgate - Live, Saturday, Oct. 28 at 1 p.m. (LSN-TV, FSN-P)
• Fordham - Live, Saturday, Nov. 4 at 1 p.m. (LSN-TV); Tape Delay, Monday, Nov. 6 at 12 p.m. (FSN-P)
• Georgetown- Live, Saturday, Nov. 11 at 1 p.m. (LSN-TV); Tape Delay, Monday, Nov. 6 at 12 p.m. (FSN-P)
• Lehigh - Live, Saturday, Nov. 18 at 1 p.m. (LSN-TV); Tape Delay, Sunday, Nov. 19 at 9 a.m. (CSTV)

Photo gallery

• 
  The Quad is the center of Lafayette College.
• 
  The South College building is currently being used as a dormitory.
• 
  The library in the Kirby Hall of Civil Rights building
• One of the many statues of the Marquis de Lafayette. (The statue's right hand once held a sword, which was a popular item for Lehigh students to steal as a prank. The sword is currently stored for safekeeping.)
  One of the many statues of the Marquis de Lafayette. (The statue's right hand once held a sword, which was a popular item for Lehigh students to steal as a prank. The sword is currently stored for safekeeping.)

Greek organizations

• Alpha Gamma Delta sorority
• Alpha Phi sorority
• Delta Delta Delta sorority
• Delta Gamma sorority
• Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity
• Delta Upsilon fraternity
• Kappa Delta Rho fraternity
• Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority
• Phi Gamma Delta fraternity
• Phi Kappa Psi fraternity
• Pi Beta Phi sorority
• Zeta Psi fraternity

Notable alumni

• Joseph F. Crater - class of 1910. Associate justice of New York Supreme Court; object of famous, unsolved disappearance case from 1930.
• George H. Decker - class of 1924. Chief of Staff , US Army
• Haldan K. Hartline - class of 1923. 1967 Nobel Prize winner in physiology and medicine.
• Philip S. Hench - class of 1916. 1950 Nobel Prize winner in Physiology and Medicine.
• Frank Reed Horton - founder of Alpha Phi Omega fraternity.
• William Sebring Kirkpatrick - former member of Congress.
• Dominique Lapierre - class of 1952. Author.
• Joel Silver - class of 1974. Head of Hollywood's Silver Pictures and producer of The Matrix trilogy.
• William E. Simon - class of 1952. "Energy czar" under President Richard Nixon; former President of U.S. Olympic Committee.
• Bob Smith - class of 1965. Former U.S. Senator

Notable non-alumni attendees and faculty

• Stephen Crane, author of The Red Badge of Courage. Attended for one semester before failing out.
• Theodore Roethke, poet, served on faculty, prior to his publication and fame.

External links

• Lafayette College Official Web Site.
• Official Athletic Site of the Lafayette College Leopards.
• The Lafayette (Official Web Site of Lafayette's student newspaper).