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Albright College

Coordinates: 40°21′39″N 75°54′37″W / 40.36083°N 75.91028°W / 40.36083; -75.91028
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Albright College
MottoVeritas et Justitia
Motto in English
Truth and Justice
TypePrivate liberal arts college
Established1856; 168 years ago (1856)
Endowment$69.2 million (2020)[1]
PresidentJacquelyn S. Fetrow
Academic staff
108 full-time and 43 part-time[2]
Students1,758[2]
Undergraduates1,718 [2]
Other students
50
Location
Reading, Pennsylvania
,
U.S.

40°21′39″N 75°54′37″W / 40.36083°N 75.91028°W / 40.36083; -75.91028
CampusSuburban, 118 acres (48 ha)
Colors    Red and white
NicknameLions
Sporting affiliations
NCAA Division III
MAC Commonwealth[3]
Websitewww.albright.edu

Albright College is a private liberal arts college in Reading, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1856.

History

Albright College traces its founding to 1856 when Union Seminary opened. Present-day Albright was formed by the mergers of several institutions.

Albright Collegiate Institute opened in 1895 and was renamed Albright College three years later. Union Seminary became Central Pennsylvania College and, in 1902, merged with Albright College. Schuylkill College, previously called Schuylkill Seminary, merged with Albright College in 1928. Albright's campus relocated from Myerstown, to Schuylkill College's campus, which is the present location of Albright, at the base of Mount Penn in Reading.

The college is named for Pennsylvania-German evangelical preacher Jacob Albright, who founded the Evangelical Association (later known as the Evangelical United Brethren Church). Born in 1759 in Douglass Township, (now Montgomery County) with the given name of Johannes Jacob Albrecht, the family changed their surname to "Albright" following Jacob's 1808 death.[4]

Academics

Albright College students are encouraged to cross and combine areas of study without taking longer to graduate. The college offers Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees, as well as a Master of Arts and Master of Science degrees in education. The college also offers online and accelerated degree programs.

Albright offers a wide range of classical and pre-professional programs. It created one of the first undergraduate psychobiology programs in the nation in the 1960s. The college's liberal arts curriculum has an cross-program focus that allows students to create an individualized education. Fully half of Albright students have concentrations that combine two or three fields of learning.[4]

The theatre program has been honored by the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival consistently for many years.[5] Albright's Domino Players Company has been invited to perform at the Region II KCACTF Festival 10 times in the last 18 years (2004, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2020). At the National Conference held every April in Washington DC, Albright's theatre program has garnered dozens of awards for distinguished work in performance, direction, dramaturgy, scenic, sound, costume, and lighting design. Acclaimed productions of “Waiting for Godot” (2007), “Clybourne Park” (2016), “A Raisin in the Sun” (2018) have also been named “Outstanding Production of a Play” – recognizing them as the best college production of their years. “A Raisin in the Sun” also received eight other national awards, for distinguished performance, scenic and lighting design, director and performances.[6][7][8] Graduates of the program have gone on to graduate study at such schools as Yale, NYU, Brown, Columbia, Villanova, UArts/Pig Iron, SCAD, UMass Amherst, University of Minnesota, and CalArts, and have distinguished themselves with work on Broadway, in Hollywood, and in theatres and opera houses across the globe.

The Albright Creative Research Experience (ACRE) is a multi-disciplinary program that affords undergraduate students the opportunity to conduct research or pursue creative endeavors during the three-week January Interim or summer break. The students, who work one-on-one with faculty members, can be from any discipline, from STEM subjects to the humanities.[5]

Rankings

In 2017, Albright College was named one of the "Best Northeastern" schools by The Princeton Review; this was the fourteenth consecutive year that the college was included in that category.[9][10][11] In the "Campus Ethnic Diversity" category, as part of the U.S News and World Report 2018 Best Colleges rankings, U.S. News ranked Albright 33rd out of 208 national liberal arts colleges.[12] In the "Economic Diversity" category, Albright ranked 27th out of 210 national liberal arts schools named.[13] The Economist magazine listed Albright among the top 50 American colleges and universities for economic value in 2015.[14]

Athletics

Albright College athletic teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III as a member of the Middle Atlantic Conferences.

Charles "Pop" Kelchner founded the men's basketball team in 1900 and was athletic director at Albright College for 21 years. He was involved in aspects of Major League Baseball for over 50 years. Albright College dedicated the baseball field as Kelchner Field in 1952. Branch Rickey gave the dedication speech, with Connie Mack in attendance. Kelchner was a graduate of Lafayette College with two degrees and was proficient in German, French, Italian, Spanish, Classical Latin and Greek. He served as Professor of Languages and athletic director.[15]

Doggie Julian was the head football coach at Albright from 1929 to 1930. Clarence Lester "Biggie" Munn was the head football coach at Albright College from 1935 to 1936, before coaching Syracuse University (1946), and most notably Michigan State College (1947–1953), where his 1952 squad won a national championship.

William "Lone Star" Dietz was the Director of Athletics and head football coach at Albright from 1937 to 1942. Dietz led the football team to their first undefeated season in 1937. He previously led Washington State to 1916 Rose Bowl victory. In the National Football League, Dietz had coached the Boston "Redskins" (1933–1934), the forerunner of the Washington Commanders. Dietz is in the Albright College Athletic Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame.[16]

In 1948, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) and Albright College played the first intercollegiate football game between an Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) institution and a majority-white institution.[17]

The Philadelphia Eagles held pre-season training camp at Albright from 1968 through 1972.[18]

Dr. Wilbur G. Renken was athletic director and basketball head coach for 38 consecutive seasons. A highly regarded figure in collegiate athletics in general and specifically basketball,[citation needed] Renken was the president of the United States Olympic Basketball Team Selection Committee for the 1976 Olympic Games.[19] He also served as the president of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) in 1979–1980.[20]

On October 11, 2017, sophomore backup quarterback Gyree Durante was dismissed from the football team for kneeling during the national anthem before the team's game against Delaware Valley University, going against a collective team decision made before the game to kneel for the coin toss and stand for the anthem.[21] President Fetrow later offered reinstatement to the team to Durante (and two other players who did not fully kneel during the coin toss), saying that further review of the details surrounding the game's events found that "what we understood to be shared agreement among players, student leaders and coaches has not been adequately supported.”.[22] Durante, however, declined reinstatement, citing his former teammates' stated lack of trust in him.[23]

WXAC

Albright's campus radio station, WXAC 91.3 FM[24] is a student-operated college radio station. The initial call name was WALC, but was later changed to WXAC on March 8, 1965. WALC had been the same call name for the Alcoa Steamship Lines.

Notable alumni

References

  1. ^ As of June 30, 2020. U.S. and Canadian Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year 2020 Endowment Market Value and Change in Endowment Market Value from FY19 to FY20 (Report). National Association of College and University Business Officers and TIAA. February 19, 2021. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c "College Navigator - Albright College".
  3. ^ "Albright College Athletics Website". Retrieved August 17, 2009.
  4. ^ a b "Albright College - Mission, History and Tradition". Archived from the original on December 6, 2016. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
  5. ^ a b "Reading's Albright College pioneers flexible, interdisciplinary learning". KeystoneEdge.com. September 19, 2016. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
  6. ^ "Domino Players earn nine national awards for "A Raisin in the Sun"". Albright College. March 29, 2019. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  7. ^ "Spotlight: theater awards, jazz opera, breaking into acting, auditions - Reading Eagle - LIFE". ReadingEagle.com. March 27, 2016. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
  8. ^ "Albright College invited to perform on Kennedy Center Festival main stage". BCTV.org. December 16, 2019.
  9. ^ "Best Northeastern - The Princeton Review". www.PrincetonReview.com. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
  10. ^ "Albright College Named One of the Best Schools in the Northeast for 14th Consecutive Year". www.Albright.edu. Archived from the original on September 12, 2017. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
  11. ^ "Albright, Kutztown on list of top schools - Reading Eagle - NEWS". ReadingEagle.com. August 5, 2017. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
  12. ^ "rankings". www.usnews.com. Retrieved May 15, 2019.
  13. ^ "rankings". www.usnews.com. Retrieved May 15, 2019.
  14. ^ "Our first-ever college rankings". Economist.com. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
  15. ^ "Baseball Reference Bullpen: Pop Kelchner". Retrieved August 17, 2009.
  16. ^ "Lone Star Dietz Website". Archived from the original on August 18, 2007. Retrieved August 17, 2009.
  17. ^ "Vernon "Skip" McCain/UMES Football Reinstatement Fund Second Quarter 2007 Report". Archived from the original on June 14, 2011. Retrieved August 17, 2009.
  18. ^ Frank, Reuben (August 17, 2020). "A history of each Philadelphia Eagles training camp site, from 1933 to 2020". nbcsports.com/philadelphia. Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  19. ^ "Olympic Review No. 105-106 July - August 1976" (PDF). Retrieved August 17, 2009.
  20. ^ "NABC Presidents".
  21. ^ Boren, Cindy (October 11, 2017). "'I was just taught you fight for what you believe in': A college football player is cut for kneeling during the anthem". Retrieved October 20, 2017 – via www.WashingtonPost.com.
  22. ^ "Albright College offers to reinstate dismissed football players - Reading Eagle - NEWS". ReadingEagle.com. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
  23. ^ Shuey, Karen (October 18, 2017). "Albright backup quarterback says he won't rejoin team despite school's invitation". Reading Eagle. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
  24. ^ "Home". December 30, 2013. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
  25. ^ "Eric Artz - LinkedIn". Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  26. ^ "Company Members | SITI Company". Retrieved March 19, 2022.
  27. ^ "Craig Fass". albright.edu. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  28. ^ "LinkedIn". Retrieved March 19, 2022.
  29. ^ Manual of the Legislature of New Jersey, 1985, p. 279. J.A. Fitzgerald, 1985. Accessed July 17, 2019. "Assemblyman Hollenbeck was born in Carlstadt Nov. 5, 1931. After graduating from East Rutherford High School he attended Albright College in Reading, Pa., and technical trade schools."
  30. ^ "Ralph Horwitz". temple.edu. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  31. ^ Marshall, Barbara. "How to go from $0 to $1.65 billion in a year and a half". Albright Reporter. No. Winter 2007. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
  32. ^ "Naxos Records". Retrieved March 19, 2022.
  33. ^ "Hokubei Karate-do Shihankai Master Bio". retrieved August 10, 2016
  34. ^ "LinkedIn". Retrieved March 19, 2022.
  35. ^ "LinkedIn". Retrieved March 19, 2022.
Wikisource has the text of the 1921 Collier's Encyclopedia article Albright College.
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