Founded in 1867, the college is historically tied to the United Church of Christ, though it remains academically independent.[7] It was previously known as the Allentown Female College and the Allentown College for Women, before taking its current name in 1913.
Academics
Aerial view of Cedar Crest College in Allentown, Pennsylvania in 1931Blaney Hall on the campus of Cedar Crest College in March 2014
The college's Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science programs span more than 50 majors. The curriculum also includes programs in Pre-Law, Pre-Dentistry, Pre-Medicine, and Pre-Veterinary Medicine. Cedar Crest College also offers master's degrees.[8][9] Its MBA Program offers a focus on Women's Leadership.[10] Undergraduate and graduate programs are also offered to adult students through the college's School of Adult and Graduate Education.[11]
Performing arts
Theatre
The Theatre major at Cedar Crest College is a holistic major that encompasses both technical experience and performance in the theatre field. First Fridays are offered starting in a student's sophomore year to allow collaboration between those in the Performing Arts majors.[12]
The college stages four major stage productions which typically includes two musical productions and two straight plays.[12]
Scholarships
The department offers scholarships based on an audition on a Performing Arts Scholarship Day or submitted by video. These are typically $1,500 per year, four-year renewing scholarships, contingent on the student's participation in productions or classes within the Dance or Theatre majors.[13]
The campus includes buildings containing libraries, classrooms, administrative offices, pools, theaters, fitness studios, and dining halls.[15] Additional classroom and faculty buildings include Hartzel Hall, Curtis Hall and Hamilton Boulevard Building.[15][16] The college also has four residence halls: Butz Hall, Moore Hall, Steinbright Hall, and the upper level of Curtis Hall.[17]
Cedar Crest's collection of 140 species of trees is designated as the William F. Curtis Arboretum, which is registered with the American Public Gardens Association.[15] The arboretum is named for the college's seventh president, who after purchasing the property in 1915, beautified the campus by planting flowers, shrubs and trees from all over the world.[18]
The campus is also the site of the Da Vinci Science Center, an independent science demonstration facility that opened in 2005.[19]
Dorothy bell
The bell is a sculpture by Toshiko Takaezu, located on the quad in a garden to honor Dorothy Gulbenkian Blaney's presidency.
Athletics
The Allentown United FC soccer club playing on the Cedar Crest College soccer field in August 2019
Cedar Crest's Falcons basketball team finished the 2008–09 season at 13-11 overall and 8–8 in the Colonial States Athletic Conference. The team posted more conference victories than in the previous nine seasons combined, earning a CSAC playoff berth for the first time in a decade. Head coach Valerie Donohue (Cedar Crest, '95) led the Falcons in tying the school record of 13 season wins set in 1998–99, the last time the team made the playoffs. The sixth-seeded Falcons beat Centenary College's women in the 2009 tournament's opening round.[21] Donohue was subsequently named the Colonial States Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Coach of the Year.
Cynthia L. Blaschak Softball Field
In the spring of 1997, Cynthia L. Blaschak made a donation to Cedar Crest to build a softball field. This was done as part of her support of the new NCAA Division III varsity softball team that was beginning their season that year. Blaschak was a student athlete herself while attending Cedar Crest. She participated in both basketball and badminton.
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Messner, Sara (November 20, 2008). "Pigliacampi named College Coach of the Year"(PDF). The Crestiad. Vol. 90, no. 10. Allentown, Pennsylvania: Cedar Crest College. p. 1. Archived from the original(PDF) on September 30, 2011. Retrieved 2009-05-02. Along with the USTA Coach of the Year Award, L. Pigliacampi is also Cedar Crest's winningest tennis coach with a record of 37-26 overall which tops Cedar Crest's previous tennis coach, Mikki Smith (1996-1999) who had a record of 29-28. (Records date back to 1993.)
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