Chatham University is a private university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Originally founded as a women's college, it began enrolling men in undergraduate programs in 2015. It enrolls about 2,110 students, including 1,002 undergraduate students and 1,108 graduate students.[4] The university grants certificates and degrees including bachelor, master, first-professional, and doctorate degrees in the School of Arts, Science & Business, the School of Health Sciences, and the Falk School of Sustainability & Environment.
History
Founded as the Pennsylvania Female College on December 11, 1869, by Reverend William Trimble Beatty (the father of renowned operatic contraltoLouise Homer), Chatham was located in the Berry mansion on Woodland Road off Fifth Avenue in the neighborhood of Shadyside. Shadyside Campus today is composed of buildings and grounds from a number of former private mansions. It was renamed Pennsylvania College for Women in 1890, and to Chatham College in 1955. The name was to honor William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, who the city of Pittsburgh is named after.[5] The school gained university status from the Pennsylvania Department of Education on April 23, 2007, and publicly announced its new status on May 1, 2007, changing its name to Chatham University.[6]
With elements designed for the original Andrew Mellon estate by the Olmsted Brothers, the 39-acre (16 ha) Shadyside Campus was designated an arboretum in 1998 by the American Association of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta.
In 2005 the university expanded its programs to include online advanced degree programs (bachelors, masters, doctoral) through the School of Continuing Education, now the School for Continuing and Professional Studies. Two years later, Chatham's MFA in Creative Writing program was named one of the top five Innovative/Unique Programs by The Atlantic Monthly.[7]
Chatham received some national attention in 2014 when it announced that it was engaging in a period of study "considering admitting men for the first time in that college's history,"[8] resulting in "reactions of surprise and anger" from its alumnae.[9] Undergraduate men began attending in 2015.[10] The current president of Chatham University is Rhonda Phillips. Phillips is the 10th woman to serve as the university's president across its 154-year history.[11][12]
Campuses
Chatham's original Shadyside Campus is part of historic Woodland Road. The Shadyside Campus now also includes the Chatham Eastside building,[13] which serves as the home for the health science and interior architecture programs.
The university's new 388-acre (157 ha) Eden Hall Campus is located north of the city of Pittsburgh in Richland Township, Pennsylvania; it is the home of Chatham's Falk School of Sustainability & Environment. Programs at Eden Hall Campus include a Bachelors in Sustainability, a Masters of Sustainability, an MA in Food Studies, and dual degrees in Masters of Sustainability or MA in Food Studies + Masters in Business Administration. The Eden Hall Campus was donated to Chatham University by the Eden Hall Foundation on May 1, 2008. In 2011, the university engaged the architectural team of Berkebile Nelson Immenschuh McDowell (BNIM) of Kansas City, Mo. and the landscape design firm Andropogon Associates of Philadelphia to lead the master planning process. The first phase of development was designed by the firm Mithun, was completed in 2016, and won an award for sustainable development.[14][15]
In 2013, the Falk Foundation made its largest and final grant to the School of Sustainability & the Environment for the completion of the Eden Hall Campus. The grant was also the largest grant in the history of Chatham University.[16][17] The School of Sustainability & the Environment was renamed the Falk School of Sustainability. The Falk Foundation made its first grant to Chatham in 1952 with the funding of Chatham's Falk Hall, named in honor of Laura Falk, wife of foundation founder Maurice Falk.[17][16]
Chatham University teams, also known as the Cougars, participate as a member of the NCAA Division III. The Cougars are a member of the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC). Chatham has both Men's and Women's varsity teams in basketball, cross country, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball, squash, swimming & diving, track & field, and volleyball, with the most recent addition being men's volleyball beginning play in the spring of 2024. Men's and women's ice hockey play in the United Collegiate Hockey Conference.[citation needed]
The women's ice hockey team was the first NCAA women's ice hockey team in Pennsylvania.[citation needed]
The college mascot was previously Pennsy the Seal. The cougar mascot was adopted in 1992 and was named Carson in honor of alumna Rachel Carson in 2011.[3] In 2023, 55.6% of students participating in a non-binding referendum held by the student government voted to reinstate Pennsy the Seal as the college mascot.[19] The vote did not affect the college mascot.
