Dickinson School of Law, founded in 1834 as the college's law department, is located adjacent to the college campus. Dickinson School of Law received an independent charter in 1890 and ended its affiliations with the college in 1917.[7] In 2000, it merged with Penn State University and serves as Penn State's law school.
History
18th century
Waidner-Spahr Library
The Carlisle Grammar School was founded in 1773 as a frontier Latin school for young men in Western Pennsylvania. Within years Carlisle's elite, such as James Wilson and John Montgomery, were pushing for the development of the school as a college. In 1782, Benjamin Rush, a physician who was a prominent leader during and after the American Revolution, met in Philadelphia with Montgomery and William Bingham, a prominent businessman and politician. As their conversation about founding a frontier college in Carlisle took place on his porch, "Bingham's Porch" was long a rallying cry at Dickinson.
Dickinson College was chartered by the Pennsylvania legislature on September 9, 1783, six days after the signing of the Treaty of Paris that ended the Revolutionary War; it was the first college to be founded in the newly independent nation. Rush intended to name the college after the president of PennsylvaniaJohn Dickinson and his wife Mary Norris Dickinson, proposing "John and Mary's College." The Dickinsons had given the new college an extensive library which they jointly owned, one of the largest libraries in the colonies.[8][9] The name Dickinson College was chosen instead. Dickinson College's location west of the Susquehanna River made it the westernmost college in the United States at the time of its 1783 founding. Rush made his first journey to Carlisle to attend the first meeting of the trustees, held in April 1784. The trustees selected Charles Nisbet, a Scottish minister and scholar, to serve as the college's first president. He arrived and began to serve on July 4, 1785, serving until his unexpected death in 1804.[10]
A combination of financial troubles and faculty dissension led to a college closing from 1816 to 1821. In 1832, when the trustees were unable to resolve a faculty curriculum dispute, they ordered Dickinson's temporary closure a second time.[11][12]
The law school was founded in 1833. It became a separate school in 1890, although the law school and college continued to share a president until 1912. The law school is now affiliated with the Penn State University.[11]
During the 19th century, two noted Dickinson College alumni had prominent roles in the lead-up to the Civil War. They were James Buchanan, the 15th president of the United States, and Roger Brooke Taney, the 5th Chief Justice of the United States. Dickinson is one of three liberal arts colleges to have graduated a president and a chief justice (Bowdoin and Amherst are the others). Taney led the Supreme Court in its ruling on the Dred Scott v. Sandford decision, which held that Congress could not prohibit slavery in federal territories, overturning the Missouri Compromise. Buchanan threw the full prestige of his administration behind congressional approval of the Lecompton Constitution in Kansas. During the Civil War, the campus and town of Carlisle were occupied twice by Confederate forces in 1863.[13]
Carlisle was also the location of the Carlisle Army Barracks, which was converted in the late 1870s for use as the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. In 1879, Dickinson College and the nearby Carlisle Indian School began a collaboration, when James Andrew McCauley, president of the college, led the first worship service at the Indian School. The collaboration between the institutions lasted almost four decades, from the opening day to the closing of the Indian School in 1918. Dickinson College professors served as chaplains and special faculty to the Native American students.[14] Dickinson College students volunteered services, observed teaching methods, and participated in events at the Indian School.[15] Dickinson College accepted select Indian School students to attend its Preparatory School ("Conway Hall") and gain college-level education.[16]
When George Metzger, class of 1798, died in 1879, he left his land and $25,000 (equivalent to $785,000 in 2022) to the town of Carlisle to found a college for women. In 1881, the Metzger Institute opened. The college operated independently until 1913, when its building was leased to Dickinson College for the education of women. The building served as a women's dorm until 1963.[17]
In 1901, John Robert Paul Brock became the first black man to graduate from Dickinson; in 1919, Esther Popel Shaw was the first black woman to graduate.[20]
Dickinson also admitted Native American students directly: Thomas Marshall was one of the first such students at Dickinson. In 1910, Frank Mount Pleasant was the first Native American to graduate from Dickinson College.
In the 1990s, the college experienced financial troubles stemming from poor management and acceptance rates climbed upwards. Henry Clarke, an alumnus who developed the Klondike bar into a national brand for an ice cream bar, founded the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues at Dickinson College, and in 1994 established the Clarke Center.[21]William Durden, who became the 27th President in 1999, was credited with improving financial climate and revamping the school academics.[12]
21st century
Dickinson's acceptance rate is 35%,[22] and the institutional endowment has more than doubled since 2000.[23]
In 2000 Dickinson opened a new science building, Tome Hall, a state-of-the-art interdisciplinary facility to host astronomy, computer science, math, and physics. Tome houses Dickinson's innovative "Workshop Physics" program and was the first stage of a new science complex.[24] Opened in 2008, the LEED Gold certified Rector Science Complex serves as a place of scientific exploration and learning in an environment that is artful and sustainable.
Dickinson acquired Allison United Methodist Church for college expansion in 2013. The building, located at 99 Mooreland Avenue, provides the college with more than 33,000 square feet (3,100 m2) for events, guest speakers, student presentations, meetings, ecumenical worship, and additional offices.[25]
Dickinson aims for campus environmental sustainability through several initiatives. In the Sustainable Endowments Institute's 2010 green report card Dickinson was one of only 15 schools in the United States to receive an A−, the highest grade possible. In the same year, Dickinson was named a Sierra magazine "Cool School" in its Comprehensive Guide to the Most Eco-Enlightened U.S. Colleges: Live (Green) and Learn.[26] The college's commitment to making study of the environment and sustainability a defining characteristic of a Dickinson education was also recognised through being top of The Princeton Review's 2010 Green Honor Roll.[27]
In 2008, the college bought 100% of its energy from wind power,[28] had solar panels on campus,[29] owned and operated an organic garden and farm,[30] and had signed the American Colleges & Universities Presidents Climate Commitment.[31] The college's emphasis on sustainability education recognizes its importance for innovation and the lives of tomorrow's graduates.[32][33][34] The college had made a commitment to being carbon neutral by 2020.[35] This involved a mixture of increased energy efficiency on campus, switching energy sourcing, promoting behavior change and carbon offsetting.[36]
Academics
In addition to offering either a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree in 22 disciplinary majors and 20 interdisciplinary majors, Dickinson offers an engineering option through its 3:2 program, which consists of three years at Dickinson and two years at an engineering school of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute or Case Western Reserve University. Upon successful completion of both portions of the program, students receive a B.S. degree from Dickinson in their chosen field and a B.S. in engineering from the engineering school.[37] Its most popular majors, by 2021 graduates, were:[38]
International Business/Trade/Commerce (58)
Political Science & Government (35)
Psychology (32)
Biology/Biological Sciences (25)
Economics (25)
Neuroscience (23)
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology (21)
Campus
Entrance to the Academic Quad showing Bosler HallAn 1810 illustration of the original Dickinson College building, now known as West College, designed by Benjamin LatrobeWaidner-Spahr LibraryThe college's science centerThe Weiss Center for the Arts
Dickinson's quiet campus is three blocks from the main square in the historic small town of Carlisle, the county seat of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, and the site of the nation's second oldest military base, Carlisle Barracks, which is now used as the U.S. Army War College. The campus is characterized by limestone-clad buildings and has numerous trees.
The frontier grammar school was founded in 1773 and housed in a small, two-room brick building on Liberty Avenue, near Bedford and Pomfret streets. When Dickinson College was founded in 1783, this building was expanded to accommodate all the functions.[39] In 1799 the Penn family sold 7 acres (2.8 ha) on the western edge of Carlisle to the nascent college, which became its campus. On June 20 of that year, the cornerstone was laid by founding trustee John Montgomery for a building on the new land.[40] The twelve-room building burned to the ground on February 3, 1803, five weeks after opening its doors. The college operations were temporarily returned to their previous accommodations.
Within weeks of the fire, a national fundraising campaign was launched, enticing donations from President Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State James Madison, Chief Justice John Marshall, and others. Benjamin Latrobe, soon-to-be named as Architect of the Capitol, designed the building now known as "West College" or "Old West." It was finished in 1822. Old West is today the ceremonial heart of the college, as all students march through the open doors during convocation and march out the same doors at graduation.
Throughout the 19th century, Dickinson expanded across what has now become its main academic quadrangle, known formally as the John Dickinson Campus. Dickinson expanded across College Street to build the Holland Union Building and Waidner-Spahr Library, which along with several dormitories, makes up the Benjamin Rush Campus. Across High Street (U.S. Route 11) lies the Charles Nisbet Campus, home to the largest grouping of dormitories. The Dickinson School of Law, part of Penn State, lies directly to the south of the Nisbet Campus. Together these three grass-covered units compose the vast majority of the college's campus.
Student life
There are over a hundred organizations representing different facets of the college.[41]
Theatre and performing arts
Working in cooperation with the Dickinson Department of Theatre and Dance, The Mermaid Players, Dickinson's student-run theatrical society performs regularly.
Athletics
The Dickinson Red Devils participate in intercollegiate sports at the NCAA Division III level as members of the Centennial Conference.[42] The Red Devils sports uniforms of red, white, and black.
Dickinson has 23 varsity sports teams, including baseball and softball, men's and women's golf, men's and women's soccer, football, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's track, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's lacrosse, men's and women's swimming, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's riding, women's volleyball, and women's field hockey. The college also has a cheerleading squad and dozens of intramural and club sports including ice hockey, men's volleyball, lacrosse, soccer, and ultimate frisbee.
The school's cross-country teams are led by long-standing coach Don Nichter. The women's cross country team has made 15 consecutive appearances at the Division III National Championships.[43] The men's team has seen similar success, with eight consecutive appearances at the nationals championships.[44]
Dickinson won the 1958 men's lacrosse team national title and Roy Taylor Division championship, also defeating Penn State in its final game to clinch the title.
Dickinson men's lacrosse is led by head coach Dave Webster, whose squad posted a compiled record of 65–10 over 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013 seasons. The team won three consecutive Centennial Conference championships (2011, 2012, 2013) and went to the NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Championship four consecutive years (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013). Prior to the 2010 season, Dickinson had never been in the NCAA tournament. In 2013, Heather Morrison and Brandon Palladino were named the NCAA Division III Outstanding Players of the Year: Iroquois Nationals Award. Palladino was also the first player in Centennial Conference history to earn first-team all-conference honors all four years of his career.
Dickinson's men's basketball team won Centennial Conference titles in 2013 and 2015, and an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament in 2014. Dickinson reached the "Elite Eight" in the 2014 NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament.[45] Gerry Wixted '15 was named D-III National Player of the Year in 2015.[46]
Approximately 300 students study music at Dickinson every year. Music ensembles, open to all students by audition, include the Dickinson College Choir, the Dickinson College Collegium, the Dickinson College Jazz Ensemble, the Dickinson Orchestra, the Dickinson Improvisation and Collaboration Ensemble, and the Dickinson Chamber Ensembles.[49]
Dickinson College has various on-campus houses and clubs dedicated to language and culture. On-campus student houses include a Romance Language House,[50] the Russian House,[51] the Global Community House,[52] and the Social Justice House. The Center for Sustainable Living, or Treehouse, is an on-campus student house dedicated to sustainability and environmentalism.[53]
Religious life
Dickinson has a number of different religious organizations, including the Harlow Family Hillel and the Asbell Center for Jewish Life,[54] the Dickinson Christian Fellowship (DCF), the Dickinson Catholic Campus Ministry (DCCM), and the Muslim Educational and Cultural Association (MECA).
Greek organizations
Dickinson College has several recognized fraternities and sororities.
The college's musical tradition dates back to at least 1858 when the Medal of Honor recipient and author, alumnus Horatio Collins King, wrote the alma mater, "Noble Dickinsonia" to the tune of "O Tannenbaum" ("O Christmas Tree"). In 1937 the college published a book titled Songs of Dickinson, which contains over 70 works from Dickinson's past. In 1953 the men's glee club recorded an album of college songs. In 2005–2006, The Octals, Dickinson's all-male a cappella group, recorded a similar CD.
Hat Societies
Dickinson College has four Hat Societies on its campus. This name is given by the distinctive hats members wear on campus. To gain admittance into a hat society, one is "tapped" as a junior by current senior members to then serve as a member during his or her senior year. The induction ceremony is known as a tapping ceremony. While membership criteria differ amongst the organizations, overall character, and general campus leadership are major requirements for membership in any of the organizations.[55]
In 2010, Dickinson was one of only 15 schools to receive an A− in the Sustainable Endowments Institute's 2010 green report card.
In 2010, the college was named a Sierra magazine "Cool School" in its Comprehensive Guide to the Most Eco-Enlightened U.S. Colleges.[26]
In 2010, the college's commitment to making a study of the environment and sustainability a defining characteristic of a Dickinson education landed it at the top of The Princeton Review's 2010 Green Honor Roll.[27]
In 2006, the college was ranked the most physically fit school in America by Men's Fitness.[60]
In 2006, Dickinson decided to stop publicizing its ranking in "America's Best Colleges" from U.S. News & World Report; however, in 2015 rankings Dickinson placed #40 among National Liberal Arts Colleges. In May 2007, Dickinson President William G. Durden joined with other college presidents in asking schools not to participate in the reputation portion of the magazine's survey.[61][62]
The Institute of International Education (IIE) ranked Dickinson No. 5 for a yearlong study abroad and No. 11 for semester-long study abroad in the baccalaureate category of its most recent Open Doors report (for the 2013–2014 academic year).[63]
Dickinson is a perennial producer of Fulbright Scholars, and the Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs has named Dickinson a Top Producer every year for the last six years.[64] It is also a top producer of Peace Corps Volunteers, ranking 8th among small colleges and universities in 2014.[65]
In 2021 The Princeton Review ranked Dickinson College number two on their 2022 'Top 50 Green Colleges' List[66]
In Howard and Matthew Greene's 2016 Edition of "The Hidden Ivies", Dickinson College was named one of "63 Top Liberal Arts Colleges and Universities".[citation needed]
^"PHMC Historical Markers Search"(Searchable database). Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Retrieved January 25, 2014.
^Fields, Katie. "The Influential Relationships". wiki.dickinson.edu. Retrieved January 14, 2023. Professor Charles Francis Himes, Dr. George Edward Reed, Stephen Baird, and Joshua Lippincott fostered the relationship between the institutions through religious services, advisory meetings, lectures, and commencement speeches.
^Dickinson students visited the Indian School to offer their talents and services. The October 24, 1896 Dickinsonian reported that volunteer Sunday School teachers came from the college chapter of the YMCA. Those teachers with Indian students were said to "enjoy a rare privilege. The work is doubly interesting because one can be studying the characteristics of his scholars, at the same time learning many valuable lessons in methods of teaching." The college gave Dickinson students a half-day holiday to attend the annual commencement and "very interesting exercises" at the Indian School.
