Nichols College is a privatebusiness college in Dudley, Massachusetts. Founded in 1815 as Nichols Academy, Nichols College offers both bachelor's and master's degrees, as well as certificate programs.[3]
History
View of Conant Hall in circa 1883.
Nichols Academy
The institution was established in 1815 as Nichols Academy. Its founder was Amasa Nichols, a wealthy industrialist from Dudley, Massachusetts. Other early benefactors of the academy included textile manufacturers such as Samuel Slater.[4] A Universalist, Amasa Nichols intended for the school to be center for Universalist education. He resigned his position as an academy trustee in 1823, after non-Universalists were admitted to the board of directors. Nichols Academy subsequently became a private academy offering either a "classical" or "English" education to both male and female students ages 12 to 21.[5]
After free public schools opened in the surrounding area, enrollment dropped, and Nichols Academy trustees arranged with the town for the school to serve as the Dudley town high school beginning in 1871, an arrangement that lasted until 1909 when the academy closed its doors.[5][6] The campus buildings, designed by such architects as Elbridge Boyden and Charles F. Wilcox, were then used by the town and leased to other educational institutions over time.[4]
Nichols College
In 1931, James L. Conrad reorganized the school into Nichols Junior College of Business Administration and Executive Training, a two-year college, located on the Nichols Academy campus. The purpose of the school was to be a men-only, junior college for business education. In 1938, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts authorized Nichols Junior College to award an Associate Degree in Business Administration. Over time, the college purchased, constructed, and remodeled over forty-four buildings that would shape most of the current campus.[4]
Since 1961, Nichols College has run the Alpha Pi chapter of the Delta Mu Delta honor society for business programs. Since 1980, it has also run their local chapter of the Alpha Phi Sigma honor society for criminal justice programs.
In 2013, the Institute for Women's Leadership was established with the goal of developing the leadership potential of female students.[8] In that same year, the school hosted the Coalition for the Advancement of Jewish Education Conference.
Nichols College offers two undergraduate degrees: a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA) and a Bachelor of Arts (BA). The school also offers two graduate degrees: a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and a Master of Science (MS).[9] Certificates are also offered in similar disciplines.
The college also offers a four-year Professional Development Seminar (PDS) program of single-credit academic courses. First-year students receive mentoring with the transition to college, and then focus on developing a professional brand in their second year. The third year explores refining interviewing and networking skills, and the final year focuses on career and life after college.[10]
Campus
View of the Fels Student Center in 2014.
The 200-acre Nichols College campus is separated into North and South Campus, which are divided by the Fels Student Center.
Opened in 2012, Fels is centrally located on the Nichols campus. At 30,000 square feet, the center houses the departments of student services, residential life, career services, club meetings spaces, food services, student lounges, a bookstore, and WNRC-LP, the campus radio station.
North Campus consists of ten college buildings, most of which are academic halls. The southernmost point is marked by Conrad Hall, while the westernmost is Conant Library. Along with Academy Hall, they are the oldest buildings on campus. South Campus consists of twelve buildings. The northernmost structure is the Currier Center, the southernmost is Kuppenheimer Hall, and the easternmost is the Athletic and Recreation Center.
Athletics
Nichols College Athletics—known as the Bison—offers a variety of sports for men and women, as well as coeducational ones. The Athletic and Fitness Center within North Campus includes Levy Rink, Robinson Tennis Courts, and Michael Vendetti Field, a multipurpose turf field used for field hockey, football, and lacrosse.[11]
Both men's and women's teams have won numerous CCC championships. The men's tennis squad won eight consecutive titles through the 2011–2012 to 2018–2019 seasons, and the women's team has won four titles in 2010–2011, 2016–2017, 2017–2018, and 2018–2019. The men's basketball team claimed three consecutive titles from 2016 to 2017 through 2018–2019, and the men's hockey team was victorious in 2017–2018. Men's soccer has won two titles in 2010 and 2014, and the women won three times, namely in 1996 and 2002. The women's field hockey team also lifted a trophy in 2009. Outside of the CCC, men's hockey has won three ECAC Northeast Championships in 2008–2009, 2013–2014, and 2014–2015, as well as the WCHL Tournament in 1971.
