Mary Baldwin College is a private independent comprehensive four-year liberal arts women's college in Staunton, Virginia. Enrollment is currently 2242 students. A motto (from Italian) is a phrase or a short list of words meant formally to describe the general motivation or intention of an entity, social group, or organization. ... The date of establishment or date of founding of an institution is the date on which that institution chooses to claim as its starting point. ... In higher education, particularly in the United States, a womens college is a college (that is, a primarily undergraduate, bachelors degree-granting institution) whose students are exclusively women. ... A financial endowment is a transfer of money or property donated to an institution, with the stipulation that it be invested, and the principal remain intact. ... University President is the title of the highest ranking officer within a university, within university systems that prefer that appellation over other variations such as Chancellor or rector. ... A faculty is a division within a university. ... Alternate uses: Student (disambiguation) Etymologically derived through Middle English from the Latin second-type conjugation verb stŭdērĕ, which means to study, a student is one who studies. ... In some educational systems, undergraduate education is post-secondary education up to the level of a Bachelors degree. ... Degree ceremony at Cambridge. ... A professional degree is an academic degree designed to prepare the holder for a particular career or profession, fields where scholarly research and academic activity are not the work, but rather a profession such as law, medicine, architecture, accounting, engineering, religious ministry, or education. ... West Beverley Street in downtown Staunton Staunton is an independent city within the confines of Augusta County in the commonwealth of Virginia. ... Official language(s) English Capital Richmond Largest city Virginia Beach Area  Ranked 35th  - Total 42,793 sq mi (110,862 km²)  - Width 200 miles (320 km)  - Length 430 miles (690 km)  - % water 7. ... School colors are the colors chosen by a school to represent it on uniforms and other items of identification. ... The athletic nickname, or equivalently athletic moniker, of a university or college within the United States of America is the name officially adopted by that institution for at least the members of its athletic teams. ... Millie, once mascot of the City of Brampton, is now the Brampton Arts Councils representative. ... Genera Many, see the article Sciuridae. ... A website (alternatively, Web site) is a collection of Web pages, images, videos and other digital assets that is hosted on a Web server, usually accessible via the Internet or a LAN. A Web page is a document, typically written in HTML, that is almost always accessible via HTTP, a... A liberal arts college is an institution of higher education found in the United States, offering programs in the liberal arts at the post-secondary level. ... Womens colleges in the United States in higher education are American undergraduate, bachelors degree-granting institutions, often liberal arts colleges, whose student populations are comprised exclusively or almost exclusively of women. ... West Beverley Street in downtown Staunton Staunton is an independent city within the confines of Augusta County in the commonwealth of Virginia. ...

Mary Baldwin was ranked by US News & World Report as a top tier-master's level university in the South. U.S. News & World Report is a weekly newsmagazine. ...

Mary Baldwin has the only full-fledged Health Care Administration program in the nation, and pre-professional programs in law, medicine, ministry, and ROTC.

It is unique for its Virginia Women's Institute for Leadership program for female cadets, affiliated with nearby Virginia Military Institute. VWIL was intended to satisfy non-discrimination laws which required that VMI, which was then men-only, begin accepting women. The Virginia Womens Institute for Leadership (or VWIL) is a womens military college based at Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, Virginia. ... The Virginia Military Institute (VMI), located in Lexington, Virginia, is the oldest state military college in the United States. ...

Mary Baldwin College is also unique for its Program for the Exceptionally Gifted students, who enter college as early as age 13 as full-fledged members of the on-campus undergraduate community. The environment of PEG encourages the formation of exceptionally strong friendships in a short time. The Program for the Exceptionally Gifted (PEG) at Mary Baldwin College is an early college entrance program designed for girls ages 12 to 17 who have not completed high school. ...

Mary Baldwin College also offers co-ed graduate and adult degree programs for men and women, with an adult degree program enrollment of 1196 students. The adult degree program is offered on-campus and in five satellite campuses: Charlottesville, Richmond, Roanoke, South Boston, and Weyers Cave. Nickname: C-Ville Location in the Commonwealth of Virginia Coordinates: Country United States State Virginia County Albemarle County Founded 1762  - Mayor David E. Brown Area    - City 26. ... Nickname: Motto: Sic Itur Ad Astra (Thus do we reach the stars) Location in the Commonwealth of Virginia Coordinates: Country United States State Virginia County Independent City Government  - Mayor L. Douglas Wilder (I) Area  - City 62. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... South Boston is a town located in Halifax County, Virginia. ... Weyers Cave is a census-designated place located in Augusta County, Virginia. ...

History

Mary Baldwin College was founded in 1842 as Augusta Female Seminary. It is one of the oldest institutions of higher education for women in the United States. This is a timeline of womens colleges in the United States. ...

It was founded by Rufus William Bailey, a minister and teacher from Maine and a graduate of Dartmouth College and Andover Theological Seminary. After plans for the school were approved by the ministers and members of the Presbyterian churches of Staunton and Augusta County, a self-perpetuating board of control was set up, and the Seminary opened with Bailey as first principal. The first charter was granted to the Seminary by the Virginia General Assembly in 1845. Rufus William Bailey (13 April 1793 – 25 April 1863) was the founder of Augusta Female Seminary (later Mary Baldwin College), in Staunton, Virginia. ...

The school's first building, now the Administration Building, was built adjacent to the First Presbyterian Church of Staunton. In 1872 the church building and land were given to the school. Until it was demolished in 1962, the building was known as Waddell Chapel in memory of Joseph Addison Waddell, secretary of the Board of Trustees for more than fifty years. Thomas Woodrow Wilson, twenty-eighth President of the United States, was baptized in the chapel building in 1857, his father, the Reverend Joseph Ruggles Wilson, being minister of the First Presbyterian Church at the time and serving also as chaplain to the Augusta Female Seminary. Dr. Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856 – February 3, 1924) was the 45th state Governor of New Jersey (1911-1913) and later the 28th President of the United States (1913-1921). ...

It is possible that the Seminary might not have survived the Civil War period except for Mary Julia Baldwin, who became principal in 1863. The courage and ingenuity of Baldwin and her assistant, Agnes McClung, enabled the school to remain open when nearly every other school in the Shenandoah Valley was forced to close because the Valley was a continual battlefield for the Union and Confederate armies. Mary Julia Baldwin (4 October 1829–1 July 1897) was a Virginia educator for whom Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, Virginia, is named. ...

After the reconstruction period, the Seminary expanded and prospered under Baldwin's leadership. The academic level of the curriculum was raised until it was the equivalent of colleges and universities for the higher classes. In 1895 the name of the institution was changed, at the request of the Board of Trustees and by act of "the valuable services and unparalleled success of the Principal." Baldwin was principal until she died in 1897. At her death the Seminary received the bulk of her property, which, with the gifts already given by her, amounted to a substantial endowment for that time.

Subsequent administrators were Ella C. Weimar and Marianna P. Higgins. The Seminary became Mary Baldwin Junior College in 1916 and a four-year college in 1923, when the name was changed to Mary Baldwin College. It is related to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and is governed by a self-perpetuating Board of Trustees.

Demographics

MBC's 2005-06 undergraduate student body (Residential College for Women) was made up of 65% White American, 33% American ethnic minorities, and 2% international.

Academics

Mary Baldwin offers five degree-granting programs and has a total enrollment of approximately 2137 and a full-time equivalent of over 1220. Its students come from varied geographical areas and backgrounds. Its relatively small size enables the College to foster a lively sense of community within which is expressed a concern for each person. It enables the strengthening of individual responsibility and self-confidence. Pride in academic achievement and a longstanding tradition of student government, supported by a working honor and judicial system (enforced by the students with full support from MBC administration), help to realize these aims.

Undergraduate

Mary Baldwin's undergraduate program is known as the Residential College for Women, and offers 33 majors and 37 minors. Programs include:

• African-American Studies
• Art and Art History
  • Art
  • Art Management
• Asian Studies
• Biochemistry
• Biology
• Business Administration
  • Business Administration
  • Marketing Communication
  • Human Resource Management
• Chemistry
• Clinical Laboratory Science
• Communication
• Computer Information Systems
  • Computer Science/Mathemathics
  • Computer Information Systems
  • Computer Science
• Economics
• Education
• English
• French
• History
  • History
  • Historic Preservation
• Leadership Studies
• Mathematics
  • Mathematics
  • Applied Mathematics
• Music
• Peacemaking and Conflict Resolution (beginning in 2006-07)
• Philosophy and Religion
  • Philosophy
  • Philosophy and Religion
  • Ministry
  • Religion
• Physical and Health Education
• Physics
• Political Science
  • Political Science
  • International Relations
• Psychology
• Public History
• Sociology / Social Work
  • Human Services
  • Sociology / Social Work
  • Sociology
• Spanish
  • Spanish
  • Latin American Studies
• Theatre
• Women's Studies

Post-graduate

Its co-ed graduate programs include: Master of Arts in Teaching and a unique Master of Letters in Shakespeare and Renaissance Literature in Performance. The M.Litt. degree, which operates in cooperation with the American Shakespeare Center's Blackfriars Playhouse, features four tracks: acting, directing, teaching, and dramaturgy. A Master of Fine Arts in all four concentrations of the M.Litt. Also available: a cooperative master's degree programs in engineering (University of Virginia) and nursing (Vanderbilt University); post-graduate teacher licensure. A masters degree is an academic degree usually awarded for completion of a postgraduate course of one or two years in duration. ... The Master of Letters (MLitt from the Latin magister litterarum) is a postgraduate Masters degree. ... A post-graduate program unique to Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, Virginia, the Master of Letters/Master of Fine Arts in Shakespeare and Renaissance Literature in Performance (MLitt/MFA) combines stagecraft and scholarship with concentrations in acting, directing, teaching, and dramaturgy. ... Blackfriars Playhouse is the worlds only replica of the Blackfriars Theatre. ... Blackfriars Playhouse is the worlds only replica of the Blackfriars Theatre. ... Dramaturgy is the art of dramatic composition and the representation of the main elements of drama on the stage. ... In the United States, a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) is a terminal graduate degree in an area of visual, plastic, literary or performing arts typically requiring two to three years of study beyond the bachelor level. ... The University of Virginia (also called U.Va. ... Vanderbilt University is a private, nonsectarian, coeducational research university in Nashville, Tennessee. ...

Student societies

Mary Baldwin is home to a chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society as well as more than 10 national and international honor societies, including Omicron Delta Kappa, the national leadership honor society. The Phi Beta Kappa Society is an honor society which considers its mission to be fostering and recognizing excellence in undergraduate liberal arts and sciences. ... Omicron Delta Kappa, or OΔK, is a national leadership honor society. ...

Student legends

One of the original buildings, South Bailey, is alleged to have served as a hospital during the Civil War. The building remained in use until about 2003 when it was torn down. The dormitory has since been rebuilt, however student legend held the old building to be haunted. 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Notable alumni

• Custer LaRue
• Jason Narvy

Custer LaRue is a soprano vocalist of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. ... Jason A. Narvy, a native of Newbury Park, California (born March 27, 1974), spent a number of years working in Hollywood playing the character Eugene Skull Skullovitch on the Power Rangers television series and starred in several movies based on the series. ...

Notable faculty

• Elizabeth Campbell

Elizabeth Pfohl Campbell (December 2, 1902 - January 9, 2004) is one of the first and most prominent public television pioneers in the United States. ...

See also

• Seven Sisters of the South

The Seven Sisters of the South refers to a group of highly regarded American womens colleges in the Southern United States. ...

External links

• Official Web site
• In Virginia, three elite women's colleges reinvent themselves and find a new mission in a coed world - 06 November 2006 Newsweek article on Sweet Briar College, Hollins University, and Mary Baldwin College