Simon's Rock College of Bard, also abbreviated as Simon's Rock College and Simon's Rock or, simply, The Rock , is a small liberal arts college located in the small town of Great Barrington (population 7,527), in Berkshire County, Massachusetts. The foremost of the many unusual things about Simon's Rock is that most students enroll after completing the tenth or eleventh grade of high school, rather than after graduating. 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ... Private schools, or independent schools, are schools not administered by local or national government, which retain the right to select their student body and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students tuition rather than with public (state) funds. ... 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. ... Leon Botstein, as photographed during a February 2004 interview with WXBC Radio Bard. ... Great Barrington is a mountain town located in rural Berkshire County, Massachusetts. ... Official language(s) English Capital Boston Largest city Boston Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 44th 10,555 mi²; 27,360 km² 183 mi; 295 km 113 mi; 182 km 13. ... Rural area in Dalarna, Sweden Sheep eating grass in rural Australia Rural areas are sparsely settled places away from the influence of large cities and towns. ... Binomial name Lama glama (Linnaeus, 1758) The llama (Lama glama) is a large camelid that originated in North America and then later on moved on to South America. ... 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. ... Great Barrington is a mountain town located in rural Berkshire County, Massachusetts. ... Berkshire County is a county located in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. ...

The college's founder, Elizabeth Blodgett Hall, had formerly been a private girl's school headmistress at Concord Academy. She concluded from her experience, and that of her colleagues, that for many students the latter two years of high school are wasted on repetitious and overly constrained work. Many young students, she thought, are ready to pursue college-level academic work some time before the usual system asks it of them. Elizabeth Blodgett Hall was raised in Great Barrington, Massachusetts at a time when upper-class people fled there in order to avoid the economic pressures of the Great Depression. ... Concord Academy Concord Academy is an independent college preparatory school for grades 9 through 12 located in Concord, Massachusetts. ...

While Simon's Rock is still the only college to take this approach with all of its students, it is now only one of a number of early college entrance programs that provide opportunities for talented students to enter college one or more years ahead of their traditional high school graduation date. Early college entrance programs are educational opportunities for groups of gifted students that allow them to be accelerated into college one or more years before the traditional age of college entrance. ...

Because Simon's Rock provides this accelerated program, it also attracts many students who might not consider a "liberal arts" education if they had to wait two more years. Computer geeks, pre-med, and math students read Plato, Dante, Nietzsche, and Foucault alongside dancers, artists, and literary types. Students generally transfer to larger institutions after two years, though many stay for four. Plato Plato (Greek: Πλάτων, Plátōn) (c. ... Dante in a fresco series of famous men by Andrea del Castagno, ca. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... Michel Foucault Michel Foucault (October 15, 1926 – June 26, 1984) was a French philosopher who held a chair at the Collège de France, which he gave the title The History of Systems of Thought. ...

Simon's Rock has some notable features that distinguish itself from other colleges.

• There are only about 350 students, resulting in a very low student-to-faculty ratio.

• It is a school policy that teachers are on a first name basis. It doesn't matter if you just finished 8 years of school and a 1000-page dissertation; teachers are not permitted to force students to call them "professor" or "doctor." For example, students don't refer to the president of the college as "Dr. Leon Botstein." They call him "Leon."

• Class sizes do not exceed 30 students, but usually have no more than 15, and average around 12. It isn't unheard of to have a class with as few as 3 students.

• Classes are discussion-oriented, with lecture based offerings largely limited to the sciences. The system is predicated on the idea that the students bring as much value to the class as the professors. In fact, orientation for incoming students is a mandatory weeklong writing and thinking workshop, designed to readjust students to pedagogical, cooperative bidirectional learning.

• In 2000, Simon's Rock was rated as the second most gay-friendly college in the United States by gay.com. Students tend to be very open-minded.

• Simon's Rock students are known for their political awareness.

This article is about the year 2000. ...

Factoids

• In 2000, Simon's Rock became the only college to recognize International Workers Day (May Day).

• For its first few years in the 1960s, Simon's Rock admitted only women.

• Simon's Rock was the site of a moderately famous school shooting in December 1992. A student, Wayne Lo, went on a shooting rampage, leaving two dead and four injured.
  • According to students, Lo held hateful and violent attitudes towards diverse groups including African Americans, Jews, homosexuals, AIDS patients, and individuals with disabilities.
  • Gregory Gibson, father of one of the victims, later published a book entitled Gone Boy (ISBN 1568362927), in which he describes the process of coming to terms with his son's murder.

• The llama is the mascot of Simon's Rock College due to the proximity of the college soccer fields to Seekonk Veterinary Hospital, a veterinary clinic with a llama pasture.

• In 1979, Simon's Rock became a part of Bard College, making the official school name "Simon's Rock of Bard College." It was later changed to the current "Simon's Rock College of Bard."

• The average entering age of a freshman at Simon's Rock College is 16.

• Simon's Rock's anime club orchestrated an anime convention, Llamacon, in Februrary 2006.

This article is about the year 2000. ... May Day is a name for various holidays celebrated on May 1 (or in the beginning of May). ... May Day is a name for various holidays celebrated on May 1 (or in the beginning of May), the most famous one being Labour Day. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969, inclusive. ... A school massacre is an incident of attempted mass murder, involving at least one actual death, that occurs at a school. ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... African Americans, also known as Afro-Americans or black Americans, are an ethnic group in the United States of America whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Sub-Saharan and West Africa. ... Homosexuality is a sexual orientation characterized by esthetic attraction, romantic love, or sexual desire exclusively for another of the same sex. ... Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or acquired immune deficiency syndrome (or acronym AIDS or Aids), is a collection of symptoms and infections resulting from the specific damage to the immune system caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). ... The term disability, as it is applied to humans, refers to any condition that impedes the completion of daily tasks using traditional methods. ... Binomial name Lama glama (Linnaeus, 1758) The llama (Lama glama) is a large camelid that originated in North America and then later on moved on to South America. ... Football is a ball game played between two teams of eleven players, each attempting to win by scoring more goals than their opponent. ... This page refers to the year 1979. ... Bard College For other meanings of the word Bard, see Bard (disambiguation). ... The following is a list of some of the larger anime-related conventions in the United States and elsewhere around the world. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Notable alumni and faculty

Alumni

• Alison Bechdel, creator of the comic Dykes To Watch Out For
• John Beekman, member of Fly Ashtray and namer of NYC cultural institution Rubulad
• Minna Bromberg, singer-songwriter
• Veronica Chambers, novelist and journalist
• Joel and Ethan Coen, filmmakers
• M. Doughty, formerly the lead singer of the band Soul Coughing
• Daisy Eagan, actress
• Seamus Farrow, son of Mia Farrow and Woody Allen, enrolled at the age of 11 in September 1999, making him the youngest student in Simon's Rock history. He went on to graduate from Bard College in 2004.
• Meg Hutchinson, singer-songwriter
• John McWhorter, Manhattan Institute Senior Fellow and a leading commentator on issues of race, ethnicity and culture in America.
• Eli Pariser, Executive Director, MoveOn.org Political Action
• Susan May Pratt, actress
• Bill Scannell, journalist and activist
• David Epstein, writer, attorney and political activist

Alison Bechdel (born September 10, 1960) is a US comics artist, best known for the lesbian comic strip Dykes To Watch Out For. ... Dykes To Watch Out For is a comic strip by Alison Bechdel. ... A Shimmy Disc band that kept on trucking, Fly Ashtray has recorded 10 albums of noodley, psych rock with strange noises and frequent time-changes included. ... The term singer-songwriter refers to performers who both write and sing their own material. ... Joel and Ethan Coen at Cannes 2001 Joel and Ethan Coen, commonly called The Coen Brothers, are Jewish-American film directors best known for quirky comedies such as Raising Arizona and The Big Lebowski, as well as for darker film noir dramas such as Fargo and Blood Simple. ... Michael Doughty (born June 10, 1970), often credited as Mike Doughty or M. Doughty, is a New York City musician, best known for his work as songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist for the band Soul Coughing from 1993 to 2000. ... Soul Coughing (1992–2000) was a New York-based band whose music blended elements of hip-hop, jazz, and rock. ... Ronan Seamus Farrow (right) with his mother, actress Mia Farrow Ronan Seamus Farrow was born on December 19, 1987, son of Woody Allen and Mia Farrow. ... Farrow on the cover of Glamour, 1968 Mia Farrow (born on February 9, 1945 in Los Angeles, California) is an Irish-American actor. ... Woody Allen. ... Bard College For other meanings of the word Bard, see Bard (disambiguation). ... Meg Hutchinson (born in 1978 in South Egremont, Massachusetts) is an American folk singer/songwriter. ... The term singer-songwriter refers to performers who both write and sing their own material. ... John H. McWhorter (1965- ), African American, was associate professor of linguistics at University of California, Berkeley until 2003, and is now a Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute think tank. ... The Manhattan Institute for Policy Research is an influential conservative think tank based in New York, and established in 1978. ... Eli Pariser is the Executive Director of Move on. ... MoveOn. ... Susan May Pratt (born 1974 -) is an US actress. ... David Epstein is a political activist and writer from White Plains, New York. ...

Faculty

• Karen Allen, Faculty in the Arts, is an acclaimed actress best known for her roles in films such as Raiders of the Lost Ark.
• Leon Botstein, President of Simon's Rock College, is a leading conductor and advocate for education reform. He is also the President of Bard College, Simon's Rock's parent institution.
• Edgar Chamorro, Professor of Spanish and Latin is a former leader of the Nicaraguan Contras and outspoken critic of the CIA's involvement in Latin America
• Emmanuel Dongala, Richard B. Fisher Chair in Natural Sciences, is a leading African novelist. Writer Philip Roth and Simon's Rock President Leon Botstein found him a job at the college when he was forced to flee the war-torn Congo.

Karen Allen in Raiders of the Lost Ark Karen Jane Allen (born October 5, 1951 in Carrollton, Illinois) is an American actress most famous for her roles in the films National Lampoons Animal House (1978), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), and Starman (1984). ... Raiders of the Lost Ark, also known as Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, is a film released by Paramount Pictures in 1981. ... Leon Botstein, as photographed during a February 2004 interview with WXBC Radio Bard. ... Edgar Chamorro was a special ambassador to the U.N. General Assembly for Nicaragua during the Contra. ... The Contras (from the Spanish term La Contra, short for movement of the contrarrevolucionarios, meaning counter-revolutionaries) were the armed opponents of Nicaraguas Sandinista Junta of National Reconstruction following the July 1979 overthrow of Anastasio Somoza Debayle and the ending of the Somoza familys 43-year rule. ... The CIA Seal The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is an American intelligence agency, responsible for obtaining and analyzing information about foreign governments, corporations, and individuals, and reporting such information to the various branches of the U.S. Government. ... Latin America consists of the countries of South America and some of North America (including Central America and some the islands of the Caribbean) whose inhabitants mostly speak Romance languages, although Native American languages are also spoken. ... Emmanuel Dongala is a Congolese chemist and novelist. ... Richard B. Fisher was chairman emeritus of the securities firm Morgan Stanley. ... Philip Milton Roth (born March 19, 1933, Newark, New Jersey) is a Jewish-American novelist who is best known for his 1959 collection, Goodbye, Columbus, as well as his sexually-explicit comedic novel Portnoys Complaint (1969) and for his late-90s trilogy comprising the Pulitzer Prize-winning American Pastoral... Leon Botstein, as photographed during a February 2004 interview with WXBC Radio Bard. ...

External links

• Simon's Rock College
• Early Entrance College Programs
• Simon's Rock Livejournal Community
• Simon's Rock Future Students Livejournal Community
• Progressive Blogging & Journalism @ Simon's Rock