Revision as of 03:00, 24 May 2007 editCarnaptime (talk | contribs)87 edits →External links← Previous edit | Latest revision as of 20:34, 19 November 2024 edit undoCrochetingRat (talk | contribs)10 editsm Undid revision 1258452176 by CrochetingRat (talk) -- Sorry, I did not realize St. John's University and St. John's College are 2 different schools! The college is secular and the university is Catholic.Tag: Undo | ||
Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{redirect|SJCA|the city in California|San Jose, California}} | |||
{{Infobox University | |||
{{Short description|Private liberal arts college in the United States.}} | |||
|name = St. John's College | |||
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}} | |||
|image_name = Sjcseal.jpg | |||
{{Infobox university | |||
|image_size = 95px | |||
| name = St. John's College | |||
|motto = Facio liberos ex liberis libris libraque <br />(''I make free men from children by means of books and a balance'') | |||
| image_size = 250px | |||
|established = 1696, '''King William's School'''<br />1784, '''St. John's College''' <br />1937, '''New Program'''<br />1964, '''Santa Fe campus''' | |||
| image_alt = The logo of St. John's College consists of a round seal with the words "St. John's College" arranged by its side. The seal design consists of seven books arranged around a scale (balance) in the center. Around the seal are the words Facio liberos ex liberis libris libraque, the college's motto in Latin. | |||
|type = ] | |||
| motto = ''Facio liberos ex liberis libris libraque'' | |||
|president = Christopher Nelson, ] <br>Michael Peters, ] | |||
| motto_lang = la | |||
|dean = Michael Dink, ] <br>Victoria Mora, ] | |||
| mottoeng = I make free adults from children by means of books and a balance | |||
|city = ], ]| | |||
| established = {{start date and age|1696}} (as King William's School)<br/>{{start date and age|1784}} (St. John's charter) | |||
state = <br>and ], ] | |||
| |
| type = ] ] | ||
| endowment = $244.5 million (2023) <ref>{{Cite web |last=Luell |first=Sara |date=2023-10-18 |title=St. John's College Annapolis Receives More Than $35 Million from Hodson Trust for Student Scholarships |url=https://www.sjc.edu/news/st-johns-college-annapolis-receives-more-35-dollars-million-hodson-trust-student-scholarships |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231201030257/https://www.sjc.edu/news/st-johns-college-annapolis-receives-more-35-dollars-million-hodson-trust-student-scholarships |archive-date=2023-12-01 |access-date=2024-05-02 |website=St. John's College {{!}} News & Features |quote="St. John's College Annapolis today announced that the school has received $35.1 million from the Hodson Trust, bringing the college's total endowment to $244.5 million and providing its students with an additional $1.8 million in financial scholarship support annually."}}</ref> | |||
|undergrad = 450-475 per campus | |||
| |
| budget = $47.7 million (2022) | ||
<ref>{{Cite web |title=SUSTAINING STRENGTH 2022 Report for Alumni & Friends |url=https://www.sjc.edu/application/files/8616/7709/4007/St-Johns-College-Report-Alumni-Friends-2022.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230321165003/https://www.sjc.edu/application/files/8616/7709/4007/St-Johns-College-Report-Alumni-Friends-2022.pdf |archive-date=2023-03-21 |access-date=2024-05-02 |page=17 |type=Report |format=PDF |quote=$47.7 FY2022 Expenses (in millions)}}</ref> | |||
|faculty = ~164 total (both campuses) | |||
| |
| president = ] (]) <br/> J. Walter Sterling (]) | ||
| academic_staff = ~164 total (both campuses) | |||
| undergrad = 775 (both campuses)<ref name="bruni" /> | |||
|mascot = None (Platypus / Book)<ref>According to the website of the Annapolis campus's college bookstore, "Though the College has no mascot, the platypus sometimes fills in, wearing a St. John's College shirt and providing unique company for the students at St. John's." (, URL accessed ].) The Santa Fe campus has soccer, football, and ] teams, all of which are known as the St. John's College Books.</ref> | |||
| |
| postgrad = ~160 | ||
| city = ] and ] | |||
|free = ], ], ], ], ], ] | |||
| country = United States | |||
|website = | |||
| campus = Annapolis: ] <br/>Santa Fe: ] / Semi-rural | |||
| colors = {{Color box|#FF5D28}} Orange | |||
| athletics = | |||
| mascot = Platypus/]{{efn|According to the website of the Annapolis campus's college bookstore, "Though the College has no mascot, the platypus sometimes fills in, wearing a St. John's College shirt and providing unique company for the students at St. John's." URL accessed 2006-07-27. The Santa Fe campus has soccer, football, and ] teams.}} | |||
| website = {{URL|http://www.sjc.edu|sjc.edu}} | |||
| image_name = St. John's College.svg | |||
| former_name = King William's School<br />(1696–1784) | |||
| coor = {{coord|38|58|57|N|76|29|33|W|region:US-MD_type:edu}}<br/>{{coord|35|40|3|N|105|54|44|W|region:US-NM_type:edu}} | |||
| accreditation = ] (Annapolis)<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-10-31 |title=St. John's College - Statement of Accreditation Status |url=https://www.msche.org/institution/0176/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240506194435/https://www.msche.org/institution/0176/ |archive-date=2024-05-06 |access-date=2024-05-06 |website=Middle States Commission on Higher Education |language=en-US}}</ref><br/>] (Santa Fe)<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-05-06 |title=Higher Learning Commission {{!}} Statement of Accreditation Status |url=https://www.hlcommission.org/component/directory/?Itemid=&Action=ShowBasic&instid=1509 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240506195054/https://www.hlcommission.org/component/directory/?Itemid=&Action=ShowBasic&instid=1509 |archive-date=2024-05-06 |access-date=2024-05-06 |website=Higher Learning Commission}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-05-03 |title=About St. John’s |url=https://www.sjc.edu/about |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240401195713/https://www.sjc.edu/about |archive-date=2024-04-01 |access-date=2024-05-03 |website=St. John's College |at=Accreditation and Licensure |quote=St. John's College in Annapolis is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools; St. John's in Santa Fe is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.}}</ref> | |||
| religious_affiliation = ] | |||
}} | }} | ||
'''St. John's College''' is a ] ] with campuses in ] and ]. As the successor institution of '''King William's School''', a ] founded in 1696, St. John's is one of the ] in the United States;<ref name="bruni">{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/11/opinion/contrarian-college-stjohns.html |title=The most contrarian college in America |last=Bruni |first=Frank |date=September 11, 2018 |work=The New York Times |access-date=2018-09-20 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release | url=http://www.stjohnscollege.edu/about/AN/campus.shtml | title=About St. John's College | publisher=St. John's College | access-date=December 20, 2012 | archive-date=October 4, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004230659/http://www.stjohnscollege.edu/about/AN/campus.shtml | url-status=dead }}</ref> the current institution received a collegiate charter in 1784.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/stream/somehistoricalac00stjo#page/n7/mode/2up | title=Some historical accounts of the founding of King William's school and its subsequent establishment as St. John's college, together with biographical notices of the various presidents from 1790–1894, also of some of the representative alums of the College (1894)|via=Archive.org | year=1894| publisher=Annapolis | access-date=October 2, 2014}}</ref> In 1937, St. John's adopted a ] curriculum based on discussion of works from the ] of philosophical, religious, historical, mathematical, scientific, and literary works. | |||
'''St. John's College''' is a ] with two U.S. campuses: ] and ]. Founded in 1696 as a preparatory school, '''King William's School''', the institution received a collegiate charter in 1784. St. John's is one of the oldest institutions of higher learning in the U.S. Since ], it has followed an unusual curriculum, the ] Program, based on discussion of works from the Western philosophic and literary canon. | |||
Despite its name, St. John's College has no religious affiliation. The school grants only one bachelor's degree. Two master's degrees are currently available, one in Liberal Arts, which is a modified version of the undergraduate curriculum, and a parallel course of studies in Eastern Classics. The Master's in Eastern Classics is unique to St. John's Santa Fe, as no other accredited institution of higher learning in North America offers a similar degree. Both graduate degrees are awarded to graduate students through the college's Graduate Institute. | |||
==The Great Books program== | |||
The ] program (often called simply "the Program" or "the New Program" at St. John's) was developed at the ] by ], ], ], and ] in the mid-1930s as an alternative form of education to the then rapidly changing undergraduate curriculum. St. John's adopted the Great Books program in 1937, when the college was facing the possibility of financial and academic ruin. The Great Books program in use today was heavily influenced by ], who was Dean of the college in the 1940s and 1950s. | |||
The four-year program of study, nearly all of which is mandatory, demands that students read and discuss the works of many of Western civilization's most prominent contributors to philosophy, theology, mathematics, science, music, poetry, and literature, such as ], ], ], and ]. In line with the views of the program's founders—who complained of "vocational interests" that "clutter" other college's curricula—"Johnnies", as St. John's students style themselves, usually value intellectual pursuits for their own sake, regardless of whether they have practical application. Tutorials (mathematics, language, and music), as well as Seminar and Laboratory, are discussion-based. In the Mathematics tutorial students often demonstrate propositions that mathematicians throughout various ages have laid out. In the Language tutorial student translations are presented (Ancient Greek is studied in the first two years and French for the last two). The tutorials, with Seminar and Laboratory, constitute the "classes". All classes, and in particular the Seminar, are considered formal exercises; consequently, students address one another, as well as their teachers, only by their last names during class. | |||
The college grants a single bachelor's degree in ]. The awarded degree is equivalent to a double major in ] and the ] and ], and a double minor in ] and ].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Undergraduate Subjects: An Integrated Curriculum|url=https://www.sjc.edu/academic-programs/undergraduate/subjects|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210206031519/https://www.sjc.edu/academic-programs/undergraduate/subjects|archive-date=2021-02-06|access-date=2021-03-10|website=www.sjc.edu|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=St. John's College Transcript Support |url=https://www.sjc.edu/application/files/1514/6825/8701/PDF_Parchment_Transcript_Support.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231126203445/https://www.sjc.edu/application/files/1514/6825/8701/PDF_Parchment_Transcript_Support.pdf |archive-date=2023-11-26 |archive-format=PDF |access-date=2021-03-10 |website=St. John's College |format=PDF}}</ref> Two master's degrees are available through the college's graduate institute: one in liberal arts, which is a modified version of the undergraduate curriculum, and one in Eastern Classics, which applies a Great Books curriculum to a list of classic works from India, China, and Japan.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sjc.edu/academics/graduate/master-s-eastern-classics/ |title=Liberal Arts College - Great Books Program | St. John's College |website=Sjc.edu |access-date=2016-12-24}}</ref> | |||
Unlike mainstream U.S. colleges, St. John's eschews contemporary textbooks, lectures, and examinations. While ] are given, the culture of the school deemphasizes their importance and grades are released only at the request of the student. Grading is based largely on class participation and papers. Tutors, as faculty members are called at the College, play a non-directive role in the classroom, compared to mainstream colleges. However, at St. John's this does vary somewhat by course and instructor. | |||
==History== | ==History== | ||
===Old program=== | |||
], a co-founder of the new program, was a constant supporter.]] | |||
St. John's College traces its origins to King William's School, founded in 1696. King William's School was founded with an affiliation to the ].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Perry |first=William Stevens |title=Some Historical Accounts of the Founding of King William's School and its Subsequent Establishment as St. John's College |isbn=978-0656792696 |location=] |publication-date=1894 |pages=7–11 |chapter=King William's School, Annapolis, MD. |url=https://archive.org/details/somehistoricalac00stjo/page/n11/mode/2up}}</ref> In 1784, Maryland chartered St. John's College, which absorbed King William's School when it opened in 1785.<ref name="St. John's College Press">{{cite book|last1=Tilghman|first1=Tench Francis|title=The Early History of St. John's College in Annapolis|date=1984|publisher=St. John's College Press|location=Annapolis}}</ref> The college took up residence in a building known as Bladen's Folly (the current McDowell Hall), which was originally built to be the Maryland governor's mansion but was not completed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hcap.artstor.org/cgi-bin/library?a=d&d=p1631 |title=The Council of Independent Colleges: Historic Campus Architecture Project |website=Hcap.artstor.org |date=1909-02-20 |access-date=2016-12-24}}</ref> There was some association with the ] early in the college's history, leading to speculation that it was named after ].<ref>{{cite journal|title=1784: The Year St. John's College Was Named|journal=Maryland Historical Magazine|date=June 1979|volume=74|issue=2|pages=133–51}}</ref> The college's original charter, reflecting the Masonic value of religious tolerance as well as the religious diversity of the founders (which included ], ], and the ] ]) stated that "youth of all religious denominations shall be freely and liberally admitted". The college always maintained a small size, generally enrolling fewer than 500 men at a time. | |||
In its early years, the college was at least nominally ]—the college's founders had envisaged it as the Western Shore branch of a proposed "]"—but a lack of enthusiasm from the ] and its ] counterpart, ], made this largely a paper institution. After years of inconsistent funding and litigation, the college accepted a smaller annual grant in lieu of being funded through the state's annual appropriations process. The college closed during the ], and its campus was used as a military hospital. In 1907, it became the undergraduate college of a loosely organized "University of Maryland" that included the ]. By 1920, when Maryland State College (founded in 1857 as Maryland Agricultural College) became the ], St. John's was a free-standing private institution.<ref name="St. John's College Press"/> | |||
St. John's College was founded as King William's School in 1696. In 1784, Maryland granted a charter to St. John's College, into which the original preparatory school merged. <ref> About St. John's College, URL accessed May 18, 2007 </ref> The college took up residence in a building known as Bladen's Folly (the current McDowell Hall), which was originally built to be the Maryland governor's mansion, but was not completed. There was some association with the ] early in the college's history, leading to speculation that it was named after ], the patron saint of ]. The College's original charter, reflecting the Masonic value of religious tolerance as well as the religious diversity of the founders (they included both ] and ]), stated that "youth of all religious denominations shall be freely and liberally admitted." | |||
The |
The college curriculum has taken various forms throughout its history. It began with a general program of study in the liberal arts, but St. John's was a ] for much of the late 19th century and early 20th century. It ended ] with ] accession as president in 1923.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.capitalgazette.com/news/local/annapolis-past-to-present-military-life-at-st-john-s/article_38a185cf-9d7f-54cb-a830-ec5265a08a13.html | ||
|work= The Capital | |||
|title=Annapolis, past to present: Military life at St. John's | |||
|last= Doyel | |||
|first= Ginger | |||
|date=2003-04-02 | |||
|access-date=2013-04-27 | |||
|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130628203140/http://www.capitalgazette.com/news/local/annapolis-past-to-present-military-life-at-st-john-s/article_38a185cf-9d7f-54cb-a830-ec5265a08a13.html |archive-date=2013-06-28 | |||
}}</ref> | |||
Garey and the Navy instituted a ] unit in September 1924, creating the first-ever collegiate Department of ] in the United States. But despite St. John's successfully pioneering the entire ] movement, student interest waned, and the voluntary ] disappeared in 1926 with Garey's departure. The Naval Reserve unit followed by 1929.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blog.usni.org/2009/03/21/from-our-archive-the-naval-reserve-officers-training-corps-by-by-captain-chester-w-nimitz-u-s-navy |title=USNI Blog » Blog Archive » From Our Archive: The Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps by Capt. Chester W. Nimitz, USN 1928 |website=Blog.usni.org |access-date=2016-12-24}}</ref> | |||
===New program=== | |||
In ], the College lost its accreditation.<ref name="quiet">{{cite web|author=Kathy Witkowsky|year=1999|url=http://www.highereducation.org/crosstalk/ct0499/news0499-revolution.shtml|title=A Quiet Counterrevolution: St. John's College teaches the classics—and only the classics|publisher=highereducation.org: ''Educational Crosstalk''|accessdate=2006-09-14}}</ref> The Board of Visitors and Governors, faced with dire financial straits caused by the ], invited educational innovators ] and ] to make a completely fresh start. They introduced a new program of study, which is essentially the one still in effect ]. Buchanan became dean of the College, while Barr assumed its presidency. | |||
{{wikisource|Catalogue of St. John's College, 1945}} | |||
In 1936, the college lost its ].<ref name="quiet">{{webarchive|author=Kathy Witkowsky|year=1999|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080605203758/http://www.highereducation.org/crosstalk/ct0499/news0499-revolution.shtml|title=A Quiet Counterrevolution: St. John's College teaches the classics—and only the classics|publisher=highereducation.org: Educational Crosstalk|access-date=2024-04-02}}</ref> The Board of Visitors and Governors, faced with dire financial straits caused by the ], invited educational innovators ] and ] to make a completely fresh start. They introduced a new program of study, which remains in effect today. Buchanan became dean of the college, while Barr assumed its presidency. In his guide ''Cool Colleges'', Donald Asher writes that the New Program was implemented to save the college from closing: "Several benefactors convinced the college to reject a watered-down curriculum in favor of becoming a very distinctive academic community. Thus this great institution was reborn as a survival measure."<ref>{{cite book|author=Donald Asher|title=Cool Colleges|year=2007|publisher=Ten Speed Press|page=123|isbn=978-1-58008-839-8}}</ref> | |||
In 1938, ] wrote a column praising liberal arts education as a bulwark against fascism and said, "In the future, men will point to St. John's College and say that there was the seed-bed of the American renaissance."<ref name="radical">Charles A. Nelson (2001),''Radical Visions: Stringfellow Barr, Scott Buchanan, and Their Efforts on behalf of Education and Politics in the Twentieth Century''. Bergin and Garvey, Westport, CT; {{ISBN|0-89789-804-4}}.</ref> | |||
In his guide ''Cool Colleges'', ] writes that the New Program was implemented to save the college from closing: "Several benefactors convinced the college to reject a watered-down curriculum in favor of becoming a very distinctive academic community. Thus this great institution was reborn as a survival measure." | |||
In 1940, national attention was attracted to St. John's by a story in '']'' entitled "The Classics: At St. John's They Come into Their Own Once More".<ref name="radical"/> Classic works unavailable in English translation were translated by faculty members, typed, mimeographed, and bound. They were sold to the general public as well as to students, and by 1941, the St. John's College bookshop was famous as the only source for English translations of works such as ]'s '']'', ]'s '']'',<ref>{{cite web |last1=Jacobsson |first1=Martin |title=De musica {{!}} Augustine of Hippo |url=https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/585303 |website=goodreads.com |publisher=Almqvist & Wiksell Intl |access-date=18 May 2024}}</ref> and ]'s '']''. | |||
In 1938, ] wrote a column praising liberal arts education as a bulwark against fascism, and said "in the future, men will point to St. John’s College and say that there was the seed-bed of the American renaissance."<ref name="radical">Charles A. Nelson (2001), ''Radical Visions: Stringfellow Barr, Scott Buchanan, and Their Efforts on behalf of Education and Politics in the Twentieth Century.'' Bergin and Garvey, Westport, CT. ISBN 0-89789-804-4.</ref> | |||
The wartime years were difficult for the all-male St. John's. Enlistment and the draft emptied the college; 15 seniors graduated in 1943, eight in 1945, and three in 1946.<ref name="radical"/> From 1940 to 1946, St. John's was repeatedly confronted with threats of its land being seized by the Navy for expansion of the neighboring ], and ], Secretary of the Navy, formally announced plans to do so in 1945. At the time, '']'', which had expected a legal battle royale comparable to the ], commented that "although a small college of fewer than 200 students, St. John's has, because of its experimental liberal arts program, received more publicity and been the center of a greater academic controversy than most other colleges in the land. Its best-books program has been attacked and praised by leading educators of the day."<ref>"St. John's and Navy Facing Fight In Courts Over College's Campus", June 29, 1945, p. 17.</ref> | |||
In 1940, national attention was attracted to St. John's by a story in '']'' entitled: ''The Classics: At St. John's They Come into Their Own Once More.''<ref name="radical"/> | |||
] | |||
The constant threat of eviction discouraged Stringfellow Barr. In late 1946, Forrestal withdrew the plan to take over St. John's in the face of public opposition and the disapproval of the ]. Still, Barr and Scott Buchanan were already committed to leaving St. John's and launching ], a new, similar college in ]; that project eventually failed—but thinking about other sites for the college eventually led to the opening of St. John's second campus in Santa Fe in 1964. | |||
St John's had been founded as an all-white institution and continued as such in the early years of the New Program, with Barr actively discouraging black students from applying.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=J. Winfree |title=A Search for the Liberal College: The Beginning of the St. John's Program |date=1983 |publisher=St. John's College Press |location=Annapolis, MD}}</ref> However, by 1948, faculty and student sentiment had shifted, and students, with the support of the faculty and administration, persuaded a reluctant Board of Visitors and Governors to integrate the college and St. John's became one of the first previously all-white colleges south of the ] to admit black students voluntarily.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sjca.edu/asp/alumAssocMain.aspx?page=6834 |title="Letter from Martin A. Dyer, Class of 1952, to St. John's Alumni", July 16, 2004 |access-date=2007-04-24 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051103051206/http://www.sjca.edu/asp/alumAssocMain.aspx?page=6834 |archive-date=November 3, 2005 }}, accessed July 26, 2007</ref> | |||
Classic works unavailable in English translation were translated by faculty members, typed, mimeographed, and bound. They were sold to the general public as well as to students, and by 1941 the St. John's College bookshop was famous as the only source for English translations of works such as ]'s | |||
'']'', ]'s ''],'' and ]'s ''].'' | |||
In 1949, Richard D. Weigle became president of St. John's. Following the chaotic and difficult period from 1940 to 1949, Weigle's presidency continued for 31 years,<ref>"Richard Weigle, 80, Served as President Of St. John's College" (Obituary), ''The New York Times'', December 17, 1992, p. B22.</ref> during which time the New Program and the college itself became well established. | |||
The wartime years were difficult for the all-male St. John's. Enlistment and the draft all but emptied the college; 15 seniors graduated in 1943, eight in 1945, and three in 1946.<ref name="radical"/> | |||
In 1951, St. John's became ], admitting women for the first time in its 254-year history. Some students objected because they had not been involved in—nor even aware of—the decision before it was announced to the media, and some believed that the college could not remain a serious institution if it admitted women. Martin Dyer reported that women who were admitted quickly proved they were the academic and intellectual equals of their male counterparts. | |||
From 1940 to 1946, St. John's was repeatedly confronted with threats of its land being seized by the Navy for expansion of the neighboring ], and ], Secretary of the Navy, formally announced plans to do so in 1945. At the time, the '']'', which had expected a legal battle royal comparable to the Dartmouth case, commented that "although a small college of fewer than 200 students, St. John's has, because of its experimental liberal arts program, received more publicity and been the center of a greater academic controversy than most other colleges in the land. Its best-books program has been attacked and praised by leading educators of the day."<ref>"St. John's and Navy Facing Fight In Courts Over College's Campus", ], ], p. 17.</ref> | |||
As enrollment grew during the 1950s, and facing the coming larger ], thoughts turned again towards opening another campus—but this time in addition to, not instead of, the one in Annapolis. Serious talk of expansion began in 1959 when the father of a student from ], suggested to President Weigle that he establish a new campus there. '']'' ran an article on the college's possible expansion plans,<ref>, ''Time Magazine'', December 26, 1960, accessed April 28, 2007</ref> and 32 offers came into the college from ], ], ], ], ], ], and other states. | |||
The constant threat of eviction discouraged Stringfellow Barr. In late 1946 Forrestal withdrew the plan, in the face of public opposition and the disapproval of the House Naval Affairs Committee, but Barr and Scott Buchanan were already committed to leaving St. John's and launching a ] in ]; that project eventually failed -- but thinking about other sites for the college eventually led to the opening of St. John's second campus, in Santa Fe, in 1964. | |||
A group from the ] told Weigle that they were interested, though funding was a problem, and suitable land was a big question. There was also an offer of land in ], but competition with the other colleges there for students and financial contributions was a negative. The Riverside ] (in ]) was another possibility, but with only {{convert|5|acre|hectare}} of land and many renovations needed to the inn, funding was again a significant issue. | |||
In 1948, St. John's became the first previously all-white college south of the ] to voluntarily admit African American students.<ref>"Letter from Martin A. Dyer, Class of 1952, to St. John's Alumni", ], ]</ref> The movement to desegregate the College was wholly internal, beginning with students who, with the support of the faculty and administration, persuaded a reluctant Board of Visitors and Governors to go along. The first African American student was Martin A. Dyer, from Baltimore, who graduated in 1952. | |||
] | |||
The three California locations were all still major contenders when Robert McKinney (publisher of '']'' and a former SJC board member) called and told Weigle that a group of city leaders had long been looking for another college for Santa Fe. During a lunch Weigle attended at ]'s house on the outskirts of Santa Fe in late January 1961, Meem volunteered that he had a little piece of land ({{convert|214|acre|hectare|disp=sqbr}}) that he would gladly donate to the college. After lunch, Weigle looked at the land and instantly fell in love with it. A committee of four faculty members (Robert Bart, Barbara Leonard, Douglas Allanbrook, and William Darkey) later visited the four sites in contention and, after much deliberation, recommended Santa Fe.<ref>"The Colonization of a College: The Beginnings and Early History of St. John's College in Santa Fe", by Richard D. Weigle, Fishergate Publishing Company (St. John's College Print Shop), Annapolis, 1985</ref> | |||
In 1961, the governing board of St. John's approved plans to establish a second college at ]. Groundbreaking occurred on April 22, 1963, and the first classes began in 1964. Immediately afterward, land on the Monterey Peninsula was also donated to the college on the condition that a campus be developed there by a certain date. | |||
In 1949, Richard D. Weigle became president of St. John's. Following the chaotic and difficult period from 1940 to 1949, Weigle's presidency continued for 31 years,<ref>"Richard Weigle, 80, Served as President Of St. John's College" (Obituary), ''New York Times'', ], ], p. B22.</ref> during which the New Program and the college itself became well established. | |||
==Academics== | |||
In 1951, St. John's became coeducational, admitting women for the first time in its then-254-year history. There was some objection from students because they had not been involved in -- nor even aware of -- the decision before it was announced to the media, and from some who believed that the college could not remain a serious institution were it to admit women. But Martin Dyer reports that the women who were admitted were an extraordinary group, quickly proving that they were the academic and intellectual equals of their male counterparts. | |||
===Great Books program=== | |||
The ] program (often called simply "the Program" or "the New Program" at St. John's) was developed at the ] by ], ], ], and ] in the mid-1930s as an alternative form of education to the then rapidly changing undergraduate curriculum. St. John's adopted the Great Books program in 1937 when the college faced financial and academic ruin. The Great Books program in use today was also heavily influenced by ], who was dean of the college in the 1940s and 1950s. | |||
The four-year program of study, nearly all mandatory, requires that students read and discuss the works of many of Western civilization's most prominent contributors to philosophy, theology, mathematics, science, music, poetry, and literature. Tutorials (mathematics, language, and music) and seminar and laboratory are discussion-based. In the mathematics tutorial, students often demonstrate propositions that mathematicians of various ages have laid out. In the language tutorial student translations are presented (ancient Greek is studied in the first two years and French for the last two). The tutorials, with seminars and laboratories, constitute the classes. All classes, particularly the seminar, are considered formal exercises; consequently, students address one another and their teachers by their honorific and last name during class. | |||
As enrollment grew during the 1950s, and facing the coming larger ], thoughts turned again towards opening another campus -- but this time in addition to, not instead of, the one in Annapolis. Serious talk of expansion began in 1959 when the father of a student from Monterey, California, suggested to Pres. Weigle that he establish a new campus there. Time Magazine ran an article on the college's possible expansion plans,<ref>"College Spawns College", ], ]</ref> and, in addition to California, 32 offers came in to the college, from New Hampshire, Oregon, Georgia, Alaska, Florida, Connecticut, and more. | |||
St. John's avoids modern textbooks, lectures, and examinations in favor of a series of manuals. While ] are given and provided on transcripts, the culture of the school de-emphasizes their importance, and grades are released only at the request of the student. Grading is based largely on class participation and papers. As faculty members are called at the college, tutors play a non-directive role in the classroom, compared to mainstream colleges. However, this varies according to the course and instructor at St. John's. The class size is small on both campuses, with a student-to-tutor ratio of 7:1. The seminar is the largest class, with around 20 students, and is led by two tutors. Daytime tutorials are smaller, typically ranging between 12 and 16 students, and are led by one tutor. Preceptorials are the smallest class size, ranging between 3 and 9 students.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.stjohnscollege.edu/about/quickfacts.shtml |title=St. John's College | About | Quick Facts |access-date=2009-06-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090310231645/http://www.stjohnscollege.edu/about/quickfacts.shtml |archive-date=2009-03-10 }}</ref> | |||
A group from the Monterey Peninsula told Weigle that they were definitely interested, though funding was a problem, and suitable land was a big question. There was also an offer of land in Claremont, California, but competition with the other colleges there for students and financial contributions was a negative. The Riverside Mission Inn (in Riverside, California) was another possibility, but with only 5 acres of land and lots of renovations needed to the inn, funding was again a major question. A negative factor for California in general was the cost of living for faculty. | |||
Nevertheless all three of these locations were major contenders, when Robert McKinney (publisher of the Santa Fe New Mexican newspaper, and a former SJC board member) called and told Weigle that a group of city leaders had long been looking for another college for Santa Fe. At a lunch Weigle attended at John Gaw Meem's house on the outskirts of Santa Fe in late January, 1961, Meem volunteered that he had a little piece of land (214 acres!) that he would gladly donate to the college. Upon looking at it after lunch, Weigle instantly fell in love with it. A committee of four faculty members (Robert Bart, Barbara Leonard, Douglas Allanbrook, and William Darkey) went to visit all four sites (the three in California, and Santa Fe) and, after much deliberation, also recommended Santa Fe.<ref>"The Colonization of a College: The Beginnings and Early History of St. John's College in Santa Fe", by Richard D. Weigle, Fishergate Publishing Company (St. John's College Print Shop), Annapolis, 1985</ref> | |||
Western mystery writer ] tells a slightly different story: The site selection committee, having originally expected to locate in ], reluctantly accepted an invitation to inspect the site in Santa Fe. Hillerman spins a tale of the committeemen: | |||
:made pale from the weak sun of the coastal climate and their scholarly profession, generally urban, generally Eastern, solidly W.A.S.P. They came from a world which was old Anglo-Saxon family, old books, Greek and Latin literacy, prep schools and Blue Point oysters and Ivy League; a world bounded on the north by Boston... and on the south by Virginia. | |||
According to Hillerman, the Eastern scholars became captivated by the Sangre de Cristo range and the presence of mule deer tracks.<ref>Tony Hillerman (2001), "The Committee and the Mule Deer," from ''The Great Taos Bank Robbery: And Other True Stories of the Southwest.'' Harper paperbacks; ISBN 0-06-093712-2; </ref> | |||
In 1961, the governing board of St. John's thus approved plans to establish a second college at ]. Groundbreaking occurred on ], ], and the first classes began in ]. | |||
As it turned out, land was also donated to the college on the Monterey Peninsula (CA) shortly after this, on condition that a campus also be developed there by a certain date. It eventually became apparent that opening yet a third campus in close succession to the second would stretch the college's resources too far, however. | |||
In 1969, Weigle was among 79 college presidents signing an October 9 letter to ] urging a stepped-up timetable for withdrawal of U.S. troops from ]. The letter said they were "speaking as individuals" and described the war as "a denial of so much that is best in our society." | |||
==Annapolis campus== | |||
].]] | |||
St. John's is located in the Historic Annapolis district, one block away from the Maryland State Capitol building. Its proximity to the ] has inspired many a comparison to ] and ]. The schools carry on a spirited rivalry seen in the annual ] match between the two schools on the front lawn of St. John's, which has been called by ] (GQ) "the purest intercollegiate athletic event in America." St. John's has won 20 out of the last 25 matches. | |||
The center of campus, McDowell Hall, was built in 1742. Its Great Hall has seen many college events, from balls feting Generals ] and ] to the unique St. John's institutions called waltz parties.<ref>, URL accessed ], ].</ref> Despite their name, waltz parties have gradually evolved to consist mostly of swing dancing, though waltz, polka, and even some tango are still played. Champagne and strawberries have been known to be served, and it is not uncommon for students, especially the women, to dress in formal evening ballroom attire. | |||
==Santa Fe campus== | |||
] and thus became president of both campuses at once. Since his retirement in 1980, each campus has had its own president.]] | |||
St. John's is located at the foot of Monte Sol, on the eastern edge of Santa Fe. It was opened in 1964 due to the increase in qualified applicants at the Annapolis campus. The College chose to open a second campus rather than increase the size of the Annapolis campus. The second campus was part of a larger project, championed by then-college president Richard Weigle, which called for six campuses to be built across the country. St. John's abandoned the concept when it later sold a tract of land it owned in ]. | |||
The Santa Fe campus offers students a more secluded atmosphere than the Annapolis campus, with the vast ] and ]. The campus also boasts an expansive view of Santa Fe that extends to Los Alamos to the west. | |||
The college maintains gear to facilitate student use of the outdoors, such as kayaks, rafts, hiking equipment, and sports equipment. In addition, the college ] team is recognized throughout the Southwest, participating in a wide variety of rescue missions in conjunction with the New Mexico State Police and other volunteer teams. | |||
==Curriculum overview== | |||
] | |||
The program involves: | The program involves: | ||
* Four years of literature, philosophy, and political science in seminar | * Four years of literature, philosophy, and political science in seminar | ||
* Four years of mathematics | * Four years of mathematics | ||
* Three years of laboratory science | * Three years of laboratory science | ||
* |
* Four years of language (Ancient Greek, Middle/Early English, and French) | ||
* First-year chorus followed by sophomore-year music | |||
* One and a half years of French | |||
* Freshman year chorus followed by sophomore year music | |||
The Great Books are not the only texts used at St. John's. Greek and French classes |
The Great Books are not the only texts used at St. John's. Greek and French classes use supplemental materials that are more like traditional textbooks. Science laboratory and mathematics courses use manuals prepared by faculty members that combine source materials with workbook exercises. For example, the mathematics tutorial combines a 1905 paper by ] with exercises that require the student to work through the mathematics used in the paper.<ref>Harty, Rosemary (2005), Director of Communications, St. John's College, Annapolis, personal communication (Source details of non-Great-Books materials used at St. John's)</ref> | ||
===Graduate Institute Liberal Arts program=== | |||
Nevertheless, the emphasis on source materials is strong; all seminar readings are from the book list, and music is studied from scores that are primary sources. | |||
The Graduate Institute in Liberal Education was established at St. John's College in 1967 as a summer program on the Santa Fe campus. The size and scope of the Institute have expanded so that currently, both the Annapolis and Santa Fe campuses offer year-round graduate-level study based on the principles of St. John's undergraduate program. Students in the Liberal Arts program explore the persisting questions of human existence by studying classic works of the Western tradition. This program is organized into five semester-long thematic segments: Philosophy and Theology, Politics and Society, Literature, Mathematics and Natural Science, and History. Students earn a Master of Arts in Liberal Arts (MALA) by completing four of these five segments. A common curriculum provides the basis for a shared intellectual community; discussion with fellow students and faculty is the mode of learning inside and outside the classroom. Each semester, students attend a seminar, a tutorial, and a preceptorial, all carried out as small-group discussions under the guidance of St. John's faculty members. These three types of classes are the framework of the distinctive St. John's educational experience. | |||
===Eastern Classics program=== | |||
The only elective courses are brief "preceptorials" offered in the winter of the junior and senior years. The options for these classes change each year, and often include courses on topics not covered in the Great Books program, including works by authors beyond the "]" who dominate the Great Books list. | |||
At the Santa Fe campus, there is a program offering a ] in Eastern Classics (MAEC). This program is three semesters long and is designed to be completed in one 12-month period. The impetus for the program came with the recognition that the undergraduate program could not do justice to the Great Books of the three main Asian traditions (], ] and ]) by trying to squeeze in a few works among so many European masterworks. The EC program, therefore, provides a full set of readings in the philosophical, religious, and literary traditions of the three cultures listed above. Thus, students learn Chinese culture by reading not only ], ] and ], but also ], ], ], and ], as well as historical narratives by ] and the '']'', the later movement of ] and ], narrative works such as '']'' or the '']'' and the great Chinese poets, ], ] and ]. This list represents only one-third of the required corpus, which also covers the major teachings and branches of ] and the development of ], ] and ] ], as well as such literary masterpieces as the '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'', and others. Students also take a language, either ] or ]. | |||
===Mitchell Art Museum=== | |||
No written tests are given, apart from occasional quizzes in language tutorials and an algebra test to be passed by the end of sophomore year. Students are evaluated based on class participation and papers. In the seminar, an oral examination is also given each semester. This examination is a discussion with the tutor or tutors intended to show that the student has read and understood the material covered. In-term written assignments consist of occasional short (usually less than 10 pages) papers. Longer papers are required for seminars. On the Santa Fe campus students must write seminar papers at the end of each semester. The paper for the spring semester is a longer paper, and is awarded a separate grade on the transcript. Students at the Annapolis campus write a single longer (20-30 pages) essay at the end of each year. Papers for tutorials and seminars are not research papers, and emphasize the individual student's analysis of a work or interpretation of an idea or theory. Of particular importance is the sophomore annual essay, which plays a prominent role in the college's formal decision to allow a student to continue into the final two years. In their senior year, students must also write and defend a full-length thesis. Defense of a Senior Essay is open to the public, with the student engaging in discussion of his or her essay with a panel of three tutors. | |||
In 1989, with a generous gift from Elizabeth Myers Mitchell and her husband Carlton Mitchell (a well-known sailor), the college built a campus gallery known as the Elizabeth Myers Mitchell Art Gallery to present museum-quality exhibitions to the greater Annapolis community. In 2014, the gallery achieved national accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums. In 2023, the name was changed to the Elizabeth Myers Mitchell Art Museum to celebrate the accreditation. | |||
== |
===Rankings=== | ||
In 2024, '']'' ranked St. John’s #75 in National Liberal Arts Colleges, #35 in Best Value Schools, and #25 in Best Undergraduate Teaching<ref>{{cite web |title=St. John's College |url=https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/st-johns-college-maryland-2092 |website=usnews |publisher=] |access-date=4 March 2024}}</ref> out of 211 Best National Liberal Arts Colleges.<ref>{{cite web |title=National Liberal Arts Colleges Rankings |url=https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-liberal-arts-colleges |website=usnews.com |publisher=U.S. News & World Report |access-date=4 March 2024}}</ref> | |||
While the school does not release grades to students (except upon direct request), there is an evaluation system. At the end of every semester at St. John's, a student comes together with his tutors to hear what they think of his academic performance. | |||
==Campuses== | |||
Don Rags begin with each tutor discussing the student's performance in the third person to his colleagues. The discussion takes place as if the student were not there. After this, the student is asked if he has anything he'd like to add. Once the discussion is over the tutors vote to decide whether or not the student should continue at the college. | |||
===Annapolis campus=== | |||
St. John's is located in the Historic Annapolis district, one block from the Maryland State Capitol building. Its proximity to the ] (across King George Street) has inspired many comparisons to ] and ]. The two schools carry on a spirited rivalry seen in their annual ] match on the front lawn of St. John's, which has been called by '']'' ''"the purest intercollegiate athletic event in America."'' {{As of| 2024}} St. John's has won 32 of the 40 annual matches.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sjc.edu/annapolis/events/croquet/facts|title=The Annapolis Cup – Croquet Match Fact Sheet |website=St. John's College |access-date=2018-09-13}}</ref> About the Johnnies' commitment to the event, one midshipman commented, "They're out practicing croquet every afternoon! ] should take football this seriously."<ref>Multiple references: | |||
*{{cite web | |||
|last=Cox | |||
|first=Erin | |||
|date=April 18, 2010 | |||
|url-status=unfit | |||
|url=http://www.hometownannapolis.com/news/top/2010/04/18-51/Rite-of-spring-St-Johns-crushes-Navy-at-croquet.html?ne=1 | |||
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120225044101/http://www.hometownannapolis.com/news/top/2010/04/18-51/Rite-of-spring-St-Johns-crushes-Navy-at-croquet.html?ne=1 | |||
|archive-date=February 25, 2012 | |||
|title=Rite of spring: St. John's crushes Navy at croquet | |||
|work=The Annapolis Capital Hometownannapolis.com | |||
|publisher=Landmark Media Enterprises | |||
|access-date=2021-02-12}} | |||
*{{cite web | |||
|last=Rushin | |||
|first=Steve | |||
|date=1997 | |||
|url-status=unfit |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/features/1997/jockschools/best9.html | |||
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031226124121/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/features/1997/jockschools/best9.html | |||
|archive-date=December 26, 2003 | |||
|title=Jock schools U.S.A. | |||
|work=SI.com Sports Illustrated | |||
|publisher=CNN | |||
|access-date=2021-02-21}}</ref> | |||
Construction of McDowell Hall at the center of the campus began in 1742 by Provincial ] ]. Still, it was not completed until after the end of the Colonial period.<ref>{{cite book|last=Mereness|first=Newton Dennison|title=Maryland as a Proprietary Province|publisher=The MacMillan Company|year=1901|location=London|pages=–53|url=https://archive.org/details/marylandasaprop02meregoog|quote=Thomas Bladen subject:Maryland.|asin=B0006BT5K4}}</ref> The 23,000-square-foot historic building underwent improvements in 2017–18.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.capitalgazette.com/news/annapolis/ac-cn-sjc-mcdowell-hall-renovation-20180407-story.html|title=McDowell Hall, heart of St. John's College campus, gets a makeover|last=Winters|first=Wendi|work=capitalgazette.com|access-date=2018-09-19|language=en-US}}</ref> Its Great Hall has seen many college events, from balls feting Generals ] and ] to the unique St. John's institutions called waltz parties.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sjca.edu/asp/main.aspx?page=6586 |title=Archived copy |access-date=2006-09-16 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060902055548/http://www.sjca.edu/asp/main.aspx?page=6586 |archive-date=2006-09-02 }}</ref> | |||
For the first semester of junior year, students may elect to have a Conference (instead of a Don Rag), in which the students first report on their progress and then hear responses from their tutors. | |||
Mellon Hall, constructed in 1958, was designed by noted architect ]. | |||
The regular Don Rag format continues for the student's last Don Rag, which is at the end of junior year. | |||
====St. John's College Observatory==== | |||
The term "Don Rag" comes from England, where professors ("dons") would "rag" on their students. | |||
The observatory facility, located at the top of the Foucault pendulum tower in Mellon Hall, contains two permanently mounted telescopes, a 12" ] model LX200 and a 16" ], both made by ]. The ] is at the top of the four-story tower. The pendulum drive magnet is housed within a cast iron cone in the Observatory facility. The magnet is keyed to turn on and off as the ] swings by using technology such as a ] that determines the center of the pendulum's swing.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thucydides.sjca.edu/~stars/observatory-about.html |title=St. John's College Observatory – About Us |website=Thucydides.sjca.edu |access-date=2016-12-24}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://thucydides.sjca.edu/~stars/pendulum-about.html |title=St. John's College Foucault Pendulum |website=Thucydides.sjca.edu |access-date=2016-12-24}}</ref> | |||
== |
===Santa Fe campus=== | ||
] | |||
In 1975, a St. John's graduate gave this description of how a St. John's degree was received by other institutions: | |||
{{Infobox NRHP | |||
:Bernard M. Davidoff, M. D., a graduate of St. John's in 1969 and of Columbia Medical School... said the medical schools to which he applied reacted to his unconventional preparation in two ways. "Those who had not heard of St. John's were not impressed. Those who knew of the college generally waived requirements." Like most St. John's alumni who enter medical school, he took an undergraduate course in organic chemistry at another college. Dr. Davidoff... cited only one difficulty in adapting to medical school. "I didn't have any interesting people to talk to," he recalled.<ref>"Mixing Frogs and Aristotle," '']'', ], ]</ref> | |||
|name=St. John's College – Santa Fe, New Mexico | |||
|nrhp_type = hd | nocat = yes | |||
|designated_other1=New Mexico | |||
|designated_other1_date=April 10, 2015 | |||
|designated_other1_number= | |||
|designated_other1_num_position=bottom | |||
|image= Weigle Hall, St. John's College, Santa Fe.jpg | |||
|caption= Weigle Hall, administrative building | |||
|location=1160 Camino Cruz Blanca,<br>] | |||
|coordinates={{coord|35|40|0|N|105|54|45|W|type:edu|display=inline}} | |||
|locmapin=New Mexico#USA | |||
|added=August 3, 2015 | |||
|refnum=15000495<ref name="NPS weekly">{{cite web|title=Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: August 3, 2015 through August 7, 2015|url=https://www.nps.gov/nr/listings/20150814.htm|date=August 14, 2015|publisher=]|access-date=January 13, 2017}}</ref> | |||
}} | |||
St. John's Santa Fe campus is located on the eastern edge of Santa Fe, close to ]. It was opened in 1964 in response to the increase in qualified applicants at the Annapolis campus. The college chose to open a second campus rather than increase the size of the Annapolis campus. The second campus was part of a larger project to construct six campuses nationwide. St. John's abandoned the concept when it sold a tract of land it owned in ]. | |||
===Student body=== | |||
Motivational business speaker ] included a chapter on "St. John's: A College That Works" in a ] book.<ref>Zig Ziglar (1997), ''Something To Smile About: Encouragement And Inspiration For Life's Ups And Downs'', Nelson Books, ISBN 0-8407-9183-6 </ref> He said St. John's holds fast to the "medieval" notion that all knowledge is one and states that "the books they use are terribly hard." He notes that the school "ranks fifth nationally in the number of graduates earning doctorates in the humanities" and is impressed by the 81% of graduates entering education, engineering, law, medicine, and other professions. He concludes "Sounds like St. John's is onto something. Maybe more schools should take that approach." | |||
Within the Class of 2022, 36 U.S. states and 15 countries are represented. Approximately 99% of students receive financial aid.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Stringfellow|first1=Johnnie|url=https://www.sjc.edu/admissions-and-aid/undergraduate/apply/freshman-class-profile|title=St. John's College Freshman Class Profile |website=St. John's College Freshman Class Profile}}</ref> First-year undergraduate students range in age from 15 to 65. The student body is relatively small compared to other liberal arts colleges, with a population historically below 500 students on each campus during a year. The average ratio is six students for each professor. The college offers many community seminars and lectures available to the public.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.stjohnscollege.edu/user/PROFILE.aspx |title=Archived copy |access-date=2006-02-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060207161729/http://www.stjohnscollege.edu/user/PROFILE.aspx |archive-date=2006-02-07 }}</ref> | |||
====Admissions==== | |||
According to a published by the Higher Education Data Sharing Consortium, based on data from 1992 through 2001, St. John's ranked first nationally in percentage of graduates attaining Ph.D.s in both Humanities and English Literature. In addition, the college ranked among the top ten institutions in Political Science, Linguistics, Foreign Languages, Area & Ethnic Studies, and Math & Computer Sciences. | |||
St. John’s has been test-optional for 40 years. While the Admissions Committee will assess traditional factors such as academic record, grades, and any test scores provided, it evaluates applicants through admission essays and interviews.<ref>{{cite web |title=How to Apply to St. John’s |url=https://www.sjc.edu/admissions-and-aid/undergraduate/apply |website=sjc.edu |publisher=St. John’s College |access-date=4 March 2024}}</ref> In 2023, the college accepted 49.9% of applicants, with those admitted having an average of 3.81 ] and those submitting test scores having an average 1250–1460 ], or average 30-33 ], score.<ref>{{cite web |title=St John's Admission Requirements |url=https://www.collegesimply./colleges/maryland/st-johns-college/admission/ |website=collegesimply.com |publisher=CollegeSimply {{!}} U.S. Department of Education National Center for Education Statistics |access-date=4 March 2024}}</ref> | |||
==Notable people associated with St. John’s== | |||
St. John's runs counter to the usual emphasis on rankings and selectivity. | |||
{{Main|List of St. John's College (Annapolis/Santa Fe) people}} | |||
], St. John's college has chosen not to participate in any collegiate rankings surveys, has not sent them their requested survey information. However, the school is still included in the influential '']'' college ranking guide. The school ranks in the third tier, perhaps as a result of the school's decision not to send information to ''U.S. News''. President Christopher B. Nelson states that "In principle, St. John's is opposed to rankings." He notes that | |||
:Over the years, St. John's College has been ranked everywhere from third, second, and first tier, to one of the "Top 25" liberal arts colleges. Yet, the curious thing is: We haven't changed. Our mission and our methods have been virtually constant for almost 60 years. So when it comes to the U.S. News and World Report rankings, we would rather be ourselves and have our college speak for itself, than be subjected to fluctuating outside analysis.<ref>Christopher B. Nelson, "", ''University Business: The Magazine for College and University Administrators''.</ref> | |||
An educational reporter wrote: | |||
:Unlike many top-flight liberal arts colleges, St. John's isn't all that hard to get into: The school accepts 75 to 80 percent of applicants, primarily based on three written essays and, to a certain extent, grades. There is no application fee, and standardized tests, like the ], are optional. About three-quarters of the enrolled students ranked in the top half of their high school class, but only one fifth graduated in the top tenth. School officials said that's because they're less concerned that the applicant show a body of accumulated knowledge than a true desire for attaining it.<ref name="quiet"/> | |||
Still, the College Board reports that nearly all students submit SAT scores, and those of St. John's students are among the highest in the nation, with the middle 50% of first year students scoring between 660-780 on the SAT Reasoning Verbal and 590-680 on the SAT Reasoning Math. | |||
Princeton Review's list of the twenty colleges with the "happiest students" includes both St. John's campuses, the Santa Fe campus ranking seventh and the Annapolis campus ranking seventeenth. In the 2005 edition of the Princeton Review Guide entitled "The Best 357 Colleges", St. John's College (Santa Fe) received the following rankings: | |||
*No. 1 in the nation for "accessibility of teachers". | |||
*No. 1 in the nation for "best class discussion". | |||
*No. 4 in the nation for "best overall quality of life". | |||
*No. 4 in the nation for "best overall academic experience". | |||
*No. 6 in the nation for "best teachers". | |||
*No. 6 in the nation for "best dorms". | |||
St. John's has a reputation for being politically liberal — in the past it has made several of the liberal lists on the Princeton Review. However, that reputation may not be completely accurate; one commentator in the Princeton Review warns: "This isn't really a good place for wandering hippie types who subscribe to a pluralist philosophy of absolute tolerance." In particular, the college's ethos does not support students who disagree with the fundamental principles of the Great Books program. | |||
The college has some links to conservative political figures. The wife of Republican Secretary of Defense ] served on the college's Board of Visitors and Governors, and a past college president, ], oversaw the rebuilding of the higher-education system in Iraq. | |||
==Student body== | |||
As of the 2005 class, 35 U.S. states are represented in Annapolis and 32 in Santa Fe; there are also several students from foreign countries. Approximately 65% of students receive financial aid. The student body is relatively small compared to other liberal arts colleges, with a population historically below 500 students during a year. They are making efforts to increase awareness of the College's unique program of study, and offer many community seminars and lectures that are available to the public. <ref>, URL accessed ]</ref> | |||
==Notable people associated with St. John's== | |||
{{unreferencedsect|date=June 2006}} | |||
* ], tutor; 2005 recipient of the ].<ref>{{cite news | |||
| last = Harty | |||
| first = Rosemary | |||
| title = Bush Awards National Humanities Medal to St. John's College Tutor | |||
| publisher = CollegeNews.org | |||
| date = ], ] | |||
| url = http://web.archive.org/web/20051124092133/http://www.collegenews.org/x5062.xml | |||
| accessmonthday=8 December | accessyear=2006}}</ref> | |||
* ], novelist; was professor of journalism at St. John's from ] to ]. Later famous for hard-boiled ''noir'' novels such as '']''. | |||
* ], composer; taught courses in physics, mathematics and classical Greek, as well as music, at St. John's from ] to ]. | |||
* ] alumnus of Annapolis, infamous for involvement in the rigged game show '']''. | |||
* ], Congressman for ], 1825-1831. | |||
* ]; founded ] in ], 1923-2006. | |||
* ], alumna; romance novelist; won the ] for a short story in 1998. | |||
* Erik Fisher and Colin Meeder, alumni and musicians, members of ]. | |||
* ], alumnus and newspaper columnist. | |||
* ] founded ] in ] while a student at St. John's. | |||
* ] (Class of 1802), Congressman for ], 1813-1816. | |||
* ], tutor at the college 1972-1976, chair of the ] 2002-2006 | |||
* ], Congressman for ] | |||
* ], alumnus; lyricist of the ] ], '']. | |||
* ], alumnus, author, screenwriter and director whose works include ] | |||
* ], alumnus; Senior Fellow at the ]. | |||
* Gerald Peters, real-estate developer and owner of galleries in Santa Fe, NM. Twenty-fifth–richest man in New Mexico in October 1996.<ref>{{cite news | |||
| title = The 25 Richest People in New Mexico | |||
| publisher = Crosswinds | |||
| date = ] | |||
| url = http://members.aol.com/wmpb/CrossRich/index.html | |||
| accessdate = 2006-12-08 }}</ref> | |||
* Lisa Simeone, host, ].<ref>{{cite news | |||
| title = Lisa Simeone, NPR Biography | |||
| publisher = National Public Radio | |||
| date = ] | |||
| url = http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=2101205 | |||
| accessdate = 2007-01-09 }}</ref> | |||
* ], German scholar and historian, alumnus, 1907-1993. | |||
* ], political philosopher; lectured at St. John's. | |||
* ], Governor of Maryland, 1842-1844; member of House of Representatives, 1861-1869. | |||
* ], alumnus and author | |||
* ], founder of ]. | |||
* ], original lead tenor of ]. | |||
* ], creator of '']''.<ref>{{cite news | |||
| title = MacGyver Meets the Johnnies | |||
| publisher = "The College", St. John's College | |||
| date = Winter ] | |||
| url = http://www.stjohnscollege.edu/user/MAG_W05_article12.aspx#macgyver | |||
| accessdate = 2007-01-09 }}</ref> | |||
==Curriculum details== | |||
===The Great Books=== | |||
The Great Books reading list, though it varies from year to year, is the basis of the curriculum at both St. John's campuses. The list, as of 2005, is as follows: | |||
====Freshman year==== | |||
]: '']'', '']''<br> | |||
]: '']'', '']'', '']''<br> | |||
]: '']'', '']'', '']'', '']''<br> | |||
]: '']''<br> | |||
]: '']'', '']'' <br> | |||
]: '']''<br> | |||
]: '']'', '']'' <br> | |||
]: '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'' <br> | |||
]: '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'' <br> | |||
]: '']'' <br> | |||
]: '']'' <br> | |||
]: ''Lycurgus'', ''Solon''<br> | |||
]: ''Arithmetic'' <br> | |||
]: ''Elements of Chemistry'' <br> | |||
]: '']''<br> | |||
Essays by: ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ] | |||
====Sophomore year==== | |||
''The ]''<br> | |||
]: ''De Anima'', ''On Interpretation'', ''Prior Analytics'', ''Categories''<br> | |||
]: '']''<br> | |||
]: '']''<br> | |||
]: ''Caesar'' and ''Cato the Younger''<br> | |||
]: ''Discourses'', ''Manual''<br> | |||
]: '']''<br> | |||
]: '']''<br> | |||
]: '']''<br> | |||
]: '']''<br> | |||
]: '']''<br> | |||
]: '']'', '']''<br> | |||
]: '']''<br> | |||
]: '']''<br> | |||
]: ''Mass''<!-- Which one/ones?--><br> | |||
]: '']'', '']''<br> | |||
]: '']''<br> | |||
]: '']''<br> | |||
]: '']''<br> | |||
]: '']''<br> | |||
]: '']''<br> | |||
]: ''Introduction to the Analytical Art''<br> | |||
]: '']'', '']''<br> | |||
]: '']'', ''Henry IV'', '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'', '']''<br> | |||
Poems by: ], ], and other ]- and ] poets<br> | |||
]: '']'', '']''<br> | |||
]: ''Generation of Conic Sections''<br> | |||
]: '']'', ''Inventions''<br> | |||
]: ''Quartets''<br> | |||
]: ''Operas''<br> | |||
]: ''Sonatas''<br> | |||
]: ''Songs''<br> | |||
]: '']''<br> | |||
====Junior year==== | |||
]: '']''<br> | |||
]: '']''<br> | |||
]: '']'', '']''<br> | |||
]: '']''<br> | |||
]: ''Maximes''<br> | |||
]: ''Fables''<br> | |||
]: '']''<br> | |||
]: ''Treatise on Light'', ''On the Movement of Bodies by Impact''<br> | |||
]: '']''<br> | |||
]: '']''<br> | |||
]: '']''<br> | |||
]: '']''<br> | |||
]: '']''<br> | |||
]: ''Epitome IV''<br> | |||
]: ''Monadology'', ''Discourse on ]'', ''Essay on Dynamics'', ''Philosophical Essays'', ''Principles of Nature and Grace''<br> | |||
]: '']''<br> | |||
]: '']''<br /> | |||
]: '']'', '']''<br> | |||
]: '']''<br> | |||
]: '']''<br> | |||
]: '']'', '']'', '']''<br> | |||
]: '']''<br> | |||
]: '']''<br> | |||
]: ''Essay on the Theory of Numbers''<br> | |||
]<br> | |||
]<br> | |||
]<br> | |||
]<br> | |||
]<br> | |||
====Senior year==== | |||
] opinions<br> | |||
]: '']''<br> | |||
]: '']'', "]" (from the '']'')<br> | |||
]: "]"<br> | |||
]: ''Theory of Parallels''<br> | |||
]: '']''<br> | |||
]: ''Selected Speeches''<br> | |||
]: '']'', '']''<br> | |||
]: '']'', ''Political and Economic Manuscripts of 1844'', '']''<br> | |||
]: '']''<br> | |||
]: '']''<br> | |||
]: '']''<br> | |||
]: '']''<br> | |||
]: Parker's Back, The Artificial Nigger<br> | |||
]: ''General Introduction to Psychoanalysis''<br> | |||
]: Selected Writings<br> | |||
]: '']''<br> | |||
]: ''What is Philosophy?''<br> | |||
]: ''The Physical Principles of the Quantum Theory''<br> | |||
]: ''The Electron''<br> | |||
]: '']''<br> | |||
Essays by: ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ] and ], ], ] and ], Jacob & Monod, ] | |||
==Criticism and controversy== | |||
St. John's curriculum has drawn criticism and controversy since its inception. It went far beyond the then-existing ] and ] Great Books programs in making the Great Books the ''entire'' curriculum rather than one of many courses of study, and in extending the Great Books approach to the sciences as well as the humanities. | |||
Writing in 1938, just after the first group of freshmen completed their first semester under the new curriculum, Stringfellow Barr insisted that there was nothing radical about the curriculum and that it was | |||
:merely carrying out the terms of the eighteenth century charter of St. John's and restoring discipline in the liberal arts and an acquaintance with our intellectual heritage in place of the vocational interests and cafeteria courses that clutter our liberal arts curricula today.<ref>"St. John's Hails New Curriculum; President Barr of Annapolis College Analyzes Results of 100 Books' program; Elective System Goes; 'Discipline in Liberal Arts' is Substituted for 'Vocational and Cafeteria Course'", '']'', ], ], p. 20.</ref> | |||
He referred to "opponents of the St. John's program" and said that they consider it "authoritarian and fascist." He said that some "suspect that some sort of Catholic indoctrination is being attempted" because of the inclusion of Aristotle and medieval scholastic works in the curriculum, while "Catholic educators have denounced the list for including Marx and Freud." | |||
In a 1944 essay, ] was highly critical of the "St. John's experiment." In particular, he asked whether the presentation of science and mathematics through historical texts instead of conventional systematic study actually helped students "acquire greater competence in mathematics and science or a better insight into their character as liberal arts." By way of answer, he quoted three prominent mathematicians and scientists who opposed a historical approach to scientific education. | |||
Hook quotes ]: | |||
:"There is no doubt that it is unrealistic to expect a scientific enlightenment of beginners by the study of Euclid, Appolonius or Ptolemy. It will just give them an oblique perspective of what is important and what is not. Studying the more modern works by Descartes, Newton, etc., except for a few single items, would be even more difficult and likewise not lead to a balanced understanding of mathematics." | |||
]: | |||
:"The subject on which you write is one about which I feel very strongly. I think the 'Best Hundred Books' people are utterly absurd on the scientific side. I was myself brought up on Euclid and Newton and I can see the case for them. But on the whole Euclid is much too slow-moving. Boole is not comparable to his successors. Descartes' geometry is surpassed by every modern textbook of analytical geometry. The broad rule is: historical approach where truth is unattainable, but not in a subject like mathematics or anatomy. (They read Harvey!)" | |||
and ]: | |||
:"In my opinion there should be no compulsory reading of classical authors in the field of science. I believe also that the laboratory studies should be selected from a purely pedagogical and not historical point of view. On the other side, I am convinced that lectures concerning the historical development of ideas in different fields are of great value for intelligent students, for such studies are furthering very effectively the independence of judgment and independence from blind belief in temporarily accepted views. I believe that such lectures should be treated as a kind of beautiful luxury and the students should not be bothered with examinations concerning historical facts."<ref>, online text from ''Education for Modern Man'' (New York: ], 1946). Reprinted with some minor changes from The New Leader, May 26 and June 4, 1944.</ref> | |||
St. John's provokes to an intensified degree the long-standing question of whether a liberal arts degree is suitable preparation for modern-day employment. In the case of St. John's, the question is intensified because of St. John's idiosyncratic program and educational philosophy. | |||
Robert Hutchins defended that educational philosophy in 1937, insisting that other educational methods "fail in all respects—we don't get either good practitioners or well-educated people." He said that thirty-six industries in Minneapolis and St. Paul, answering a questionnaire, said that they preferred "no specific education in schools" for their workers.<ref>"Dr. Hutchins to Aid New-Type College. Head of Chicago University To Be A Governor of St. Johns at Annapolis, Md. To Revive Ancient Aims. Idea of Educating People to Live Instead of To Earn Living to Be Tested, He says." '']'', ], ], p. 19</ref> | |||
In his 1987 book ''College: The Undergraduate Experience in America'', ] lampoons St. John's College, claiming that "The fixed curriculum of the colonial era is as much an anachronism today as the stocks in the village square."<ref>Quoted in Donald Asher (2000), ''Cool Colleges'', Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press, p. 118.</ref> | |||
==Ptolemy Stone== | |||
The two campuses of St. John's College both have a ], which is an astronomical instrument invented by the ancient Greek astronomer ] to measure the ] of celestial bodies, in this case, the sun. The Ptolemy Stone at St. John's takes the form of an outdoor rectangular prismical column of concrete with a movable metal dial. This device was the precursor to the ]. Freshman and sophomore math classes learn to use this stone to calculate the apparent movement of the sun across the ]. | |||
], has a similar device, having erected what students refer to as "the Plinth" some 45+ years ago.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} | |||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
* ]: Details on St. John's antiquity vis-a-vis other old U.S. colleges | |||
*]: another Great Books College with a slightly different approach | |||
* ] | |||
*] | |||
* ] | |||
*] | |||
*] | * ] | ||
*] | * ] | ||
* ] (Moraga), Integral Program | |||
*] | |||
*] | |||
==Notes== | |||
*]: Details on St. John's antiquity vis-a-vis other old U. S. colleges | |||
{{notelist}} | |||
*] | |||
*] | |||
*] | |||
*] Failed attempt by Barr and Buchanan to start a Great Books-based college in the Massachusetts Berkshires, a mile-and-a-half from ]. | |||
*] | |||
*] | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||
{{Reflist}} | |||
<div class="references-small"><references /></div> | |||
==Further reading== | |||
* {{ISBN|978-0-520-26587-5}} A former college president attended St. John's College and wrote a memoir about his experience reading Homer, rowing Crew, and examining the importance of a liberal arts education in today's society. | |||
* ], ], 2011-06-13 | |||
==External links== | ==External links== | ||
* {{Official website|http://www.sjc.edu/}} | |||
* official website | |||
*—includes universities with "core curriculum" programs and universities with "Great Books" courses as options. (Last updated in 1998, this reference is helpful but not current). | |||
* theunexaminedcurriculum.com is dedicated to the critical examination of the St. John's educational philosophy. (If you have a LEGITIMATE REASON for taking this link down, please indicate what it is on the discussion page. OTHERWISE, DO NOT REMOVE THIS LINK.) | |||
{{Colleges and Universities in Maryland}} | |||
{{Colleges and universities in New Mexico}} | |||
{{Colleges That Change Lives}} | |||
{{Annapolis Group}} | {{Annapolis Group}} | ||
{{authority control}} | |||
{{DEFAULTSORT:St. John's College (Annapolis Santa Fe)}} | |||
] | |||
] | ] | ||
] | ] | ||
] | ] | ||
] | ] | ||
] | ] | ||
] | ] | ||
] | |||
] | |||
] | |||
] | |||
] | |||
] |
Latest revision as of 20:34, 19 November 2024
"SJCA" redirects here. For the city in California, see San Jose, California. Private liberal arts college in the United States.
Former name | King William's School (1696–1784) |
---|---|
Motto | Facio liberos ex liberis libris libraque |
Motto in English | I make free adults from children by means of books and a balance |
Type | Private liberal arts college |
Established | 1696; 328 years ago (1696) (as King William's School) 1784; 240 years ago (1784) (St. John's charter) |
Accreditation | MSCHE (Annapolis) HLA (Santa Fe) |
Religious affiliation | Secular |
Endowment | $244.5 million (2023) |
Budget | $47.7 million (2022) |
President | Nora Demleitner (Annapolis) J. Walter Sterling (Santa Fe) |
Academic staff | ~164 total (both campuses) |
Undergraduates | 775 (both campuses) |
Postgraduates | ~160 |
Location | Annapolis, Maryland and Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States 38°58′57″N 76°29′33″W / 38.98250°N 76.49250°W / 38.98250; -76.49250 35°40′3″N 105°54′44″W / 35.66750°N 105.91222°W / 35.66750; -105.91222 |
Campus | Annapolis: Urban Santa Fe: Urban / Semi-rural |
Colors | Orange |
Mascot | Platypus/Axolotl |
Website | sjc.edu |
St. John's College is a private liberal arts college with campuses in Annapolis, Maryland and Santa Fe, New Mexico. As the successor institution of King William's School, a preparatory school founded in 1696, St. John's is one of the oldest institutions of higher learning in the United States; the current institution received a collegiate charter in 1784. In 1937, St. John's adopted a Great Books curriculum based on discussion of works from the Western canon of philosophical, religious, historical, mathematical, scientific, and literary works.
The college grants a single bachelor's degree in liberal arts. The awarded degree is equivalent to a double major in philosophy and the history of mathematics and science, and a double minor in classical studies and comparative literature. Two master's degrees are available through the college's graduate institute: one in liberal arts, which is a modified version of the undergraduate curriculum, and one in Eastern Classics, which applies a Great Books curriculum to a list of classic works from India, China, and Japan.
History
Old program
St. John's College traces its origins to King William's School, founded in 1696. King William's School was founded with an affiliation to the Church of England. In 1784, Maryland chartered St. John's College, which absorbed King William's School when it opened in 1785. The college took up residence in a building known as Bladen's Folly (the current McDowell Hall), which was originally built to be the Maryland governor's mansion but was not completed. There was some association with the Freemasons early in the college's history, leading to speculation that it was named after Saint John the Evangelist. The college's original charter, reflecting the Masonic value of religious tolerance as well as the religious diversity of the founders (which included Presbyterians, Episcopalians, and the Roman Catholic Charles Carroll of Carrollton) stated that "youth of all religious denominations shall be freely and liberally admitted". The college always maintained a small size, generally enrolling fewer than 500 men at a time.
In its early years, the college was at least nominally public—the college's founders had envisaged it as the Western Shore branch of a proposed "University of Maryland"—but a lack of enthusiasm from the Maryland General Assembly and its Eastern Shore counterpart, Washington College, made this largely a paper institution. After years of inconsistent funding and litigation, the college accepted a smaller annual grant in lieu of being funded through the state's annual appropriations process. The college closed during the Civil War, and its campus was used as a military hospital. In 1907, it became the undergraduate college of a loosely organized "University of Maryland" that included the professional schools located in Baltimore. By 1920, when Maryland State College (founded in 1857 as Maryland Agricultural College) became the University of Maryland at College Park, St. John's was a free-standing private institution.
The college curriculum has taken various forms throughout its history. It began with a general program of study in the liberal arts, but St. John's was a military school for much of the late 19th century and early 20th century. It ended compulsory military training with Major Enoch Garey's accession as president in 1923. Garey and the Navy instituted a Naval Reserve unit in September 1924, creating the first-ever collegiate Department of Naval Science in the United States. But despite St. John's successfully pioneering the entire NROTC movement, student interest waned, and the voluntary ROTC disappeared in 1926 with Garey's departure. The Naval Reserve unit followed by 1929.
New program
In 1936, the college lost its accreditation. The Board of Visitors and Governors, faced with dire financial straits caused by the Great Depression, invited educational innovators Stringfellow Barr and Scott Buchanan to make a completely fresh start. They introduced a new program of study, which remains in effect today. Buchanan became dean of the college, while Barr assumed its presidency. In his guide Cool Colleges, Donald Asher writes that the New Program was implemented to save the college from closing: "Several benefactors convinced the college to reject a watered-down curriculum in favor of becoming a very distinctive academic community. Thus this great institution was reborn as a survival measure."
In 1938, Walter Lippman wrote a column praising liberal arts education as a bulwark against fascism and said, "In the future, men will point to St. John's College and say that there was the seed-bed of the American renaissance."
In 1940, national attention was attracted to St. John's by a story in Life entitled "The Classics: At St. John's They Come into Their Own Once More". Classic works unavailable in English translation were translated by faculty members, typed, mimeographed, and bound. They were sold to the general public as well as to students, and by 1941, the St. John's College bookshop was famous as the only source for English translations of works such as Copernicus's De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, St. Augustine's De musica, and Ptolemy's Almagest.
The wartime years were difficult for the all-male St. John's. Enlistment and the draft emptied the college; 15 seniors graduated in 1943, eight in 1945, and three in 1946. From 1940 to 1946, St. John's was repeatedly confronted with threats of its land being seized by the Navy for expansion of the neighboring U.S. Naval Academy, and James Forrestal, Secretary of the Navy, formally announced plans to do so in 1945. At the time, The New York Times, which had expected a legal battle royale comparable to the 1819 Dartmouth case, commented that "although a small college of fewer than 200 students, St. John's has, because of its experimental liberal arts program, received more publicity and been the center of a greater academic controversy than most other colleges in the land. Its best-books program has been attacked and praised by leading educators of the day."
The constant threat of eviction discouraged Stringfellow Barr. In late 1946, Forrestal withdrew the plan to take over St. John's in the face of public opposition and the disapproval of the House Naval Affairs Committee. Still, Barr and Scott Buchanan were already committed to leaving St. John's and launching Liberal Arts, Inc., a new, similar college in Stockbridge, Massachusetts; that project eventually failed—but thinking about other sites for the college eventually led to the opening of St. John's second campus in Santa Fe in 1964.
St John's had been founded as an all-white institution and continued as such in the early years of the New Program, with Barr actively discouraging black students from applying. However, by 1948, faculty and student sentiment had shifted, and students, with the support of the faculty and administration, persuaded a reluctant Board of Visitors and Governors to integrate the college and St. John's became one of the first previously all-white colleges south of the Mason-Dixon line to admit black students voluntarily.
In 1949, Richard D. Weigle became president of St. John's. Following the chaotic and difficult period from 1940 to 1949, Weigle's presidency continued for 31 years, during which time the New Program and the college itself became well established.
In 1951, St. John's became coeducational, admitting women for the first time in its 254-year history. Some students objected because they had not been involved in—nor even aware of—the decision before it was announced to the media, and some believed that the college could not remain a serious institution if it admitted women. Martin Dyer reported that women who were admitted quickly proved they were the academic and intellectual equals of their male counterparts.
As enrollment grew during the 1950s, and facing the coming larger baby-boom generation, thoughts turned again towards opening another campus—but this time in addition to, not instead of, the one in Annapolis. Serious talk of expansion began in 1959 when the father of a student from Monterey, California, suggested to President Weigle that he establish a new campus there. Time ran an article on the college's possible expansion plans, and 32 offers came into the college from New Hampshire, Oregon, Georgia, Alaska, Florida, Connecticut, and other states.
A group from the Monterey Peninsula told Weigle that they were interested, though funding was a problem, and suitable land was a big question. There was also an offer of land in Claremont, California, but competition with the other colleges there for students and financial contributions was a negative. The Riverside Mission Inn (in Riverside, California) was another possibility, but with only 5 acres (2.0 hectares) of land and many renovations needed to the inn, funding was again a significant issue.
The three California locations were all still major contenders when Robert McKinney (publisher of The Santa Fe New Mexican and a former SJC board member) called and told Weigle that a group of city leaders had long been looking for another college for Santa Fe. During a lunch Weigle attended at John Gaw Meem's house on the outskirts of Santa Fe in late January 1961, Meem volunteered that he had a little piece of land (214 acres ) that he would gladly donate to the college. After lunch, Weigle looked at the land and instantly fell in love with it. A committee of four faculty members (Robert Bart, Barbara Leonard, Douglas Allanbrook, and William Darkey) later visited the four sites in contention and, after much deliberation, recommended Santa Fe.
In 1961, the governing board of St. John's approved plans to establish a second college at Santa Fe. Groundbreaking occurred on April 22, 1963, and the first classes began in 1964. Immediately afterward, land on the Monterey Peninsula was also donated to the college on the condition that a campus be developed there by a certain date.
Academics
Great Books program
The Great Books program (often called simply "the Program" or "the New Program" at St. John's) was developed at the University of Chicago by Stringfellow Barr, Scott Buchanan, Robert Hutchins, and Mortimer Adler in the mid-1930s as an alternative form of education to the then rapidly changing undergraduate curriculum. St. John's adopted the Great Books program in 1937 when the college faced financial and academic ruin. The Great Books program in use today was also heavily influenced by Jacob Klein, who was dean of the college in the 1940s and 1950s.
The four-year program of study, nearly all mandatory, requires that students read and discuss the works of many of Western civilization's most prominent contributors to philosophy, theology, mathematics, science, music, poetry, and literature. Tutorials (mathematics, language, and music) and seminar and laboratory are discussion-based. In the mathematics tutorial, students often demonstrate propositions that mathematicians of various ages have laid out. In the language tutorial student translations are presented (ancient Greek is studied in the first two years and French for the last two). The tutorials, with seminars and laboratories, constitute the classes. All classes, particularly the seminar, are considered formal exercises; consequently, students address one another and their teachers by their honorific and last name during class.
St. John's avoids modern textbooks, lectures, and examinations in favor of a series of manuals. While traditional (A to F) grades are given and provided on transcripts, the culture of the school de-emphasizes their importance, and grades are released only at the request of the student. Grading is based largely on class participation and papers. As faculty members are called at the college, tutors play a non-directive role in the classroom, compared to mainstream colleges. However, this varies according to the course and instructor at St. John's. The class size is small on both campuses, with a student-to-tutor ratio of 7:1. The seminar is the largest class, with around 20 students, and is led by two tutors. Daytime tutorials are smaller, typically ranging between 12 and 16 students, and are led by one tutor. Preceptorials are the smallest class size, ranging between 3 and 9 students.
The program involves:
- Four years of literature, philosophy, and political science in seminar
- Four years of mathematics
- Three years of laboratory science
- Four years of language (Ancient Greek, Middle/Early English, and French)
- First-year chorus followed by sophomore-year music
The Great Books are not the only texts used at St. John's. Greek and French classes use supplemental materials that are more like traditional textbooks. Science laboratory and mathematics courses use manuals prepared by faculty members that combine source materials with workbook exercises. For example, the mathematics tutorial combines a 1905 paper by Albert Einstein with exercises that require the student to work through the mathematics used in the paper.
Graduate Institute Liberal Arts program
The Graduate Institute in Liberal Education was established at St. John's College in 1967 as a summer program on the Santa Fe campus. The size and scope of the Institute have expanded so that currently, both the Annapolis and Santa Fe campuses offer year-round graduate-level study based on the principles of St. John's undergraduate program. Students in the Liberal Arts program explore the persisting questions of human existence by studying classic works of the Western tradition. This program is organized into five semester-long thematic segments: Philosophy and Theology, Politics and Society, Literature, Mathematics and Natural Science, and History. Students earn a Master of Arts in Liberal Arts (MALA) by completing four of these five segments. A common curriculum provides the basis for a shared intellectual community; discussion with fellow students and faculty is the mode of learning inside and outside the classroom. Each semester, students attend a seminar, a tutorial, and a preceptorial, all carried out as small-group discussions under the guidance of St. John's faculty members. These three types of classes are the framework of the distinctive St. John's educational experience.
Eastern Classics program
At the Santa Fe campus, there is a program offering a Master of Arts in Eastern Classics (MAEC). This program is three semesters long and is designed to be completed in one 12-month period. The impetus for the program came with the recognition that the undergraduate program could not do justice to the Great Books of the three main Asian traditions (India, China and Japan) by trying to squeeze in a few works among so many European masterworks. The EC program, therefore, provides a full set of readings in the philosophical, religious, and literary traditions of the three cultures listed above. Thus, students learn Chinese culture by reading not only Confucius, Laozi and Zhuangzi, but also Mencius, Xun Zi, Han Feizi, and Mozi, as well as historical narratives by Sima Qian and the Zuo Zhuan, the later movement of Neo-Confucianism and Zhu Xi, narrative works such as Journey to the West or the Romance of the Three Kingdoms and the great Chinese poets, Li Bai, Wang Wei and Du Fu. This list represents only one-third of the required corpus, which also covers the major teachings and branches of Hinduism and the development of Theravada, Mahayana and Zen Buddhism, as well as such literary masterpieces as the Mahabharata, Shakuntala, The Tale of Genji, The Narrow Road to the Deep North, and others. Students also take a language, either Sanskrit or Classical Chinese.
Mitchell Art Museum
In 1989, with a generous gift from Elizabeth Myers Mitchell and her husband Carlton Mitchell (a well-known sailor), the college built a campus gallery known as the Elizabeth Myers Mitchell Art Gallery to present museum-quality exhibitions to the greater Annapolis community. In 2014, the gallery achieved national accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums. In 2023, the name was changed to the Elizabeth Myers Mitchell Art Museum to celebrate the accreditation.
Rankings
In 2024, U.S. News & World Report ranked St. John’s #75 in National Liberal Arts Colleges, #35 in Best Value Schools, and #25 in Best Undergraduate Teaching out of 211 Best National Liberal Arts Colleges.
Campuses
Annapolis campus
St. John's is located in the Historic Annapolis district, one block from the Maryland State Capitol building. Its proximity to the United States Naval Academy (across King George Street) has inspired many comparisons to Athens and Sparta. The two schools carry on a spirited rivalry seen in their annual croquet match on the front lawn of St. John's, which has been called by GQ "the purest intercollegiate athletic event in America." As of 2024 St. John's has won 32 of the 40 annual matches. About the Johnnies' commitment to the event, one midshipman commented, "They're out practicing croquet every afternoon! Alabama should take football this seriously."
Construction of McDowell Hall at the center of the campus began in 1742 by Provincial Governor of Maryland Thomas Bladen. Still, it was not completed until after the end of the Colonial period. The 23,000-square-foot historic building underwent improvements in 2017–18. Its Great Hall has seen many college events, from balls feting Generals Lafayette and Washington to the unique St. John's institutions called waltz parties.
Mellon Hall, constructed in 1958, was designed by noted architect Richard Neutra.
St. John's College Observatory
The observatory facility, located at the top of the Foucault pendulum tower in Mellon Hall, contains two permanently mounted telescopes, a 12" Schmidt–Cassegrain telescope model LX200 and a 16" Newtonian telescope, both made by Meade Instruments. The Foucault Pendulum is at the top of the four-story tower. The pendulum drive magnet is housed within a cast iron cone in the Observatory facility. The magnet is keyed to turn on and off as the pendulum swings by using technology such as a photoresistor that determines the center of the pendulum's swing.
Santa Fe campus
United States historic placeSt. John's College – Santa Fe, New Mexico | |
U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
U.S. Historic district | |
NM State Register of Cultural Properties | |
Weigle Hall, administrative building | |
Show map of New MexicoShow map of the United States | |
Location | 1160 Camino Cruz Blanca, Santa Fe, New Mexico |
---|---|
Coordinates | 35°40′0″N 105°54′45″W / 35.66667°N 105.91250°W / 35.66667; -105.91250 |
NRHP reference No. | 15000495 |
NMSRCP No. | 2013 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | August 3, 2015 |
Designated NMSRCP | April 10, 2015 |
St. John's Santa Fe campus is located on the eastern edge of Santa Fe, close to Atalaya Mountain. It was opened in 1964 in response to the increase in qualified applicants at the Annapolis campus. The college chose to open a second campus rather than increase the size of the Annapolis campus. The second campus was part of a larger project to construct six campuses nationwide. St. John's abandoned the concept when it sold a tract of land it owned in Monterey, California.
Student body
Within the Class of 2022, 36 U.S. states and 15 countries are represented. Approximately 99% of students receive financial aid. First-year undergraduate students range in age from 15 to 65. The student body is relatively small compared to other liberal arts colleges, with a population historically below 500 students on each campus during a year. The average ratio is six students for each professor. The college offers many community seminars and lectures available to the public.
Admissions
St. John’s has been test-optional for 40 years. While the Admissions Committee will assess traditional factors such as academic record, grades, and any test scores provided, it evaluates applicants through admission essays and interviews. In 2023, the college accepted 49.9% of applicants, with those admitted having an average of 3.81 GPA and those submitting test scores having an average 1250–1460 SAT, or average 30-33 ACT, score.
Notable people associated with St. John’s
Main article: List of St. John's College (Annapolis/Santa Fe) peopleSee also
- Colonial Colleges: Details on St. John's antiquity vis-a-vis other old U.S. colleges
- Educational perennialism
- Narrative evaluation
- Western canon
- Santa Fe Institute
- Saint Mary's College of California (Moraga), Integral Program
Notes
- According to the website of the Annapolis campus's college bookstore, "Though the College has no mascot, the platypus sometimes fills in, wearing a St. John's College shirt and providing unique company for the students at St. John's." URL accessed 2006-07-27. The Santa Fe campus has soccer, football, and Ultimate Frisbee teams.
References
- "St. John's College - Statement of Accreditation Status". Middle States Commission on Higher Education. October 31, 2023. Archived from the original on May 6, 2024. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
- "Higher Learning Commission | Statement of Accreditation Status". Higher Learning Commission. May 6, 2024. Archived from the original on May 6, 2024. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
- "About St. John's". St. John's College. May 3, 2024. Accreditation and Licensure. Archived from the original on April 1, 2024. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
St. John's College in Annapolis is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools; St. John's in Santa Fe is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.
- Luell, Sara (October 18, 2023). "St. John's College Annapolis Receives More Than $35 Million from Hodson Trust for Student Scholarships". St. John's College | News & Features. Archived from the original on December 1, 2023. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
St. John's College Annapolis today announced that the school has received $35.1 million from the Hodson Trust, bringing the college's total endowment to $244.5 million and providing its students with an additional $1.8 million in financial scholarship support annually.
- "SUSTAINING STRENGTH 2022 Report for Alumni & Friends" (PDF) (Report). p. 17. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 21, 2023. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
$47.7 FY2022 Expenses (in millions)
- ^ Bruni, Frank (September 11, 2018). "The most contrarian college in America". The New York Times. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
- "About St. John's College" (Press release). St. John's College. Archived from the original on October 4, 2013. Retrieved December 20, 2012.
- Some historical accounts of the founding of King William's school and its subsequent establishment as St. John's college, together with biographical notices of the various presidents from 1790–1894, also of some of the representative alums of the College (1894). Annapolis 1894. Retrieved October 2, 2014 – via Archive.org.
- "Undergraduate Subjects: An Integrated Curriculum". www.sjc.edu. Archived from the original on February 6, 2021. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
- "St. John's College Transcript Support" (PDF). St. John's College. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 26, 2023. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
- "Liberal Arts College - Great Books Program | St. John's College". Sjc.edu. Retrieved December 24, 2016.
- Perry, William Stevens (1894). "King William's School, Annapolis, MD.". Some Historical Accounts of the Founding of King William's School and its Subsequent Establishment as St. John's College. Annapolis, Maryland. pp. 7–11. ISBN 978-0656792696.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Tilghman, Tench Francis (1984). The Early History of St. John's College in Annapolis. Annapolis: St. John's College Press.
- "The Council of Independent Colleges: Historic Campus Architecture Project". Hcap.artstor.org. February 20, 1909. Retrieved December 24, 2016.
- "1784: The Year St. John's College Was Named". Maryland Historical Magazine. 74 (2): 133–51. June 1979.
- Doyel, Ginger (April 2, 2003). "Annapolis, past to present: Military life at St. John's". The Capital. Archived from the original on June 28, 2013. Retrieved April 27, 2013.
- "USNI Blog » Blog Archive » From Our Archive: The Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps by Capt. Chester W. Nimitz, USN 1928". Blog.usni.org. Retrieved December 24, 2016.
- A Quiet Counterrevolution: St. John's College teaches the classics—and only the classics at the Wayback Machine (archived 2008-06-05)
- Donald Asher (2007). Cool Colleges. Ten Speed Press. p. 123. ISBN 978-1-58008-839-8.
- ^ Charles A. Nelson (2001),Radical Visions: Stringfellow Barr, Scott Buchanan, and Their Efforts on behalf of Education and Politics in the Twentieth Century. Bergin and Garvey, Westport, CT; ISBN 0-89789-804-4.
- Jacobsson, Martin. "De musica | Augustine of Hippo". goodreads.com. Almqvist & Wiksell Intl. Retrieved May 18, 2024.
- "St. John's and Navy Facing Fight In Courts Over College's Campus", June 29, 1945, p. 17.
- Smith, J. Winfree (1983). A Search for the Liberal College: The Beginning of the St. John's Program. Annapolis, MD: St. John's College Press.
- ""Letter from Martin A. Dyer, Class of 1952, to St. John's Alumni", July 16, 2004". Archived from the original on November 3, 2005. Retrieved April 24, 2007.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link), accessed July 26, 2007 - "Richard Weigle, 80, Served as President Of St. John's College" (Obituary), The New York Times, December 17, 1992, p. B22.
- "College Spawns College", Time Magazine, December 26, 1960, accessed April 28, 2007
- "The Colonization of a College: The Beginnings and Early History of St. John's College in Santa Fe", by Richard D. Weigle, Fishergate Publishing Company (St. John's College Print Shop), Annapolis, 1985
- "St. John's College | About | Quick Facts". Archived from the original on March 10, 2009. Retrieved June 18, 2009.
- Harty, Rosemary (2005), Director of Communications, St. John's College, Annapolis, personal communication (Source details of non-Great-Books materials used at St. John's)
- "St. John's College". usnews. U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
- "National Liberal Arts Colleges Rankings". usnews.com. U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
- "The Annapolis Cup – Croquet Match Fact Sheet". St. John's College. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
- Multiple references:
- Cox, Erin (April 18, 2010). "Rite of spring: St. John's crushes Navy at croquet". The Annapolis Capital Hometownannapolis.com. Landmark Media Enterprises. Archived from the original on February 25, 2012. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - Rushin, Steve (1997). "Jock schools U.S.A." SI.com Sports Illustrated. CNN. Archived from the original on December 26, 2003. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
- Cox, Erin (April 18, 2010). "Rite of spring: St. John's crushes Navy at croquet". The Annapolis Capital Hometownannapolis.com. Landmark Media Enterprises. Archived from the original on February 25, 2012. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
- Mereness, Newton Dennison (1901). Maryland as a Proprietary Province. London: The MacMillan Company. pp. 350–53. ASIN B0006BT5K4.
Thomas Bladen subject:Maryland.
- Winters, Wendi. "McDowell Hall, heart of St. John's College campus, gets a makeover". capitalgazette.com. Retrieved September 19, 2018.
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on September 2, 2006. Retrieved September 16, 2006.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - "St. John's College Observatory – About Us". Thucydides.sjca.edu. Retrieved December 24, 2016.
- "St. John's College Foucault Pendulum". Thucydides.sjca.edu. Retrieved December 24, 2016.
- "Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: August 3, 2015 through August 7, 2015". National Park Service. August 14, 2015. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
- Stringfellow, Johnnie. "St. John's College Freshman Class Profile". St. John's College Freshman Class Profile.
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on February 7, 2006. Retrieved February 12, 2006.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - "How to Apply to St. John's". sjc.edu. St. John’s College. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
- "St John's Admission Requirements". collegesimply.com. CollegeSimply | U.S. Department of Education National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
Further reading
- Racing Odysseus: A College President Becomes a Freshman Again ISBN 978-0-520-26587-5 A former college president attended St. John's College and wrote a memoir about his experience reading Homer, rowing Crew, and examining the importance of a liberal arts education in today's society.
- Where I learned to Read Salvatore Scibona, The New Yorker, 2011-06-13
External links
Colleges and universities in New Mexico | |
---|---|
Public | |
Private | |
Community colleges | |
Defunct |
Colleges That Change Lives (CTCL) | |
---|---|
|
Annapolis Group | |
---|---|
Chair |
|
Member schools |
|
- St. John's College (Annapolis/Santa Fe)
- 1784 establishments in Maryland
- Buildings and structures in Annapolis, Maryland
- Buildings and structures in Santa Fe, New Mexico
- Education in Santa Fe, New Mexico
- Educational institutions established in 1784
- Liberal arts colleges in Maryland
- Liberal arts colleges in New Mexico
- 1696 establishments in the Province of Massachusetts Bay
- Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in New Mexico
- Private universities and colleges in New Mexico
- Private universities and colleges in Maryland