Bridgewater College
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Established | 1880 |
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| Type | Private, liberal arts |
| President | Dr. Phillip C. Stone |
| Faculty | 96 |
| Undergraduates | 1,515 |
| Location | Bridgewater, Virginia, USA |
| Nickname | Eagles |
| Website | bridgewater.edu |
Bridgewater College, located in Bridgewater, Virginia, is the oldest co-educational four-year college in Virginia. It has been affiliated historically with the Church of the Brethren.
It has gained some national prominence in the past ten years for its high-ranked Division III football program. It is affiliated with the Old Dominion Athletic Conference in all sports. The football program success and ranking can be reviewed at D3Football.com
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[edit] Past and Present
Bridgewater College was established in 1880 as Spring Creek Normal and Collegiate Institute by Daniel Christian Flory, an alumnus of the University of Virginia and a young progressive leader in the Church of the Brethren. Nine years later, the school was named Bridgewater College and chartered by the Commonwealth of Virginia to grant undergraduate degrees. Bridgewater conferred its first Bachelor of Arts degree on June 1, 1891, becoming the first of the colleges having historic associations with the Church of the Brethren to grant degrees.
Organized as a residential college, the founders believed that students living together over a four-year period would learn from one another as well as the faculty. Students would be exposed to varied views and opinions, different cultures, and have opportunities to develop deeper understandings beyond their own. The founders also surmised that successive student bodies would develop self-perpetuating traditions, and that would be educational in itself.
Two major influences, the University of Virginia and the Church of the Brethren, have shaped Bridgewater College as an educational institution and created its personality. Its historic association with the Church of the Brethren, modified Georgian architecture, Honor Code, and seal depicting truth, beauty, goodness, and harmony bear testimony to the strength of these two shaping influences.
Bridgewater College became the first private, senior co-educational liberal arts college in Virginia and one of the few accredited colleges of its type in the South. The emphasis on ethical and spiritual values in educational programs is a result of Bridgewater’s heritage and institutional idealism. The importance placed on these values can be seen through course offerings and convocation programs that encourage personal integrity and strong social consciousness.
Today, Bridgewater College enrolls over 1,540 men and women who represent many races and creeds. Electing to keep its enrollment small, Bridgewater continues to maintain a faculty-student ratio of 1:15, thus ensuring that the College knows its students individually. The College offers the Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees. To further enrich the cultural life of its student body, Bridgewater became a charter member of Brethren Colleges Abroad (BCA). Through BCA, select students have the opportunity to spend all or part of their junior year at one of 19 campuses in 16 countries. These countries include Australia, Belgium, China, Cuba, Ecuador, England, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, and Wales.
Research, presentations, and publishing books and articles are all part of being a faculty member at Bridgewater College. Some faculty involve their students in research projects, giving Bridgewater students an opportunity that is rare at some undergraduate institutions. Over the years, Bridgewater graduates have received fellowships and assistantships — including Fulbright, Woodrow Wilson, National Science Foundation, Root Tilden, Jack Kent Cooke, Jefferson Memorial, and Rockefeller fellowships — for graduate and professional study from outstanding universities throughout the country.
Bridgewater College has an honorable history spanning more than 120 years. It has been true to the Jeffersonian and Brethren ideals of the founders by encouraging freedom of thought, pioneering in co-education and racial integration, growing and developing to meet the changing needs of its students, insisting on high scholastic standards, and educating good and productive citizens to become leaders in society.
[edit] The Campus
Bridgewater College is located in the Shenandoah Valley, a scenic and historic region in Virginia. The Allegheny Mountains to the west and the Blue Ridge chain to the east are both visible from the campus. Old Stone and Mossy Creek Presbyterian churches and the Cross Keys and Piedmont Civil War battlefields are just a few miles from the campus. Many houses in the town of Bridgewater are 140 years or older.
Situated in this beautiful and historic setting, the Bridgewater campus is comprised of 190 acres. The educational activities are focused on the primary campus of 40 acres on which are located Bridgewater’s complex of buildings of different periods and styles of architecture. The beauty and charm of the campus complement Bridgewater’s friendly atmosphere.
The rooms in all the residence halls are provided with single beds, mattresses, dressers, tables, bookshelves, window shades, and light bulbs. Students provide linens, bedding, pillows, curtains, table lamps, rugs, and other furnishings desirable to make the rooms more attractive and comfortable.
[edit] Athletics
Bridgewater College is a Division III member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and follows guidelines and policies set forth by this governing body. Our teams are members of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC), which has 14 member institutions.
Bridgewater College sponsors 20 varsity programs, which include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, tennis, indoor track, and outdoor track for men, and basketball, cross country, field hockey, lacrosse, riding, softball, soccer, tennis, indoor track, outdoor track, and volleyball for women. Additionally, the athletic program supports cheerleading, a dance team and pep band, which perform at home football and basketball games.
[edit] Famous Alumni and Faculty
- Wolfgang Drechsler, German social scientist and government advisor
- Phil Eyler, Canadian politician
- Nathan H. Miller, Republican politician
- Richard D. Obenshain, Republican politician
- James M. Stayer, historian
- G. Steven Agee, Republican politician and Justice, Supreme Court of Virginia
- Jared M. Chalk, Long and Foster Real Estate and City of Norfolk Politician
[edit] External links
| Old Dominion Athletic Conference |
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| Bridgewater • Catholic† • Eastern Mennonite‡ • Emory & Henry • Guilford • Hampden–Sydney • Hollins‡ • Lynchburg‡ • Randolph–Macon • Randolph–Macon Woman's‡ • Roanoke‡ • Sweet Briar‡ • Virginia Wesleyan‡ • Washington & Lee † football-only member ‡ no-football member |
