Bryn Mawr College facts for kids
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| Motto | Veritatem Dilexi (Latin) |
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Motto in English
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I Delight in the Truth |
| Type | Private liberal arts college Women's college |
| Established | 1885 |
| Affiliation | None, formerly Quaker |
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Academic affiliations
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| Endowment | $1.18 billion (2021) |
| President | Kimberly Wright Cassidy |
| Provost | Tim Harte |
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Academic staff
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160 full-time, 41 part-time (2019) |
| Students | 1,719 (Fall 2019) |
| Undergraduates | 1,384 (Fall 2019) |
| Postgraduates | 335 (Fall 2019) |
| Location |
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United States
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| Campus | Suburban, 135 acres (55 ha) |
| Colors | Yellow and black |
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Sporting affiliations
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NCAA Division III – Centennial Conference |
| Mascot | Owl |
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Bryn Mawr College Historic District
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 Location in Pennsylvania
Location in the United States
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| Location | Morris Ave., Yarrow St. and New Gulph Rd., Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania |
| Area | 49 acres (20 ha) |
| Built | 1885 |
| Architect | Multiple |
| Architectural style | Late Gothic Revival, Gothic, Collegiate Gothic |
| NRHP reference No. | 79002299 |
| Added to NRHP | May 4, 1979 |
Bryn Mawr College is a women's liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. A liberal arts college focuses on general knowledge and developing thinking skills. It was started by Quakers in 1885. Bryn Mawr is one of the Seven Sister colleges, a group of famous women's colleges in the United States. It was the first women's college to offer advanced degrees like a PhD. Today, about 1,350 undergraduate students and 450 graduate students attend the college.
Contents
History of Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr College is a private women's college that opened in 1885. The name "Bryn Mawr" means 'large hill' in Welsh. The college is named after the town of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. This town was renamed by the Pennsylvania Railroad. The college received much of its funding from Joseph W. Taylor. Its first president was James Rhoads.
Bryn Mawr was one of the first colleges in the U.S. to offer advanced degrees, including doctorates, to women. The first group of students had 36 undergraduate women and eight graduate students. The college was first connected to the Quakers. However, by 1893, it became a non-religious school.
In 1912, Bryn Mawr was the first college in the U.S. to offer doctorates in social work. This department later became the Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research in 1970. In 1931, the college started accepting men as graduate students. However, it remained a women's college for undergraduate students.
From 1921 to 1938, the campus hosted the Bryn Mawr Summer School for Women Workers in Industry. This school helped educate women working in factories. It taught subjects like economics, science, and literature.
In 2010–2011, the college celebrated its 125th anniversary. They held an international meeting about education access. They also published a book about student life. A mural was created in Philadelphia to celebrate women's education.
Welcoming Transgender Students
In 2015, Bryn Mawr College decided to allow transgender women to apply for undergraduate admission. This made Bryn Mawr one of the first women's colleges to accept trans women. The college also welcomes nonbinary students who were assigned female at birth. Bryn Mawr believes that gender identity can be different for everyone. All students, past and present, are part of the Bryn Mawr community.
College Presidents
- 1885–1894 James Rhoads
- 1894–1922 M. Carey Thomas
- 1922–1942 Marion Edwards Park
- 1942–1970 Katharine Elizabeth McBride
- 1970–1978 Harris Wofford
- 1978–1997 Mary Patterson McPherson
- 1997–2008 Nancy J. Vickers
- 2008–2013 Jane Dammen McAuliffe
- 2013–present Kimberly Wright Cassidy
College Campus
The college campus is located in Lower Merion Township. Most of it is in the town of Bryn Mawr.
Famous landscape designers Calvert Vaux and Frederick Law Olmsted helped design parts of the campus. The campus is also a special arboretum, which is like a tree museum.
Student Housing
Most Bryn Mawr students live in dorms on campus. Many older dorms were designed in the Collegiate Gothic style. This style looks like old buildings at Cambridge University. Each dorm is named after a town in Wales. These include Brecon, Denbigh, Merion, Radnor, and Pembroke. Rhoads dorm is named after the first college president. Rockefeller dorm is named after its donor, John D. Rockefeller. Erdman Hall was designed by architect Louis Kahn and opened in 1965.
Students can also live in Batten House, an eco-friendly co-op. Perry House is the Black Cultural Center. In 2015, Perry House moved to a newly renovated building. This building is now called the Enid Cook '31 Center. A new dorm was also built nearby.
Campus Gardens and Buildings
In 1908, John C. Olmsted designed a private garden for M. Carey Thomas. It was later changed and named the Blanca Noel Taft Memorial Garden. This garden has two wall fountains. The decorative tiles above one fountain came from Syria.
In 1960, architect Louis I. Kahn designed Erdman Hall, a dormitory.
The Marjorie Walter Goodhart Theater has a large auditorium. It was designed by Arthur Ingersoll Meigs. The building has towers, gables, and carvings. Samuel Yellin designed its ornamental ironwork in the gothic revival style. The theater was renovated in 2009.
Old Library
The Old Library was the main campus library until 1970. The Great Hall inside was designed by Walter Cope in 1901. It is now used for performances and lectures. The Old Library has a large open courtyard called "The Cloisters". The ashes of M. Carey Thomas and Emmy Noether are in the Cloisters.
The building was named a National Historic Landmark in 1991. A statue of Athena Lemnia used to be in the Great Hall. Students sometimes leave gifts for this statue hoping for good luck. In 2018, the building was officially renamed "The Old Library." It was previously called "Thomas Hall" after M. Carey Thomas. This change happened because some of M. Carey Thomas's past views did not match the college's current values of fairness and inclusion. A plaque now explains this history.
Rhys Carpenter Art and Archaeology Library
This library is named after a professor of Classical Archaeology. It was designed by Henry Myerberg and opened in 1997. The entrance has a four-story atrium. The names of art and archaeology professors are on a wall in the atrium. The roof is a grassy area used for outdoor events. The building won an award for library architecture in 2001. It holds important collections in archaeology, art history, and classics.
The Deanery
The Bryn Mawr College Deanery was the home of M. Carey Thomas, the college's first Dean and second President. She lived there from 1885 to 1933. The Deanery was made larger and decorated with art from Thomas's travels. From 1933 to 1968, it was used as a center for former students and an inn. The building was taken down in 1968 to make space for the Canaday Library. Many of its items were moved to Wyndham, which became the new Alumnae Center.
Academics
| USNWR Liberal Arts College | 30 |
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| Washington Monthly Liberal Arts | 31 |
| Forbes | 95 |
Bryn Mawr is a small college where students live on campus for four years. While it has some graduate programs, most students are in the undergraduate arts and sciences program.
Students at Bryn Mawr must complete courses in the social sciences, natural sciences (including lab work), and humanities. They also need to study a foreign language for one year. Students must also meet a math skills requirement and take an Emily Balch Seminar. These seminars are like writing classes but focus on a specific topic. They help students develop critical thinking skills through reading and writing.
In 2021, the most popular undergraduate majors were:
- English Language and Literature
- Biology/Biological Sciences
- Psychology
- Mathematics
- Computer Science
In 1972, the college started a special program for people changing careers who want to go to medical school. This program is very successful, with over 98% of its students getting into medical school.
Admissions
For the class entering in fall 2019, Bryn Mawr received 3,332 applications. They accepted 1,102 students (30%) and 374 students enrolled. The middle 50% of accepted students had SAT scores between 640–740 for reading and writing, and 650–770 for math. The middle 50% ACT scores were between 29–33.
Traditions
Students at Bryn Mawr celebrate four main traditions each year.
- Parade Night: This happens on the first Friday of classes. New students run to Taylor Hall, and older students throw confetti. Afterward, everyone sings songs together.
- Lantern Night: In late October or early November, new students get a lantern. This lantern symbolizes knowledge being passed down. There is a ceremony with songs in Ancient Greek.
- Welcome the First Years Week: This takes place in February or March. Older students (called "roses") create fun tasks and events for new students (called "buds").
- May Day: This is held on the Sunday after the last day of classes. It includes breakfast with strawberries and cream, a parade, dancing around a Maypole, and student performances.
Two student-elected "Traditions Mistexes" organize these events. There are also smaller traditions and superstitions. For example, students sometimes leave gifts for a statue of Athena for good luck. There are also special stairs and a row of trees that only seniors can use. The Friendship Poles are two poles under an arch. Students believe that if a group walks between them, their friendship will end.
Sustainability Efforts
Bryn Mawr College is committed to being environmentally friendly. They have signed an agreement to make new buildings meet high green standards. They also try to buy energy-efficient products. The college encourages using public transportation.
The dining halls work to be sustainable. They try to offer more local and organic food. They recycle in all dining areas. Used cooking oil is recycled into bio-diesel fuel. All leftover food is given to a local food bank. In 2011, Bryn Mawr received a B+ grade on the College Sustainability Report Card. They got an A in Investment Priorities because they invest in renewable energy.
Athletics
Bryn Mawr competes in the Centennial Conference. They have teams for sports like badminton, basketball, cross country, field hockey, lacrosse, rowing, soccer, swimming, tennis, and volleyball. The badminton team won national championships in 1996 and 2008. The college's mascot is the owl, which is a symbol of Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom.
Famous People from Bryn Mawr
Famous Alumni
Many famous people have attended Bryn Mawr College.
- Drew Gilpin Faust (class of 1968) was the first woman president of Harvard University.
- Hanna Holborn Gray (1950) was the first woman president of a major research university (University of Chicago).
- Poets like Hilda "H.D." Doolittle and Marianne Moore (1909) studied here.
- Edith Hamilton (M.A. 1894) was a famous scholar of ancient Greece and Rome.
- Grace Lee Boggs (Ph.D. 1940) was an author and social activist.
- Emily Greene Balch (1889) won the Nobel Peace Prize.
- Scientists like geneticist Nettie Stevens (Ph.D. 1903) and physicist Elizabeth Laird (Ph.D. 1901) attended Bryn Mawr.
- Katharine Hepburn (1928) was a four-time Academy Award-winning actress.
- Alice Rivlin (1952) was an economist and led the Congressional Budget Office.
- Maggie Siff (1996) is a well-known actor.
- Michelle Zauner, known as the musician Japanese Breakfast, also attended.
Notable Faculty
Many important teachers have worked at Bryn Mawr.
- Woodrow Wilson later became President of the United States.
- Mathematician Emmy Noether taught here.
- Chemists Arthur C. Cope and Louis Fieser were faculty members.
- Archaeologists like Brunilde Sismondo Ridgway taught at the college.
- Historians such as Caroline Robbins and Amy Kelly were faculty.
- The Spanish philosopher José Ferrater Mora also taught at Bryn Mawr.
See also
In Spanish: Bryn Mawr College para niños
