Smith College is part of the five college consortium, as well as Amherst College, Mount Holyoke College, Hampshire College and University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Smith was founded in 1871 at the bequest of Sophia Smith. Currently, Smith's President is Ruth Simmons.
Smith's campus consists of 125 contiguous acres with 105 academic, administrative, residence and maintenance buildings. There are about 2,500 undergraduates in Northampton, MA and 250 studying in over 43 foreign countries. As of September 2000, Smith's endowment is $890 million dollars. All students belong to the Student Government Association, which charters over 90 student organizations. With 1.3 million items, Smith College has the largest undergraduate library of any liberal arts college in the United States. The Smith College Museum of Art contains more than 24,000 works of art from antiquity to the present. Smith's Motto is : To Virtue, Knowledge.
Smith Housing
Smith College has a 'house system' as opposed to dorms. They are rather large houses with various appearances and populations from 9 students to 100 at most. Most have their own dining rooms and all have living rooms and other rooms for socializing. Living with such a small amount of people is the purpose so that Smith becomes "home away from home". All of Smith's Houses have a self governing body and each is autonomous from the others.
Smith College is divided into five main areas for housing of Traditional and some
Ada Comstock Students.
Green Street houses are the oldest houses at Smith College. The houses themselves hold approximately 38 to 68 students. They generally look like large brick houses, complete with porches. Morris and Lawrence are next to each other and are exactly alike. They're the closest to academic buildings and lend to the popular opinion that Green Street Smithies are extremely studious.
The East Side of Elm Street
The East Side of Elm Street (Or otherwise known as East Elm and Lower Elm) has the most houses and the biggest range of house styles, from the Victorian Sessions House to the Modern Cutter House and Ziskind House. East Elm Houses widely range in size from 19 to 88 students. East Elm houses are closer to the actual town of Northampton and are a relatively short walk to academic buildings.
Central Campus
Central Campus is a small distinction between three Houses that are often categorized as Central Campus and as Upper Elm. Chapin is the only actual House that is Centrally located on Campus, given its location next to Wright Hall, however Haven House and Wesley House are both in the area.
The West Side of Elm Street
Upper Elm Houses are basically on the opposite side of the Lower Elm and a bit further up the street and are inbetween Central Campus and East Elm . The are basically the same distance from Houses on East Elm to classes without having to cross Elm Street. This part of Smith Campus has several smaller Houses that share dining rooms at a larger House. These Houses are the among the smallest on Smith Campus. They range in house population from 13 to 68 students.
The Quadrangle
"The Quad" houses the most students on campus. This is the one area of campus that doesn't look like a quaint house and instead more like a college Quad. The Quad is primarily large square buildings constructed out of brick and while it might sacrifice its porches and house-like appearance, they also feature window seats and some of the Houses connect to each other. The Quad is the furtherst from Academic Buildings and at least one of the ten Quad Houses is hosting a party on any given weekend.
Interesting Smith Facts
- Smith's official Color is White
- Smith's current mascot is the Pioneer
- Smith's original mascot was the Virgin
Famous Alumnae