Marietta College

History

Historically preceded by the community's Muskingum Academy, established in 1797, today's College was chartered in 1835 and the first president was the Rev. Joel H. Linsley. In the years before the Civil War, its students absorbed the city's ethic of supporting abolitionism. They helped fugitive slaves take shelter at the college, which was used as a station on the Underground Railroad to help slaves reach freedom in northern states or Canada.

Marietta College worked toward high academic achievement. In 1860, it became the sixteenth college awarded a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the world's oldest honorary society.

During the Great War, before the United States entered the war, a group of students went to France to serve as the Marietta College Volunteer Ambulance Corps. After the war, France commemorated their service with what is known as the French monument, which it gave to the city of Marietta. The monument has two parts: a replica of a historic 1749 plaque found buried at this site, which noted the French claim to the Ohio Country, and a plaque to commemorate the ambulance corps. The names of the young men who served with the corps are included.

In the 21st century, the majority of the students at the college are from Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, but a sizable portion of the student population is from the New England states, and Asia.

Sports

The athletic department sponsors 20 varsity sports, competing in NCAA Division III and the Ohio Athletic Conference. In 2012, the college’s baseball team won an NCAA Division III record 6th College World Series Championship in school history. The college also sponsors intramural and recreation program, which are housed in the Dyson Baudo Recreation Center.

Seven core values

At the center of a Marietta College education are Seven Core Values that form the foundation for all the College does. They are the following:

1. Liberal Arts Foundation
2. In-Depth Programs of Study
3. Global Perspective and Diversity
4. World of Work
5. Community
6. Leadership
7. Service

New Curriculum

A new curriculum was introduced in the fall of 2003. It has three components:

1. First Year Program
   In the student's first year, he or she will enroll in the First Year Seminar and the College Life and Leadership Laboratory. Together, these courses are designed to help the student make the intellectual and social transition from high school and home to life in a residential college. In addition, all students are required to complete (or otherwise earn credit for) Writing 110, an introductory writing course, and Communication 101, a public speaking course.
2. General education
   General education (sometimes known as a "core" curriculum) provides opportunities to study many fields in breadth, and complement the in-depth study required by a major field. Each student is required, therefore, to acquire a breadth of knowledge across areas as Historical Perspectives, Scientific Inquiry, Social Analysis, Quantitative Reasoning, Fine Arts, Literature, Global Issues and Diversity and Leadership and Ethics. Beyond this students are also required to complete 2 courses designated as "writing intensive;" they may be courses also used to satisfy the General Education requirement, and are often courses in the student's major or minor.
3. Majors
   Marietta has 45 majors and many more minors. The school offers two graduate programs in Psychology and Physician Assistant Studies. As well, the school offers special programs, such as Investigative Studies, Leadership Studies, Study Abroad, and Washington Semester. Students choose their own majors (and minors, if desired), and work toward satisfying the particular requirements of their program. All majors have a "capstone" or culminating course. The form of this is appropriate to the major, e.g., a student show for students studying graphic design, a semester studying abroad for students majoring in Spanish, a year-long research project for students studying physics or environmental science. The college also has guidelines for the creation of student-developed majors.

The Honors program

The honors program provides a course of study for accomplished students. There are several honors distinctions, such as Trustees' Scholarship, Incoming freshmen are invited to apply, Current Marietta College freshmen who will enter the sophomore year and Incoming Transfer students entering MC who fall under condition (3) above. The program has several requirements such as GPA and including specific Honors courses that meet General Education requirements. To continue in the Scholars Program, all four semesters of required course work must be completed.

Academic achievement

To recognize academic achievement, the College has also established the several honors such as, the Dean's List, the Dean's High Honors List, Freshman and Sophomore Scholars, Phi Beta Kappa and Degrees with Distinction.

Rankings

All in 2014 U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges ranked Marietta 4th in the Baccalaureate Colleges in the Midwest category. Princeton Review ranked Marietta College as one of the 'Best in the Midwest', It was one of the top 158 schools and one of the top 648 colleges out of 2,500 colleges ranked nationwide. In 2015 U.S. News and World Report Best Colleges ranked Marietta tied with two other schools for 6th place. Forbes ranked Marietta College 414 out of the 650 best schools in the nation. There are over 2600 4-year colleges in the US.

The 2013 U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges ranked Marietta 3rd in the Baccalaureate Colleges in the Midwest category. The school was tied with Augustana College.

The 2009 Forbes America's Best Colleges Ranking has ranked Marietta 112th Best out of roughly 4000 undergraduate institutions in The United States, 56 spots up from the previous year. According to this ranking Marietta is 4th best College (after Kenyon College, College of Wooster, and Oberlin College) in the state of Ohio. Forbes also placed Marietta College ahead of Johns Hopkins University (173), University of Michigan (200), and Cornell University (207) on basis of Student Satisfaction, Indicators of post-graduation success, likelihood of graduation from college within four years, and Debt levels after graduation.

Athletics

Marietta College is a member of the NCAA Division III and the Ohio Athletic Conference, a 10-team collegiate conference founded in 1902 and the third-oldest in the nation. The Pioneers compete in 20 varsity sports, including nationally competitive teams in crew, baseball, track & field, women's soccer, softball. They added men's and women's golf to the athletic department for the 2017 season.

Marietta’s baseball team has won six national championships, an NCAA Division III record: in 1981, 1983, 1986, 2006, 2011 and 2012. The first three were under legendary coach Don Schaly, who died on March 9, 2005; the three most recent under coach Brian Brewer. By repeating as the national champions in 2011 and 2012 the Pioneers became the first team to do that in NCAA Division III play since the Rowan University Profs won back to back championships in 1978 and 1979. Five former Pioneer baseball players—Kent Tekulve, Duane Theiss, Jim Tracy, Terry Mulholland and Matt DeSalvo—have reached the Major League level. Matt DeSalvo made his Major League debut with the (Yankees) in 2007. The Pioneers currently have four other players in the minor leagues: Mike DeMark (Diamondbacks), Tim Saunders (Cubs), Austin Blaski (Brewers), and Mark Williams (Brewers).

The crew program competes at the annual Dad Vail Regatta each spring in both men's and women's events, and earned a gold medal in the Men's Varsity Eight in 2006, and gold medals in the Women's Varsity Eight in 2011, 2012, and 2014. Alumni include two-time Olympian and CEO of Boathouse Sports, John Strotbeck, Jr., and 2003 World Championship silver medalist in the USA Lightweight Eight, Andrew Bolton.

Broadcasts

Marietta sporting events are often broadcast on WMRT and WCMO, the two college radio stations. All of the football games are broadcast on WMRT. Home football, volleyball, soccer, basketball, softball, and baseball games are all carried on the Marietta College radio network. The baseball games are also carried on WMOA. WMRT and WCMO broadcasts are all produced and called entirely by students, many of whom are Mass Media students.

Intramural athletics

Marietta offers a variety of intramural athletics for men and women. Some examples of intramural programs are: flag football, softball, indoor volleyball, racquetball, basketball, dodgeball, etc. Many of these activities are organized and maintained by the student population.

Greek life

Marietta College is the home of seven fraternities and sororities.

Alpha Sigma Phi (Delta Chapter), Alpha Tau Omega, Delta Tau Delta and Lambda Chi Alpha are national and international fraternities that have local chapters for male students to join. They are governed by an Interfraternity Council, which follows the guidelines of the North-American Interfraternity Conference.

Alpha Xi Delta, Chi Omega, and Sigma Kappa are national and international fraternities and sororities that have local chapters for female students to join. They are governed by Panhellenic Council, which follows the guidelines of the National Panhellenic Conference.

There are also several chapters of national, international, and local fraternities and sororities that have gone inactive at the college over the years. Inactive chapters include: Phi Gamma Delta – Eta chapter – (1855–1859, 1878–1897); Tau Kappa Epsilon – Zeta Sigma chapter – (1959–1999); Sigma Tau Gamma – Alpha Upsilon chapter – (1952–1956); Delta Upsilon – (1870–2006); Alpha Sigma Tau – Alpha Kappa chapter – (1960–83); Alpha Gamma Delta – Alpha Phi chapter – (1961–1975); Tau Epsilon Phi – Epsilon Pi chapter – (1961–1996); Sigma Sigma Sigma-Gamma Kappa chapter – (1963–1997) Omicron Chi Theta – Alpha Chapter – (2003–2014); Theta Phi Alpha – Marietta Colony – (2014–2016).

Honoraries

Students attending Marietta College have the opportunity to qualify for any of 23 honoraries that have recognized chapters.

Notable alumni

9/11 controversy

In 2011, in honor of the ten year anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the United States, a student group called the Marietta College Republicans arranged to have nearly 3,000 American flags placed around campus to honor those that died, in connection with the 9/11 Never Forget Project. However, Marietta College's Vice President for Student Life at the time, Robert Pastoor, threatened to cancel the project if international flags were not included in the display. Mr. Pastoor said that the flags needed to be added to provide "global perspective," and that the group should consider "how the Muslim and Chinese students feel." The College Republicans acquiesced to the demand rather than cancel the project, adding 12 flags from other nations. The president of the Young America's Foundation, Ron Robinson, responded to the Vice President's demand, saying, "instead of embracing the remembrance of the thousands of innocents who were murdered on 9/11, many college administrators...are more interested in creating political correctness tests than coming together to honor the victims of the jihadist attacks."