McDaniel College

History

The college was founded in 1867 as Western Maryland College, and was named for the Western Maryland Railroad because the college's first Board chairman, John Smith of Wakefield, was also the president of the railroad. (Neither the railroad nor the Methodist Protestant Church contributed funds to facilitate the establishment of the college. Some contributions, however, were received from Methodist Protestant laymen, including John Smith.) It had a voluntary fraternal affiliation with the Methodist Protestant (later United Methodist) Church from 1868 until 1974; the adjacent but separate institution, the Westminster Theological Seminary, was a principal site for training Methodist Protestant (later United Methodist) clergy in the Maryland region. The ties with the United Methodist Church were cut over a court case in which Western Maryland and other religiously affiliated schools in Maryland were being challenged over state funding received by the colleges because of their religious ties. The other schools retained their affiliations and won the case.

The college's first building went up in 1866-1867, with an inaugural class of 37 men and women in September 1867. Western Maryland was the first coeducational institution south of the Mason–Dixon line and was among the first in the nation. The school's original charter read that the school would exist: "For the benefit of students without regard to race, religion, color, sex, national or ethnic origin ... without requiring or enforcing any sectarian, racial or civil test, and without discrimination on the basis of sex, national or ethnic origin, nor shall any prejudice be made in the choice of any officer, teacher, or other employee in the said college on account of these factors." However, Western Maryland College was primarily a school without minority race representation until the 1960s.

Baker Memorial Chapel was dedicated April 20, 1958. The chapel, was built in memory of W.G. Baker, Joseph D. Baker, Daniel Baker, and Sarah Baker. The organ in the new chapel has been given by two alumni, father and son, Roger J. Whiteford, a prominent Washington attorney and graduate in 1906, and his son Joseph S. Whiteford a graduate in 1943, president of the Aeolian-Skinner Organ Company, Boston, Mass. The chapel was designed by architects Otto Eugene Adams and E.G. Riggs, of Baltimore. The Chapel steeple, 113 feet tall, is visible for miles around and was originally topped by a stainless steel cross 6 feet in height. The wood panels of the chancel have been designed to complement the antique organ console which was originally in the Bruton Parish Church, at Williamsburg, Virginia. The organ, with its 2,310 pipes, is held to be the largest in the area. The Whitefords also gave the carillon installed in the steeple.

McDaniel College Budapest (formerly known as Western Maryland College Budapest), the European campus of McDaniel College was established in collaboration with College International Budapest in 1994. McDaniel College was also home to the summer training camp of the Baltimore Ravens NFL team until the 2011 Season when the team chose to relocate spring training to their Owings Mills facility. Newer buildings on campus include the Science Hall, gymnasium, library, and student union center. On January 11, 2002, the trustees announced their unanimous decision to change the name of the college. On July 1, 2002, WMC officially became McDaniel College, honoring alumnus William Roberts McDaniel and his 65-year association with the school. The naming process during the spring of 2002 included input from students, faculty and alumni about possible names.

Since Roger Casey, current McDaniel President, took office in 2010, U.S. News & World Report ranking of the College decreased from 122 in 2010 to 134 in 2015. Over the same period, the enrollment decreased by 17%. In May 2016, Fitch Ratings revised its outlook for McDaniel from Stable to Negative. In June 2016 adjunct faculty at McDaniel voted to unionize. McDaniel is the second four-year university in the state with collective bargaining for the part-time employees. Adjuncts are represented by Service Employees International Union Local 500.

Academics

McDaniel College is a liberal arts school that is founded on having many majors to pick from. The administration as well as the students have worked together to create over sixty undergraduate majors and 20-plus graduate programs. McDaniel also offers over one hundred different minors. McDaniel in 2002 created the McDaniel Plan, which was the first of its kind, and it is renowned nationally for its innovative way of grasping the students to make education their own.

The McDaniel Plan

The McDaniel Plan provides a liberal education that combines a comprehensive program of general education and a rigorous program in the major. The program is complemented by electives and a range of special opportunities, that include but are not limited to directed studies, internships, and practicums. The requirements of The McDaniel Plan apply to all first-year students who enroll in college for the Bachelor of Arts degree. The redesign of the general education curriculum, The McDaniel Plan, emphasizes intellectual skills that will be crucial to graduates. The focus of The McDaniel Plan is to make studies incorporate critical thinking, cogent writing, analytic reading, persuasive public speaking, effective collaboration, the ability to adapt to change and bridge cultural differences.

Athletics

McDaniel is a charter member of the Centennial Conference, an athletic conference that includes Swarthmore, Ursinus, Haverford, Dickinson, Franklin & Marshall, Bryn Mawr, Gettysburg, and Johns Hopkins.

McDaniel college has 24 NCAA Division III sports teams and is named the Green Terror, which in 1999 was rank 13th for U.S. News & World Report weirdest mascot names. The name originated from how teams would describe the Western Maryland Players as "Terrors" on the field. The name stuck and since October 1923 McDaniel College has been known as the Green Terror. In 2011, McDaniel was rank 6th in the country for best tailgating by The Weather Channel, due the ability for fans to park their cars practically on the field and actually grill & drink, a tradition that dates to 1920s. McDaniel College was also ranked in Southern Living Magazine for the top 20 of the "South's Best Tailgates." At football games McDaniel can have an average attendance over 5,000 and highs as much as 7,200 during a .500 season, ranking in the top five in the country for D3 football. Until 2010 the Baltimore Ravens, and before that the Baltimore Colts, held their training camps at McDaniel College. Head coach John Harbaugh still hosts clinics at McDaniel.

Football

The Green Terror have historic past with getting invited to the first Orange bowl, many legendary players, such as quarterback Eugene "Stoney" Willis, the inventor of the Shovel Pass; All-American and five-time All-NFL running back Bill Shepherd and Hall of Fame coaches Dick Harlow and Rip Engle. McDaniel football dates back to 1891 when the first game was played against northern rival Gettysburg College.

Greek life

Currently McDaniel has a number of sororities and fraternities, almost all national. Although there are no distinct Greek (fraternity or sorority) houses on campus, Greeks are allowed to "reserve" a floor in one of the dorm buildings on campus for only their own members to live on.

Litigations

In 1975 McDaniel College (Western Maryland College) agreed to permanently remove religious symbols atop campus chapels and to introduce strict quotas on Methodists representation on the college board and among faculty as a result of a settlement with American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for separation of Church and State.

In 1995 McDaniel College (Western Maryland College) was sued by a student who was fired after he pledged a campus fraternity. The suit claimed that firing was "motivated by strong hatred and/or spite of the Greek organizations on campus and was performed in order to intentionally and systematically remove Greek life from campus."

In 2007 McDaniel College was sued by a Baltimore City teacher seeking compensation for lost wages and emotional suffering.

During 2014/2015 academic year a federal lawsuit against McDaniel College and its administration was filed by a former tenured faculty member. The lawsuit accuses President Roger Casey, Provost Jeanine Stewart, and the College in violating the United States Constitution, state laws, and several internal College policies. Stewart resigned from the provost position on May 27, 2015. Judge George J. Hazel is assigned to this case. In fall 2015, undergraduate enrollment declined by 4%, while graduate enrollment declined 5.5%. In April 2016, President Casey asserted that legal fees became fastest growing line in the College budget.

Notable alumni or former students