Type Private Liberal Arts Affiliation None Postgraduates 70 Endowment $59.5 million Phone +1 800-934-3536 | Established 1894 Undergraduates 850 President Steven L. Solnick Colors Green, Gold | |
Academic staff ~65 full-time, ~15 part-time Address 701 Warren Wilson Rd, Swannanoa, NC 28778, USA Profiles |
Getting to know warren wilson college
Warren Wilson College (also called WWC) is a private four-year liberal arts college near Asheville, North Carolina, in the Swannanoa Valley. The college offers classes in a range of disciplines with Environmental Studies and Creative Writing among the most popular.
Contents
- Getting to know warren wilson college
- Warren wilson college campus tour part 2 july 2016
- History
- The Triad
- Academics
- Work
- Service
- Campus life
- Clubs and organizations
- Residence halls
- Notable alumni
- Summer programs
- References
WWC is known for its curriculum that combines academics, work, and service. This system, called "the Triad", requires every student to complete a requisite course of study, work an on-campus job, and perform community service.Warren Wilson is one of the few colleges in the United States that requires students to work for the institution in order to graduate and is one of only seven colleges in the Work Colleges Consortium.
The college is notable for its surrounding environment. The campus includes a 275-acre (1.11 km2) working farm, market garden, and 625 acres (2.53 km2) of managed forest with 25 miles (40 km) of hiking trails.
Warren wilson college campus tour part 2 july 2016
History
Warren Wilson College went through many phases before becoming what it is today. Its property, situated along the Swannanoa River, was purchased in 1893 by the Women's Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church, which was concerned that many Americans in isolated areas were not receiving a proper education and decided to establish church-supported schools in impoverished areas. On November 30, 1894, the Asheville Farm School officially opened on 420 acres, with 25 students attending. A professional staff of three offering the first three grades of elementary instruction.
In 1923, the school graduated its first high school class, and the first post-high school programs offering vocational training began in 1936. In 1942, the Asheville Farm School merged with the Dorland-Bell School in Hot Springs, North Carolina, to become a coed secondary school, named Warren H. Wilson Vocational Junior College and Associated Schools, after the late Warren H. Wilson, former superintendent of the Presbyterian Church's Department of Church and Country Life. Wilson's name is also on a Presbyterian church started at the school in 1925 so students and teachers would no longer have to walk three miles to Riceville. After World War II, the public education system in North Carolina improved dramatically and the need for the high school diminished, with the last high school class there graduating in 1957. Warren Wilson College was a junior college until 1967, when it became a four-year college offering six majors. In 1972, the National Board of Missions deeded the WWC property over to the college's Board of Trustees. Steven L. Solnick, formerly the Ford Foundation representative in Moscow, then in New Delhi, became the College's seventh president in 2012.
Warren Wilson College's seventh president, Steven Solnick, announced his resignation in October 2016, with his final day set for June 30, 2017. The official reason is that Solnick accepted a position to be the newest leader of The Calhoun School, a day school in New York City. However many of the over 60 comments on the Mountain Xpress article breaking the news of his short tenure suggest otherwise, signalling difficult times ahead for this small liberal arts college with a storied history.
In 1952, the college became one of the first in the South to desegregate, when it invited Alma Shippy, an African American from Swannanoa, North Carolina, to attend. Sunderland dorm residents voted 54-1 to allow Shippy to become a student and live in their dorm. In contrast to its original student population of underprivileged mountain youth, Warren Wilson now enrolls students of many different geographic and socioeconomic backgrounds.
The Triad
The foundation of the school's undergraduate curriculum is the Triad, which establishes that all students earn 128 hours of academic credit, work 15 hours per week for the school, and complete Community Engagement Commitment goals called PEGs, or Points of Engagement and Growth..
Academics
Required subjects include Artistic Expression, History and Political Science, Language and Global Issues, Literature, Mathematics, Natural Sciences, Philosophy and Religious Studies, and Social Sciences in order to graduate and receive a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree. In addition to traditional liberal arts majors such as Biology and English, undergraduates have the option of majoring in Outdoor Leadership or Environmental Studies. The Natural Science Seminar is the name for the undergraduate research and presentation that is required for all bachelor of science degrees given by the college.
A masters program has also been a part of the campus since 1981 in the Warren Wilson College MFA Program for Writers, which awards a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing.
Work
WWC has more than 100 work crews that are supported by students who commit to working 240 hours a semester, helping to cover part of the cost of attendance. Some of them are:
Service
Previously, Warren Wilson required that students complete 100 hours of community service over the course of 4 years. Beginning in 2012, however, incoming students had new requirements under the Community Engagement Commitment called PEGs, or Points of Engagement and Growth.
Campus life
The Old Farmer's Ball hosts weekly contra dances providing the students and the community with old-time music and dancing, and an ever changing line-up of musicians.
Clubs and organizations
Due to the extensive work program, many things that would be clubs or organizations at other colleges function as work crews at Warren Wilson. The following, however, are just a few of the clubs that are active on campus.
Residence halls
The campus maintains 14 residence halls of varying layouts and capacities.
Notable alumni
Summer programs
The Swannanoa Gathering is an annual summer program on the Warren Wilson campus. It includes a series of classes, workshops, dances and performances of various folk music and related arts. The six week program consists of Traditional song, Fiddle, Celtic, Old-time music and dance, Contemporary folk music, Guitar, and Dulcimer weeks. The Gathering celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2012.