This article is about the university in Rindge, New Hampshire. For the law school in Concord, New Hampshire, formerly known as the Franklin Pierce Law Center, see University of New Hampshire School of Law.
The school gained university status in 2007 and is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). It has an enrollment of 1,400 students[1] and overlooks Pearly Pond, a few miles from Mount Monadnock. The campus covers approximately 1,200 acres (4.9km2). Kim Mooney has been president of Franklin Pierce University since 2016. The school also operates the College of Graduate and Professional Studies with campuses in Manchester, New Hampshire and Lebanon, New Hampshire, and Goodyear, Arizona. The college at Rindge houses three institutes: the Marlin Fitzwater Center for Communication; the Monadnock Institute of Nature, Place, and Culture; and the New England Center for Civic Life.
Franklin Pierce – 14th President of the United States
The school was founded by Frank S. DiPietro in 1962 as Franklin Pierce College, named after Franklin Pierce, the 14thpresident of the United States and the only U.S. president from New Hampshire. The school opened its doors to its first set of students in the winter of 1963. They began with just under 100 students and six full-time professors. The campus consisted of four older buildings known as the Manor, Rindge Hall, The White House, and Ravencroft Theatre. Many classes were conducted in downtown Rindge, while other buildings there were used as residence halls.
In the winter of 1964, Crestview Hall was built, and by then the college had 150 students. That building was used for both dorms and classrooms, enabling the college to move completely to its current location. In the fall of 1965, Monadnock Hall was built for more classrooms on the ground floor and residence halls on the above floor. Later that school year in 1966, Edgewood was built. At that time the cafeteria moved from the Manor to the ground floor with residence halls on the two upper floors. Also that year, the DiGregorio building was built and housed a post office along with student lounges, a snack bar, and book store.
Still, despite the additional buildings, the campus remained overcrowded as the student body grew to over 500 students. In the fall of 1966, Granite Hall opened as a dormitory with health services in the basement. In 1967, New Hampshire Hall opened for more dormitories with the fire department in the basement. Mt. Washington Hall was built as an extension to New Hampshire in 1968 and also housed the music department. Also that year, the Fieldhouse was built to accommodate sports programs.
The school still lacked a full library, though a small limited one was in Monadnock, so in 1967 construction for a library/resource center began and was completed in 1969. The library moved from one of the classroom/dorm buildings to the resource center along with academic and administrative offices. Eventually years later, the television production center, radio station, computer labs, and the cable TV system headend would be located there. In 1971, Marcucella Hall was built for classrooms, enabling most of the classrooms in Crestview and all of the ones in Monadnock to relocate there. The Manor remained a student center as Rindge Hall became financial aid and registration offices. Franklin Pierce held its first graduation in 1967 and became accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) in 1968.
While the college was overcrowded by 1970 despite building projects, the student body began to shrink by 1972. The college stayed roughly the same size throughout the 1970s. Financially, the school began to suffer by 1972 and by 1975 was in serious financial distress. In 1975, Frank DiPietro stepped down as college president, and former New Hampshire governor Walter Peterson took over. Under Peterson, over the next five years, the college returned to financial solvency.
In the late 1970s to the early 1980s, the focus was maintenance of the student body rather than growth. By the early '80s, the college was ready for expansion. In 1985, the Emily Flint Campus Center began to be built and opened in the fall of 1986. This would house the post office (moved from Degregorio building), Student Activities (moved from the Manor), conference centers, cafeteria (moved from Edgewood), snack bar (which moved from Degregorio Building), and book store (also from the Degregorio building), among other uses. The former cafeteria became residence halls on one side and a workout room on the other side. The Degregorio building became the registrar's and bursar's office. A cable television system was installed in 1986 but dismantled in 2004 and replaced with the town's cable system. In 1987, trailers were added to house students.
In 1988, apartment-type residences for juniors and seniors called Mountainview were added. The remaining campus would be for freshmen and sophomores and some upperclassmen. Throughout the '70s and '80s, satellite campuses were added around New Hampshire mostly for adult education. In the mid-1990s, Northwoods were built for more apartments replacing the 1987 trailers.
In 1995, Walter Peterson stepped down and George Haggerty took over as college president. That year North Fields Activity Center, an athletic building also known as "the Bubble", was built, and Crestview was converted into strictly classroom buildings. In 1998, Cheshire Hall was built with suite-style housing and apartment-style housing. In 2002, the library building added a new floor, and this became the Fitzwater Communication Center.
In 2007, the college gained university status and was renamed Franklin Pierce University. In 2008, the White House was torn down, and a new classroom building called Petrocelli Hall was built in its place. In 2009, James F. Birge became the university's fourth president. In 2012, the university welcomed 550 freshmen, the largest group in its 50-year history, as well as 56 transfer students and 10 part-time students, for a total of 616 new students. In the same year, the university completed $1 million in renovations to its dining hall as well as completed construction of the Dr. Arthur and Martha Pappas Health Science and Athletic Training Center to support its new Health Sciences program.
Andrew Card began his tenure as the fifth president of Franklin Pierce University in December 2014.[2] On August 28, 2015, President Card announced the demolition of the Ravencroft Theatre and Crestview Hall, two buildings which had been closed and vacant since 2003 and 2008 respectively. Although not officially announced, the university has plans to build a new science center to support its growing health and natural sciences division on the site of the demolished Crestview Hall. This new building would replace Marcucella Hall, which currently functions as the university's science center. The university completed the demolition of the Ravencroft Theatre in October 2015, and Crestview Hall was razed in June 2016.[3][4]
Following his relatively short tenure as president, Andrew Card announced his intent to step down from his post on August 1, 2016.[5] With the Board of Trustees anticipating this transition due to Andrew Card's agreement to lead the institution for a limited duration, they named Kim Mooney, the institution's current provost and vice president for academic affairs, as the institution's sixth president.[6] When Mooney began her tenure as president on August 1, 2016, she was the first alumna and woman to lead the institution.
Kim Mooney was officially installed as the institution's sixth president on September 23, 2017, the same day as Family Day and Homecoming weekend.[7]
Franklin Pierce offers undergraduate programs in a variety of arts, sciences, and professional disciplines. The university also offers students master's degrees, doctoral degrees, and graduate certificate programs in business, education, and health sciences.
Rindge's town sign with the college nameMountain View apartments with Mount Monadnock towering in the background
Main campus
The college at Rindge, Franklin Pierce's traditional undergraduate campus, is located on 40 University Drive in Rindge, New Hampshire, and is situated on 1,200 acres (490ha) of land. Franklin Pierce's main academic buildings include Petrocelli Hall, Marcucella Hall, the Fitzwater Center, the Pappas Center, Monadnock Hall, Cheney Hall, and the Yvonne S. Boice Performing Arts Center. The Frank S. DiPietro Library serves as the main library on campus and also houses additional classrooms and student support services.
The Emily Flint Campus Center is the main student activities building on campus which houses the Marketplace Cafeteria (main dining hall), Raven's Nest (late-night dining), post office, and a number of other student services.
The Grimshay-Gudewik Activity Center at Northfields or "The Bubble" is the hub of the university's Campus Recreation program. The Bubble serves as a recreation area for the entire campus population, as well as both a weight room and inclement-weather practice facility for Franklin Pierce's intercollegiate athletic programs. The Bubble is home to a complete cardio-strength area, a free weight area, two full tennis courts, two full basketball/volleyball courts, a 50-yard turf field and a two-lane track.
Franklin Pierce currently houses all on-campus students in a variety of residence halls, from large dormitory-style to apartment-style living. Residence halls on the Rindge campus include Granite Hall, New Hampshire Hall, Mount Washington Hall, Cheshire Hall, Edgewood Hall, Monadnock Hall, Mountain View and Northwoods Apartments, Lakeview Townhouses, and Sawmill Apartments.
Besides the campus in Rindge, Franklin Pierce also operates the College of Graduate and Professional Studies, which has three campuses: two in New Hampshire, Manchester and Lebanon, and another campus in Goodyear, Arizona.
Franklin Pierce offers 24 varsity sports, of which one, the Women's Ice Hockey team, competes at the NCAA Division I level within the New England Women's Hockey Alliance (NEWHA). The remaining 23 teams compete at the NCAA Division II level and, primarily, are members of the Northeast-10 Conference. Those programs include Baseball, Men's and Women's Basketball, Men's and Women's Cross Country, Field Hockey, Men's and Women's Golf, Men's Ice Hockey, Men's and Women's Lacrosse, Women's Rowing, Men's and Women's Soccer, Softball, Football, Men's and Women's Tennis, Men's and Women's Track and Field, and Women's Volleyball. The university offers men's and women's rugby at the club level, with both programs recognized by the New England Rugby Football Union (NERFU).
Student life
Franklin Pierce University has almost 30 clubs and organizations on campus ranging from academics (Criminal Justice, Education, History, etc.) to community service to performing arts.
Pierce Media Group
The Pierce Media Group, or PMG, is the campus media group that consists of the Pierce Arrow, PMG News Center, FPTV 25, The Talon 105.3FM WFPC-LP, Ravens Sports Network, Four Corners Marketing, and thefitzonline.com.
All the media outlets are a part of the Marlin Fitzwater Center for Communication. Any student can easily participate in any facet of the PMG, even if they have no experience in marketing, advertising, production, or journalism.
Franklin Pierce University holds an FCC broadcast license for WFPC-LP, The Talon 105.3 FM. The station features hourly news briefs that consist of information from the Associated Press news feed and student sources.
The Pierce Arrow, the student newspaper, is the oldest student group on campus.
FPTV 25 offers both student-created content and studio-produced feature-length films. Two feature films are shown monthly. FPTV 25 has a mix of entertainment and sports programming as well as a weekly thirty-minute newscast.
Four Corners Marketing offers students the opportunity to sell advertisements both to clubs on campus as well as businesses off campus to be placed in The Pierce Arrow or FPTV25.
Ravens Sports Network broadcasts games of the varsity athletic programs live, giving complete coverage of the Division II competition.
Student Government Association
The executive board consists of the president of the SGA, the Vice President of the SGA, the Secretary of the SGA, the Treasurer of the SGA, and the Parliamentarian of the SGA.
Franklin Pierce Fire Company
The campus is home to one of the only fully student-run fire companies in the world. Franklin Pierce Fire operates as an engine company under the town of Rindge Fire Department and responds to all fire related emergencies on campus. The company is headed by four student fire officers, as well as a varying number of student members serving as firefighters.
Toccoa Falls College is a private evangelical Christian college in Toccoa Falls, Georgia, founded in 1907. The campus occupies 1,100 acres (450 ha), bordering the Chattahoochee National Forest and is home to Toccoa Falls, a 186-foot (57 m) high waterfall. It is affiliated with the Christian and Missionary Alliance and is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). The college is also a member of Council for Christian Colleges and Universities.
Murray State University (MSU) is a public university in Murray, Kentucky, in the Southern United States. In addition to the main campus in Calloway County in southwestern Kentucky, Murray State operates extended campuses offering upper-level and graduate courses in Paducah, Hopkinsville, Madisonville, and Henderson.
Wilkes University is a private university in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. It has over 2,200 undergraduates and over 2,200 graduate students. Wilkes was founded in 1933 as a satellite campus of Bucknell University, and became an independent institution in 1947, naming itself Wilkes College, after English radical politician John Wilkes after whom Wilkes-Barre is named. The school was granted university status in January 1990. It is classified among "Doctoral/Professional Universities" (D/PU) and accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.
Concord University is a public university in Athens, West Virginia, United States. It was founded on February 28, 1872, when the West Virginia Legislature passed "an Act to locate a Branch State Normal School, in the town of Concord Church, in the County of Mercer". This normal school was founded by veterans of both the Union and the Confederacy, Concord is named for the ideal of "harmony and sweet fellowship".
Keene State College is a public liberal arts college in Keene, New Hampshire. It is part of the University System of New Hampshire. Founded in 1909 as a teacher's college, Keene State College had 3,104 students enrolled for credit as of fall 2021.
Wesleyan College is a private, liberal arts women's college in Macon, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1836, Wesleyan was the first college in the world chartered to grant degrees to women. It opened in 1839, two years after the opening of Mount Holyoke College.
The College of St. Scholastica (CSS) is a private Benedictine college in Duluth, Minnesota. Founded in 1912 by a group of pioneering Benedictine Sisters, today St. Scholastica educates almost 4,000 students annually and has graduated more than 29,000 alumni. The college offers a liberal arts education and is located on 186 wooded acres overlooking Lake Superior.
Indiana University South Bend is a public university in South Bend, Indiana. It is the third largest and northernmost campus of Indiana University.
Georgia College & State University is a public liberal arts university in Milledgeville, Georgia. The university enrolls approximately 7,000 students and is a member of the University System of Georgia and the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges. Georgia College was designated Georgia's "Public Liberal Arts University" in 1996 by the Georgia Board of Regents.
Georgia Southern University–Armstrong Campus, formerly Armstrong State University, is one of three campuses of Georgia Southern University, a public university in the U.S. state of Georgia. Occupying a 268-acre (1.08 km2) area on the residential southside of Savannah, Georgia, the school became one of three campuses of Georgia Southern University in 2018. The university's flagship campus is in Statesboro, 50 miles (80 km) west of Savannah. The Armstrong campus is located approximately 15 miles (24 km) from downtown Savannah and 25 miles (40 km) from Tybee Island. Armstrong offers undergraduate and graduate degrees; it has a total student enrollment of approximately 5,000 students.
Franklin College is a private liberal arts college in Franklin, Indiana. It was founded in 1834 and has a wooded campus spanning 207 acres (84 ha) including athletic fields and a 31-acre (13 ha) biology woodland. The college offers its approximately 1,000 students Bachelor of Arts degrees in 49 majors from 25 academic disciplines, 43 minors, 11 pre-professional programs, and 5 cooperative programs. The college also offers a Master of Science in Athletic Training and a Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies. In 1842, the college began admitting women, becoming the first coeducational institution in Indiana and the seventh in the nation. Franklin College has historically maintained an affiliation with the American Baptist Churches USA.
Mount Vernon Nazarene University (MVNU) is a private Christian university in Mount Vernon, Ohio, with satellite locations in the surrounding area. It was founded in 1968 by the Church of the Nazarene and offers a variety of Bachelor's and Master's degrees to both traditional and non-traditional students.
The University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law is a public law school in Concord, New Hampshire, United States, associated with the University of New Hampshire. It is the only law school in the state and was founded in 1973 by Robert H. Rines and Frank DiPietro. The school is particularly well known for its Intellectual Property Law program.
Aurora University (AU) is a private university in Aurora, Illinois, United States. Established in 1893 as a seminary of the Advent Christian Church, the university has been independent since 1971. Approximately 6,200 students are enrolled in the university's undergraduate and graduate programs.
Thomas More University is a private Roman Catholic university in Crestview Hills, Kentucky. It serves about 2,000 full and part-time students. The university was founded in 1921 by the local Benedictine Sisters as Villa Madonna College.
Mount Aloysius College is a private Catholic college in Cresson, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1853 and is conducted under the tradition of the Sisters of Mercy. The college is located on a 193-acre campus in the Allegheny Mountains.
The Elon University campus is a 636-acre (2.57 km2) campus in Elon, North Carolina, United States. The campus is located mostly along East Haggard Avenue between Manning Avenue and North Oak Avenue, and North Williamson Avenue between the railroad tracks and University Drive. Other minor streets travel through and into campus. The campus is about three miles (5 km) from Interstate 40/85 and abuts the city of Burlington.
WFPC-LP is a radio station licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to Franklin Pierce University. The station makes its home inside the Marlin Fitzwater Center for Communication in Rindge, New Hampshire. This is a low power radio station run by students. WFPC-LP is a member of the Pierce Media Group.
The University of Missouri–St. Louis (UMSL) is a public research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Established in 1963, it is the newest of the four universities in the University of Missouri System. Located on the former grounds of Bellerive Country Club, the university's campus stretches into the municipalities of Bellerive, Bel-Nor and Normandy. Additional facilities are located at the former site of Marillac College and at Grand Center, both in St. Louis city.
Northern Vermont University (NVU) was a public university in Johnson and Lyndon, Vermont. It was established in 2018 by the unification of the former Johnson State College and Lyndon State College. The university offered over 50 Bachelor's degree programs and Master's degree programs. On July 1, 2023, its two locations became campuses of the newly formed Vermont State University.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
