Marlboro College

Last updated
Marlboro College
Marlboro logo transparent.png
Type Private college
Active1946–2020
Endowment $40 million (2014)
President Kevin F. Quigley
Administrative staff
41 full-time faculty
Students150
Location, ,
United States

42°50′21″N72°44′07″W / 42.83917°N 72.73528°W / 42.83917; -72.73528
Campus Rural: 360 acres (1.5 km2)
Website www.marlboro.edu

Marlboro College was a private college in Marlboro, Vermont. Founded in 1946, it remained intentionally small, operating as a self-governing community with students following self-designed degree plans culminating in a thesis. In 1998, the college added a graduate school.

Contents

The college closed at the end of the 2019–2020 academic year and gifted its endowment to Emerson College in Boston to create the Marlboro Institute of Liberal Arts and Interdisciplinary Studies at Emerson College.

History

Marlboro College was founded in 1946 by Walter F. Hendricks, who had been inspired by his time as director of English at Biarritz American University. [1] Hendricks led the college for five years, until 1951, but would leave after a dispute with the trustees. He founded Windham College that same year.

Many of the first students were returning World War II veterans. The campus incorporated the buildings of three farms that were on the site at Potash Hill. [2] The first students were primarily freshmen but included some sophomores and juniors and one senior, Hugh Mulligan, who in 1948 became the first Marlboro graduate. [3] The students made "How Are Things At Casserole College?" the first school song in response to the dining hall menu. [4]

In 2012, Marlboro instituted the Beautiful Minds Challenge, an essay contest for high school students with full or partial scholarships and other awards as prizes. [5] Essays could take the form of text, images, audio, or video and were judged by Marlboro faculty, staff, and students; finalists were flown to the Marlboro campus for a symposium where they presented their work. [6] The program was discontinued after the 2018 competition. The Renaissance Scholars program, instituted in 2015 with the objective of attracting new students from every state and increasing diversity, caused a rise in enrollment to approximately 200 in fall 2016. [5]

The college remained intentionally small; [7] in 2017 it was one of only three liberal arts colleges listed by U.S. News & World Report where all classes had fewer than 20 students. [8]

Merger

In 2018, Marlboro's small size and dwindling enrollment led the Board of Trustees to begin exploring merging with another college or university. In 2019, a merger with the University of Bridgeport was announced and then called off. [9] [10]

Later that year, the college announced that it would merge with Emerson College at the end of the 2019–20 academic year. [11] Under the agreement, finalized on July 23, 2020, Marlboro gave its endowment to Emerson, which created the Marlboro Institute of Liberal Arts and Interdisciplinary Studies. Marlboro students were guaranteed admission and tenure-track faculty were guaranteed teaching positions at Emerson. [12] At the time of its closure, Marlboro had approximately 150 students. [13]

Academics

Undergraduate

Library Marlboro library 112896728.jpg
Library

Freshmen were required to meet the "Clear Writing Requirement" by submitting an acceptable portfolio of at least 20 pages (4,000 words) of nonfiction writing to the English Committee. [14]

With the guidance of professors, juniors and seniors developed and followed an individualized "Plan of Concentration", often interdisciplinary, of which at least 20% was required to consist of an independent project prepared without direct faculty input; most students' plans culminated in a thesis. Students defended their work in an oral examination before one or more Marlboro faculty members and an outside evaluator unconnected to the college but with expertise in the student's field of study. [15]

Marlboro's strengths included Asian studies, religion and theology, and life sciences. [16]

In March 2014, Marlboro and five nearby colleges, Community College of Vermont, Landmark College, the School for International Training, Union Institute, and Vermont Technical College, formed the Windham Higher Education Cooperative, allowing students to take one course a semester at another participating institution. [17]

Graduate

Marlboro College Graduate and Professional Studies began in 1998. [18] Primarily aimed at working professionals and focused on technology, in 2010 it shifted to programs focused on socially responsible management [19] and master's studies in teaching (teaching with technology, teaching for social justice, and TESOL). [20] later added an accelerated Master's track open to undergraduates in some programs. [21]

The graduate school was initially located in nearby Brattleboro. It moved to the main college campus in Marlboro in April 2017, [22] and after that offered courses increasingly online [23] and instituted a teach-out. Enrollment was suspended for 2019–20 and graduate programs were not transferred to Emerson under the merger agreement. [24] [25]

Rankings and reputation

In The Princeton Review 's 2014 annual college guide, Marlboro College received the highest possible academic rating of 99 and was ranked #1 nationally for the quality of its faculty. [26] In 2017, U.S. News & World Report ranked it #117 among liberal arts colleges in the United States. [8]

In 2006 Loren Pope wrote in Colleges That Change Lives that "the Marlboro adventure" was "far more intense and intellectually demanding than Harvard, any other Ivy, or Ivy clone". [27]

Student life and governance

Marlboro was founded on an ethos of independence combined with community participation. Students, faculty, and staff made decisions together in weekly "Town Meetings", [5] and there was an elected community court. Students, faculty, and staff served on elected committees that played a role in hiring decisions and steering the curriculum. All campus buildings were open 24/7, and the library used a self-checkout honor system.

During spring and fall, students were encouraged to work regularly on the school farm. Campuswide Work Days took place each semester, with students, faculty, and staff working together on projects as needed, in the spirit of the first class, who built their own dormitories.

The administration published a magazine called Potash Hill. The student newspaper, The Citizen, and the Marlboro College Literary Magazine were edited by students elected at Town Meetings. [28]

Open mic nights at the Campus Center happened several times a semester in addition to events including the Drag Ball, MayFest, and Apple Days, and other events. The night before writing portfolios were due, a "Midnight Breakfast" was held.

The college had few organized sports teams, but the "Outdoor Program" promoted rock climbing, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, white-water kayaking, caving, canoeing, and hiking, and college was only 15 miles from the Mount Snow ski resort. A broomball tournament was held every February beginning in 1990. [29] [30]

Campus

Dining hall and Mather Building Marlboro College dining hall and Mather.jpg
Dining hall and Mather Building
Whittemore Theater and Drury Gallery Whittemore Theater, Marlboro College, Marlboro, Vermont.jpg
Whittemore Theater and Drury Gallery

The Marlboro College campus is located on South Road in the town of Marlboro, Vermont, in the Green Mountains. In the early years of the college, students and faculty worked together to adapt the buildings of three farms on the site, [2] which became the main classroom building, the dining hall, and the admissions and administration buildings.

Through grants from federal, state and private entities, the college improved the energy efficiency of the Dining Hall, Dalrymple classroom building, Mather administration building, and Admissions building since 2008, as well as the student residences. In summer 2011, the half-circle driveway at the campus entrance was converted to green space and walking paths.[ citation needed ]

The Serkin Performing Arts Center has a 125-seat auditorium, an electronic music lab, practice rooms with baby grand pianos and a 5,000-square foot dance studio. Whittemore Theater, used primarily by the Theater department, was attached to Drury Gallery, which displayed student works.

The Snyder Center for the Visual Arts, housing studios, classrooms, and gallery spaces in 14,000 square feet, opened in May 2016. [5] [31]

In the summer, the campus is the location of the Marlboro Music Festival, founded in 1951. [32] A new 99-year lease was signed in February 2019 and a residence hall and the Jerome and Celia Reich Building, containing a music library and chamber music rehearsal spaces, are scheduled for completion in 2021. [33]

Sale

The former Marlboro campus was sold in May 2020 to Democracy Builders, founded by Seth Andrew, which intended to use it for a low-residency, low-cost college program for low-income students. The Degrees of Freedom program would last four years, from eleventh grade to the second year of college, and would result in an associate degree. [32] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] The program was slated to be largely online, with students only being on campus two weeks out of each trimester. [39]

In February 2021, Andrew announced that Democracy Builders had sold the campus to "Type 1 Civilization Academy" via a quitclaim deed. [40] On March 9, 2021, During an invitation-only community meeting on Zoom, Andrew announced that the Type 1 deal had been cancelled. He called the agreement "an engagement" rather than "a marriage". [41] Andrew filed another quit claim deed which transferred the property back to Democracy Builders. The principal of Type 1, Adrian Stein, said that Type 1 was legitimately in control of the campus and that the issue will likely end up in court unless they can find "some other kind of equitable settlement." [42]

Opening of the Democracy Builders program was deferred in April 2021 after Andrew was charged with financial crimes. [43]

In July 2021, the campus was purchased by the Marlboro Music Festival. [44] The Marlboro Music Festival formed the subsidiary nonprofit organization, Potash Hill, Inc. to manage the property. [45]

Notable people

Presidents

Faculty

Alumni

Staff

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brattleboro, Vermont</span> Town in Vermont, United States

Brattleboro, originally Brattleborough, is a town in Windham County, Vermont, United States, located about 10 miles (16 km) north of the Massachusetts state line at the confluence of Vermont's West River and Connecticut. With a 2022 Census population of 12,106, it is the most populous municipality abutting Vermont's eastern border with New Hampshire, which is the Connecticut River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Vermont</span> Public university in Burlington, Vermont, U.S.

The University of Vermont (UVM), officially titled as University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a public land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. Founded in 1791, the university is the oldest in Vermont and the fifth-oldest in New England, making it among the oldest in the United States. It is one of the original eight Public Ivies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emerson College</span> Private university in Boston, Massachusetts

Emerson College is a private college with its main campus in Boston, Massachusetts. It also maintains campuses in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California and Well, Limburg, Netherlands. Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a "school of oratory," the college offers more than three dozen degree and professional training programs specializing in the fields of arts and communication with a foundation in liberal arts studies. The college is one of the founding members of the ProArts Consortium, an association of six neighboring institutions in Boston dedicated to arts education at the collegiate level. Emerson is also notable for the college's namesake public opinion poll, Emerson College Polling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Middlebury College</span> Private college in Middlebury, Vermont, US

Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalists, Middlebury was the first operating college or university in Vermont.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New England Culinary Institute</span> American culinary college

The New England Culinary Institute (NECI) was a private for-profit culinary school in Montpelier, Vermont. It was open for 40 years before shutting down as result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Community College of Vermont (CCV) is a public community college in Vermont. It is Vermont's second largest college, serving 7,000 students each semester and is part of the Vermont State Colleges System. The college has 12 locations throughout Vermont as well as extensive online learning options.

Ellen McCulloch-Lovell was the president of Marlboro College from 2004 until 2015. A 1969 graduate of Bennington College, McCullouch-Lovell was executive directior of the Vermont Arts Council from 1970 to 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vermont State Colleges</span> Public university system in Vermont

The Vermont State Colleges System (VSCS) is the system of public colleges in the U.S. state of Vermont. It was created by act of the Vermont General Assembly in 1961. There are presently two entities in the VSCS consortium, the Community College of Vermont and the Vermont State University. Together, more than 11,000 students are enrolled in the constituent colleges.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M. Lee Pelton</span> Not-for-profit & academic administrator

M. Lee Pelton is the President and CEO of the Boston Foundation, the community foundation serving the Greater Boston area since 1915. A native of Wichita, Kansas, Pelton studied English literature at Wichita State University and Harvard University. He then held various deanship positions at Colgate University and Dartmouth College before becoming president of Willamette University (1998-2011) and Emerson College (2011-2021). On June 1, 2021, Pelton took the helm at the Boston Foundation.

The Marlboro School is a small public school in Marlboro, Vermont. Marlboro is a member of the Coalition of Essential Schools

Vermont Commons School is an independent college preparatory school located in South Burlington, Vermont, serving grades 6–12.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seth Andrew</span> American educational entrepreneur

Seth Andrew is an American entrepreneur who helped found Democracy Prep Public Schools, a national network of charter schools based in Harlem, and Democracy Builders, a social sector incubator that launched Washington Leadership Academy, the Arena Summit, and Degrees of Freedom. He was an advisor to former President Barack Obama. In April 2021, Andrew was arrested for allegedly embezzling over $200,000 from Democracy Prep. He pled guilty to one charge of wire fraud in January 2022, and in July 2022 was sentenced to 366 days in prison. He was released in May 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Becca Balint</span> American politician (born 1968)

Rebecca A. Balint is an American politician who is a member of the United States House of Representatives from Vermont's at-large congressional district as a member of the Democratic Party. She served as a member of the Vermont Senate from Windham County from 2015 to 2023, as majority leader from 2017 to 2021, and as president pro tempore from 2021 to 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020 Vermont gubernatorial election</span>

The 2020 Vermont gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 2020, to elect the Governor of Vermont. As Vermont does not impose term limits upon its governors, incumbent Republican Governor Phil Scott was eligible to run for reelection to a third two-year term in office. On November 18, 2019, he confirmed that he was running for reelection, but did not yet publicly announce his campaign. On May 28, 2020, he officially announced his candidacy but stated that he would not campaign, maintain a campaign staff, or fundraise because of the state of emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Vermont. The primary was held on August 11. Scott won re-election to a third term in a landslide, defeating Progressive and Democratic nominee, Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman.

Michelle Bos-Lun is an American educator, activist, and politician. She is a state representative in the Windham-4 district of Vermont.

Vermont State University is a public university in the state of Vermont formed through the merger of three institutions: Castleton University, Northern Vermont University, and Vermont Technical College. First proposed in December 2020 as a way to consolidate the Vermont State Colleges, the state's public university system, it is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE).

Vermont Public Co. is the public broadcaster serving the U.S. state of Vermont. Its headquarters, newsroom, and radio studios are located in Colchester, with television studios in Winooski. It operates two statewide radio services aligned with NPR, offering news and classical music, and the state's PBS service. It was formed by the 2021 merger of what had been previously separate organizations, Vermont Public Radio and Vermont Public Television, which were both renamed Vermont Public in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Pieciak</span> American politician

Michael S. Pieciak is an American politician from Vermont. A member of the Democratic Party, Pieciak has served as Vermont State Treasurer since January 2023.

Thomas B. Ragle was an American college president and poet. He was the president of Marlboro College from 1958 to 1981.

References

  1. 1 2 "Marlboro College Through The Years". Marlboro College. Archived from the original on October 9, 2017.
  2. 1 2 "History". Marlboro College. Archived from the original on July 30, 2019.
  3. "The Nevada Daily Mail - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Archived from the original on 2023-10-16. Retrieved 2023-10-16.
  4. Hugh A. Mulligan (October 14, 1958). "Hal Boyle Writes: Marlboro Class of '48 Holds a Reunion". The Nevada Daily Mail. p. 2. Archived from the original on May 6, 2021. Retrieved May 6, 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Chris Mays (September 18, 2016) [September 16, 2016]. "New semester brings big changes on Marlboro College campus". Brattleboro Reformer. Archived from the original on May 4, 2021. Retrieved May 4, 2021 via VTDigger.
  6. "Marlboro launches 2017 Beautiful Minds Challenge". Marlboro College. 2017. Archived from the original on August 24, 2018.
  7. "Mission". Marlboro College. Archived from the original on July 30, 2019.
  8. 1 2 "Marlboro Continues to Rise in U.S. News Ranking". Marlboro College. September 2017. Archived from the original on October 9, 2017.
  9. Colleen Flaherty (September 16, 2019). "No Deal". Inside Higher Ed. Archived from the original on November 6, 2019. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
  10. Lola Duffort (September 14, 2019). "Merger between Marlboro College and University of Bridgeport unravels". VTDigger. Archived from the original on May 4, 2021. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
  11. Andrew Brinker (November 14, 2019). "A chat with Marlboro College President Kevin Quigley". The Berkeley Beacon. Archived from the original on May 4, 2021. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
  12. "What's Next for Marlboro". Marlboro College. July 23, 2020. Archived from the original on December 2, 2020.
  13. Scott Jaschik (November 6, 2019). "Emerson Plans to Absorb Marlboro". Inside Higher Ed. Archived from the original on December 4, 2020. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
  14. "Clear Writing Program". Marlboro College. Archived from the original on September 9, 2013.
  15. "Plan of Concentration". Marlboro College. Archived from the original on June 13, 2017.
  16. Loren Pope (2006). Colleges That Change Lives (2nd ed.). New York: Penguin. pp. 77–78. ISBN   9780143037361. Archived from the original on 2021-05-06. Retrieved 2021-05-06.
  17. Howard Weiss-Tisman (March 4, 2014). "Six southern Vermont colleges announce collaboration". Brattleboro Reformer. Archived from the original on May 4, 2021. Retrieved May 4, 2021 via VTDigger.
  18. "GPS Celebrates 20 Years of Innovative Graduate Education". Marlboro College. December 5, 2018. Archived from the original on May 4, 2021. Retrieved May 4, 2021 via Emerson College.
  19. Marlboro College (May 6, 2016). "Marlboro College Graduate & Professional Studies Announces New Management Degrees". VTDigger (press release). Archived from the original on May 4, 2021. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
  20. "Teaching For Transformation". Marlboro College Graduate and Professional Studies. Archived from the original on June 13, 2017.
  21. "Marlboro Launches Accelerated Masters Track" (broken link). Marlboro College.
  22. Mike Faher (April 2, 2017). "Marlboro College consolidates campuses". Brattleboro Reformer. Archived from the original on October 9, 2017. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
  23. Caleb Clark (April 17, 2018). "Marlboro College's Teaching with Technology Masters Program is Going Fully Online Beginning in Fall 2018". iBrattleboro. Archived from the original on May 4, 2021. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
  24. Andrew Brinker (November 14, 2019). "Marlboro Graduate School facing imminent closure". The Berkeley Beacon. Archived from the original on May 4, 2021. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
  25. Andrew Brinker (November 22, 2019). "Marlboro graduate school staff left unaware of closure track". The Berkeley Beacon. Archived from the original on May 4, 2021. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
  26. Marlboro College (August 7, 2013). "Marlboro College professors ranked #1 nationally by Princeton Review". VTDigger (press release). Archived from the original on July 7, 2018. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
  27. Pope (2006) p. 76 Archived 2021-05-10 at the Wayback Machine .
  28. "Student Publications". Marlboro College. Archived from the original on October 9, 2017.
  29. "Clean sweep in Marlboro". Brattleboro Reformer. February 9, 2009. Archived from the original on May 6, 2021. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
  30. Larry Parnass (February 28, 2017). "The Joy of Broomball". UpCountry magazine. Archived from the original on May 6, 2021. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
  31. "Community Dedicates Visual Arts Center". Marlboro College. May 2016. Archived from the original on October 9, 2017.
  32. 1 2 Chris Mays (July 30, 2020). "Higher education, music festival to stay at Marlboro after sale". Brattleboro Reformer. Archived from the original on May 4, 2021. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
  33. Richard Henke (February 13, 2019). "Play on! Marlboro Music inks deal to remain at Marlboro College for next century". The Commons. Archived from the original on May 5, 2021. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
  34. "What's Next For Marlboro: Update on Marlboro College Campus". Marlboro College. May 28, 2020. Archived from the original on September 26, 2020.
  35. Madeline St. Amour (May 29, 2020). "Marlboro to Become New 2-Year Program". Inside Higher Ed. Archived from the original on May 4, 2021. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
  36. Ellie French (May 28, 2020). "Marlboro College announces campus sale to Democracy Builders". VTDigger. Archived from the original on May 4, 2021. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
  37. Visconti, Ambrogio (2 June 2020). "Democracy Builders' Acquisition of Marlboro College". Global Legal Chronicle. Archived from the original on 9 June 2020. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  38. Audette, Bob (May 28, 2020). "New model of higher education could take root in Marlboro". The Bennington Banner. Archived from the original on 9 June 2020. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  39. St. Amour, Madeline (May 29, 2020). "Marlboro to Become New 2-Year Program". Inside Higher Education. Archived from the original on 8 June 2020. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  40. Audette, Bob (2021-02-03). "Marlboro College campus has new owner". Brattleboro Reformer. Archived from the original on 2021-04-27. Retrieved 2021-04-28.
  41. "Deal is off for campus sale". The Commons. 2021-03-10. Archived from the original on 2021-04-29. Retrieved 2021-04-28.
  42. Audette, Bob (2021-03-10). "Potash Hill deal not consummated, Democracy Builders says it retains ownership of former Marlboro College campus". Brattleboro Reformer. Archived from the original on 2021-04-27. Retrieved 2021-04-28.
  43. Lola Duffort (April 30, 2021). "Degrees of Freedom, the Marlboro-based project founded by Seth Andrew, delays opening". Archived from the original on May 4, 2021. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
  44. Susan Smallheer (July 22, 2021). "Marlboro Music Festival buys Marlboro College campus, ending year of turmoil". Archived from the original on July 29, 2022. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  45. Hall, C. B. (September 21, 2022). "Atop Marlboro's Potash Hill, new prospects". Archived from the original on October 3, 2022. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  46. "Marlboro College Prepares to Expand | News | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved 2024-01-27.
  47. Staff, PAUL H. HEINTZ, Reformer (2007-09-25). "Rod Gander dies at 76". Brattleboro Reformer. Archived from the original on 2023-08-30. Retrieved 2023-10-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  48. "The EvoLLLution". evolllution.com. Archived from the original on 2023-11-30. Retrieved 2023-10-16.
  49. "Marlboro College names new president". Marlboro College names new president. Archived from the original on 2023-11-30. Retrieved 2023-10-16.
  50. "Ellen McCulloch-Lovell | Bennington College". www.bennington.edu. Archived from the original on 2023-11-30. Retrieved 2023-10-16.
  51. "Marlboro College names new president". Marlboro College names new president. Archived from the original on 2023-11-30. Retrieved 2023-10-16.
  52. "The Wikipedia Library". wikipedialibrary.wmflabs.org. Archived from the original on 2023-12-16. Retrieved 2023-09-30.