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39-683: Louise Seaman was born in 1894 to Charles F. Seaman. She attended and graduated from Vassar College in 1915. Bechtel married to Edwin DeTurck Bechtel, an attorney, art collector, and authority about and scholar of rose culture in March 1929. In 1919, she became the editor of the Macmillan Publishers' new juvenile department, and the first person to head a juvenile book department established by an American publishing house. Macmillan's president, George P. Brett , later wrote about

78-593: A Federal Depository library for selected U.S. Government documents since 1943 and currently receives approximately 25% of the titles available through the Federal Depository Program. The interior and exterior of the Van Ingen Art Library was renovated from June 2008 – May 2009 in an effort to restore its original design and appearance. This was the library's first major renovation since its construction in 1937. In November 2016,

117-696: A large green . Most fourth-year students live in groups of four or five in on-campus apartments. Vassar has three apartment complexes: the Terrace Apartments, the Town Houses, and the South Commons. A cooperative house, Ferry House, opened in 1951 and houses 20 students. Vassar guarantees housing to all full-time students. As part of a master plan to renovate all the dormitories, Jewett, Davison, and Josselyn were renovated from 2002 to 2011. The college opted for minor improvements to

156-436: A residential quadrangle . A nine-story Tudor-style dormitory, Jewett House , was constructed in 1907 on the north end of the quadrangle. The second largest dormitory, Josselyn House , was built in 1912 to Jewett's east. Cushing House was constructed outside of the quadrangle in 1927. In a departure from the architecture of the other dormitories, Noyes House was built in 1958 in a distinct modernist style, curved around

195-678: Is buried at Saint Matthew's Episcopal Churchyard in Bedford, New York . The Bechtel Prize, named for her, is endowed by the Cerimon Fund and administered by Teachers & Writers Collaborative in New York. The Prize is awarded annually in recognition of an exemplary article or essay related to creative writing education, literary studies, and/or the profession of writing. The winning essay appears in Teachers & Writers magazine, and

234-712: Is the college's radio station, established in 1971. In March 2016, in a 15–2 vote, the Vassar Student Association (VSA) passed a resolution calling for the support of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement and the boycott of Israel. In April 2016, the BDS resolution went to a school-wide referendum, where it was defeated 573–503. Vassar teams, known as the Brewers, compete in Division III of

273-782: The American Library Association , awards a mid-career librarian, with a minimum of eight years experience working with children, $ 4,000 to spend a month reading and studying at the Baldwin library at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida . Vassar College Vassar College ( / ˈ v æ s ər / VASS -ər ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York , United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar , it

312-649: The NCAA , as a member of the Liberty League . The nickname originates from the college's founder and namesake Matthew Vassar , whose family ran a brewery in Poughkeepsie and would later amass a sizable fortune in the industry. In 2008, the Vassar men's volleyball team made the school's first appearance in a national championship game, beating UC Santa Cruz 3–0 in the semifinal before falling to Springfield in

351-828: The Newbery Medal . As an author, Bechtel's best-known books are The Brave Bantam in 1946, and Mr. Peck's Pets in 1947. During her long career, Bechtel acquired an incomparable collection of children's books. Later donated to Vassar College and the University of Florida in Gainesville ), it exceeded 3,500 volumes, among them rare folk tales, Asian and African legends, Greek mythology, Aesop's fables , tales from Shakespeare , and early twentieth century children's book illustrators such as Arthur Rackham , Kate Greenaway , and Boris Artzybasheff . Louise Seaman Bechtel died on April 12, 1985, in Mount Kisco, New York, and

390-638: The 12th best liberal arts college in the U.S. out of 211 rated. In previous years the college was ranked by U.S. News & World Report as high as tenth. In 2024, U.S. News & World Report ranked Vassar second for "Best Colleges for Veterans", 29th for "Best Value", 15th for "Top Performers on Social Mobility", and tied for 20th in "Best Undergraduate Teaching". It also ranked Vassar tied for fourth among top liberal arts colleges for economic diversity as measured by low-income students receiving federal Pell Grants . In its 2021 edition, Washington Monthly ranked Vassar 11th among 215 liberal arts colleges in

429-563: The 149 best value liberal arts colleges in the United States. Money magazine ranked Vassar 145th in the country out of 739 schools evaluated for its 2020 "Best Colleges for Your Money" edition. In an article in The Christian Science Monitor , Vassar president emeritus Catharine Bond Hill argued that rankings "will always be limited in what they can tell consumers. Part of higher education's role about

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468-629: The Macmillan Company, she expanded Macmillan's children's titles to more than 600 new books, a milestone in the growth and development of American literature for children. During the Great Depression, Bechtel was able to continue publishing novels through the reputation of the publishing house. However, by 1932, she was forced to dismiss her assistant, Eunice P. Blake, and Macmillan had a new president with George Platt Brett, Jr . The new president cut Bechtel's budget and understated

507-592: The Noyes Nymphs, who competed against Ivy League teams in the 1960s and 1970s. Vassar is home to one of the largest undergraduate library collections in the U.S. The library collection today – which actually encompasses eight libraries at Vassar – contains about 1 million volumes and 7,500 serial, periodical and newspaper titles, as well as an extensive collection of microfilm and microfiche, with special collections of Ellen Swallow Richards , Albert Einstein , Mary McCarthy , and Elizabeth Bishop . Vassar has been

546-684: The U.S. based on its contribution to the public good, as measured by social mobility, research, and promoting public service. In its 2020 edition, The Princeton Review rated Vassar first for "Best Financial Aid" of all colleges and universities in the United States. In its 2018 edition, The Princeton Review rated Vassar second best for financial aid and 41st best for "best value". In 2019, Forbes rated Vassar 27th among liberal arts colleges and 61st overall in its America's Top Colleges ranking, which includes 650 military academies, national universities, and liberal arts colleges. Kiplinger's Personal Finance places Vassar 11th in its 2019 ranking of

585-460: The author receives a $ 1,000 honorarium. Possible topics for Bechtel Prize submissions include contemporary issues in classroom teaching, innovative approaches to teaching literary forms and genres, and the intersection between literature and imaginative writing. Note: winner in bold . The Bechtel Fellowship, awarded by the Association of Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of

624-459: The campus features more than 200 species of trees, a native plant preserve, and a 530-acre (210 ha) ecological preserve . Vassar was founded as a women's school under the name Vassar Female College in 1861. Its first president was Milo P. Jewett, who had previously been first president of another women's school, Judson College ; he led a staff of ten professors and twenty-one instructors. After one year, its founder, Matthew Vassar , had

663-461: The center of campus stands Main Building , one of the best examples of Second Empire architecture in the United States. When it was opened, Main Building was the largest building in the U.S. in terms of floor space. It formerly housed the entire college, including classrooms, dormitories, museum, library, and dining halls. The building was designed by Smithsonian architect James Renwick Jr. and

702-646: The championship game. In 2007, the Vassar cycling team hosted the Eastern Collegiate Cycling Championship in Poughkeepsie and New Paltz, New York. The competition included a 100-mile (160 km) road race over the Shawangunk Mountains in New Paltz as well as a criterium in Poughkeepsie just blocks from the school's campus. In a controversial move, on November 5, 2009, the athletics department leaders decided

741-478: The class of 2026 (enrolling fall 2022), Vassar received 11,412 applications and accepted 18.7%. For the class of 2025 (enrolling fall 2021), Vassar received 10,884 applications, a 25% increase over the previous year, and accepted 2,068 (19%). For the class of 2023 (enrolling fall 2019), Vassar received 8,961 applications and accepted 2,127 (23.7%), with 691 enrolling. For the class of 2025 (enrolling fall 2021),the middle 50% range of SAT scores for enrolling freshmen

780-506: The class of 2027 (enrolling fall 2023), Vassar received 12,145 applications and accepted 17.7%. The combined average SAT scores of those who opted to submit their testing data was 1489 and the ACT composite average was 33. The middle 50% ranges for the SAT were 1450-1530 and 33-35 for the ACT. Of the matriculants whose high schools provided rankings, 79% were in the top ten percent of their class. For

819-444: The doctorate degree or its equivalent. The student-faculty ratio is 8:1, average class size, 17. In recent freshman classes, students of color constituted 32–38% of matriculants. International students from over 60 countries make up 8-10% of the student body. In May 2007, Vassar returned to a need-blind admissions policy without regard to a student's financial status. Vassar president Catharine Bond Hill departed in 2016. She

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858-628: The financial role her department had on the company. Bechtel resigned from Macmillan Company in 1934 due to a broken hip from a horseback riding accident injury sustained in 1933 and internal pressures. Between 1949 and 1956, she was editor of the "Books for Young People" section of the New York Herald Tribune . Three of the books she published, The Trumpeter of Krakow by Eric P. Kelly in 1929, Hitty, Her First Hundred Years by Rachel Field in 1930, and The Cat Who Went to Heaven by Elizabeth Coatsworth in 1931, were awarded

897-686: The founding of the department: “It had occurred to me [that children's] books would benefit more than any others, perhaps, from separate editorial supervision.” Brett believed that women knew more about children and would therefore make a better department head. Even with the freedom to develop the new department, Brett still expected Seaman to develop her own advertising copy. She inherited Macmillan's standard children's titles including Alice's Adventures in Wonderland , Charles Kingsley's Water Babies , and Mary Louisa Molesworth's The Cuckoo Clock . During her fifteen-year tenure as managing editor at

936-544: The gallery opened the Hoene Hoy Photography gallery on the second floor, named after Anne Hoene Hoy from the class of 1963. In 2011, Vassar embarked on a $ 120 million project to improve science facilities at the college, centering on the construction of a new Bridge for Laboratory Sciences . The majority of students in their first three years live on campus in the nine residence halls . Main House occupies

975-455: The men's and women's rowing team would transition over a two-year period from a varsity to a club sport as a cost-saving measure. In 1940, 1941 and 1942, Vassar athletes won national intercollegiate women's tennis championships each year in both singles ( Katharine Hubbell ) and doubles (Hubbell, Carolyn "Lonny" Myers). In 2018, the Vassar women's rugby team won the school's first team national championship, beating Winona State 50–13 in

1014-441: The rankings should be to remind students and their families that these are only one piece of information that they should take into account in deciding where to go to college. Intangibles will and should play a role in these decisions, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't also look at the tangibles". Over half of Vassar graduates pursue advanced study within five years of graduation, including one-fifth immediately post-graduation. Of

1053-646: The rest of the dorms due to cost. Vassar maintains housing for faculty; the current complex opened in 2023. The previous faculty housing facility, Williams House , was to be demolished after 2020. School-age dependents living on the Vassar faculty complex, as well as other areas in the Vassar College CDP, are within the Arlington Central School District , which operates Arlington High School . The most popular undergraduate majors, based on 2021 graduates, were: For

1092-580: The school's secret society Delta Sigma Rho, founded in 1922. Before becoming President of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was a Trustee. Approximately 2,450 students attend Vassar, and 98% live on campus. About 60% come from public high schools, and 40% come from private schools (both independent and religious). Vassar is currently 56% women and 44% men, at national average for national liberal arts colleges. Students are taught by more than 336 faculty members, virtually all holding

1131-442: The seniors who applied to medical school in 2017, 76% were accepted; to law school, 96% were accepted. Founder's Day is an annual campus festival at Vassar College that usually takes place in late April or early May. It started as a surprise birthday party for college founder Matthew Vassar 's seventy-fourth birthday and evolved into an annual celebration. Originally, Founder's Day was a spontaneous event consisting of lectures, but

1170-427: The upper floors of Main Building, constructed at the college's founding. To accommodate a growing student body, Strong House was constructed in 1893. Strong was made all-women's housing after the college went coeducational in 1969; the house now also accepts nonbinary and other gender-nonconforming students. Similar Elizabethan -style houses— Raymond , Lathrop , and Davison —were built from 1897 to 1902 to form

1209-555: The wave of mergers between the historically all-male colleges of the Ivy League and their Seven Sisters counterparts. In its early years, Vassar was associated with the social elite of the Protestant establishment. E. Digby Baltzell writes that "upper-class WASP families educated their children at colleges such as Harvard , Princeton , Yale , and Vassar." A select and elite few of Vassar's students were allowed entry into

Louise Seaman Bechtel - Misplaced Pages Continue

1248-471: The word Female removed from the name, prompting some local residents of Poughkeepsie, New York , to quip that its founder believed it might one day admit male students. The college became coeducational in 1969. Vassar was the second of the Seven Sisters colleges, higher education schools that were strictly for women, and historically sister institutions to the all-male Ivy League colleges. It

1287-450: Was 710-760 for evidence-based reading and writing, 710-780 for math, and 1420-1540 for the composite. The middle 50% ACT score range was 28-33 for math, 32-34 for English, and 32-34 for the composite. Students of color (including non-citizens) made up 45.5% of the incoming class; international students were 8.8% of enrolling freshmen. The 2025 edition of U.S. News & World Report ' s "Best Colleges" ranked Vassar as tied for

1326-581: Was chartered by its namesake, brewer Matthew Vassar , in 1861 in the Hudson Valley , about 70 miles (110 km) north of New York City . The first person appointed to the Vassar faculty was astronomer Maria Mitchell , in 1865. Vassar adopted coeducation in 1969. Immediately following World War II , Vassar accepted a small number of male students on the G.I. Bill . The formal decision to become co-ed came after its trustees declined an offer to merge with Yale University , its sibling institution, in

1365-558: Was completed in 1865. It was preceded on campus by the original observatory . Both buildings are National Historic Landmarks . Rombout House was purchased by the college in 1915 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. Eero Saarinen made designs for several Vassar dormitories, but only one, the Emma Hartman Noyes House, was completed in 1958. Built for roughly 160 students, it

1404-511: Was soon replaced with plays, pageants, and more recreational activities. Circus and fair activities followed, with the eventual addition of the modern day music events over the course of two days. More recently themes have been added, including Alice in Wonderland , Dinosaurs, Vintage 1800s Vassar, Nickelodeon , Nintendo , and Candyland . Recent artists at Founder's Day have included The Walkmen , Edan , DJ /rupture , Odd Nosdam , Jel , Toro y Moi , and Odesza . WVKR-FM , 91.3 FM,

1443-625: Was succeeded by Elizabeth Howe Bradley in 2017. The college was listed as a census-designated place (Vassar College CDP) in 2019. The campus is in Poughkeepsie Town , adjacent to Poughkeepsie City . The area around the campus appeared as a census-designated place (CDP) in the 2020 U.S. Census , with a population of 2,472. Vassar's campus, also an arboretum , is 1,000 acres (400 ha) and has more than 100 buildings, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International , with several buildings of architectural interest. At

1482-401: Was the first part of a circular construction that was to be continued in "Noyes II." The starkly modernist building's high cost and structural difficulties with the windows, however, led administrators to leave it at one. The dorm's common area is famous for its futuristic design; readings and concerts are held there regularly. The Noyes building was also the home of an all-female football team,

1521-607: Was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States. The college became coeducational in 1969. The college offers BA degrees in more than fifty majors. Vassar College's varsity sports teams, known as the Brewers, play in the NCAA Division III as members of the Liberty League . Currently, there are close to 2,500 students. The college is one of the historic Seven Sisters . The Vassar campus comprises over 1,000 acres (400 ha) and more than 100 buildings. A designated arboretum ,

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