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Former names | Thames College (1911)[1] Connecticut College for Women (1911–1969)[2] |
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| Motto | Tanquam lignum quod plantatum est secus decursus aquarum |
Motto in English | |
| Type | Privateliberal arts college |
| Established | April 1911; 114 years ago (1911-04) |
Academic affiliation | |
| Endowment | $482 million (2024)[3] |
| President | Andrea Chapdelaine |
Academic staff | 281 (203 full-time, 81 part-time)[4] |
| Undergraduates | 1,990 (2024)[5] |
| Location | ,, United States 41°22′42.36″N72°06′16.81″W / 41.3784333°N 72.1046694°W /41.3784333; -72.1046694 |
| Campus | Suburban, 750 acres (303 ha)[6] |
| Colors | Connecticut College blue and white[7] |
Sporting affiliations | |
| Mascot | Camel (Dromedary) |
| Website | conncoll |
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Connecticut College (Conn) is aprivateliberal arts college inNew London, Connecticut. Originally chartered asThames College but soon changed toConnecticut College for Women, it was founded in 1911 as the state's onlywomen's college, a response toWesleyan University having closed its doors to female students in 1909. The college becamecoeducational in 1969, adopting its current name.
Conn is a four-yearresidentialundergraduate institution with approximately 1,900 students. Students choose courses from 41 programs, including interdisciplinary pathways and centers, with a majority choosing tostudy abroad. The college is situated on a hill located adjacent to theThames River. In 1982, Conn was inducted as a member of theNew England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC), where its athletes compete as part ofNCAA Division III.
Connecticut College was chartered in 1911 as Connecticut's onlywomen's college, having been established as a direct response toWesleyan University's decision to stop admitting women.[8][9]Elizabeth C. Wright and other Wesleyan alumnae convinced others to found this new college, espousing the increasing desire among women for higher education.[10][11] To that end, the institution was initially chartered as Thames College, but a few months later the name was changed to the Connecticut College for Women.[1] Their initial endowment came from financial assistance from the city ofNew London and its residents, along with a number of wealthy benefactors. The college sits on a former dairy farm owned by Charles P. Alexander of Waterford. He died in 1904 and his wife Harriet (Jerome) Alexander died in 1911. Their son Frank sold a large part of the land to the trustees to found Connecticut College.[12]
TheHartford Daily Times ran an article on October 12, 1935, marking the college's 20th anniversary: "On September 27, 1915, the college opened its doors to students. The entering class was made up of 99 freshmen students, candidates for degrees, and 52 special students, a total registration of 151. A fine faculty of 23 members had been engaged and a library of 6,000 volumes had been gathered together." The college became co-educational in 1969, as President Charles E. Shain claimed that there was evidence that women were becoming uninterested in attending women's colleges.[13] At that time, the school adopted its current name, Connecticut College.
In the spring of 2023, students, faculty, and staff began protesting against college presidentKatherine Bergeron, who had been president of the college for nearly a decade. A dean for equity and inclusion resigned after the college decided to hold fundraiser at theEverglades Club, a social club and venue that has longstanding accusations of discrimination against Black and Jewish people, but there had been longstanding criticism of Bergeron's "administrative overreach, micromanagement and lack of transparency". On March 24, 2023, after a vote of no confidence by the faculty in early March, Bergeron announced her resignation.[14] On June 30, 2023, her last day in office, the board of trustees awarded her the title of President Emerita.[15]
On July 1, 2023,Leslie Wong began work as interim president of the college.[16]Andrea Chapdelaine, then-president ofHood College, was selected by the search committee to be the College's 12th president.[17] Her term officially began on June 1, 2024.[18] Chapdelaine was inaugurated on April 26, 2025.[19]
The main campus has three residential areas. The North Campus contains the newest residential halls. The South Campus contains residence halls along the west side of Tempel Green, across from several academic buildings. The oldest dorms on campus are Plant House and Blackstone House, which were founded in 1914.[20][21] The campus houses theWinslow Ames House.[citation needed]
Connecticut College's two principal libraries are the Charles E. Shain Library and the Greer Music Library, which is located in the Cummings Arts Center. The Shain Library houses a collection of more than 500,000 books and periodicals and an extensive collection of electronic resources. It is also home to The Linda Lear Center for Special Collections and Archives, and to theCharles Chu Asian Art Reading Room.[22] The Lear Center has more than fifty book, manuscript, and art collections including research archives devoted toRachel Carson, Eugene O'Neill, andBeatrix Potter.[23] The Charles Chu Asian Art Reading Room serves both as a quiet reading area and as the permanent exhibition space for the Chu-Griffis Art Collection.[24]
The student center is "The College Center at Crozier-Williams" (often shortened to "Cro"), and is located in the middle of the campus. The student center houses the Connecticut College bookstore (which doubles as a small convenience store), the campus post office, the Oasis Snack Shop, and the campus bar, Humphrey's (formerly The Cro Bar). There are also student services offices as well as faculty offices and performance spaces for the Dance department.
The Charles E. Shain Library was originally dedicated in 1976 and is named after former College President Charles Shain. It was renovated, expanded, and re-dedicated in 2015. The renovation was honored by the American Institute of Architects with a 2015 New England Honor Award in the category of Preservation.[25] In 2016,LibraryJournal named the library a New Landmark Libraries Winner.[26]
Performance spaces on campus include: Palmer Auditorium, Tansill Theater, housed in Hillyer Hall; Myers Dance Studio,[27] housed in Crozier-Williams College Center; Harkness Chapel; and Evans Music Hall, Fortune Recital Hall, and Oliva Hall, all located in Cummings Art Center.[28]
Palmer Auditorium was home to theAmerican Dance Festival from 1947 to 1977, featuring choreographers such asMartha Graham, José Limón, andMerce Cunningham in what was called "the most important summertime event in modern dance."[29]
The campus makes up part of theConnecticut College Arboretum. Thisarboretum andbotanical garden is free and open to the public year-round.[30]
Harkness Chapel was designed by architectJames Gamble Rogers, exhibiting hisColonial Georgian style, with twelve stained glass windows byG. Owen Bonawit. The building is used for denominational religious services, as well as for ceremonies, concerts and recitals, weddings, and other public functions.[31]
TheLyman Allyn Art Museum is also located on campus, and while some classes are taught there, it is not part of the College itself. The museum's website states that "the permanent collection includes over 10,000 paintings, sculpture, drawings, prints, furniture, and decorative arts, with an emphasis on American art from the 18th through 20th centuries."[32][33] The collection is housed in aneo-classical building designed byCharles A. Platt.[34]
Connecticut College isaccredited by theNew England Commission of Higher Education; it has been so continuously by NECHE or its predecessor since December 1932.[35] The college's academics are organized into thirty-one academic departments and seven interdisciplinary programs with forty-one traditional majors plus opportunities for self-designed courses of study. Starting with the class of 2020, students at Connecticut College participate in a new interdisciplinary general education curriculum called Connections.[36][37]
Its most popular majors, by 2024 graduates, were:[38] Psychology (55), Economics (44), Computer Science (32), Government (29), and Biological Sciences (26).[5]
Connecticut College has a history of undergraduate research work and students are encouraged to make conference presentations and publish their work under the guidance of a professor.[39] The college had 187 full-time faculty members in 2024-25; 96% held a doctorate or other terminal degree. The student-faculty ratio is about 9.4 to 1.[5]
Admission to the college is considered "more selective" byU.S. News & World Report.[40] The college received 7,950 applications for the Class of 2028 of which 2,945 (36%) were accepted. Of the students in the entering class who submittedSAT scores, the middle 50% range was 690-755 for evidence-based reading and writing, and 660-740 for Math.[41]
| Academic rankings | |
|---|---|
| Liberal arts | |
| U.S. News & World Report[42] | 55 |
| Washington Monthly[43] | 25 |
| National | |
| Forbes[44] | 162 |
| WSJ/College Pulse[45] | 103 |
In the 2025 college rankings ofU.S. News & World Report, Connecticut College ranked 55th (tie) among national liberal arts colleges, 35th (tie) for "Best Undergraduate Teaching", 38th (tie) for "Most Innovative", 82nd for "Best Value", and 88th (tie) for "Top Performers in Social Mobility".[40]
Washington Monthly ranked Connecticut College 48th in 2024 among 194 liberal arts colleges in the US based on its contribution to the public good, as measured by social mobility, research, and promoting public service.[46]Forbes ranked Connecticut College 162th overall in its 2023 list of 650 liberal arts colleges, universities and service academies; 45th among liberal arts schools, 65th in the Northeast, and 90th among private colleges.[47] Connecticut College isaccredited by theNew England Commission of Higher Education.[48]
Students live under the college's student-adjudicatedhonor code which was introduced in 1922.[49] Manifestations of the code include self-scheduled, non-proctored final exams.[50][51]
In a typical year, the college enrolls around 2000 men and women from 40 to 45 states, Washington, D.C., and 70 countries. Approximately forty percent of students are men. The fall 2024 student body was 68% White, 12% Hispanic, 3% Asian American, 5% African American, and 4% multiracial, with an additional 6% international students.[5]
Connecticut College is a member ofPhi Beta Kappa, theAnnapolis Group, and theNew England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC).
Connecticut College does not offer aGreek system of fraternities or sororities. The college has sevena cappella groups. Women's groups are The ConnChords, The Shwiffs, and Miss Connduct. The Co Co Beaux is the male group. The coeducational groups include the ConnArtists, Vox Cameli, and the Williams Street Mix.[52]
Composer and violinistMargaret Jones Wiles founded and conducted the Connecticut College Orchestra when she taught at the college during the 1950s.[citation needed]
The college radio station (WCNI 90.9FM) broadcasts a variety of music, includingpolka,blues, and Celtic music shows. A 2,000watt transmitter installed in 2003 reaches much of the lowerNew England region.[53] Connecticut College has two student newspapers in which students handle all aspects of production: reporting, editing, ad sales, management, photography, layout, multimedia, and design.The College Voice[54] is an editorially independent print and online bi-weekly publication,[55] andThe Conntrarian[56] is an online opinion publication and a member of theCollegiate Network.[57]
The Student Activities Council (SAC) runs events including club fairs, school dances, concerts, and off-campus excursions.[58] SAC is also responsible for Floralia, the annual spring concert. Recent Floralia artists have includedMisterwives,Cash Cash,[59]RAC, andSt. Lucia.[60]
Unity House is the college's multicultural center which promotes, supports, educates, and implements multicultural awareness programs on campus.[61] It supports various affinity, activist, and performance student groups.[62] The Feminist Resource, Education, & Empowerment (F.R.E.E) Center (formerly the Women's Center) provides a space for programming and events concerning gender issues.[63] The LGBTQIA Resource Center servesqueer students and their allies by providing a supportive space, resource library, social events, and educational programming. It also hosts several student organizations.[64] In August 2013,Campus Pride named Connecticut College one of the top 25 LGBT-friendly colleges and universities.[65]
The College's teams participate as a member of theNational Collegiate Athletic Association'sDivision III in theNew England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC). There are a total of 28 varsity athletics teams at Conn. The twelve men's sports include basketball, cross country, ice hockey, lacrosse, rowing, soccer, squash, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, and water polo. The fifteen women's sports consist of basketball, cross country, field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, rowing, sailing, soccer, squash, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, volleyball, and water polo.[citation needed]
In 2014, the women's soccer team won the College's first NESCAC Championship, defeatingWilliams College in penalty kicks.[66] The team advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament, but lost in the second round to Montclair State University in extra time.[67]
On December 4, 2021, the men's soccer team won the College's first-ever NCAA Division III National Championship by defeating Amherst College in penalty kicks. Earlier in the season, the team won its first NESCAC regular season title.[68]
On January 21, 2021, Connecticut College goalkeeperAJ Marcucci was selected 67th overall in the2021 MLS SuperDraft byNew York Red Bulls. He became the first-ever draft pick from Connecticut College and was the first Division III pick since 2016.
The Connecticut College Women's Water Polo Team has won four Collegiate Water Polo Association Division III championships.
Connecticut College has produced 427 collegiate All-Americans, sixty Academic All-Americans and twelve Olympic qualifiers.
The Connecticut College Athletics Hall of Fame was established in 1989 and currently has over 100 inductees.
Connecticut College graduates of note includeBloomberg Businessweek senior national correspondentJoshua Green,AOL CEOTim Armstrong,New York Times best-selling authorsSloane Crosley,Hannah Tinti andDavid Grann,Academy Award-winning actressEstelle Parsons, fashion designerPeter Som,National Baseball Hall of Fame directorJeff Idelson, philanthropistNan Kempner,Beyond Meat founder Ethan Brown, Senior Federal District JudgeKimba Wood and American Olympic rowerAnita DeFrantz.
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...the campus size is 750 acres.
Over the thirty years it occurred, the American Dance Festival's residency on campus came to be regarded as 'the most important summertime event in modern dance'.
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