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Mary Baldwin College is a private independent comprehensive four-year liberal arts women's college in Staunton, Virginia. Enrollment is currently 2242 students. Mary Baldwin was ranked by US News & World Report as a top tier-master's level university in the South. Mary Baldwin has the only full-fledged Health Care Administration program in the nation, and pre-professional programs in law, medicine, ministry, and ROTC. It is unique for its Virginia Women's Institute for Leadership program for female cadets, affiliated with nearby Virginia Military Institute. VWIL was intended to satisfy non-discrimination laws which required that VMI, which was then men-only, begin accepting women. Mary Baldwin College is also unique for its Program for the Exceptionally Gifted students, who enter college as early as age 13 as full-fledged members of the on-campus undergraduate community. The environment of PEG encourages the formation of exceptionally strong friendships in a short time. Mary Baldwin College also offers co-ed graduate and adult degree programs for men and women, with an adult degree program enrollment of 1196 students. The adult degree program is offered on-campus and in five satellite campuses: Charlottesville, Richmond, Roanoke, South Boston, and Weyers Cave.
History Mary Baldwin College was founded in 1842 as Augusta Female Seminary. It is one of the oldest institutions of higher education for women in the United States. It was founded by Rufus W. Bailey, a minister and teacher from Maine and a graduate of Dartmouth College and Andover Theological Seminary. After plans for the school were approved by the ministers and members of the Presbyterian churches of Staunton and Augusta County, a self-perpetuating board of control was set up, and the Seminary opened with Mr. Bailey as first principal. The first charter was granted to the Seminary by the Virginia General Assembly in 1845. The school's first building, now the Administration Building, was built adjacent to the First Presbyterian Church of Staunton. In 1872 the church building and land were given to the school. Until it was demolished in 1962, the building was known as Waddell Chapel in memory of Joseph Addison Waddell, secretary of the Board of Trustees for more than fifty years. Thomas Woodrow Wilson, twenty-eighth President of the United States, was baptized in the chapel building in 1857, his father, the Reverend Joseph Ruggles Wilson, being minister of the First Presbyterian Church at the time and serving also as chaplain to the Augusta Female Seminary. It is possible that the Seminary might not have survived the Civil War period except for Miss Mary Julia Baldwin, who became principal in 1863. The courage and ingenuity of Miss Baldwin and her assistant, Miss Agnes McClung, enabled the school to remain open when nearly every other school in the Shenandoah Valley was forced to close because the Valley was a continual battlefield for the Union and Confederate armies. After the reconstruction period, the Seminary expanded and prospered under Miss Baldwin's leadership. The academic level of the curriculum was raised until it was the equivalent of colleges and universities for the higher classes. In 1895 the name of the institution was changed, at the request of the Board of Trustees and by act of "the valuable services and unparalleled success of the Principal." Miss Baldwin was principal until she died in 1897. At her death the Seminary received the bulk of her property, which, with the gifts already given by her, amounted to a substantial endowment for that time. Subsequent administrators were Miss Ella C. Weimar and Miss Marianna P. Higgins. The Seminary became Mary Baldwin Junior College in 1916 and a four-year college in 1923, when the name was changed to Mary Baldwin College. It is related to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and is governed by a self-perpetuating Board of Trustees. Demographics MBC's 2005-06 undergraduate student body (Residential College for Women) was made up of 65% White American, 33% American ethnic minorities, and 2% international. Academics Mary Baldwin offers five degree-granting programs and has a total enrollment of approximately 2137 and a full-time equivalent of over 1220. Its students come from varied geographical areas and backgrounds. Its relatively small size enables the College to foster a lively sense of community within which is expressed a concern for each person. It enables the strengthening of individual responsibility and self-confidence. Pride in academic achievement and a longstanding tradition of student government, supported by a working honor and judicial system (enforced by the students with full support from MBC administration), help to realize these aims. Undergraduate Mary Baldwin's undergraduate program is known as the Residential College for Women, and offers 33 majors and 37 minors. Programs include: Post-graduate Its co-ed graduate programs include: Master of Arts in Teaching, Master of Letters, and Master of Fine Arts in Shakespeare; cooperative master's degree programs in engineering (University of Virginia) and nursing (Vanderbilt University); and post-graduate teacher licensure. Student societies Mary Baldwin is home to a chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society as well as more than 10 national and international honor societies, including Omicron Delta Kappa, the national leadership honor society. Student legends One of the original buildings is alleged to have served as a hospital during the Civil War. The building remained in use until about 2003 when it was torn down. Student legend held the old building to be haunted. Notable alumni Notable faculty | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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