Swarthmore College has always been committed to understanding and affirming its traditions, and this year a sesquicentennial celebration presents a fresh opportunity to reflect on how the College has changed throughout its 150 years and how it has stayed the same.
From the beginning, a Swarthmore education was open to both men and women. As funds [...]
Pictures of two “practical visionaries” stand watch over my office here at the College. The first is of Lucretia Mott—Swarthmore founder, leading abolitionist, organizer of the landmark Seneca Falls Convention, gifted preacher, devoted wife and mother of six, and tireless organizer for causes in which she believed. Lucretia Mott is revered as the progenitor of women’s [...]
In my four years at Swarthmore, among the many things I’ve learned is that our alumni take great pride in the intensity of the experience they had here, both inside and outside the classroom. They recall fondly the almost constant dialogue and spirited debate. More than a few have conveyed to me that their intense [...]
One of my earliest memories is of my Grandfather Chopp, who lived his entire life on a 160-acre farm in north-central Kansas. He would hold me in his lap as he drove the tractor to churn up the soil. “We have to take good care of the land,” he often said. “Our lives depend upon [...]
This spring Swarthmore and Lafayette Colleges jointly sponsored a conference, “The Future of the Liberal Arts in America and its Leadership Role in Education Around the World,” engaging more than 230 college presidents, provosts, and foundation and association officers from around the United States and the United Kingdom. The conference, held in Easton, Pa., and [...]
SWARTHMORE COLLEGE—as any Swarthmorean knows—is a very distinct community. We are distinct in the clarity of our mission: We teach only undergraduates, and we believe passionately in the power of ideas. We are also distinct in the clarity of our values, which are held firmly and expressed consistently in our practices: respect for the individual, [...]