Arcadia University

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Arcadia University


Established	1853
Type	Private
Endowment	$38.3 million
President	Jerry Greiner
Staff	300
Students	3,600
Location	Glenside
Campus	71 acres (1 km²)
Athletics	Knights Division III (PAC Conference)
Colors	Scarlet and Grey
Mascot	knight (formally named Sir Castor)
Website	http://www.arcadia.edu/

Arcadia University is a private liberal arts university located in Glenside, Pennsylvania, on the outskirts of Philadelphia. The university has a co-educational student population of 3,600. The university was recently ranked in the top 20 regional universities in the North by U.S. News & World Report. The 71-acre campus features Grey Towers Castle, a National Historic Landmark.

1 History
2 Undergraduate programs
3 Graduate programs
4 International Programs
5 Student Life
- 5.1 Athletics
- 5.2 Student Organizations
  - 5.2.1 Arcadia Radio Club - ARC
6 Notable Alumnae
7 Trivia
8 External links
9 Notes and references

[edit] History

The school was founded in Beaver, Pennsylvania in 1853. By 1872 it had attained collegiate status, under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and was named Beaver College. In 1925 Beaver College moved east to Jenkintown, Pennsylvania. In 1928, the school acquired the current campus in Glenside. The college operated both the Jenkintown and Glenside campuses into the mid-1960's, when it consolidated all activities onto the Glenside campus.

In July 2001, upon attaining university status, Beaver College officially changed its name to Arcadia University. It was thought that a new name would emphasize the school's position as one of the top small institutions of higher learning on the East Coast, and would cement its change in designation from "college" to "university." The decision was also made in part to shed its association with the former commonly derided name. As then-president Bette Landman noted:

"[The name] too often elicits ridicule in the form of derogatory remarks pertaining to the rodent, the TV show 'Leave It to Beaver' and the vulgar reference to the female anatomy."

During the subsequent years, memorabilia from the former name became very popular for Arcadia students to give as gifts.

[edit] Undergraduate programs

The university offers over 50 fields of study, in 8 academic departments, in its undergraduate programs. The academic departments are Business Administration and Economics, Computer Science and Mathematics, Education, Fine Arts, the Humanities, Sciences & Pre-Health, the Social Sciences and inter-disciplinary programs.

[edit] Graduate programs

Graduate and professional studies at Arcadia University range widely from the liberal arts to the primarily professional, from the doctoral level to workshops. Arcadia's international perspective is reflected in programs such as its accelerated part-time MBA with an International Perspective, its Master of Arts in International Peace and Conflict Resolution and its new program in Paris, France.

[edit] International Programs

The university is known for its study abroad programs. Nearly 95% of undergraduates at Arcadia study in another country at least once during their college careers.

Arcadia's commitment to a global education has gained wide recognition. Open Doors 2005, the Institute of International Education’s annual census, lists Arcadia University in fourth place—nationally—among masters institutions, ranked by “undergraduate participation in study abroad”—with a rate higher than all doctoral institutions.

In the 2006 edition of its magazine, Arcadia was able to announce that "strategic growth finds Arcadia adding a graduate school campus in Paris, forging a new study abroad program in China, setting up a Physician Assistant program in Delaware and opening a peace center in Tanzania". These and other successful projects were rewarded in 2006—declared the Year of Study Abroad by the U.S. Congress—when Arcadia’s creation of an integrative learning environment infused with international and multicultural experiences has earned it the prestigious 2006 Senator Paul Simon Award for Campus Internationalization from NAFSA, the Association of International Educators.

Also in 2006, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education approved Arcadia’s proposal to establish an additional location in Paris and to extend its accreditation to cover the Masters in International Relations and Diplomacy offered in the French capital by the American Graduate School of International Relations and Diplomacy (AGSIRD) an institution created in 1994 by an enthusiastic group of international lawyers, scholars and diplomats, in partnership with the University of Paris 11.

[edit] Student Life

[edit] Athletics

Arcadia University teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III and the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference (PAC). Beginning in August 1, 2007, the Knights will join the Middle Atlantic States Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC), with membership in the Freedom and Middle Atlantic Conferences. ^[1] Men's sports teams include baseball, basketball, golf, soccer, swimming and tennis. Women's sports teams include basketball, field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis and volleyball. Rugby is a popular but unofficial campus sport. Starting in the spring of 2007, Arcadia will form a men's lacrosse team.

[edit] Student Organizations

Arcadia University has over 75 governing, academic, sport, cultural, media, religious, and service clubs and organizations. Its a cappella group, A Little Knight Music, is so popular that a spin-off women's group had to be created in 2006 to accommodate all the new students who wished to join.

[edit] Arcadia Radio Club - ARC

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s the student operated radio station, WBVR, broadcasted on an AM frequency. The station went through periods of inactivity followed by great student interest, however by the time the school's name change took place, WBVR was not operational. In 2004, students managed to generate a great deal of interest in the radio station again. By the fall of 2005, student membership had increased to over 30, and then in March 2006 started broadcasting live on the internet. The Arc plans to return to radio broadcasting when a station in the vicinity of the college becomes available.

[edit] Notable Alumnae

Gigi Anders, author
Anna Deavere Smith, actress
Jane Oswald, member of the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame

[edit] Trivia

Arcadia University is included as a question in the 20th anniversary edition of Trivial Pursuit. The question, in the news category, is: What Pennsylvania institution changed its name to Arcadia University in 2001, after web filters began blocking its old moniker? The answer, of course, is Beaver College.
Arcadia University professor Warren Haffar was named in the 2006 book The Professors: The 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America by conservative American author and columnist David Horowitz.
In the October 2000 issue of Maxim Magazine, the magazine prank called the school, then still named Beaver College, and made innuendos about the college's name. The Call Log