St. John's College (Annapolis/Santa Fe)

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"SJCA" redirects here. For the city in California, see San Jose, California.

St. John's College
Annapolis)
Mark Roosevelt (Santa Fe)
Academic staff
~164 total (both campuses)
Undergraduates775 (both campuses)[2]
Postgraduates~160
Location
Annapolis, Maryland and Santa Fe, New Mexico
,
United States

38°58′57″N 76°29′33″W / 38.98250°N 76.49250°W / 38.98250; -76.49250
35°40′3″N 105°54′44″W / 35.66750°N 105.91222°W / 35.66750; -105.91222
CampusAnnapolis: Urban
Santa Fe: Urban / Semi-rural
MascotPlatypus/Axolotl[a]
Websitesjc.edu

St. John's College is a

Great Books curriculum based on discussion of works from the Western canon
of philosophical, religious, historical, mathematical, scientific, and literary works.

The college grants a single bachelor's degree in liberal arts. The awarded degree is equivalent to a double major in philosophy and the history of mathematics and science, and a double minor in classical studies and comparative literature.[5][6] Two master's degrees are available through the college's graduate institute: one in liberal arts, which is a modified version of the undergraduate curriculum, and one in Eastern Classics, which applies a Great Books curriculum to a list of classic works from India, China, and Japan.[7]

History

Old program

St. John's College traces its origins to King William's School, founded in 1696. King William's School was founded with an affiliation to the

Roman Catholic Charles Carroll of Carrollton
) stated that "youth of all religious denominations shall be freely and liberally admitted". The college always maintained a small size, generally enrolling fewer than 500 men at a time.

In its early years, the college was at least nominally

University of Maryland at College Park, St. John's was a free-standing private institution.[8]

The college curriculum has taken various forms throughout its history. It began with a general program of study in the liberal arts, but St. John's was a

compulsory military training with Major Enoch Garey's accession as president in 1923.[11]
Garey and the Navy instituted a
ROTC disappeared in 1926 with Garey's departure, and the Naval Reserve unit followed by 1929.[12]

New program

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

In 1936, the college lost its accreditation.[13] The Board of Visitors and Governors, faced with dire financial straits caused by the Great Depression, invited educational innovators Stringfellow Barr and Scott Buchanan to make a completely fresh start. They introduced a new program of study, which remains in effect today. Buchanan became dean of the college, while Barr assumed its presidency. In his guide Cool Colleges, Donald Asher writes that the New Program was implemented to save the college from closing: "Several benefactors convinced the college to reject a watered-down curriculum in favor of becoming a very distinctive academic community. Thus this great institution was reborn as a survival measure."[14]

In 1938,

Walter Lippman wrote a column praising liberal arts education as a bulwark against fascism, and said, "In the future, men will point to St. John's College and say that there was the seed-bed of the American renaissance."[15]

In 1940, national attention was attracted to St. John's by a story in

Copernicus's De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, St. Augustine's De Musica, and Ptolemy's Almagest
.

The wartime years were difficult for the all-male St. John's. Enlistment and the draft all but emptied the college; 15 seniors graduated in 1943, eight in 1945, and three in 1946.[15] From 1940 to 1946, St. John's was repeatedly confronted with threats of its land being seized by the Navy for expansion of the neighboring U.S. Naval Academy, and James Forrestal, Secretary of the Navy, formally announced plans to do so in 1945. At the time, The New York Times, which had expected a legal battle royale comparable to the 1819 Dartmouth case, commented that "although a small college of fewer than 200 students, St. John's has, because of its experimental liberal arts program, received more publicity and been the center of a greater academic controversy than most other colleges in the land. Its best-books program has been attacked and praised by leading educators of the day."[16]

The constant threat of eviction discouraged Stringfellow Barr. In late 1946 Forrestal withdrew the plan to take over St. John's in the face of public opposition and the disapproval of the

House Naval Affairs Committee, but Barr and Scott Buchanan were already committed to leaving St. John's and launching Liberal Arts, Inc., a new, similar college in Stockbridge, Massachusetts
; that project eventually failed—but thinking about other sites for the college eventually led to the opening of St. John's second campus in Santa Fe in 1964.

St John's had been founded as an all-white institution and continued as such in the early years of the New Program, with Barr actively discouraging black students from applying.

Mason-Dixon line to admit black students voluntarily.[18]

In 1949, Richard D. Weigle became president of St. John's. Following the chaotic and difficult period from 1940 to 1949, Weigle's presidency continued for 31 years,[19] during which time the New Program and the college itself became well established.

In 1951, St. John's became

coeducational
, admitting women for the first time in its then-254-year history. There was some objection from students because they had not been involved in—nor even aware of—the decision before it was announced to the media, and from some who believed that the college could not remain a serious institution were it to admit women. Martin Dyer reported that women who were admitted quickly proved they were the academic and intellectual equals of their male counterparts.

As enrollment grew during the 1950s, and facing the coming larger

baby-boom generation, thoughts turned again towards opening another campus—but this time in addition to, not instead of, the one in Annapolis. Serious talk of expansion began in 1959 when the father of a student from Monterey, California, suggested to President Weigle that he establish a new campus there. Time ran an article on the college's possible expansion plans,[20] and 32 offers came in to the college from New Hampshire, Oregon, Georgia, Alaska, Florida, Connecticut
, and other states.

A group from the Monterey Peninsula told Weigle that they were definitely interested, though funding was a problem, and suitable land was a big question. There was also an offer of land in Claremont, California, but competition with the other colleges there for students and financial contributions was a negative. The Riverside Mission Inn (in Riverside, California) was another possibility, but with only 5 acres (2.0 hectares) of land and many renovations needed to the inn, funding was again a major issue.

The three California locations were all still major contenders when Robert McKinney (publisher of The Santa Fe New Mexican and a former SJC board member) called and told Weigle that a group of city leaders had long been looking for another college for Santa Fe. During a lunch Weigle attended at John Gaw Meem's house on the outskirts of Santa Fe in late January 1961, Meem volunteered that he had a little piece of land (214 acres [87 hectares]) that he would gladly donate to the college. After lunch, Weigle looked at the land and instantly fell in love with it. A committee of four faculty members (Robert Bart, Barbara Leonard, Douglas Allanbrook, and William Darkey) later visited the four sites in contention and, after much deliberation, recommended Santa Fe.[21]

In 1961, the governing board of St. John's approved plans to establish a second college at Santa Fe. Groundbreaking occurred on April 22, 1963, and the first classes began in 1964. As it turned out, shortly afterwards land was also donated to the college on the Monterey Peninsula, on condition that a campus be developed there by a certain date.

Academics

Great Books program

The

Mortimer Adler in the mid-1930s as an alternative form of education to the then rapidly changing undergraduate curriculum. St. John's adopted the Great Books program in 1937, when the college was facing the possibility of financial and academic ruin. The Great Books program in use today was also heavily influenced by Jacob Klein
, who was dean of the college in the 1940s and 1950s.

The four-year program of study, nearly all of which is mandatory, requires that students read and discuss the works of many of Western civilization's most prominent contributors to philosophy, theology, mathematics, science, music, poetry, and literature. Tutorials (mathematics, language, and music), as well as seminar and laboratory, are discussion-based. In the mathematics tutorial students often demonstrate propositions that mathematicians throughout various ages have laid out. In the language tutorial student translations are presented (ancient Greek is studied in the first two years and French for the last two). The tutorials, with seminar and laboratory, constitute the classes. All classes, and in particular the seminar, are considered formal exercises; consequently, students address one another, as well as their teachers, by their honorific and last name during class.

St. John's avoids modern textbooks, lectures, and examinations, in favor of a series of manuals. While traditional (A to F) grades are given and provided on transcripts, the culture of the school de-emphasizes their importance and grades are released only at the request of the student. Grading is based largely on class participation and papers. Tutors, as faculty members are called at the college, play a non-directive role in the classroom, compared to mainstream colleges. However, at St. John's this varies by course and instructor. Class size is small on both campuses, with a student to tutor ratio of 7:1. Seminar is the largest class, with around 20 students, but led by two tutors. Daytime tutorials are smaller, typically ranging between 12 and 16 students and are led by one tutor. Preceptorials are the smallest class size, ranging between 3 and 9 students.[22]

The Program involves:

  • Four years of literature, philosophy, and political science in seminar
  • Four years of mathematics
  • Three years of laboratory science
  • Four years of language (Ancient Greek, Middle/Early English, and French)
  • Freshman year chorus followed by sophomore year music

The Great Books are not the only texts used at St. John's. Greek and French classes make use of supplemental materials that are more like traditional textbooks. Science laboratory courses and mathematics courses use manuals prepared by faculty members that combine source materials with workbook exercises. For example, the mathematics tutorial combines a 1905 paper by Albert Einstein with exercises that require the student to work through the mathematics used in the paper.[23]

Graduate Institute Liberal Arts program

The Graduate Institute in Liberal Education was established at St. John's College in 1967 as a summer program on the Santa Fe campus. The size and scope of the Institute have expanded so that currently both the Annapolis and Santa Fe campuses offer year-round graduate-level study based on the principles of the St. John's undergraduate program. Students in the Liberal Arts program explore the persisting questions of human existence by studying classic works of the western tradition. This program is organized into five semester-long thematic segments: Philosophy and Theology, Politics and Society, Literature, Mathematics and Natural Science, and History. Students earn a Master of Arts in Liberal Arts (MALA) by completing four of these five segments. A common curriculum provides the basis for a shared intellectual community; discussion with fellow students and faculty is the mode of learning both inside and outside the classroom. Each semester, students attend a seminar, a tutorial and a preceptorial—all carried out as small-group discussions under the guidance of St. John's faculty members. These three types of classes are the framework of the distinctive St. John's educational experience.

Eastern Classics program

At the Santa Fe campus, there is a program offering a

The Narrow Road to the Deep North and others. Students also take a language, either Sanskrit or Classical Chinese
.

Mitchell Art Museum

In 1989, with a generous gift from Elizabeth Myers Mitchell and her husband Carlton Mitchell (a well-known sailor), the college built a campus gallery, then known as the Elizabeth Myers Mitchell Art Gallery to present museum-quality exhibitions to the Greater Annapolis community. In 2014, the gallery achieved national accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums. In 2023, the name was changed to the Elizabeth Myers Mitchell Art Museum in celebration of the accreditation.

Rankings

In 2024, U.S. News & World Report ranked St. John’s #75 in National Liberal Arts Colleges, #35 in Best Value Schools, and #25 in Best Undergraduate Teaching[24] out of 211 Best National Liberal Arts Colleges.[25]

Campuses

Annapolis campus

St. John's is located in the Historic Annapolis district, one block away from the Maryland State Capitol building. Its proximity to the United States Naval Academy (across King George Street) has inspired many comparisons to Athens and Sparta. The two schools carry on a spirited rivalry seen in their annual croquet match on the front lawn of St. John's, which has been called by GQ "the purest intercollegiate athletic event in America." As of 2024 St. John's has won 32 of the 40 annual matches.[26] About the Johnnies' commitment to the event, one midshipman commented, "They're out practicing croquet every afternoon! Alabama should take football this seriously."[27]

Construction of McDowell Hall at the center of campus began in 1742 by Provincial

Lafayette and Washington to the unique St. John's institutions called waltz parties.[30]

Mellon Hall, constructed in 1958, was designed by noted architect Richard Neutra.

St. John's College Observatory

The observatory facility, located at the top of the Foucault pendulum tower in Mellon Hall, contains two permanently mounted telescopes, a 12"

Foucault Pendulum is located at the top of the four-story tower. The pendulum drive magnet is housed within a cast iron cone in the Observatory facility. The magnet is keyed to turn on and off as the pendulum swings by using technology such as a photoresistor that determine the center of the pendulum's swing.[31][32]

Santa Fe campus

Holi Celebration at Santa Fe Campus
St. John's College – Santa Fe, New Mexico
The Santa Fe campus of St. John's College, as seen from the slopes of Monte Luna
St. John's College (Annapolis/Santa Fe) is located in New Mexico
St. John's College (Annapolis/Santa Fe)
St. John's College (Annapolis/Santa Fe) is located in the United States
St. John's College (Annapolis/Santa Fe)
Location1160 Camino Cruz Blanca,
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Coordinates35°40′0″N 105°54′45″W / 35.66667°N 105.91250°W / 35.66667; -105.91250
NRHP reference No.15000495[33]
NMSRCP No.2013
Significant dates
Added to NRHPAugust 3, 2015
Designated NMSRCPApril 10, 2015

St. John's Santa Fe campus is located on the eastern edge of Santa Fe, close to Atalaya Mountain. It was opened in 1964 in response to the increase in qualified applicants at the Annapolis campus. The college chose to open a second campus rather than increase the size of the Annapolis campus. The second campus was part of a larger project to construct six campuses across the country. St. John's abandoned the concept when it later sold a tract of land it owned in Monterey, California.

Student body

Within the Class of 2022, 36 U.S. states and 15 countries are represented. Approximately 99% of students receive financial aid.[34] First-year undergraduate students range in age from 15 to 65. The student body is relatively small compared to other liberal arts colleges, with a population historically below 500 students on each campus during a year. The average ratio is 6 students for each professor. The college offers many community seminars and lectures that are available to the public.[35]

Admissions

St. John’s has been test optional for 40 years. While the Admissions Committee will assess traditional factors such academic record, grades, and any test scores provided, it evaluates applicants through admission essays and interviews.[36] In 2023, the college accepted 49.9% of applicants, with those admitted having an average 3.81 GPA and those submitting test scores having an average 1250-1460 SAT, or average 30-33 ACT, score.[37]

Notable people associated with St. John's

Main article: List of St. John's College (Annapolis/Santa Fe) people

See also

Notes

  1. Ultimate Frisbee
    teams.

References

  1. ^ As of March 7, 2022. U.S. and Canadian Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year 2021 Endowment Market Value and Change in Endowment Market Value from FY20 to FY21 (Report). National Association of College and University Business Officers and TIAA. 2022. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
  2. ^ a b Bruni, Frank (September 11, 2018). "The most contrarian college in America". The New York Times. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
  3. ^ "About St. John's College" (Press release). St. John's College. Archived from the original on October 4, 2013. Retrieved December 20, 2012.
  4. ^ Some historical accounts of the founding of King William's school and its subsequent establishment as St. John's college, together with biographical notices of the various presidents from 1790–1894, also of some of the representative alumni of the College (1894). Annapolis [Baltimore, Press of the Friedenwald co.] 1894. Retrieved October 2, 2014 – via Archive.org.
  5. ^ "Undergraduate Subjects: An Integrated Curriculum". www.sjc.edu. Archived from the original on February 6, 2021. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
  6. ^ "St. John's College Transcript Support" (PDF). St. John's College. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 26, 2023. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
  7. ^ "Liberal Arts College - Great Books Program | St. John's College". Sjc.edu. Retrieved December 24, 2016.
  8. ^ a b Tilghman, Tench Francis (1984). The Early History of St. John's College in Annapolis. Annapolis: St. John's College Press.
  9. ^ "The Council of Independent Colleges: Historic Campus Architecture Project". Hcap.artstor.org. February 20, 1909. Retrieved December 24, 2016.
  10. ^ "1784: The Year St. John's College Was Named". Maryland Historical Magazine. 74 (2): 133–51. June 1979.
  11. ^ Doyel, Ginger (April 2, 2003). "Annapolis, past to present: Military life at St. John's". The Capital. Archived from the original on June 28, 2013. Retrieved April 27, 2013.
  12. ^ "USNI Blog » Blog Archive » From Our Archive: The Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps by Capt. Chester W. Nimitz, USN 1928". Blog.usni.org. Retrieved December 24, 2016.
  13. ^ A Quiet Counterrevolution: St. John's College teaches the classics—and only the classics at the Wayback Machine (archived 2008-06-05)
  14. ISBN 978-1-58008-839-8
    .
  15. ^
    ISBN 0-89789-804-4
    .
  16. ^ "St. John's and Navy Facing Fight In Courts Over College's Campus", June 29, 1945, p. 17.
  17. ^ Smith, J. Winfree (1983). A Search for the Liberal College: The Beginning of the St. John's Program. Annapolis, MD: St. John's College Press.
  18. ^ ""Letter from Martin A. Dyer, Class of 1952, to St. John's Alumni", July 16, 2004". Archived from the original on November 3, 2005. Retrieved April 24, 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link), accessed July 26, 2007
  19. ^ "Richard Weigle, 80, Served as President Of St. John's College" (Obituary), The New York Times, December 17, 1992, p. B22.
  20. ^ "College Spawns College", Time Magazine, December 26, 1960, accessed April 28, 2007
  21. ^ "The Colonization of a College: The Beginnings and Early History of St. John's College in Santa Fe", by Richard D. Weigle, Fishergate Publishing Company (St. John's College Print Shop), Annapolis, 1985
  22. ^ "St. John's College | About | Quick Facts". Archived from the original on March 10, 2009. Retrieved June 18, 2009.
  23. ^ Harty, Rosemary (2005), Director of Communications, St. John's College, Annapolis, personal communication (Source details of non-Great-Books materials used at St. John's)
  24. ^ "St. John's College". usnews. U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
  25. ^ "National Liberal Arts Colleges Rankings". usnews.com. U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
  26. ^ "The Annapolis Cup – Croquet Match Fact Sheet". St. John's College. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
  27. ^ Multiple references:
  28. ASIN B0006BT5K4
    . Thomas Bladen subject:Maryland.
  29. ^ Winters, Wendi. "McDowell Hall, heart of St. John's College campus, gets a makeover". capitalgazette.com. Retrieved September 19, 2018.
  30. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on September 2, 2006. Retrieved September 16, 2006.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  31. ^ "St. John's College Observatory – About Us". Thucydides.sjca.edu. Retrieved December 24, 2016.
  32. ^ "St. John's College Foucault Pendulum". Thucydides.sjca.edu. Retrieved December 24, 2016.
  33. ^ "Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: August 3, 2015 through August 7, 2015". National Park Service. August 14, 2015. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  34. ^ Stringfellow, Johnnie. "St. John's College Freshman Class Profile". St. John's College Freshman Class Profile.
  35. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on February 7, 2006. Retrieved February 12, 2006.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  36. ^ "How to Apply to St. John's". sjc.edu. St. John’s College. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
  37. ^ "St John's Admission Requirements". collegesimply.com. CollegeSimply | U.S. Department of Education National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved March 4, 2024.

Further reading

External links

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