Green Mountain College was a private liberal arts college in

Poultney, Vermont Poultney is a town in Rutland County in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Vermont. New York state is on its western border. Castleton, Vermont, is on its northern border. Poultney was home to Green Mountain College, a private liberal a ...

, at the foot of the Taconic Mountains between the

Green Mountains The Green Mountains are a mountain range in the U.S. state of Vermont. The range runs primarily south to north and extends approximately from the border with Massachusetts to the border with Quebec, Canada. The part of the same range that is i ...

and

Adirondacks The Adirondack Mountains (; a-də-RÄN-dak) form a massif in northeastern New York with boundaries that correspond roughly to those of Adirondack Park. They cover about 5,000 square miles (13,000 km2). The mountains form a roughly circular d ...

. The college was affiliated with the

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelical ...

and offered a liberal arts undergraduate education with a focus on the environment, and some graduate degrees. For part of its history it was a women's college. It was founded in 1834 and closed at the end of the 2018–19 academic year.

History

Green Mountain was founded in 1834 as Troy Conference Academy, a coeducational Methodist institution. It opened in 1837. In 1863, during a period of private operation, it became Ripley Female College; in 1874 it reopened as a Methodist college, again as Troy Conference Academy. In 1937 it was renamed Green Mountain Junior College. Green Mountain became a two-year junior college for women in 1943. In 1974, the school changed its name to Green Mountain College and returned to coeducational status, offering four-year baccalaureate degrees. In the late 1990s the college began to focus on environmental literacy and citizenship.

Closure

On January 23, 2019, Green Mountain's President, Robert W. Allen, announced that, despite a 2018 loan from the

Department of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister ...

Rural Development Community Facilities Programs, the college had insufficient income to continue and would close that summer, at the end of the academic year. Arizona's

Prescott College Prescott College is a private college in Prescott, Arizona. History In 1965, the Ford Foundation brought together a group of educators from around the United States. Prescott College was the result of this gathering. The college was originall ...

— which also focuses on the environment and sustainability — agreed to allow Green Mountain students to complete their degrees at Prescott. Prescott also said it would maintain the college's student records and hire some Green Mountain faculty. There were approximately 430 students when the college closed. The campus was offered for sale and then at auction. In 2020 entrepreneur

Raj Bhakta Raj Peter Bhakta (born 1975) is an American entrepreneur, spirits industry executive, real estate investor and former media and political personality. In 2004, Bhakta was a contestant on the second season of the reality show ''The Apprentice''. H ...

purchased the former Green Mountain campus for $4.5 million.

Academics

Green Mountain College's core courses were known as the Environmental Liberal Arts curriculum, in environmental and natural sciences, writing, reading, history and philosophy. The college offered 23 undergraduate majors and the following graduate degrees: MBA in Sustainable Business; MS in Environmental Studies; MS in Sustainable Food Systems; and MS in Resilient and Sustainable Communities. It was part of the

Eco League The EcoLeague is a six-college consortium consisting of Alaska Pacific University in Anchorage, Alaska; Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin; New College of Florida in Sarasota, Florida; Prescott College in Prescott, Arizona; College of the A ...

, a group of liberal arts colleges committed to environmental sustainability.

Progressive program

GMC offered an educational track known as the Progressive Program. Based on the ideas of philosopher

John Dewey John Dewey (; October 20, 1859 – June 1, 1952) was an American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. He was one of the most prominent American scholars in the fi ...

and formed on a philosophy similar to that of Goddard College, a Vermont institution recognized for its dedication to progressive education, the students in the program defined their own education goals and worked with faculty members individually to meet them.

Green campus

In 2007, the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education awarded Green Mountain College the Campus Sustainability Leadership Award in the "Under 1,000" category. The award recognizes Green Mountain for commitment to environmental sustainability in its governance and administration, curriculum and research, operations, campus culture, and community outreach. GMC was also named the Sierra Club's #1 Cool School for 2018. Green Mountain was named an EPA Energy Star Showcase Campus following campus-wide retrofitting of light fixtures. Students installed a wind turbine to power the campus greenhouse and solar panels on the roof of the student center. On April 22, 2010, GMC formally opened a new combined heat and power biomass plant costing $5.8m. Through the Student Campus Greening Fund every GMC student contributed $30 from the college activities fee. Students designed projects and submitted proposals. Awards were based on a student vote. SCGF money was used to install bike racks, purchase recycling bins, use bio-diesel in campus maintenance equipment, and upgrade the alternative energy systems that powered the farm greenhouse.

Student clubs

According to the college, its choral group was the only collegiate choir in the United States with a repertoire of Welsh language music.

Notable alumni

* Amsale Aberra – Ethiopian-born American fashion designer and entrepreneur *

William Duell Darwin William Duell (born George William Duell; August 30, 1923 – December 22, 2011) was an American actor and singer. He was known for his roles as Andrew McNair in the musical ''1776'', Jim Sefelt in the 1975 film '' One Flew Over the Cuc ...

– actor and singer *

Burton D. Esmond Burton Deyoe Esmond (February 8, 1870 – January 11, 1944) was an American lawyer and politician from New York. Life Esmond was born on February 8, 1870, in Tomhannock, New York, the son of Deyoe Esmond and Mary Larmon. Esmond graduated from ...

– lawyer and New York assemblyman * Richie Grant – soccer coach * Anna Katharine Green – novelist and poet * Edward H. Ripley – businessman and Union Army officer in the Civil War * William Y. W. Ripley – Union Army officer in the Civil War and recipient of the Medal of Honor * George E. Royce – businessman and banker