Hiram College ( ) is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

liberal arts college in Hiram, Ohio. It was founded in 1850 as the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute by

Amos Sutton Hayden Amos Sutton Hayden (September 17, 1813 in Youngstown, Ohio – September 10, 1880) was an American Restoration Movement preacher, hymn composer, writer, and educator. He wrote the Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve, Ohio' in 18 ...

and other members of the Disciples of Christ Church. The college is nonsectarian and coeducational. It is accredited by the

Higher Learning Commission The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) is an institutional accreditor in the United States. It has historically accredited post-secondary education institutions in the central United States: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa ...

. Hiram's most famous alumnus is

James A. Garfield James Abram Garfield (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881) was the 20th president of the United States, serving from March 4, 1881 until his death six months latertwo months after he was shot by an assassin. A lawyer and Civil War gene ...

, who served as a college instructor and principal before he was elected the 20th

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

History

On June 12, 1849, representatives of the Disciples of Christ voted to establish an academic institution, which would later become Hiram College. On November 7 that year, they chose the village of Hiram as the site for the school because the founders considered this area of the

Western Reserve The Connecticut Western Reserve was a portion of land claimed by the Colony of Connecticut and later by the state of Connecticut in what is now mostly the northeastern region of Ohio. The Reserve had been granted to the Colony under the terms o ...

to be "healthful and free of distractions". The following month, on December 20, the founders accepted the suggestion of Isaac Errett and named the school the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute. The institute's original charter was authorized by the state legislature on March 1, 1850, and the school opened several months later, on November 27. Many of the students came from the surrounding farms and villages of the Western Reserve, but Hiram soon gained a national reputation and students began arriving from other states. On February 20, 1867, the Institute incorporated as a college and changed its name to Hiram College. During the years before it was renamed Hiram College, 1850–1867, the school had seven principals, the equivalent of today's college presidents. The two that did the most in establishing and defining the nature of the institution were Disciple minister Amos Sutton Hayden, who led the school through its first six years, and James A. Garfield, who had been a student at the institute from 1851 to 1853 and then returned in 1856 as a teacher. As principal, Garfield expanded the institute's curriculum. He left the Institute in 1861 and in 1880 was elected the 20th President of the United States. In 1870, one of Garfield's best friends and former students, Burke A. Hinsdale, was appointed Hiram's president. Although there were two before him, Hinsdale is considered the college's first permanent president because the others served only briefly. The next president to have a major impact on the college was Ely V. Zollars, who increased enrollment significantly, established a substantial endowment and created a program for the construction of campus buildings. Later presidents who served for at least 10 years were Miner Lee Bates, Kenneth I. Brown, Paul H. Fall, Elmer Jagow, and G. Benjamin Oliver. In 1931, shortly before Hiram celebrated the 100th anniversary of Garfield's birth, there was a debate in the community about changing the name of the school to Garfield College. There were strong advocates on both sides of the issue. Among the 2,000 guests at the centennial celebration were three generations of Garfield's family, including two of his sons. The idea of changing the college's name was not mentioned at the event and the idea was abandoned.

Principals and presidents

The following is a list of the school's leaders since its founding in 1850.

Principals (Western Reserve Eclectic Institute)

*1850–1856 –

*1857–1861 –

*1861–1864 – Harvey W. Everest (Pro Tem) *1864–1865 – C. W. Heywood (acting) *1865–1866 – Adoniram J. Thomson (managing) *1866–1867 – John M. Atwater

Presidents (Hiram College)

*1867–1868 – Silas E. Shepard (acting) *1868–1870 – John M. Atwater (acting) *1870–1882 – Burke A. Hinsdale *1883–1887 – George M. Laughlin *1887–1888 – Colman Bancroft (acting) *1888–1902 – Ely V. Zollars *1902–1903 – James A. Beattie *1903–1905 – Edmund B. Wakefield (acting) *1905–1907 – Carlos C. Rowlison *1907–1930 – Miner Lee Bates *1930–1940 – Kenneth I. Brown *1940–1957 – Paul H. Fall *1957–1965 – Paul F. Sharp *1965–1965 – James N. Primm *1966–1966 – Wendell G. Johnson (acting) *1966–1985 – Elmer Jagow *1986–1989 – Russell Aiuto *1989–1989 – James Norton (interim) *1990–2000 – G. Benjamin Oliver *2000–2002 – Richard J. Scaldini *2003–2014 – Thomas V. Chema *2014–2020 – Lori E. Varlotta *2020–present - David P. Haney

Academics

As of the 2019–20 academic year, Hiram's student body consists of 1,116 undergraduates from 27 states and 11 foreign countries. Of the 81 full–time faculty, 95% hold a Ph.D. or other terminal degree in their field. Hiram specializes in the education of undergraduate students, though the college does have a small graduate program. Hiram confers the BA, BSN, and MA degrees. The college offers 33 majors and 40 minors for traditional undergraduates, in addition to pre-professional programs for specific fields. Interdisciplinary studies have also been a part of Hiram's

curriculum In education, a curriculum (; : curricula or curriculums) is broadly defined as the totality of student experiences that occur in the educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view ...

for decades. Hiram's curriculum requires all students to complete one course in each of nine academic areas: creative methods, interpretive methods, modeling methods, experimental scientific methods, social and cultural analysis, experiencing the world, understanding diversity at home, interdisciplinary, and ethics and social responsibility. Its education plan also includes international study and

independent study Independent study is a form of education offered by many high schools, colleges, and other educational institutions. It is sometimes referred to as ''directed study'', and is an educational activity undertaken by an individual with little to no supe ...

opportunities, and faculty–guided research projects. Currently, almost all majors require some form of extensive independent project or apprenticeship experience. Hiram's academic program consists of five schools: Arts, Humantities & Culture; Business & Communication; Education, Civil Leadership & Social Change; Health & Medical Humanities; and Science & Technology. The college's curriculum is currently marketed under the name Hiram Connect, which involves four steps: First Year Colloquium/Foundations of the Liberal Arts, Declaration of Major, Experiential Learning, and a Capstone Project. Hiram has five "Centers of Distinction" for interdisciplinary studies: Center for Integrated Entrepreneurship, Center for Scientific Engagement, Center for Literature and Medicine, Garfield Institute for Public Leadership, and Lindsay-Crane Center for Writing and Literature.

Rankings

Hiram was ranked #167 among National Liberal Arts Colleges by '' U.S. News & World Report'' in 2012. At the same time, Hiram is currently ranked #67 among Liberal Arts Colleges by ''

Washington Monthly ''Washington Monthly'' is a bimonthly, nonprofit magazine of United States politics and government that is based in Washington, D.C. The magazine is known for its annual ranking of American colleges and universities, which serves as an alterna ...

''. Also, in 2018, ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

'' ranked Hiram at #644 among all colleges and universities in the U.S, and #29 in

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. Hiram has regularly been included in ''

The Princeton Review The Princeton Review is an education services company providing tutoring, test preparation and admission resources for students. It was founded in 1981. and since that time has worked with over 400 million students. Services are delivered by 4,0 ...

'' Best Colleges guide, and is one of only 40 schools included in

Loren Pope Loren Brooks Pope (July 13, 1910 – September 23, 2008) was an American writer and educational consultant, best known for his book, ''Colleges That Change Lives''. He was also the education editor of ''The New York Times.'' Background Bo ...

's book ''

Colleges That Change Lives ''Colleges That Change Lives'' began as a college educational guide first published in 1996 by Loren Pope. Colleges That Change Lives (CTCL) was founded in 1998 is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) based on Pope's book. The book ''Colleges That Change Live ...

''. Hiram is a member of the

Annapolis Group The Annapolis Group is an American organization of independent liberal arts colleges. It represents approximately 130 liberal arts colleges in the United States. These colleges work together to promote a greater understanding of the goals of a lib ...

, which has been critical of the college rankings process. Hiram is among the signatories of the ''Presidents Letter''.

Student life

Athletics

The school's sports teams are called the Terriers. They participate in

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletic scholarships to their st ...

and the

North Coast Athletic Conference The North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) is an NCAA Division III athletic conference composed of colleges located in Ohio and Indiana. When founded in 1984, the league was a pioneer in gender equality, offering competition in a then-unprecede ...

. In men's volleyball, a sport not sponsored by the NCAC, Hiram competes in the

Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference The Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. Member institutions are located in the northeastern United States in the states of New York and Pennsylvania. ...

. The Hiram College basketball team won the gold medal in the collegiate division of the 1904 Summer Olympics in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

. It was the first time that basketball was part of an Olympics; it was included as a demonstration sport and no foreign teams participated. The

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...

held their training camp at Hiram College from 1952 through 1974, making it the longest–tenured training site in the team's history. The 2014 Hiram vs. Mount St. Joseph women's basketball game was named the Best Moment at the

2015 ESPY Awards The 2015 ESPY Awards was the annual ESPY Awards held annually with 32 awards in total being handed out, honoring the best in sports. They were presented on July 15, 2015 and hosted by actor and comedian Joel McHale from the Microsoft Theater in D ...

. The game featured terminally ill Mount St. Joseph player Lauren Hill in the first of her four college games, which set the all-time attendance record for an NCAA women's game below the Division I level.

Residence life

The college's residential complexes include Booth-Centennial, East Hall, Whitcomb Hall, Miller Hall, Bowler Hall, and the Townhouses.

Student clubs and organizations

Student Senate is the elected student governing body of the college. It serves as a liaison between students and the school's administration, and oversees all student clubs and organizations, collectively called the Associated Student Organizations (ASO). The Kennedy Center Programming Board (KCPB) falls under the auspices of Student Senate, and is responsible for planning educational, social, recreational, and cultural programs. Hiram has close to 70 registered student clubs and organizations in eight categories: Academic, Greek Social, Musical, Political and Activism, Publications and Communications, Religious, Special Interest and Service, and Sports and Recreation. Fraternities and sororities are not permitted on campus, but there are six Greek social clubs: Delta Chi Lambda, Kappa Sigma Pi, Lambda Lambda Lambda, Phi Beta Gamma, Phi Gamma Epsilon, Phi Kappa Chi, and Greek Social. Since 1971, Hiram has maintained a chapter of

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...

, the national honor society for the liberal arts. The school has also had a chapter of Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK), a national leadership honor society, since 1962.

Notable alumni and faculty

Statue of James Garfield (Hiram College)

* Jean Ankeney – politician, nurse *

Edna Allyn Edna Isabel Allyn (April 5, 1861 – June 7, 1927) was the first librarian of the Hawaii State Library. Early life and education Allyn was born on April 15, 1861, in Wellington, Ohio. Allyn graduated from Hiram College in 1882 and became a p ...

– first librarian of the

Hawaii State Library The Hawaii State Library is a historic building in Honolulu, Hawaii, that serves as the seat of the Hawaii State Public Library System, the only statewide library system and one of the largest in the United States. The Hawaii State Library buil ...

Miner Searle Bates Miner Searle Bates (Chinese name: Bei Deshi , 贝德士) (born 1897, Newark, Ohio; died 1978, New York) was educated at numerous prestigious institutions such as the University of Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar; Yale University, where he ear ...

– historian, and college professor and administrator * Laura Bell – author *

Robert Biscup Robert S. Biscup (born June 4, 1952) is an American orthopaedic surgeon. Biscup's work includes developments in major reconstructive spine surgery, failed spine surgery, and minimally invasive spine surgery, including laser microsurgery and micr ...

– orthopaedic surgeon *

Howard Junior Brown Dr. Howard Brown (April 15, 1924 – February 1, 1975) was a founder of the National Gay Task Force (now the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force) and a New York City Health Services Administrator who helped change the image of gay men and lesbian ...

– physician, gay rights advocate *

Henry Lawrence Burnett Henry Lawrence Burnett (December 26, 1838 – January 4, 1916) was an American lawyer and, after serving as a major in the Cavalry Corps (Union Army), he was a colonel and Judge Advocate in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He wa ...

– lawyer * Allen R. Bushnell – U.S. Representative * Russell L. Caldwell – historian and college professor *

James Anson Campbell James Anson Campbell (September 11, 1854 – September 20, 1933) was an American business leader known for his role as chairman of Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company, one of the largest regional steel-production firms in the United States. Cam ...

– industrialist *

Sharon Creech Sharon Creech (born July 29, 1945) is an American writer of children's novels. She was the first American winner of the Carnegie Medal for British children's books and the first person to win both the American Newbery Medal and the British C ...

– author * Martha Derthick – academic * Fritz Dreisbach – artist * Virginia Fraser – elder rights activist *

– 20th President of the United States * Lucretia Rudolph Garfield – First Lady of the United States *

Franklin L. Gilson Franklin Leander Gilson (October 22, 1846June 7, 1892) was an American politician and jurist. He was the 32nd Speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly, and for the last two years of his life, he was judge of the Milwaukee Superior Court. Earlier ...

– jurist and politician * Osee M. Hall – U.S. Representative * Pamela Helming - New York State Senator *

Ammon Hennacy Ammon Ashford Hennacy (1893–1970) was an American Christian pacifist, anarchist, social activist, member of the Catholic Worker Movement, and Wobbly. He established the Joe Hill House of Hospitality in Salt Lake City, Utah, and practiced tax ...

– Christian pacifist, anarchist, and member of the

Catholic Worker Movement The Catholic Worker Movement is a collection of autonomous communities of Catholics and their associates founded by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin in the United States in 1933. Its aim is to "live in accordance with the justice and charity of Jesus ...

* David Brendan Hopes – author, playwright, and poet * Jan Hopkins – anchor, CNNfn *

Deborah Joseph Deborah A. Joseph is an American computer scientist known for her research in computational geometry, computational biology, and computational complexity theory. She is a professor emeritus of computer science at the University of Wisconsin–Ma ...

– computer scientist *

John Samuel Kenyon John Samuel Kenyon (July 26, 1874 – September 6, 1959) was an American linguist. Born in Medina, Ohio, he graduated from Hiram College in 1898 and taught there as a professor of English from 1916 to 1944, when he retired and became an emer ...

– linguist *

Frank Laporte Frank Breyfogle Laporte (February 6, 1880 – September 25, 1939) was an American baseball player. Biography Born in Uhrichsville, Ohio, he began his major league career with the New York Highlanders (present day New York Yankees) in 190 ...

– Major League baseball player, second baseman *

Vachel Lindsay Nicholas Vachel Lindsay (; November 10, 1879 – December 5, 1931) was an American poet. He is considered a founder of modern ''singing poetry,'' as he referred to it, in which verses are meant to be sung or chanted. Early years Lindsay was bor ...

– poet *

Lance Liotta Lance A. Liotta (born July 12, 1947) is the co-director and co-founder of the Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine (CAPMM) at George Mason University. His research team was the first to propose the existence of the autocrine moti ...

– cancer biologist * J. Kevin McMahon – President and CEO,

Pittsburgh Cultural Trust The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust (PCT) is a nonprofit arts organization formed in 1984 to promote economic and cultural development in Downtown Pittsburgh. The "Trust" has focused its work on a 14-square block section called the Cultural District, w ...

* Louis Mink – philosopher of history and college professor *

Horace Ladd Moore Horace Ladd Moore (February 25, 1837 – May 1, 1914) was a U.S. Representative from Kansas. Moore was born in Mantua, Ohio and attended the common schools and the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute in Hiram, Ohio. He moved to Lawrence, Kans ...

– U.S. Representative * Wendy Murray – journalist * Carol Z. Perez – U.S. Ambassador to

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

* Augustus Herman Pettibone – U.S. Representative *

Benjamin D. Pritchard Benjamin Dudley Pritchard (January 29, 1835 – November 26, 1907) was a United States Army officer, most known for leading the Union cavalry regiment which captured the fugitive Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of Ameri ...

–

Brevetted In many of the world's military establishments, a brevet ( or ) was a warrant giving a commissioned officer a higher rank title as a reward for gallantry or meritorious conduct but may not confer the authority, precedence, or pay of real rank. ...

Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

* Dean A. Scarborough – chief executive officer of Avery Dennison Corporation *

Platt Rogers Spencer Platt Rogers Spencer (also Platt R. Spencer) (November 7, 1800 – May 16, 1864) was the originator of Spencerian penmanship, a popular system of cursive handwriting. He was a teacher and active in the business school movement. Early life Sp ...

– originator, Spencarian penmanship * Mark W. Spong – roboticist *

Michael Stanley Michael Stanley (born Michael Stanley Gee; March 25, 1948 – March 5, 2021) was an American singer-songwriter, musician, radio and television personality. Both as a solo artist and with the Michael Stanley Band (MSB), his brand of heartland r ...

– singer–songwriter, musician, and radio personality *

Claude Steele Claude Mason Steele (born January 1, 1946) is a social psychologist and emeritus professor at Stanford University, where he is the I. James Quillen Endowed Dean, Emeritus at the Stanford Graduate School of Education, and Lucie Stern Professor i ...

– social psychologist, college professor, and college administrator *

Howard F. Taylor Howard Francis Taylor (born 1939) is an American sociologist and Professor of Sociology Emeritus at Princeton University, where he was formerly the director of the African-American Studies program. He is known for his 1980 book ''The IQ Game'', in ...

– sociologist * Emma Rood Tuttle — writer, poet *

Allyn Vine Allyn C. Vine (1914–1994) was a physicist and oceanographer who was a leader in developing crewed submersible vessels to explore the deep sea. Projects * Major contributor to redesigning the Bathythermograph during World War II. His version c ...

– physicist and oceanographer * P. H. Welshimer – minister *

Tom Wesselmann Thomas K. Wesselmann (February 23, 1931 – December 17, 2004) was an American artist associated with the Pop Art movement who worked in painting, collage and sculpture. Early years Wesselmann was born in Cincinnati. From 1949 to 1951 he atte ...

– artist * John J. Whitacre – U.S. Representative * Bill White –

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

player and broadcaster; President,

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

Dempster Woodworth Dempster William Woodworth (May 25, 1844 – November 29, 1922) was an American physician, newspaper editor, and politician. Born in Windham, Portage County, Ohio, Woodworth was educated in the public schools. He went to Hiram College. In 1 ...

– editor, politician and physician * Laurin D. Woodworth – U.S. Representative *

Harold Bell Wright Harold Bell Wright (May 4, 1872 – May 24, 1944) was a best-selling American writer of fiction, essays, and nonfiction. Although mostly forgotten or ignored after the middle of the 20th century, he had a very successful career; he is said to hav ...

– author *

Allyn Abbott Young Allyn Abbott Young (September 19, 1876 – March 7, 1929) was an American economist. He was born into a middle-class family in Kenton, Ohio. He died aged 52 in London, his life cut short by pneumonia during an influenza epidemic. He was then at ...

– economist

References

External links

Official website

Official athletics website
{{authority control Private universities and colleges in Ohio *Hiram College Universities and colleges affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Educational institutions established in 1850 Buildings and structures in Portage County, Ohio Western Reserve, Ohio