Swarthmore College

Swarthmore College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the United States. It is highly selective and is considered to be one of the country's top liberal arts colleges. All of its approximately 1,500 students are undergraduates. Swarthmore is located in the borough of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, around 11 miles (17.7km) southwest of Philadelphia. The school was founded in 1864 by the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Quakers. Swarthmore dropped its religious affiliation and became officially non-sectarian in the early 20th century. However, strong Quaker influences remain, including the tradition of holding "collections," a strong focus on the college as a community, and weekly Quaker services at the local Quaker meetinghouse, which is located on campus. The college has been coeducational since its founding.

Clubs and organizations

There are 100 registered clubs and organizations at Swarthmore, in addition to many other unregistered groups. Among these are the honor societies: Phi Beta Kappa for general academia, Tau Beta Pi for engineering, and Sigma Xi for science. There are also several religious organizations on campus, including the Muslim Students Association, Swarthmore Christian Fellowship, Catholic Student Community, and the Swarthmore Protestant Community. There is also the Swarthmore Young Friends, a Quaker organization, and Ruach, a student run Jewish group.

Related Topics:
Phi Beta Kappa - Academia - Tau Beta Pi - Jewish

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There are several well known ethnic/cultural organizations. The most famous of these is the Swarthmore African American Students Society, formally the Swarthmore Afro-American Students Society. This organization, known as SASS, was deeply involved in the American Civil Rights Movement. Other notable organizations of the type include the Swarthmore Asian Association, the Swarthmore African Student Association (SASA), and Students of Caribbean Ancestry (SCA). In addition, there is DESHI (South Asian), Enlace (Latino), Multi (multicultural), and Swarthmore Asian Organization (SAO) (Asian/Asian-American). Other cultural groups on campus include Swarthmore Queer Union, Colors (a group for queer students of color), the International Club, Russian Cultural Club, Native American Student Organization (NASO), and ADVICE (a multicultural group; the name stands for "Advocating Diversity and Various Ideologies in a Campus Environment"). One of the College's most offbeat groups is the Swarthmore Warders of Imaginative Literature (SWIL), the sci-fi and fantasy club. Among the college's oldest organizations is the Amos J. Peaslee Debate Society, endowed by and named for Swarthmore alumnus and former ambassador to Australia Amos J. Peaslee.

Related Topics:
American Civil Rights Movement - South Asia - Latino - Asia - Asian-American - Swarthmore Warders of Imaginative Literature - Amos J. Peaslee Debate Society - Amos J. Peaslee

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At present Swarthmore has 2 fraternities, Delta Upsilon and Phi Psi, the latter of which renounced its national affiliation in the 60's in order to admit black students. Swarthmore's sororities were abolished in 1935.

Related Topics:
Delta Upsilon - Phi Psi

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Swarthmore is also known as a center of social and political activism. Two groups, the Swarthmore Coalition for the Digital Commons, now known as Free Culture Swarthmore, and Why War? were involved in a 2003 lawsuit and civil disobedience campaign against Diebold in connection with flawed e-voting machines. In addition to the College Democrats and College Republicans, there is also a campus Amnesty International chapter, Students Against the Occupation, Im Tirtzu (a two-state Zionist group), the Animal Rights Coalition, Swarthmore Voices for Choice, Conscious Consumers, and the Swarthmore Living Wage and Democracy Campaign. Other groups include the Queer-Straight Alliance, Earthlust (an environmentalist group), Feminist Majority, the Swarthmore Political Action Committee, and the founding chapter of the Genocide Intervention Fund. Swarthmore's political landscape is generally considered fairly left-wing.

Related Topics:
Activism - Swarthmore Coalition for the Digital Commons - Free Culture Swarthmore - Why War? - Diebold - E-voting - College Democrats - College Republicans - Amnesty International - Genocide Intervention Fund - Left-wing

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There are several musical groups on campus. Music department sponsored ensembles include the College Orchestra (usually about 50 members), Chorus (usually around 80 members), Wind Ensemble, Gamelan, Jazz Band and the well-endowed Fetter Chamber Music Program, which provides coaching for many student quartets, trios and other small ensembles. There are many a cappella groups on campus, including Sixteen Feet (all-men and the college's oldest), Mixed Company (coed), Oscar and Emily (jazz), Grapevine (all-women), Sticks and Stones (coed), Chaverim (Tri-college coed Jewish music), Cantatrix (sacred, medieval and renaissance music), and Essence of Soul (coed African diaspora music). There is also a Gospel Choir.

Related Topics:
Sixteen Feet - Mixed Company - Jazz

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