Jamestown College

Infobox University
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motto = "Your Success.
Our Tradition."
established = Start date|1883
type = Private Liberal Arts
affiliation = Presbyterian
endowment =
staff =
faculty =
president = Robert S. Badal
principal =
rector =
chancellor =
vice_chancellor =
dean = Gary Watts
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students = 1,024
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postgrad =
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city = Jamestown
state = ND
country = USA
coor = coord|46.914|-98.698|display=inline,title|type:edu
campus = Urban (110 acres)cite web |url=http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/college/items/2990 |title=Jamestown College - Best Colleges - Education - US News and World Report |publisher= US News and World Report |accessdate=2008-08-23 |work= USNews.com]
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free =
colors = Orange and Black color box|#ff7d44 color box|black
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mascot = Knight
nickname = Jimmies
affiliations = DAC; NAIA
website = [http://www.jc.edu/ www.jc.edu]

Jamestown College is a private liberal arts college affiliated with the Presbyterian Church located in Jamestown, North Dakota. It has about 1,000 students enrolled today and has been co-educational from its founding.

For the 2008–09 school year, US News and World Report ranked Jamestown College 43rd among the best undergraduate colleges in the Midwest. This is the second consecutive year that Jamestown has been named a "Tier 1" college; in 2007, it became the first North Dakota college or university to make the top tier of the list. [cite web |url=http://www.jc.edu/campus/press/UsNews07.php |title=US News and World Report moves Jamestown College to top tier |accessdate=2007-10-31 |date=2007-08-17 |work=Jamestown College]

History

Jamestown College was founded in 1883, but closed fairly quickly during the depression of 1893. The school reopened in 1909 and has remained in operation ever since.

Jamestown College has been notable for three things: its athletics, its science and nursing programs, and its choir. In 1979, the Jamestown College football team went to the NAIA Division 3 National Championships. [cite web |url=http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/naia/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/ChampionshipRecords.pdf |title=NAIA Football Championship History |accessdate=2008-07-17 |work=naia.org |publisher=National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics |date=2008-01-03 ] Jamestown's pre-medical students have long-standing tradition of higher than average medical school acceptance rates.

In 1972 the college's choir—directed by Richard Harrison Smith and for decades one of the top small-college choirs in the United States—became the first American choir to sing at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France, an honor they repeated four more times during the 1970s and 1980s. The choir continues to tour internationally every four years, with their most recent tour in May 2006 to Italy where the choir received the honor of singing at the main altar of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

1980s: Low Ebb

In the mid-1980s, a difficult farm economy, along with alleged mismanagement by several former college administration officials, led the college into difficult times; in 1986, the school graduated 92 students, had a full-time enrollment of only 500 students, and reportedly came within 24 hours of closing its doors. A few 11th-hour donations and some radical restructuring brought the college back from the brink. The fundraising charge was led by Marvin E. Seibold ('56) and R.G. "Bob" Lyngstad who formed the "Committee of 100"—a group of 100 donors who each gave $10,000 to keep the College open.

Renaissance

Today, after nearly twenty years of aggressive fundraising, the school has nearly triple the students, and has been able to embark on a large building program to replace some of the buildings, which in many cases date from the college's original heyday in the 1920s.

The $30 million capital campaign to finance both this new construction and a larger scholarship base recently surpassed its goal several months ahead of its self-imposed 2008 deadline. [cite web |url=http://alumni.jc.edu/news/10666/Jamestown-College-announces-largest-benefactor.htm |title=Jamestown College announces largest benefactor |accessdate=2008-05-12 |date=2007-10-19 |work=Jamestown College Alumni & Friends]

Recent Developments

Jamestown College has recently added many new buildings to the campus:
* renovations to the nursing program building, featuring a state of the art simulated Intensive Care Unit.
* the Unruh and Sheldon Center, home to the college's Business, Accounting and Economics, and Computer Science and Information Technology departments. This building is one of the most wired and high-tech buildings in the midwest; construction of the $5 million facility was completed in the summer of 2006 using gifts from Jim Unruh and Agnes (Sheldon) Griffin.
* the Ed and Elaine Nafus Student Center, including a two-story atrium entrance, an open commons area for students, a new coffee lounge, and full handicap-accessibility.
* an expansion of the Larson Center gymnasium and indoor track facility.
* the Foss Wellness Center, a modern student wellness and physical education center.
* the Student Media Center, featuring a studio, control room, and the Kurt Schork Newsroom, an integrated center for video, audio, and print media production.

A recent addition to the JC curriculum as of the 2006-07 school year is the "Character in Leadership" program, giving entering freshmen the ability to receive a minor in leadership.cite web |url=http://www.jc.edu/character_leader/index.php |title=Character in Leadership at Jamestown College |accessdate=2008-05-12 |year=2006 |work=Jamestown College]

The Jamestown Journey to Success

In 2007, Jamestown announced the Journey to Success, a new program targeted at preparing students for rapidly changing environments. The program has five elements: a combination of liberal arts education and professional preparation, more personalized advising and career counseling, first-year student mentors, a proven placement service and guaranteed internships, and finally, guaranteed graduation in four years.cite web |url=http://www.jc.edu/journey/index.php |title=Jamestown Journey To Success |accessdate=2008-02-06 |date=2007-11-07 |work=Jamestown College]

Notable Alumni

* Alvin Plantinga (1950), John A. O'Brien Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame. Author and renowned philosopher in the areas of religion, epistemology, and metaphysics.
* Richard K. Armey (1962), former U.S. Representative from Texas and House Majority Leader
* Kurt Schork (1969), reporter and war correspondent for Reuters.
* Barbara McClintock (1976), award-winning illustrator of children's books;
* Louis L'Amour (1972: Honorary PhD), internationally-renowned Western author;
* Carol Jolin (1975), musician, recording artist, and former arranger and conductor for Bobby Vinton and Barry Manilow;
* Mick Wagner (1975), renowned choral arranger and nationally-known jazz DJ.Incidentally, McClintock, Jolin and Wagner were all members of the award-winning Jamestown College Concert Choir at the same time.

Notable Faculty

Current Faculty

* Larry Woiwode, accomplished author and poet, serving as Poet Laureate of the State of North Dakota since 1995
* J. Aaron McDermid, director of the Concert Choir since 2006 and prominent composer of a cappella choir music

Former Faculty

* Richard Harrison Smith, director of the Concert Choir from 1969 to 1999, during which time it was the first American choir to sing at Paris' Cathedral of Notre Dame and an acclaimed writer and arranger of modern choral music
* Robert Scriba, one of the country's leading authorities on Asian theatre and music
* James Edwards, notable theologian, author of five books, four New Testament commentaries, and contributing editor of "Christianity Today"

Notes

External links

* [http://www.jc.edu/ Jamestown College]