Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts

File:MCLA-MurdockHall.jpg

MCLA was founded in 1894 as "North Adams Normal School", and it offered first instruction at post-secondary level three years later. By 1897, the Normal School enrolled 32 students (29 women, 3 men) and employed 4 teachers. In 1932, North Adams Normal School became "State Teachers College of North Adams", added an upper-division curriculum, and started awarding bachelor's degrees. In 1936, it instituted graduate program. In 1960, it changed its name to "North Adams State College" and, in 1997, to "Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts", reflecting its position as the public liberal arts college within the Massachusetts state university system.

In 2004, President Mary Grant led in the creation of the Berkshire Compact for Higher Education and MCLA Gallery 51.{{cite web |url=http://www.mcla.edu/About_MCLA/Community/bcrc/mclagallery51/about/ |title=About MCLA | MCLA G51 About |access-date=2010-12-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101123092127/http://www.mcla.edu/About_MCLA/Community/bcrc/mclagallery51/about/ |archive-date=2010-11-23 }} MCLA also is the lead partner in the Berkshire STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Pipeline Network.

In 2008, the Massachusetts Higher Education Bond Bill included $54.5 million for a new Center for Science and Innovation at MCLA. It opened in 2013 as the Feigenbaum Center for Science and Innovation.{{cite web|url=http://www.mcla.edu/About_MCLA/centerforscienceandinnovation/|title=Feigenbaum Center For Science and Innovation|access-date=2015-12-14|archive-date=2015-12-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151220131841/http://www.mcla.edu/About_MCLA/centerforscienceandinnovation/|url-status=live}}

In 2014, Grant left the college and Cynthia F. Brown was appointed Interim President. Although Greg Summers was initially named the new president, he later withdrew his acceptance, citing family health concerns.{{cite web |url=http://www.berkshireeagle.com/local/ci_27824094/incoming-mcla-president-bows-out-citing-family-health |title=MCLA presidential pick Greg Summers bows out, citing family health issues |last=Damon |first=Edward |date=31 March 2015 |website=Berkshire Eagle |access-date=19 May 2015 |archive-date=20 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150520090130/http://www.berkshireeagle.com/local/ci_27824094/incoming-mcla-president-bows-out-citing-family-health |url-status=live }} On December 9, 2015, Jaimie Birge was named as president.{{cite web |url=http://www.berkshireeagle.com/local/ci_29232477/mcla-selects-jaime-birge-higher-education-veteran-and |title=MCLA selects Jaimie Birge, higher education veteran and former Lee resident, as next president |date=10 March 2015 |website=Berkshire Eagle |access-date=14 December 2015 |archive-date=14 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151214052904/http://www.berkshireeagle.com/local/ci_29232477/mcla-selects-jaime-birge-higher-education-veteran-and |url-status=live }}

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MCLA has a rolling admissions plan. It requires graduation from an accredited secondary school or a GED. MCLA uses SAT or ACT composite scores for entrance consideration. MCLA accepts transfer students with grade-point average requirements or with an associate degree. MCLA is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education.{{Citation|title=Massachusetts Institutions – NECHE|publisher=New England Commission of Higher Education|url=https://www.neche.org/institutions/ma/|access-date=May 26, 2021|archive-date=October 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211009082139/https://www.neche.org/institutions/ma/|url-status=live}}

MCLA awards the Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Science on the undergraduate level and also confers master's degrees in both education and business administration, as well as a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study (CAGS). MCLA offers 19 major programs of study and 35 minors. On average, MCLA offers 300 academic courses each semester.

Graduation from MCLA requires completing 120 credits of academic work. Of these, about 40 must in the college-wide core curriculum. Another 40 credits are required for a major. At least 40 upper-division credits are required. At least 45 credits must be earned while the student is in residence at the college. Students must earn at least a 2.0 grade point average overall and a 2.0 in their major.

MCLA offers internships for undergraduates through the Berkshire Hills Internship Program. It also offers undergraduates coursework in other countries through its travel abroad program. MCLA belongs to the Massachusetts Council for International Education (MaCIE), College Consortium for International Studies (CCIS), and the National Student Exchange (NSE). Through these associations and connections, students are sent on semester- or year-long programs to different colleges.

The college Honors Program{{cite web|url=http://www.mcla.edu/Undergraduate/Experience/honorsprogram/|title=Honors Program|access-date=2010-12-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101031082506/http://www.mcla.edu/Undergraduate/Experience/honorsprogram/|archive-date=2010-10-31|url-status=dead}} includes ten percent of the student body for whom it offers special interdisciplinary courses in such topics as "The Mathematics of Fairness," "Ethics and Animals" or "The Romantic Movement." The college is authorized by the state to grant the distinction "Commonwealth Scholar" to students who complete the honors program with a capstone thesis.

File:NorthAdamsMA MCLA SmithHouse.jpg

MCLA is governed by the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education. Beyond that, MCLA has extra-institutional representation of 11 voting members and the Board of Trustees, whose members are appointed by the governor which has 11 voting members. A student representative to the board of trustees is elected every spring by the student body to sit for one academic year. Administration positions include 12 men and 24 women. Academic affairs is headed by the vice president for academic affairs. Business and finances is headed by the vice president for administration and finance. Student affairs is headed by the vice president of student affairs. The full-time instructional faculty has 52 men and 36 women. The academic governance body, All College Committee, meets an average of nine times each year.

The school has two student publications: The Beacon,{{cite web|url=http://www.mcla.edu/student-life/student-media.php|title=TheBeacon_MCLA - MCLA's Student Newspaper|access-date=2022-07-06|archive-date=2022-05-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220525104229/https://mcla.edu/student-life/student-media.php|url-status=live}} a weekly newspaper, and Spires, a literary magazine published each year. [http://www.wjjwradio.com/ Radio Station WJJW] broadcasts for 140 hours each week, and episodes of the student-run college TV news program, Beacon Web News, are produced once a week.

MCLA also has one faculty publication: The Mind's Eye,{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/massachusettscollegeofliberalarts&tab=collection?and%5B%5D=subject%3A%22Massachusetts%20College%20of%20Liberal%20Arts--Periodicals%22|title = Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, Eugene L. Freel Library : Free Texts : Free Download, Borrow and Streaming : Internet Archive}} and one alumni publication, Beacons & Seeds,{{cite web|url=https://alumni.mcla.edu/|title=Home - Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts|website=alumni.mcla.edu|access-date=2019-06-05|archive-date=2019-06-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190605171901/https://alumni.mcla.edu/|url-status=live}} which comes out twice a year.

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MCLA has 13 varsity sports. The college's varsity teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the NCAA Division III level in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC). Active intercollegiate female teams are basketball, volleyball, tennis, cross country, soccer, softball, and lacrosse; while active intercollegiate male teams are baseball, basketball, golf, cross country, tennis and soccer. The college also has NERFU club rugby which was re-activated in 2011.

From 1963, the college's athletic teams were known as the Mohawks, after the Mohawk Trail which runs along Massachusetts Route 2. In response to concerns over using a Native American name (Francis Boots, cultural-preservation officer of the Mohawk tribe, has told college officials that his people were not honored by the name{{cite journal |id={{ProQuest|214690218}} |last1=Flores |first1=Christopher |title=Mascot Watch |journal=The Chronicle of Higher Education |volume=48 |issue=35 |date=10 May 2002 |page=A8 }}), the mascot was changed to the Trailblazers in 2002. In 2013, a new mascot, the Mountain Lion, was adopted while in April 2019, the Trailblazer community named the Mascot "Murdock" after a vote of the campus community, alumni, and community members.{{cite web|url=http://athletics.mcla.edu/information/mascot/index|title=MCLA Mascot - MCLA|access-date=2014-05-18|archive-date=2014-03-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140327002532/http://athletics.mcla.edu/information/mascot/index|url-status=live}}

The most successful team in the college's history was the men's ice hockey team, which was cut in 2003.{{Cite web |last=Administrator |first=Site |date=2003-06-19 |title=MCLA Drops Hockey |url=https://www.uscho.com/2003/06/18/mcla-drops-hockey/ |access-date=2023-02-13 |website=College Hockey {{!}} USCHO.com |language=en-us |archive-date=2023-02-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230213162729/https://www.uscho.com/2003/06/18/mcla-drops-hockey/ |url-status=live }} However, MCLA will have men's and women's hockey teams beginning to compete again in the 2023-24 academic year.{{Cite journal |date=2022-04-21 |title=MCLA Athletics Announces Multi-Year Plan, Including Hockey and Facility Upgrades |url=https://athletics.mcla.edu/general/2021-22/releases/20220420kf05nk |language=en |access-date=2022-12-23 |archive-date=2022-04-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220421150637/https://athletics.mcla.edu/general/2021-22/releases/20220420kf05nk |url-status=live }}

• John Barrett III - state legislator, mayor of North Adams for 26 years[http://www.mcla.edu/About_MCLA/news_events/pressrelease/2016April/mcla-announces-appointments-to-board-of-trustees "MCLA Announces Appointments to Board of Trustees"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180308232825/http://www.mcla.edu/About_MCLA/news_events/pressrelease/2016April/mcla-announces-appointments-to-board-of-trustees |date=2018-03-08 }}, MCLA, April 2016 (accessed 2018-03-08).
• Daniel E. Bosley - member emeritus of the Mass. House of Representatives (served 1986 - 2011)
• Thomas Calter- member emeritus of the Mass. House of Representatives (served 2007 - 2018)
• Mary Grant - former president of MCLA and the first alumna to serve as president.{{cite web |url=http://www.mcla.edu/About_MCLA/President/fullbio/ |title=About MCLA | Biography |access-date=2010-07-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100609172937/https://www.mcla.edu/About_MCLA/President/fullbio/ |archive-date=2010-06-09 }}
• Ken Hill - retired MLB player.1992 Topps baseball card # 664
• Derek Lalonde - Former head coach of the Detroit Red Wings, two-time Stanley Cup champion as assistant coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning
• Gerry McDonald - retired AHL/NHL player.
• Anton Strout - urban fantasy novelist.Anton Strout. [http://www.facebook.com/anton.strout?sk=info Anton Strout] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230215204945/https://www.facebook.com/login/?next=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fanton.strout%3Fsk%3Dinfo |date=2023-02-15 }}'s official Facebook page, accessed June 6, 2011.

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• [https://athletics.mcla.edu/Trailblazerclub Athletics website]

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Category:Liberal arts colleges in Massachusetts

Category:Universities and colleges established in 1894

Category:Buildings and structures in North Adams, Massachusetts

Category:Universities and colleges in Berkshire County, Massachusetts

Category:1894 establishments in Massachusetts

Category:Public universities and colleges in Massachusetts

Category:Public liberal arts colleges in the United States