Southern Vermont College was a private liberal arts college on the former Edward Everett Estate (originally The Orchards) near

Bennington, Vermont Bennington is a town in Bennington County, Vermont, United States. It is one of two shire towns (county seats) of the county, the other being Manchester. As of the 2020 US Census, the population was 15,333. Bennington is the most populous t ...

. The college closed on May 31, 2019.

History

Southern Vermont College was founded in 1926 as St. Joseph Business School, an institution offering certificates of proficiency in secretarial accounting, finance, shorthand and typewriting. Eleven students were in the first graduating class. In 1962, it became an accredited junior college, St. Joseph College, awarding associate degrees in business and secretarial science. Twelve years later, in 1974, the school moved to the Edward Hamlin Everett Estate and became Southern Vermont College, a nonsectarian liberal arts college offering a career-directed curriculum. In the years immediately following this change of location, the college earned bachelor's degree authority from the Vermont Department of Education and full accreditation with the

New England Commission of Higher Education The New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE) is a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit membership organization that performs peer evaluation and accreditation of public and private universities and colleges in the United States and other ...

(NECHE). In 2019, NECHE placed the college on "show-cause" status and asked the college to provide additional information about its financial stability to retain its accreditation. The college's only alternative was to lower the admission numbers of its incoming freshman class. This option would leave the school with a financial deficit. The college's president, David Rees Evans, announced the upcoming closure in March 2019. However, the school finished the academic year in May 2019.

Campus

The 27-room Everett Mansion, listed (along with most of the campus) on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

, served as the college's primary administrative and academic building. It was built 1911–14 for Edward H. Everett, a successful businessman from

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

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 ...

, and is architecturally a distinctive combination of Beaux-Arts and Norman Revival styles. The architect,

George Oakley Totten Jr. George Oakley Totten Jr. (December 5, 1866 – February 1, 1939), was one of Washington D.C.’s most prolific and skilled architects in the Gilded Age. His international training and interest in architectural decoration led to a career of continu ...

, also designed Everett's Washington, DC residence, (formerly the Turkish embassy and now the Residence of the Ambassador of Turkey). It hosts the library, theatre, Center for Teaching and Learning (academic support), Burgdorff Gallery, eight classrooms, plus administrative offices. From 1977 to 1994, the theatre served as the residence for the regionally acclaimed Oldcastle Theatre Company. The college had five residence halls, as well as a residence hall complex, Hunter Hall, that was completed in 2009 and accommodates 110 residential students. This residence hall, situated on the slopes of Mt. Anthony with views of the Green Mountains, is both a living and learning facility, with science and computer labs, study rooms, and an atrium overlooking a pond. Other buildings include the Dining Hall, Mountaineer Athletic Center with Fitness Center, and a 24-hour computer lab.

Academics

Southern Vermont College offered 16 academic degree programs in five academic divisions: The McCormick Division of Business, The Hunter Division of Humanities, The Division of Nursing, The John Merck Division of Science and Technology, and The Donald Everett Axinn Division of Social Sciences. It was a member of the Association of Vermont Independent Colleges (AVIC) and the Vermont Campus Compact, affiliated with the national association of colleges that include community service, hands-on learning and civic engagement as part of their academic requirements. All first-year students at Southern Vermont College took "Quest for Success," a course that combines classroom instruction with off-campus community projects in such fields as environmental restoration, research on historic objects in the local museum work with a local theater company, and media studies with Community Access Television. In the fall of 2013, Southern Vermont College partnered with the College Steps Program, joining two other Vermont colleges engaged in this program aimed at supporting students with cognitive impairments (e.g., autism spectrum disorders, intellectual disabilities). It provided them with an opportunity to participate in a modified two-year college experience. In January 2014, Southern Vermont College established the Veterans' Scholar Program (VSP). The program worked with veterans and military-connected family members.

Athletics

The Southern Vermont athletic teams were called the Mountaineers. The college was a member of the

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 ...

ranks, primarily competing in the

New England Collegiate Conference The New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) is an National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division III, Division III List of college athletic conferences in the United States, college athletic conference based in the Northeastern Uni ...

(NECC) from 2008–09 to 2018–19. The Mountaineers previously competed in the

Great Northeast Athletic Conference The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III. History Chronological timeline * 1995 - In 1995, the Great Northeast Athletic ...

(GNAC) from 1998–99 to 2007–08. Southern Vermont competed in 13 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports included baseball, basketball, cross country, soccer, track & field (outdoor) and volleyball; while women's sports included basketball, cross country, lacrosse, soccer, softball, track & field (outdoor) and volleyball.

Accomplishments

In the fall of 2012, the women's volleyball team won the NECC Championship for the third consecutive year. In 2015, their Men's basketball team went undefeated in NECC regular season play before losing to Regis College in the NECC championship game 74-72. However, the Mountaineers came back with another undefeated regular season in 2016 and went on to win the NECC championship against Becker College.

References