Connecticut College (Conn) 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 recorded ...

liberal arts college A liberal arts college or liberal arts institution of higher education is a college with an emphasis on Undergraduate education, undergraduate study in the Liberal arts education, liberal arts of humanities and science. Such colleges aim to impart ...

New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the outlet of the Thames River (Connecticut), Thames River in New London County, Connecticut, which empties into Long Island Sound. The cit ...

. Originally chartered as Thames College, it was founded in 1911 as the state's only

women's college Women's colleges in higher education are undergraduate, bachelor's degree-granting institutions, often liberal arts colleges, whose student populations are composed exclusively or almost exclusively of women. Some women's colleges admit male st ...

, a response to

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the Methodi ...

having closed its doors to female students in 1909. The college became

coeducational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

in 1969, adopting its current name. Conn is a four-year

residential A residential area is a land used in which houses, housing predominates, as opposed to industrial district, industrial and Commercial Area, commercial areas. Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include ...

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education, usually in a college or university. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, ...

institution with approximately 1,900 students. Students choose courses from 41 programs, including interdisciplinary pathways and centers, with a majority choosing to

study abroad International students or exchange students, also known as foreign students, are students who undertake all or part of their secondary or tertiary education in a country other than their own. In 2022, there were over 6.9 million international ...

. The college is situated on a hill located adjacent to the

Thames River The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the ...

. In 1982, Conn was inducted as a member of the

New England Small College Athletic Conference The New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference that competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division III, Division III comprising sports teams from eleven highly s ...

(NESCAC), where its athletes compete as part of

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

History

Connecticut College was chartered in 1911 as Connecticut's only

, having been established as a direct response to

's decision to stop admitting women. Elizabeth C. Wright and other Wesleyan alumnae convinced others to found this new college, espousing the increasing desire among women for higher education. To that end, the institution was founded as the Connecticut College for Women. Their initial endowment came from financial assistance from the city of New London and its residents, along with a number of wealthy benefactors. The college sits on a former dairy farm owned by Charles P. Alexander of Waterford. He died in 1904 and his wife Harriet (Jerome) Alexander died in 1911. Their son Frank sold a large part of the land to the trustees to found Connecticut College. The ''Hartford Daily Times'' ran an article on October 12, 1935, marking the college's 20th anniversary: "On September 27, 1915, the college opened its doors to students. The entering class was made up of 99 freshmen students, candidates for degrees, and 52 special students, a total registration of 151. A fine faculty of 23 members had been engaged and a library of 6,000 volumes had been gathered together." The college became co-educational in 1969, as President Charles E. Shain claimed that there was evidence that women were becoming uninterested in attending women's colleges. At that time, the school adopted its current name, Connecticut College. In the spring of 2023, students, faculty, and staff began protesting against college president Katherine Bergeron, who had been president of the college for nearly a decade. The protests focused on allegations of bullying and actions related to diversity and equity, most notably a decision to hold a college fundraiser at the Everglades Club, a social club and venue that has longstanding accusations of discrimination against black and Jewish people. Students occupied the administrative building, Fanning Hall, for ten days, senior staff publicly resigned, and faculty voted no confidence in her. Students also organized a march around campus in support of Jewish and minority peers, with many students calling Bergeron racist and anti-Semitic. On March 24, 2023, after negotiation with faculty, the board of trustees, and ad-hoc student groups, Bergeron announced that she would resign at the end of the Spring 2023 semester, one year before her contract was to expire. On June 30, 2023, her last day in office, the board of trustees awarded her the title of President Emerita. On July 1, 2023,

Leslie Wong Leslie Eric Wong (born 1949) is an American academic, university administrator, and psychology professor. He was President of Northern Michigan University and San Francisco State University. Effective July 1st, 2023, he became the interim Presiden ...

began service as interim president of the college. Andrea Chapdelaine, then-president of

Hood College Hood College is a private college in Frederick, Maryland. In fall 2018, Hood enrolled 2,052 students (1,092 undergraduate students; 960 graduate students). Thirty-eight percent of students are either members of under-represented racial or ethni ...

, was selected by the search committee to be the College's 12th president. Her term officially began on June 1, 2024. Chapdelaine was inaugurated on April 26, 2025.

Campus

The main campus has three residential areas. The North Campus contains the newest residential halls. The South Campus contains residence halls along the west side of Tempel Green, across from several academic buildings. The oldest dorms on campus are Plant House and Blackstone House, which were founded in 1914. The campus houses the Winslow Ames House. Connecticut College's two principal libraries are the Charles E. Shain Library and the Greer Music Library, which is located in the Cummings Arts Center. The Shain Library houses a collection of more than 500,000 books and periodicals and an extensive collection of electronic resources. It is also home to The Linda Lear Center for Special Collections and Archives, and to the Charles Chu Asian Art Reading Room. The Lear Center has more than fifty book, manuscript, and art collections including research archives devoted to

Rachel Carson Rachel Louise Carson (May 27, 1907 – April 14, 1964) was an American marine biologist, writer, and conservation movement, conservationist whose sea trilogy (1941–1955) and book ''Silent Spring'' (1962) are credited with advancing mari ...

, Eugene O'Neill, and

Beatrix Potter Helen Beatrix Heelis (; 28 July 186622 December 1943), usually known as Beatrix Potter ( ), was an English writer, illustrator, natural scientist, and conservationist. She is best known for her children's books featuring animals, such as '' ...

. The Charles Chu Asian Art Reading Room serves both as a quiet reading area and as the permanent exhibition space for the Chu-Griffis Art Collection. The student center is "The College Center at Crozier-Williams" (often shortened to "Cro"), and is located in the middle of the campus. The student center houses the Connecticut College bookstore (which doubles as a small convenience store), the campus post office, the Oasis Snack Shop, and the campus bar, Humphrey's (formerly The Cro Bar). There are also student services offices as well as faculty offices and performance spaces for the Dance department. The Charles E. Shain Library was originally dedicated in 1976 and is named after former College President Charles Shain. It was renovated, expanded, and re-dedicated in 2015. The renovation was honored by the American Institute of Architects with a 2015 New England Honor Award in the category of Preservation. In 2016, LibraryJournal named the library a New Landmark Libraries Winner. Performance spaces on campus include: Palmer Auditorium, Tansill Theater, housed in Hillyer Hall; Myers Dance Studio, housed in Crozier-Williams College Center; Harkness Chapel; and Evans Music Hall, Fortune Recital Hall, and Oliva Hall, all located in Cummings Art Center. Palmer Auditorium was home to the

American Dance Festival The American Dance Festival (ADF) under the direction of Executive Director Jodee Nimerichter hosts its main summer dance courses including Summer Dance Intensive, Pre-Professional Dance Intensive, and the Dance Professional Workshops. It also ho ...

from 1947 to 1977, featuring choreographers such as

Martha Graham Martha Graham (May 11, 1894 – April 1, 1991) was an American modern dancer, teacher and choreographer, whose style, the Graham technique, reshaped the dance world and is still taught in academies worldwide. Graham danced and taught for over s ...

, José Limón, and

Merce Cunningham Mercier Philip "Merce" Cunningham (April 16, 1919 – July 26, 2009) was an American dancer and choreographer who was at the forefront of American modern dance for more than 50 years. He frequently collaborated with artists of other discipl ...

in what was called "the most important summertime event in modern dance." The campus makes up part of the Connecticut College Arboretum. This

arboretum An arboretum (: arboreta) is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees and shrubs of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, many modern arbor ...

and

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...

is free and open to the public year-round. Harkness Chapel was designed by architect

James Gamble Rogers James Gamble Rogers (March 3, 1867 – October 1, 1947) was an American architect. A proponent of what came to be known as Collegiate Gothic architecture, he is best known for his academic commissions at Yale University, Columbia Univer ...

, exhibiting his colonial Georgian style, with twelve stained glass windows by G. Owen Bonawit. The building is used for denominational religious services, as well as for ceremonies, concerts and recitals, weddings, and other public functions. The Lyman Allyn Art Museum is also located on campus, and while some classes are taught there, it is not part of the College itself. The museum's website states that "the permanent collection includes over 10,000 paintings, sculpture, drawings, prints, furniture, and decorative arts, with an emphasis on American art from the 18th through 20th centuries." The collection is housed in a neo-classical building designed by Charles A. Platt.

Academics

Connecticut College is

accredited Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...

by 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 othe ...

; it has been so continuously by NECHE or its predecessor since December 1932. The college's academics are organized into thirty-one academic departments and seven interdisciplinary programs with forty-one traditional majors plus opportunities for self-designed courses of study. Starting with the class of 2020, students at Connecticut College participate in a new interdisciplinary general education curriculum called Connections. Its most popular majors, by 2024 graduates, were: Psychology (55), Economics (44), Computer Science (32), Government (29), and Biological Sciences (26). Connecticut College has a history of undergraduate research work and students are encouraged to make conference presentations and publish their work under the guidance of a professor. The college had 187 full-time faculty members in 2024-25; 96% held a doctorate or other terminal degree. The student-faculty ratio is about 9.4 to 1.

Admissions

Admission to the college is considered "more selective" by '' U.S. News & World Report''. The college received 7,950 applications for the Class of 2028 of which 2,945 (36%) were accepted. Of the students in the entering class who submitted

SAT The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and Test score, scoring have changed several times. For much of its history, it was called the Scholastic Aptitude Test ...

scores, the middle 50% range was 690-755 for evidence-based reading and writing, and 660-740 for Math.

Rankings

In the 2025 college rankings of '' U.S. News & World Report'', Connecticut College ranked 55th (tie) among national liberal arts colleges, 35th (tie) for "Best Undergraduate Teaching", 38th (tie) for "Most Innovative", 82nd for "Best Value", and 88th (tie) for "Top Performers in Social Mobility". ''

Washington Monthly ''Washington Monthly'' is a bimonthly, nonprofit magazine primarily covering United States politics and government that is based in Washington, D.C. The magazine also publishes an annual ranking of American colleges and universities, which ser ...

'' ranked Connecticut College 48th in 2024 among 194 liberal arts colleges in the US based on its contribution to the public good, as measured by social mobility, research, and promoting public service. ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' ranked Connecticut College 162th overall in its 2023 list of 650 liberal arts colleges, universities and service academies; 45th among liberal arts schools, 65th in the Northeast, and 90th among private colleges. Connecticut College is

by the

Student life

Honor code

Students live under the college's student-adjudicated honor code which was introduced in 1922. Manifestations of the code include self-scheduled, non-proctored final exams.

Demographics

In a typical year, the college enrolls around 2000 men and women from 40 to 45 states, Washington, D.C., and 70 countries. Approximately forty percent of students are men. The fall 2024 student body was 68% White, 12% Hispanic, 3% Asian American, 5% African American, and 4% multiracial, with an additional 6% international students.

Memberships

Connecticut College is a member of

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

, the Annapolis Group, and the

( NESCAC).

Clubs and organizations

Connecticut College does not offer a Greek system of fraternities or sororities. The college has seven ''a cappella'' groups. Women's groups are The ConnChords, The Shwiffs, and Miss Connduct. The Co Co Beaux is the male group. The coeducational groups include the ConnArtists, Vox Cameli, and the Williams Street Mix. Composer and violinist Margaret Jones Wiles founded and conducted the Connecticut College Orchestra when she taught at the college during the 1950s. The college radio station ( WCNI 90.9 FM) broadcasts a variety of music, including

polka Polka is a dance style and genre of dance music in originating in nineteenth-century Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic. Though generally associated with Czech and Central European culture, polka is popular throughout Europe and the ...

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

, and Celtic music shows. A 2,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

transmitter installed in 2003 reaches much of the lower

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

region. Connecticut College has two student newspapers in which students handle all aspects of production: reporting, editing, ad sales, management, photography, layout, multimedia, and design. ''The College Voice'' is an editorially independent print and online bi-weekly publication, and ''The Conntrarian'' is an online opinion publication and a member of the Collegiate Network. The Student Activities Council (SAC) runs events including club fairs, school dances, concerts, and off-campus excursions. SAC is also responsible for Floralia, the annual spring concert. Recent Floralia artists have included Misterwives, Cash Cash, RAC, and

St. Lucia Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...

. Unity House is the college's multicultural center which promotes, supports, educates, and implements multicultural awareness programs on campus. It supports various affinity, activist, and performance student groups. The Feminist Resource, Education, & Empowerment (F.R.E.E) Center (formerly the Women's Center) provides a space for programming and events concerning gender issues. The LGBTQIA Resource Center serves

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...

students and their allies by providing a supportive space, resource library, social events, and educational programming. It also hosts several student organizations. In August 2013,

Campus Pride Campus Pride is an American national nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization founded by M. Chad Wilson, Sarah E. Holmes and Shane L. Windmeyer in 2001 which serves lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) and ally student leaders and/or campus o ...

named Connecticut College one of the top 25 LGBT-friendly colleges and universities.

Athletics

The College's teams participate as a member of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

's Division III in the

(NESCAC). There are a total of 28 varsity athletics teams at Conn. The twelve men's sports include basketball, cross country, ice hockey, lacrosse, rowing, soccer, squash, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, and water polo. The fifteen women's sports consist of basketball, cross country, field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, rowing, sailing, soccer, squash, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, volleyball, and water polo. In 2014, the women's soccer team won the College's first NESCAC Championship, defeating

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim ...

in penalty kicks. The team advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament, but lost in the second round to Montclair State University in extra time. On December 4, 2021, the men's soccer team won the College's first-ever NCAA Division III National Championship by defeating Amherst College in penalty kicks. Earlier in the season, the team won its first NESCAC regular season title. On January 21, 2021, Connecticut College goalkeeper AJ Marcucci was selected 67th overall in the 2021 MLS SuperDraft by

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conferenc ...

. He became the first-ever draft pick from Connecticut College and was the first Division III pick since 2016. The Connecticut College Women's Water Polo Team has won four Collegiate Water Polo Association Division III championships. Connecticut College has produced 427 collegiate All-Americans, sixty Academic All-Americans and twelve Olympic qualifiers. The Connecticut College Athletics Hall of Fame was established in 1989 and currently has over 100 inductees.

Notable alumni

Connecticut College graduates of note include ''Bloomberg Businessweek'' senior national correspondent Joshua Green, AOL CEO

Tim Armstrong Timothy Ross Armstrong (born November 25, 1965) is an American musician, songwriter and record producer. Known for his distinctive voice, he is the singer/guitarist for the punk rock band Rancid (band), Rancid and hip hop/punk rock supergroup T ...

, ''New York Times'' best-selling authors Sloane Crosley, Hannah Tinti and

David Grann David Elliot Grann (born March 10, 1967) is an American journalist, a staff writer for ''The New Yorker'', and author. His first book, '' The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon,'' was published by Doubleday in February 200 ...

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

-winning actress

Estelle Parsons Estelle Parsons (born November 20, 1927) is an American actress. After studying law, Parsons became a singer before deciding to pursue a career in acting. She worked for the television program '' Today'' and made her stage debut in 1961. Durin ...

, fashion designer

Peter Som Peter Som (born 1970) is a Chinese American fashion designer. He was creative director for Bill Blass and creative consultant for Tommy Hilfiger, where he designed the women’s wear collection, prior to founding his eponymous label. Born and r ...

National Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by a private foundation. It serves as the central collection and gathering space for the history of baseball in the United St ...

director Jeff Idelson, philanthropist Nan Kempner, Beyond Meat founder Ethan Brown, Senior Federal District Judge Kimba Wood and American Olympic rower

Anita DeFrantz Anita Lucette DeFrantz (born October 4, 1952) is an American Olympic rower, member of the International Olympic Committee, and twice vice-president of International Rowing Federation (FISA). Biography DeFrantz was born on October 4, 1952, in Ph ...

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References

External links

*
Athletics website

2021-22 Fact Sheet
{{authority control Liberal arts colleges in Connecticut Buildings and structures in New London, Connecticut Former women's universities and colleges in the United States Universities and colleges established in 1911 Universities and colleges in New London County, Connecticut Tourist attractions in New London, Connecticut Private universities and colleges in Connecticut 1911 establishments in Connecticut History of women in Connecticut