Springfield College, Springfield, Mass (61510)

Springfield College is a

private college Private universities and private colleges are institutions of higher education, not operated, owned, or institutionally funded by governments. They may (and often do) receive from governments tax breaks, public student loans, and grants. D ...

in Springfield, Massachusetts. It confers undergraduate and graduate degrees. It is known as the birthplace of basketball because the sport was invented there in 1891 by Canadian-American instructor

James Naismith James Naismith (; November 6, 1861November 28, 1939) was a Canadian-American physical educator, physician, Christian chaplain, and sports coach, best known as the inventor of the game of basketball. After moving to the United States, he wrote ...

. The college's philosophy of "humanics... calls for the education of the whole person—in spirit, mind, and body—for leadership in service to others."

History

Founded in 1885, as the Young Men's Christian Association department of the

School for Christian Workers The School for Christian Workers was a school established by Rev. David Allen Reed in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1885 to prepare young men for work as Sunday school superintendents, secretaries of Young Men's Christian Associations, pastors, lay ...

in Springfield, the school originally specialized in preparing young men to become General Secretaries of YMCA organizations in a two-year program. In 1887, it added a Physical (''i.e.'',

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explora ...

) department. In 1890, it separated from the School for Christian Workers and became the YMCA Training School and in 1891, the International Young Men's Christian Association Training School. In 1905, the school became a degree-granting institution.Glenn T. Miller, ''Piety and Profession: American Protestant Theological Education, 1870–1970'', 2007. , p. 289 In 1912, it took the name International YMCA College and in 1954, Springfield College.

Presidents

Springfield College has had 13 leaders:

Academics

Springfield College offers bachelor's degrees in more than 40 majors, master's degrees in a variety of different fields, and doctoral programs in counseling psychology, physical therapy, and physical education. The student-to-faculty member ratio is 11 to 1. The college comprises four schools. The School of Arts and Sciences grants degrees in the liberal arts, science, business, and education, including 59 undergraduate majors and concentrations and eight graduate programs. The School of Physical Education, Performance, and Sport Leadership offers undergraduate and graduate programs in health and wellness occupations, including applied exercise science, nutritional science, athletic training, physical education and health education, recreation management, and sport management. It is a member of the American Kinesiology Association. It incorporates the Springfield College East Campus outdoor learning center. Organized in 2005, the School of Health Sciences offers undergraduate and graduate programs in physical therapy, occupational therapy, physician assistant studies, communication sciences and disorders, and health science, in addition to related certification programs. The school is a member of the Association of Schools of Allied Health Professionals. The School of Social Work and Behavioral Sciences offers undergraduate degrees in psychology, rehabilitation and disability studies, and human services and professional graduate programs in social work, psychology, counseling, and student affairs administration. Springfield College offers bachelor's degree completion programs and master's degrees in human services, business, education, and counseling that are geared toward working adult students at its four regional campuses, its main campus, and online. The college is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE).

Campuses

Springfield College consists of one main campus, located in Springfield, Mass., and two regional campuses in Boston and Houston. The main campus spans and contains ten residence halls, recreational and fitness facilities, science and academic facilities, a performing arts center, and the Richard B. Flynn Campus Union, which includes a food court, activity and lounge space, and College bookstore. Springfield College's East Campus, which encompasses of forest ecosystem, is located about one mile from the main campus. This location provides rustic facilities for conferences and meetings, and space for outdoor research and recreation. East Campus is also home to the Springfield College Child Development Center, which provides early education services for children of members of the faculty and staff, students, and families in the community.

Athletics

Springfield College's athletic teams have been known since 1995 as the Pride; the teams were nicknamed the Chiefs from 1968 through 1994, and prior to that were known as the Gymnasts or Maroons. The college is a member of

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athlete, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic sports, ...

(NCAA) Division III and most teams compete in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC). Springfield's football team joined the NEWMAC when it began sponsoring football in 2017. The men's soccer, men's golf, cross country and gymnastics teams are affiliate members of the

Eastern College Athletic Conference The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) is a college athletic conference comprising schools that compete in 15 sports (13 men's and 13 women's). It has 220 member institutions in NCAA Divisions I, II, and III, ranging in location fro ...

(ECAC). The men's volleyball team competes as an independent. Springfield College is known as the "Birthplace of Basketball", a game created by alumnus and faculty member

under the founding head of the Physical Education department Luther Gulick Jr. in 1891. Gulick is in the

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pres ...

, which is named for Naismith. Alumnus William G. Morgan invented the game of

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

Stagg Field Amos Alonzo Stagg Field is the name of two successive football fields for the University of Chicago. Beyond sports, the first Stagg Field (1893–1957) is remembered for its role in a landmark scientific achievement of Enrico Fermi and the Metall ...

serves as the college's main athletic field; it was named after former coach, Amos Alonzo Stagg who briefly coached Springfield and went on to play a pivotal role in the development of modern football. The

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

team plays at Berry-Allen Field. The Springfield softball team appeared in one

Women's College World Series The Women's College World Series (WCWS) is the final portion of the NCAA Division I softball tournament for college softball in the United States. Eight teams participate in the WCWS, which begins with a double-elimination tournament. In other wo ...

in 1977. The Springfield College women's gymnastics team won the first intercollegiate national championship in 1969 and three of the first four (1971 and 1972). In 1940 Springfield was one of eight teams to make the

1940 NCAA basketball tournament The 1940 NCAA basketball tournament involved eight schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the participating champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. The second edition of the tournament began on March 20, 1940, and ...

, losing to eventual champion

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

48–24 in the regional semifinals held at

Butler Fieldhouse Hinkle Fieldhouse (named Butler Fieldhouse from 1928 until 1966) is a basketball arena on the campus of Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana. Completed in early 1928, it was the largest basketball arena in the United States until 1950. ...

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of U.S. state and territorial capitals, state capital and List of U.S. states' largest cities by population, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat, seat of ...

. In 2006 and 2007, the school hosted the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Final Four. The men's volleyball team has six non-NCAA national titles in the now-defunct Molten Invitational championship, an event for NCAA Division III schools that ran from 1997 through 2011, and also won the first three NCAA Division III Men's Volleyball Championships in 2012 through 2014. All nine championships were won under Head Coach Charlie Sullivan. The Springfield College Women's Basketball team of 2004–2005, made the Elite Eight of the NCAA Division III basketball tournament. Women's basketball has won several conference tournament championships, including the season of 2006. Springfield College graduates Rusty Jones G '86 and Jon Torine '95 participated in

Super Bowl XLI Super Bowl XLI was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Indianapolis Colts and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Chicago Bears to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...

as the Head Strength and Conditioning coaches of the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine ...

and

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 20 ...

, respectively. The Springfield College Women's Field Hockey Team has won the NEWMAC (New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference) title for five consecutive years (2004–2008). The men's lacrosse team won six straight titles (2008–2013) in the now-defunct Pilgrim Lacrosse League, which has since been absorbed by the NEWMAC. Springfield's Women's Swimming and Diving Team has won the NEWMAC Conference title for ten consecutive years (2001–2010) in the Division III Conference. Springfield's Men's soccer team were voted National College Champions by the

Intercollegiate Soccer Football Association The NCAA held its first men's National Collegiate Soccer Championship in 1959, with eight teams selected for the tournament. Before 1959, national champions were selected by a committee of the Intercollegiate Soccer Football Association (ISFA) ba ...

in 1946, 1947 and 1957. This was before the NCAA championship soccer tournament in 1959.

Rankings

''U.S. News & World Report'' ranked Springfield College #26 for Best Regional Universities—North Region for 2021, the sixth consecutive year that it has been in the top 30. ''U.S. News'' also ranked Springfield College #18 among Best Value Schools for Regional Universities—North, the school's fifth consecutive year on the list. This ranking takes into account a college's academic quality and net cost of attendance. Springfield College is the recipient of the 2016 Presidential Award in the education category of the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. This honor is the highest federal recognition a college or university can receive for its commitment to volunteering, service-learning, and civic engagement. Since 2009, ''Diverse Issues in Higher Education'' has ranked Springfield College's School of Professional and Continuing Studies, formerly the School of Human Services, among the top three U.S. institutions for the number of bachelor's degrees awarded to African Americans in public administration and social services. The Carnegie Foundation recognized Springfield College as one of a select group of colleges and universities throughout the U.S. that have earned the foundation's Community Engagement Classification in 2015. Affiliated Chambers of Commerce of Greater Springfield's (ACCGS) awarded Springfield College a 2014 Super 60 Award for revenue for the tenth consecutive year. The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) named Springfield a finalist for the President's Award for Community Service in 2014. Springfield College was named a 2016–17 College of Distinction for providing an innovative, teacher-centered undergraduate education with a strong record of preparing its graduates for real-world success. ''U.S. News'' ranked Springfield College #8 for schools with the highest percentages of alumni enrolling in a graduate school in 2013.

Notable alumni and faculty

* Harold Amos – microbiologist and professor * Mark Banker – safeties coach for the Washington State Cougars football team *

Stanley F. Battle Stanley Fred Battle (born June 12, 1951) is an American educator, author, civic activist and former leader of Coppin State University and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. Currently, Battle serves as the director of the ...

– American educator, author, civic activist and former leader of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University,

Coppin State University Coppin State University (Coppin) is a public historically black university in Baltimore, Maryland. It is part of the University System of Maryland and a member of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. In terms of demographics, the Coppin State st ...

and

Southern Connecticut State University Southern Connecticut State University (Southern Connecticut, Southern Connecticut State, SCSU, or simply Southern) is a public university in New Haven, Connecticut. Part of the Connecticut State University System, it was founded in 1893 and is ...

, 1973 * Vaughn Blanchard, 1912 Olympian in Track and Field and Baseball * Rick Blangiardi, 15th mayor of

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the islan ...

and former television executive * Jeff Blatnick – 1984 Olympic gold medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling, 2015 UFC Hall of Fame inductee * Raymond Castellani – did not graduate; actor, activist on

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

' Skid Row *

John Cena John Felix Anthony Cena ( ; born April 23, 1977) is an American part-time professional wrestler, actor, and former rapper. He is currently signed to WWE. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he is tied ...

– professional wrestler and film and TV actor *

Nancy Darsch Nancy Darsch (December 29, 1951 – November 2, 2020) was an American women's basketball coach who worked at both the professional and NCAA Division I college levels. A native of Plymouth, Massachusetts, Darsch was a 1973 graduate of Springfield ...

– Collegiate, Olympic, and WNBA coach * Tony DiCicco – head coach of USA Women's Soccer National Team 1994–1999, coach of the FIFA Women's Soccer 1999 Championship Team * W. Dean Eastman – educator (graduate assistant track coach 1974–76, MSE 1976, CAGS 1977) *

John Forslund John Forslund is an American sports announcer who is the television play-by-play announcer of the Seattle Kraken. He had previously filled the same role for the Carolina Hurricanes and was with the team since 1991 (when the team was the Hartford W ...

– TV play-by-play announcer for the

Seattle Kraken The Seattle Kraken are a professional ice hockey team based in Seattle. The Kraken compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and began play during the league's 2021–22 season. ...

of the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

Nancy E. Gary Nancy E. Gary (March 4, 1937 – May 31, 2006) was president and chief executive officer of the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates, executive vice president of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and dea ...

– (ScB 1958) dean of Albany Medical College and Executive Vice President of the

Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) is a health science university of the U.S. federal government. The primary mission of the school is to prepare graduates for service to the U.S. at home and abroad in the medical corps ...

and Dean of its F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine. * Dave Gettleman – pro football executive, currently

General Manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all ...

of the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...

* Wayne Granger – former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weather d ...

and

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

saves leader in 1970 * Don Ho – Hawaiian musician and entertainer (attended for one year) *

Dan Hunt Dan Hunt (born 8 September 1986 in Sydney, New South Wales) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played for the St. George Illawarra Dragons in the National Rugby League competition. His position of choice was as a ...

– head football coach at Colgate University * Rusty Jones, strength and conditioning coach for the

* Dr. Lynn Lashbrook, President and Founder of SMWW * William G. Morgan – inventor of

. *

– Canadian faculty member, invented

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

in 1891 * Max Nacewicz – Professional Football Player *

Erin Pac Erin Pac (born May 30, 1980) is a former American bobsledder who competed from 2002 to 2010. She won two medals in the mixed bobsled-skeleton team event at the FIBT World Championships with a silver in 2007 and a bronze in 2008. A native of ...

– bronze medal winner in bobsled at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics * Boris Pash – commanded the Alsos Mission during World War II. * Fernando Picó - historian, expert on the

history of Puerto Rico The history of Puerto Rico began with the settlement of the Ortoiroid people between 430 BC and AD 1000. At the time of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1493, the dominant indigenous culture was that of the Taínos. The Taí ...

* Albert I. Prettyman – head coach of the United States Hockey Team at the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany * John Quinlan – model and actor, former professional wrestler * Manuel Rivera-Ortiz – did not graduate; documentary photographer; attended classes at Springfield Colleges as part of the Massachusetts Migrant Education summer program, where he was offered his first courses in photography and film development. * Angela Salem – professional soccer player. * Craig Shirley – political consultant and author, associated with Ronald Reagan * Justine Siegal – baseball coach and sports educator. * Steve Spagnuolo – former head coach of the National Football League's St. Louis Rams * Amos Alonzo Stagg – head football coach 1890–1891; later head of multiple national champion teams at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

. * Sue Thomas — the first

deaf Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an audiological condition. In this context it is written ...

person to work as an undercover specialist doing lip-reading of suspects for the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

* Tom Waddell – alumnus, physician and founder of

Gay Games The Gay Games is a worldwide sport and cultural event that promotes acceptance of sexual diversity, featuring lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) athletes, artists and other individuals. Founded as the Gay Olympics, it was starte ...

* Glenn Warner – president of National Soccer Coaches Association of America in 1953, head coach of the Naval Academy's men's soccer team from 1942 to 1975 * Scotty Whitelaw - former Commissioner of the

* Mike Woicik – football coach (1978–79) and strength and conditioning coach for several professional football teams * Bill Yorzyk – physician and only USA swimming gold medalist in 1956 Olympics, 200 m butterfly * Ted Shawn – Adjunct faculty member (1932-1933); founder of the Denishawn Dance School and Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival and a key figure in establishing male

modern dance Modern dance is a broad genre of western concert or theatrical dance which included dance styles such as ballet, folk, ethnic, religious, and social dancing; and primarily arose out of Europe and the United States in the late 19th and early 20th ...

. *Peter V. Karpovich – Professor of physiology (1927-1947), director of health education (1947-1955), research professor of physiology (1955-1969); founder of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM).

References

External links

*
Official athletics website
{{authority control Universities and colleges founded by the YMCA Universities and colleges in Springfield, Massachusetts Educational institutions established in 1885 1885 establishments in Massachusetts Private universities and colleges in Massachusetts