Lafayette College, located in Easton, Pennsylvania in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley, is an independent, undergraduate, coeducational, residential institution. The college is extremely selective in respect to admissions and has a very rigorous academic curriculum. As of 2006, US News and World Report ranks Lafayette 27th on their Top 100 Liberal Arts School list.
History
Lafayette was founded in 1826 by citizens of Easton led by local lawyers James Madison Porter and Joel Jones (Yale), and Jacob Wagener, an amateur botanist and mineralogist.
The initial prospectus called for a college "combining a course of practical Military Science with the course of Literature and General Science pursued in the Colleges of our Country." This unique educational philosophy led Lafayette to be the first institution to give a degree in engineering.
Porter had met the French Revolutionary War hero Marquis de Lafayette during his farewell tour of America, and urged that they name the new college for him as "a testimony of respect for (his) talents, virtues, and signal services .... the great cause of freedom."
The governor of Pennsylvania signed the new college's charter on March 9, 1826. But it was not until 1832 that the Rev. George Junkin took up the charter and moved the curriculum and student body of the Manual Labor Academy of Pennsylvania from Germantown, Pennsylvania.
Francis March taught at Lafayette, and became the first superintendent of the Oxford English Dictionary's American reading programme.
The Lafayette, Lafayette's student newspaper, is the oldest college newspaper in Pennsylvania.
Alpha Phi Omega National Service Fraternity was founded in 1925 at Lafayette College by Frank Reed Horton.
As of 2004, Lafayette has more than 2300 students.
WJRH 104.9FM
The campus radio station, WJRH 104.9FM, first established licensure with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 1946, broadcasting under a Class D educational license on 90.5 FM. As FM frequencies grew in demand, the FCC mandated that stations operating in the frequency range currently provided to WJRH increase their power to serve larger audiences. Since WJRH was only to serve the Lafayette community, it was decided to give the frequency to another facility and relocate to its current home frequency, 104.9. WJRH alumnus have become influential individuals in the broadcasting field, ranging from Engineering Directors for networks such as the American Broadcasting Company, to public broadcasting policy makers.
the station is constantly being upgraded with the latest broadcasting technology; as well as organizational changes. Several additions have included the relaunch of WJRH Broadband (a live Windows Media Player stream available to Lafayette students) and WJRH PC (an online database of MP3 Podcasts of select shows as part of an overall website renovation).
Over the past couple years there has been a drive for select student broadcasters to DJ parties on campus. This has been met with great approval by students.
WJRH has been housed for over 30 years in its current location, Hogg Hall.
Website: http://www.lafayette.edu/~wjrh
Lafayette-Lehigh Rivalry
Lafayette College and Lehigh University are both well known for their football rivalry which began in 1884. Since 1884, the two teams have met 144 times. Lafayette leads the all-time series, which is the most played in the history of college football, 74-62-5.
Photo Gallery
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The Quad is the center of Lafayette College. -
The South College building is currently being used as a dormitory. -
Lafayette statue in front of Colton Chapel.
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The library in the Kirby Hall of Civil Rights building -
WJRH Studio
Greek Organizations
- Alpha Gamma Delta sorority
- Alpha Phi sorority
- Delta Delta Delta sorority
- Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity
- Delta Upsilon fraternity
- Kappa Delta Rho fraternity
- Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority
- Phi Gamma Delta fraternity
- Phi Kappa Psi fraternity
- Pi Beta Phi sorority
- Zeta Psi fraternity
Notable alumni
- Joseph F. Crater, Class of 1910 - Associate Justice of New York Supreme Court; object of famous, unsolved disappearance case from 1930.
- Haldan K. Hartline, Class of 1923 - 1967 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
- Philip S. Hench, Class of 1916 - 1950 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
- Dominique Lapierre, Class of 1952 - author, came to Lafayette in 1951 as a Fulbright exchange student from France and graduated with the class of 1952.
- Joel Silver, Class of 1974 - head of Hollywood's Silver Pictures and producer of The Matrix Trilogy; while attending Lafayette, he helped form the first collegiate Ultimate club (in 1970).
- William E. Simon, Class of 1952 - "Energy Czar" under President Richard Nixon; former President of U.S. Olympic Committee.
- Bob Smith, Class of 1965 - former New Hampshire senator.
Other notable attendees
- Stephen Crane, author of "The Red Badge of Courage" - attended for one semester
- Theodore Roethke, poet
Sports
- Affiliation: NCAA Division I-AA
- Conference: Patriot League
- Team name: Leopards
- Team colors: Maroon and white
- Championships: Football: 1992, 1994, 2004, 2005 (Co-Champions)
External links
- Lafayette College
- Official Athletic Site of the Lafayette College Leopards
- The Lafayette, Lafayette's student newspaper