# Alma College

Alma College is a private Presbyterian liberal arts college in Alma, Michigan. It enrolls approximately 1,200 students and is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Alma College is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) and offers bachelor's degrees in multiple disciplines as well as four master's degree programs. Its athletics teams, nicknamed the Scots, are part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) – Division III and the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA).

## History

The college was founded by Michigan Presbyterians in 1886. It received funding from lumber magnate Ammi W. Wright, for whom Wright Hall on campus and Wright Avenue in the city of Alma are named.
A marker designating the college as a Michigan Historic Site was erected by the Michigan History Division, Department of State. The inscription reads:
   On October 26, 1886, the Presbyterian Synod of Michigan accepted an offer by Ammi W. Wright of Alma of thirty acres of land, containing two buildings, and a gift of $50,000 from Alexander Folsom of Bay City, for the purpose of establishing Alma College. The Synod had resolved: "We will, with God's help, establish and endow a college within our bounds." A charter was granted by the state of Michigan, April 15, 1887. Classes began September 12, 1887. In the first year there were 95 students and nine faculty members. Here the Presbyterian Church has fostered the pursuit of learning to the glory of God and to the dignity of men.
The college's 13th president, Jeff Abernathy, assumed leadership in June 2010. He was succeeded in 2024 by long-time trustee and alumnus Eric Blackhurst as interim president after Abernathy stepped down to focus on the Alma College Prison Initiative. Joseph L. Odenwald, former president of Southwestern Michigan College, was announced in February 2025 as the college's next president beginning on June 1.

### Scottish heritage

In 1931, the College hosted a contest to replace their current mascot at the time, the Fighting Presbyterians, and "the Scots"—a nod to the Presbyterian Church's roots in Scotland—was chosen. Since that time, Alma College has embraced its Scottish traditions. Today, this is evident through many programs and symbols, including the Alma College Pipe Band, Kiltie Dancers, and its tartan.
While still maintaining a close relationship with the Presbyterian Church, Alma College accepts and welcomes students of all religious backgrounds.

## Academics

Alma College offers more than 45 undergraduate academic programs, and four graduate programs, leading to Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Fine Arts, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Music, Master of Fine Arts, Master of Science, and Master of Arts. In addition to the academic majors, numerous concentrations, academic institutes, and special programs are offered, including the Presidential Honors Program and the Center for College and Community Engagement. Its most popular majors, in terms of 2023 graduates, were:
       Business, Management, Marketing, and Related Support Services (52)
       Health Professions and Related Programs (32)
       Education (30)
       Biological and Biomedical Sciences (23)
       Psychology (23)
Along with its on-campus options, Alma College offers a number of domestic off-campus and internship programs, in cities including Chicago, New York City, Philadelphia and Washington DC. Alma offers international study programs in countries including Argentina, Australia, Ecuador, England, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Peru, Scotland and Spain.
Alma has a 4-4-1 academic calendar, with 14-week terms in the fall and winter, and a four-week term in May. Students typically use the latter term, known on-campus as Spring Term, for travel, classes, research and internships.

### Graduate degrees

Alma College in 2021 launched the first graduate program in its then-134-year history with the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing degree, led by author and educator Sophfronia Scott.
In 2022, the college launched a Master of Science in Communication and Information Technology degree. In 2023, the college launched a Master of Arts in Special Education with Learning Disabilities Endorsement program. In 2024, the college launched a Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling degree.

## Campus

Alma College is located in a small-town setting, the city of Alma having slightly fewer than 10,000 residents. Its primary academic buildings, built with a red brick motif, are centered around a large square, McIntyre Mall. West of this mall is picturesque Thomas Andison Chapel.
The majority of buildings are located on North Campus, that is, the area north of Superior Street. These include the major dormitory residences, as well as the academic and student life buildings. South Campus is home to suite-style residences ("New Dorms," so named because they were built later in the 1960s than residences in North Campus) as well as the new environmentally friendly apartment-style Wright Hall, inaugurated in 2005 and the second residence of its name, the former being demolished in 1976. South Campus is also home to "Fraternity Row" (Center Street) and "Sorority Row" (Superior Street) as well as several other themed houses. More than half of the buildings on Alma's campus were built under the long tenure (1956–1980) of Robert D. Swanson, after whom the main academic building is named.
The Dow Science Center, renovated in 2018, features the Rollin M. Gerstacker Science and Technology Suite, as well as the Dow Digital Science Center (DDSC). These spaces offer academic student study space, large screen monitors for showing remote projects in real time, dedicated computer work stations, a large conference room designed for distance room and a seminar room. The DDSC sponsors summer camps for elementary, middle and high school students in the area.
The college in 2019 dedicated the Wright Leppien Opera House Block, a historic structure in downtown Alma which had been gutted by a fire almost a decade earlier. "The Opera House," as it is locally known, was historically considered to be the main local venue for numerous theatrical productions, concerts and public lectures. Today, it is used for student housing and special events.
The college in 2023 opened the Greg Hatcher Learning Commons, a $14-million renovation of its preexisting library into a new facility, which serves as both a library and a student union.
In addition to the main campus, the college also owns a 180-acre (0.73 km$^2$) ecological research area containing woodlands, a willow marsh, a sphagnum bog, and a glacial kettle lake, with a full research facility and a bird observatory, located in Vestaburg, about 15 miles (24 km) west of Alma.

## Athletics

Generally, more than half (52.4%) of Alma's students participate in sports. In December 2021, the college announced the addition of women's wrestling bringing the total number of sports offered up to 12 men's NCAA and 12 women's NCAA, plus co-ed esports and women's bowling, competitive cheer, dance, and STUNT.
The mascot of Alma College is Scotty. He wears a traditional highland Kilt, sporran, and sash woven in the Alma College tartan pattern.
Prior to 1934, the Alma mascot was the Fighting Presbyterians. This became the subject of debate in 1931 due to a series of stories by The Almanian, a student-run newspaper, expressing discontent over the limitation on cheers to "Go Presbyterians" or "Go Campbellites," the latter in support of the football coach, Royal Campbell.

### Honors

* In 1992, Alma's women's basketball team earned the NCAA Division III championship.
* In 1999, Alma's men's soccer team made it to the NCAA Final Four.
* In 2006, Alma College quarterback Josh Brehm was named the recipient of the Gagliardi Trophy, the highest individual honor in NCAA Division III football.
* In 2016, Alma's men's basketball team made it to the NCAA Round of Eight, the first appearance in the NCAA tournament in the program's history.
* In 2022, Alma's dance team won its seventh National Dance Alliance (NDA) Division 3 championship.
* In 2023, Alma's football team reached the third round of the NCAA Division III tournament for the first time in its history.
* In 2024, Alma's competitive cheer team won a fourth-consecutive National Cheerleaders Association (NCA) Division 3 championship.

## Performing arts

More than a third of all Alma students take part in at least one performance each year. The college offers majors in theatre, dance and music, but students of all majors may join in productions. The Heritage Center for the Performing Arts is the region's premiere performing arts facility. It houses the Theatre and Dance Department, and serves as the performance venue for the college's eight music ensembles. It features a 500-seat concert hall for large performances, an intimate 190-seat theatre, and a dance studio.

## Greek life

Several social Greek letter organizations are active on the Alma College campus. There are five social fraternities: Zeta Sigma, Delta Gamma Tau, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Sigma Chi, and Tau Kappa Epsilon. There are five social sororities: Kappa Iota Alpha Gamma Delta, Alpha Xi Delta, Gamma Phi Beta, and Phi Sigma Sigma. Other Greek organizations on campus include Sigma Alpha Iota, a women's music fraternity, and Alpha Phi Omega, a co-ed National Service Fraternity, in addition to numerous honorary and professional fraternities.

## Model United Nations

Alma College is home to one of the most successful Model United Nations (MUN) programs in the United States. Since the mid-1990s, Alma has received 58 “outstanding delegation” awards at the MUN Midwest Regional Competition and 52 at the National MUN Conference in New York City — the most of any college or university in the 95-year history of the conference. The Alma College MUN program was used as a clue on a 2017 episode of Jeopardy! In a 2012 article, The Huffington Post referred to the Alma College MUN program as "an unlikely superpower."

## Notable alumni

* George Allen (1918–1990), NFL coach inducted in Pro Football Hall of Fame
* Jake Boss (born 1971), NCAA Baseball player and coach, head coach at Michigan State University
* Bob Bruce (1933–2017), Major League Baseball pitcher from 1959 to 1967
* Paul Hale Bruske (1877–1956), writer, journalist, advertising executive, and sportsman
* William Skinner Cooper (1884–1978), botanist and ecologist; former president of the Ecological Society of America and the Minnesota Academy of Science
* Jim Daniels (born 1956), poet and writer
* Bob Devaney (1915–1997), NCAA football player and Nebraska coach inducted in College Football Hall of Fame
* Paul Ganus, (born, 1961), actor
* James Magee (artist) (1945–2024), artist
* Brad Guigar (born 1969), cartoonist
* Jennifer Haase (born 1974), teacher and politician, served in Michigan State House of Representatives
* Frank Knox (1874–1944), newspaper editor and publisher; served as Secretary of the Navy and was a one-time Republican Party vice-presidential candidate
* Betty Mahmoody (born 1945), writer and activist, author of Not Without My Daughter (1987), adapted as 1991 film of the same name
* Jim Northrup (1939–2011), MLB player, Detroit Tigers
* Gary Peters (born 1958), politician, currently member United States Senate (D-MI)
* Dan Scripps, former politician and president of the Michigan Energy Innovation Business Council
* Lester W. Sharp (1887–1961), botanist and pioneer in cytogenetics
* Tom Shaw (1945–2014, SSJE), priest and fifteenth Episcopal Bishop of Massachusetts
* Denny Stolz (born 1934), NCAA football player and coach
* Claude Watson (1885–1978), lawyer, businessman, and minister; temperance movement leader and two-time Prohibition Party presidential candidate