Emmanuel College (Massachusetts)
Emmanuel College (EC) is a private Roman Catholic college in Boston, Massachusetts. The college was founded by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur as the first women's Catholic college in New England in 1919. In 2001, the college officially became a coeducational institution. It is a member of the Colleges of the Fenway consortium. In addition to the Fenway campus, Emmanuel operates a living and learning campus in Roxbury, Massachusetts. History. The Emmanuel College Administration Building was built in 1919 by the architecture firm Maginnis & Walsh. Maginnis & Walsh are also known for building Gasson Hall  at Boston College and the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. The Administration Building at Emmanuel College is notable for its early 20th century Gothic architecture. In the early years, Emmanuel was a day college preparing women for professional fields such as education, nursing and social work. Despite being commuters, students were involved in numerous co-curricular activities including student publications and athletics. The 1920s, 1930s and 1940s saw growth not only in the student population, academic programs and activities, but also in the physical campus, with additional land purchases on Brookline Avenue and  Avenue Louis Pasteur. In 1949, the college completed the construction of Alumnae Hall; this science center, the first building constructed on campus after the original Administration Building, signified Emmanuel's strength in the sciences, which continues today. John F. Kennedy served on the college's advisory board from 1946 until his death in 1963. During the building boom of the 1950s and 1960s, Emmanuel became a residential college. New buildings included Marian Hall (residential, dining and student center), St. James Hall, Julie Hall, St. Ann Hall, Loretto Hall and St. Joseph Hall. The Cardinal Cushing Library was also dedicated in  1965. By 1968, residential students outnumbered commuters for the first time. Over the years, the college has responded to shifting demographics in higher education and the world at large with an innovative and entrepreneurial spirit. In the 1970s, Emmanuel began to offer degree completion programs to adult learners and, in 1990, the college expanded its programs to include flexible accelerated formats, with programs in business and nursing offered at satellite centers. The trustees of the college were incorporated by the state in 1921. In 2000, cash-strapped and with fewer than 500 students enrolled, Emmanuel College faced an uncertain future . Led by longtime President Sister Janet Eisner, the college signed an agreement with Merck Pharmaceuticals to lease a portion of its campus for a new research laboratory, for 75 years and approximately $50 million. The agreement makes Emmanuel the only college in the country with a pharmaceutical lab on campus. The subsequent windfall and alliance with Merck permitted Emmanuel to add dormitories so it could start admitting men in 2001, sparking a sustained revival that has made Emmanuel one of the fastest growing colleges in New England. Emmanuel developed an ambitious building campaign featuring the state-of-the-art  Jean Yawkey Student Center, which opened in 2004 as the first new building on campus in 35 years. That same year, Merck opened its 12-story facility, whose glass facade glitters over the college's main quad and English Gothic buildings. Until 2001, Emmanuel was a women's college primarily known for training teachers but long-time President Sister Janet Eisner used the windfall to secure millions in federal science grants to fund the construction of a $50 million science center. The Maureen Murphy Wilkens Science Center opened in fall 2009 effectively doubling the academic space of the campus . The Wilkens Center is four floors and 47,500 feet and contains faculty/student research space and offices, student study areas, new classrooms for all academic areas, 120 underground parking spaces, as well as teaching laboratories for Biology, Chemistry, Biochemistry and Physics. Since 2001, overall enrollment has tripled, but male enrollment has declined since the initial surge. In 2016, Julie Hall was torn down to make way for a new apartment-style 18-floor residence hall. Built for a cost of $140 million, the cost of the project was the same as Emmanuel's total endowment, the New Residence Hall  provides 692 beds of apartment-style housing to upper-class students. It also houses approximately 250 students from nearby MCPHS University. Emmanuel College celebrated its centennial anniversary in 2019. In May 2020, some students participated in a day of silence to protest what they said was the school's failure to adequately deal with incidents of sexual assault. Campus. Emmanuel's 17-acre campus is located adjacent to the Longwood Medical District in the Fenway area of Boston. The gated campus consists of 11 buildings, including seven academic buildings and four dormitories. Academic buildings include the original Administration Building, the  Cardinal Cushing Library, the Jean Yawkey Center, Marian Hall, the new Maureen Murphy Wilkens Science Center and Merck Research Laboratories-Boston. Approximately 75% of Emmanuel's traditional undergraduates reside in the residence halls on campus, while the remainder commute from the local area. The four dormitories include St. Ann Hall, Loretto Hall, St. Joseph Hall and the New Residence Hall. In 2018, Emmanuel College opened an 18-story residence hall at the former location of Julie Hall. The New Residence Hall provides apartment style housing to upper-class students. Additionally, classes are offered at the graduate and professional level at  satellite locations in Quincy and Woburn. Emmanuel College was ranked among the top ten best college locations in America, and #1 in Massachusetts. Organization. The college is Roman Catholic, founded by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. It is also a member of the Colleges of the Fenway consortium, which also includes neighboring Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Simmons College, Wentworth Institute of Technology, and formerly Wheelock College. Academics. At the undergraduate level, Emmanuel offers over 60 majors, minors and concentrations in the liberal arts and sciences. In 2019, the Massachusetts  Board of Registration in Nursing granted the college initial approval status for four-year Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program. The college plans to place students accept students into the program for the fall of 2019. The Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, and Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees require the successful completion of a minimum of 128 credits, distributed among the general requirements, major requirements and elective or minor courses. Students are required to complete the first-year seminar program during the first semester of their freshman year, which consists of a one-semester topical seminar related to "Knowledge , Values and Social Change." Emmanuel College is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education. Emmanuel College is composed of six schools. These are the School of Humanities & Social Sciences, the School of Science & Health, the School of Business & Management, the School of Education, and the School of Nursing. The most popular majors at Emmanuel College are Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Psychology, Business, Management, Marketing, Education, Communications, and Journalism. Scholars. Emmanuel College produced two Fulbright faculty scholars in 2015-16 - more than any other bachelor's institution in New England - and was designated a Fulbright Scholar Top Producer by  the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. In addition, Emmanuel has produced student Fulbright scholars for five consecutive years. Internships. Internships are an integral part of the curriculum. 100% of Emmanuel graduates complete an internship. The Office of Internships and Career Development has over 850 internship opportunities in Greater Boston listed on its career website, EC3: Emmanuel College Career Connect. Fully 1/3 of the job offers that new Emmanuel graduates receive come from the companies at which they interned. Graduate and professional programs. Emmanuel began offering graduate and professional programs in management, nursing and education in  1980. Today the college enrolls 700 graduate and professional students at its campuses in Boston, Quincy and Woburn and offers degrees and certificates in Biopharmaceutical Leadership, Education, Human Resources, Management, Nursing and Research Administration. Student life. Clubs and organizations. The college sponsors approximately 50 student clubs and organizations, most of which are managed by the Office of Student Activities and Multicultural Programs. Academic clubs include Art, Art Therapy, Art History, Biology, Chemistry, Education, Business Organization, Political Forum, Philosophy, Pre-Med (36 Hours), Psychology and Sociology. Arts/Performances clubs include Shakespeare Society, Acapocalypse, For Good Measure, Pep Band, Photography club, and  more. Community Service/volunteer clubs include the Emmanuel College Community Outreach (ECCO), Habitat for Humanity, Love Your Melon and Support Our Troops. Each year, Emmanuel College works with Children's Miracle Network to hold a dance marathon. In 2018, Emmanuel College raised over $120,000 for the third consecutive year. All proceeds go to funding childhood cancer research at Boston Children's Hospital. Emmanuel College is currently ranked the #1 Dance Marathon fundraiser program in Boston and is top 5 in New England. There are a variety of cultural organizations, including an International Student Association, Asian Student Association, Black Student  Union, Muslim Student Association, Latino Student Association, Irish Club, Italian Club, Gender Equality Club, and OUTspoken (LGBTQ). Media/Publications groups include Emmanuel College Radio, Epilogue (Yearbook), Her Campus, Writer's Block, Spoon University, and The Hub (Newspaper). Political/special interest groups include Political Forum, Model U.N., and Youth in Government The Student Government/Programming Board groups include the EC Programming Team, Class Officers, Commuter Council, Residence Hall Councils and Student Government Association. Athletics. Emmanuel competes in NCAA Division III Great Northeast Athletic Conference. The Saints' athletics program sponsors 17 varsity teams, as well as intramural sports clubs. Women's athletics  include basketball, cross country running, outdoor and indoor track, soccer, softball, tennis, lacrosse, and volleyball. Men's athletics include basketball, cross country, outdoor and indoor track, soccer, golf, lacrosse and volleyball. Club sports include men's baseball, women's dance, women's field hockey, coed sailing and coed cheerleading. Clemente Field. In the summer 2009, Emmanuel College partnered with the City of Boston for the $4 million comprehensive restoration of Roberto Clemente Field, a city-owned field located in the Back Bay Fens across the street from the campus in the Emerald Necklace. The renovations included an upgraded 120,000  sq. ft. NCAA-regulation synthetic turf field, a three-lane rubberized all-weather track, Musco lighting, practice facilities for expanded track and field events, a new scoreboard, as well as spectator stands and handicapped seating. The field serves as home for Emmanuel softball, men's and women's soccer and women's lacrosse teams, as well as the practice facility for men's and women's track and field. The field is open to the public, and is used by Boston Latin School athletics, Fenway High School gym classes, Colleges of the Fenway intramurals, and adult and young summer softball  leagues. The City of Boston-Emmanuel agreements is valid for 10 years and will presumably be revisited in 2019. The track is approximately 422 meters long. Notable people. In addition to serving on the advisory board, John F. Kennedy gave the college's commencement speech in 1949.