Washington College continues to be recognized in the annual higher education rankings by the nation’s most trusted and respected sources. This includes being once again named as one of the Best 387 Colleges according to The Princeton Review, remaining in the top 100 National Liberal Arts Colleges rankings by U.S. News & World Report (#98), and coming in at #204 overall in the Wall Street Journal/Time Higher Education’s 2022 College Rankings – the 2^nd highest ranking for a private college in Maryland.

The Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education College Rankings, based on 15 performance indicators, is designed to answer the questions that matter most to students and their families – topics such as graduation rates, employment after college, diversity on campus and access to faculty. Forty percent of each school’s overall score comes from student outcomes, including graduates’ salaries and debt; 30% comes from academic resources, including how much the college spends on teaching; 20% from student engagement, including whether students feel prepared to use their education in the real world, and 10% from the learning environment, including the diversity of the student body and academic staff.

The WSJ/THE College Rankings emphasize the return on investment students see after they graduate. Schools that fare the best on this list have graduates who generally are satisfied with their educational experience and land relatively high-paying jobs that can help them pay down student loans.

Washington College earned the second-highest WSJ/THE ranking among private colleges in Maryland, coming in behind Johns Hopkins University.

Since 1992, Princeton Review’s annual “Best Colleges” guide has showcased the schools they recommend to college applicants and their parents as the nation’s best for undergraduate academics. This annual publication features only about 14% of the country’s four-year colleges, and is one of The Princeton Review’s most popular. The company chooses the colleges for the book based on data it annually collects from administrators at hundreds of colleges about their institutions’ academic offerings. The Princeton Review also considers data it gathers from its surveys of college students at the colleges who rate and report on various aspects of their campus and community experiences.

U.S. News and World Report calculates its ranking based on six categories which are each weighted differently: student outcomes (40%), faculty resources (20%), expert opinion (20%), financial resources (10%), student excellence (7%) and alumni giving (3%). In total, U.S. News collected data on more than 1,850 institutions. While data for all schools appears on usnews.com, 1,466 schools were ranked. The data used is collected directly from the schools.

Washington College continues to appears in the ranks of the nation’s best colleges and universities by providing a combination of academic quality and economic value, while embracing our vision of the transformative power of the liberal arts.

Washington College was also featured in the Fiske Guide to College 2022, which profiles about 300 of what they determine are the best and most interesting colleges in the country. Additionally, Intelligent.com named Washington College as one of the top colleges in Maryland, earning the Best Student-to-Faculty Ratio honor.

Founded in 1782, Washington College is the tenth oldest college in the nation and the first chartered under the new Republic. With an emphasis on hands-on, experiential learning in the arts and sciences, and more than 40 multidisciplinary areas of study, the College is home to nationally recognized academic centers in the environment, history, and writing. Learn more at washcoll.edu. 

The Apollo Theater, Smithsonian American Art Museum, National Portrait Gallery, the National Constitution Center, the Human Rights Campaign, and Library of Congress—these are just a few of the institutions where Washington College students are interning this summer through the College’s Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience. The Starr Center has placed 27 students with internships as part of its Explore America internship program. Representing thirteen majors and all four class years, students are gaining valuable experience while earning stipends in the process.

“This program is truly unique, offering Washington College undergraduates opportunities unmatched at other small liberal arts schools,” said Adam Goodheart, the Starr Center’s Hodson Trust-Griswold Director. “Working with the leadership at major national nonprofits, we arrange for them to set aside positions each summer specifically for our students. Faculty members who know the applicants well carefully match them with the opportunities that will benefit them the most. Finally, we pay the students stipends of up to $5,000 for their summer work.”

Kyle Roberts, Associate Director of Library & Museum Programming at Philadelphia’s American Philosophical Society, has been hosting Explore America summer interns for several years.

“The American Philosophical Society greatly values its partnership with the Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience. Each summer we look forward to inviting bright Washington College undergraduates into ongoing archival and digital projects at the nation’s oldest learned society,” he said. “From historic immigration records to a revision of the guide to our African American history collections, the paid interns from the Starr Center work alongside our professional staff to unlock new knowledge that is changing how we understand the past.”

Although most of the internships are indeed virtual this summer, due to COVID precautions, several are not. The National Aquarium in Baltimore is providing soon-to-be senior and chemistry major Hannah Flayhart with a hands-on experience in conservation education.

“Working with guests and children at the National Aquarium this summer has given me a better understanding of what I want to do in the future. I want to continue to engage with people, not only to inform them about animals or science, but also to get across conservation tactics that can help protect our planet,” said Flayhart.

Since the program’s inception at Washington College a decade ago, it has offered over $700,000 in funding to more than 160 students. Financial support comes from an array of private donors and institutional grants.

“By paying the recipients enough to support summer living expenses, the Explore America program levels the socioeconomic playing field and brings more diverse young people into the world of nonprofit leadership,” said Goodheart.

“The work that our students do — from helping plan Smithsonian exhibitions to doing research for forthcoming books — gives them valuable experience and introduces them to mentors who sometimes change the course of their lives.”

It’s also an impressive line for students’ resumes when they enter the work world, and in some cases, the realization of a childhood dream.

“The Explore America internship program is one of the reasons I chose to attend Washington College,” said 2021 Washington College graduate Katy Shenk. “I’m so grateful to the Starr Center for making these experiences possible. Both of my internship positions have allowed me to explore the field of public history through hands-on work and truly rewarding projects.”

Shenk said that her 2019 Explore America internship with the prestigious Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History in New York City inspired her to later design and lead an independent World War II curriculum project when she returned to the Starr Center the following year. This summer, Shenk is interning through Explore America with the Smithsonian American Art Museum, as a curatorial research assistant.

“I’m doing the work of a historian—locating, interpreting, and critically evaluating primary and secondary source materials—a process I refined through many engaging, well-taught history seminars at Washington College. I’m confident these experiences not only helped me secure a place in American University’s graduate public history program but have provided me with the skills and knowledge of the field necessary to thrive there as well.”

About the Starr Center

Washington College’s Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience explores the American experience in all its diversity and complexity, seeks creative approaches to illuminating the past, and inspires thoughtful conversation informed by history. Through educational programs, scholarship and public outreach, the Starr Center bridges the divide between the academic realm and the broader world, while offering dynamic hands-on opportunities to Washington College undergraduates from a wide range of majors. More information can be found at starrcenter.washcoll.edu.

About Washington College

Founded in 1782, Washington College is the tenth-oldest college in the nation and the first one chartered after American independence. It enrolls approximately 1,250 undergraduates from more than 35 states and a dozen nations. With an emphasis on hands-on, experiential learning in the arts and sciences, and more than 40 multidisciplinary areas of study, the College is home to nationally recognized academic centers in the environment, history, and writing. Learn more at washcoll.edu.

Seven books published in 2020 by the country’s most prominent historians have been named finalists for the George Washington Prize. The annual award recognizes the past year’s best works on the nation’s founding era, especially those that have the potential to advance a broad public understanding of early American history.

“Every day we see evidence that Americans care deeply about the history of the founding of the United States,” commented Doug Bradburn, President of George Washington’s Mount Vernon. “Each of these books provides a window into that transformational era, and sheds light as well on the world we are all making together… all worthy finalists in a very competitive field.”

Created by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, George Washington’s Mount Vernon, and Washington College, the $50,000 George Washington Prize is one of the nation’s largest and most notable literary awards.

“At a time when questions about America’s past are so central to discussions of our nation’s present and future, books like these are essential reading,” said Adam Goodheart, Director of Washington College’s Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience.

Written to engage a wide public audience, the selected books provide a “go-to” reading list for anyone interested in learning more about George Washington, his contemporaries, and the founding of the United States of America.

The 2021 George Washington Prize finalists are (in alphabetical order):

• Mark Boonshoft, Aristocratic Education and the Making of the American Republic (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press)
• Vincent Brown, Tacky’s Revolt: The Story of an Atlantic Slave War (Cambridge: Harvard University Press)
• Peter Cozzens, Tecumseh and the Prophet: The Shawnee Brothers Who Defied a Nation (New York: Alfred A. Knopf)
• Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, The Age of Phyllis (Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press)
• Michael W. McConnell, The President Who Would Not Be King: Executive Power under the Constitution (Princeton: Princeton University Press)
• Mary Beth Norton, 1774: The Long Year of Revolution (New York: Alfred A. Knopf)
• William G. Thomas III, A Question of Freedom: The Families Who Challenged Slavery from the Nation’s Founding to the Civil War (New Haven: Yale University Press)

The prize will be awarded to the 2021 winner at a ceremony held at Mount Vernon, George Washington’s home in Virginia, on October 20, 2021.  The ceremony will also recognize past winner, Rick Atkinson, for his book The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777 (Henry Holt), as it was not possible to hold the event in person last year.

More information about the George Washington Prize is available at www.mountvernon.org/gwprize

ABOUT THE SPONSORS OF THE GEORGE WASHINGTON PRIZE

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

Now celebrating its twenty-fifth year, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History was founded in 1994 by Richard Gilder and Lewis E. Lehrman, visionaries and lifelong supporters of American history education. The Institute is the leading nonprofit organization dedicated to K–12 history education while also serving the general public. Its mission is to promote the knowledge and understanding of American history through educational programs and resources.

As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History is supported through the generosity of individuals, corporations, and foundations. The Institute’s programs have been recognized by awards from the White House, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Organization of American Historians, and the Council of Independent Colleges. Learn more at gilderlehrman.org.

George Washington’s Mount Vernon

Since 1860, more than 85 million visitors have made George Washington’s Mount Vernon the most popular historic home in America. Through thought-provoking tours, entertaining events, and stimulating educational programs on the estate and in classrooms across the nation, Mount Vernon strives to preserve George Washington’s place in history as “First in War, First in Peace, and First in the Hearts of His Countrymen.” Mount Vernon is owned and operated by the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, America’s oldest national preservation organization, founded in 1853. In 2013, Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association opened the Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington, which safeguards original books and manuscripts and serves as a center for research, scholarship, and leadership development. Learn more at mountvernon.org.

Washington College

Washington College was founded in 1782, the first institution of higher learning established in the new republic. George Washington was not only a principal donor to the college, but also a member of its original governing board. He received an honorary degree from the college in June 1789, two months after assuming the presidency. The college’s Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience explores the American experience in all its diversity and complexity, seeks creative approaches to illuminating the past, and inspires thoughtful conversation informed by history. Learn more at www.washcoll.edu.

Washington College will host the 238^th Commencement Exercises on the Campus Green beginning at 10:30 AM on Saturday, May 22. This in-person event is open only to the 306 graduates and their registered guests.  For all others, the event will be live-streamed here, beginning at 10:25 AM on graduation day.

Katie Hood, the chief executive officer of the One Love Foundation, will deliver the keynote address during the ceremony. Under her leadership since 2014, this high-profile organization created in honor of Yeardley Love has become the nation’s leading educator of young people on the topic of relationship abuse. Hood will also receive an Honorary Doctor of Public Service degree.

Paris Young ‘21 was selected as the senior class speaker and will offer her remarks immediately following Interim President Wayne Powell’s welcome. Young is a Political Science major who also has a double minor in Black studies and justice, law and society. Young worked for the Starr Center for the past three years and interned at the National Museum for African American History in her hometown of Washington, D.C. She is currently a team leader for the Chesapeake Heartland’s oral history program.

The highlight of the ceremony is the public conferral of degrees on over 300 Washington College graduates. Wayne B. Powell, Interim President, will officially confer the degrees earned and Interim Provost and Dean Michael Harvey will individually present each graduate. A small number of graduates elected to participate virtually via a prepared slide that will be presented on the large video screens.

Harvey will also present the College’s faculty and student awards, as well as the senior honors and prizes. These include the Alumni Association’s Award for Distinguished Teaching, the Jane Huston Goodfellow Memorial Prize, the Sophie Kerr Prize and the George Washington Medal and Award, among others.

This week there are also numerous events and celebrations leading up to Commencement, to include various Departmental Receptions hosted by faculty, the Senior Awards Ceremony (May 20 from 10 AM – 11:30 AM) which can be viewed here, and the announcement of the Sophie Kerr Prize (May 21 at 7:30 PM), which can be viewed here. The six finalists for this prestigious prize were just announced – see full release.

Over the past few weeks, the College has been sharing the voices of members of the Class of 2021 through a series of Senior Spotlights. These stories can be viewed here.

Graduates and their guests are required to abide by the College’s COVID protocols, which includes producing a negative COVID test result. Masks are required. Each graduate could invite two guests. For more information about the schedule of events or general information about commencement, visit the Commencement webpage.

Founded in 1782, Washington College is the tenth oldest college in the nation and the first chartered under the new Republic. With an emphasis on hands-on, experiential learning in the arts and sciences, and more than 40 multidisciplinary areas of study, the College is home to nationally recognized academic centers in the environment, history, and writing. Learn more at washcoll.edu. 

The 2020 election “map daddy” and #chartthrob Steve Kornacki joins the Starr Center this week for a conversation on political tribalism and more. Jointly presented by Washington College’s Starr Center and the Rose O’Neil Literary House, the event is scheduled for 5 PM on April 1.

Kornacki will talk about the 1990’s historical roots of our present-day politics from his book The Red and the Blue, as well as how our current tribalism mentality came to be. In addition to gaining fame recently as NBC’s electoral map guru who barely took a break during election night coverage, Kornacki’s articles have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Boston Globe, and Daily Beast, among others.

Kornacki’s marathon election coverage and his sensible khakis both earned national attention, as he famously stayed awake for 45 straight hours (fueled by Diet Coke), always appearing in his signature outfit. He was recently named to People’s Sexiest Man Alive list.

To join the discussion with Steve Kornacki, register here.  Registration is free and open to the public.

This event is part of the Harwood Lecture Series on American Journalism.

Thursdays with the Starr Center Series

Washington College’s Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience has launched this new series of free virtual events every Thursday, bringing best-selling authors, respected journalists, renowned scholars, talented performers, and a variety of other guests to a wide audience during Washington College’s spring semester.

“Thursdays with the Starr Center” is eclectic, conversational, and informal. Events will occur Thursdays at 5 p.m., unless otherwise noted. In addition to original events, the series will also feature the events of campus partners like the Black Studies Program at Washington College.

“These weekly events will capture the energy and diversity of the Washington College community,” said Goodheart. “You can come join a lively discussion on history and politics — or just quietly eavesdrop while you’re starting to fix dinner. We hope you’ll return for a regular date with us each Thursday.”

For more information about the “Thursdays with the Starr Center” event series and upcoming events, including registration and access, please visit https://www.washcoll.edu/learn-by-doing/starr/news_and_events.php.

About the Starr Center

Washington College’s Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience explores the American experience in all its diversity and complexity, seeks creative approaches to illuminating the past, and inspires thoughtful conversation informed by history. Through educational programs, scholarship and public outreach, and a special focus on written history, the Starr Center seeks to bridge the divide between the academic world and the public at large.

About Washington College

Founded in 1782, Washington College is the tenth oldest college in the nation and the first chartered under the new Republic. It enrolls approximately 1,450 undergraduates from more than 35 states and a dozen nations. With an emphasis on hands-on, experiential learning in the arts and sciences, and more than 40 multidisciplinary areas of study, the College is home to nationally recognized academic centers in the environment, history, and writing. Learn more at washcoll.edu.

Acclaimed documentarian Stanley Nelson is joining a virtual discussion about Freedom Riders, his 2010 documentary about the hundreds of civil rights activists who challenged segregation in interstate transport in the American South during the spring and summer of 1961.

Nelson’s documentary earned three Primetime Emmy Awards — among other honors — and is available to be screened virtually prior to the 7 PM start to the discussion and Q&A. This year marks the 60^th anniversary of this bold and dangerous experiment by both Black and white Americans.

To join the discussion with Stanley Nelson, register here.  Registration is free and open to the public.  To watch Freedom Riders, click here.

Stanley Nelson is today’s leading documentarian of the African American experience. His films combine compelling narratives with rich historical detail to shine new light on the under-explored American past.

In a rave review of “Freedom Riders” from 2011, The New York Times said, “It is hard to imagine a feature film conveying the events with a more vivid sense of drama or suspense. The commentators — the riders themselves, historians, politicians, civil rights leaders — have mostly been chosen for an uncanny ability to convey the tension in a present-tense reconstruction. Blowhards and professors of the obvious have been excised, and the archival photographs and news clips have been edited down to those most affecting and lyrical.”

Thursdays with the Starr Center Series

Washington College’s Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience has launched this new series of free virtual events every Thursday, bringing best-selling authors, respected journalists, renowned scholars, talented performers, and a variety of other guests to a wide audience during Washington College’s spring semester.

“Thursdays with the Starr Center” is eclectic, conversational, and informal. Events will occur Thursdays at 5 p.m., unless otherwise noted. In addition to original events, the series will also feature the events of campus partners like the Black Studies Program at Washington College.

“These weekly events will capture the energy and diversity of the Washington College community,” said Goodheart. “You can come join a lively discussion on history and politics — or just quietly eavesdrop while you’re starting to fix dinner. We hope you’ll return for a regular date with us each Thursday.”

Upcoming Events:

April 1 brings political author, journalist, television host, and 2020 election sensation Steve Kornacki virtually to the Starr Center. Kornacki will talk about the 1990’s historical roots of our present-day politics from his book The Red and the Blue, as well as how our current tribalism mentality came to be. In addition to gaining fame recently as NBC’s electoral map guru who barely took a break during election night coverage, Kornacki’s articles have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Boston Globe, and Daily Beast, among others.

For more information about the “Thursdays with the Starr Center” event series, including registration and access, please visit https://www.washcoll.edu/learn-by-doing/starr.

About the Starr Center

Washington College’s Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience explores the American experience in all its diversity and complexity, seeks creative approaches to illuminating the past, and inspires thoughtful conversation informed by history. Through educational programs, scholarship and public outreach, and a special focus on written history, the Starr Center seeks to bridge the divide between the academic world and the public at large.

About Washington College

Founded in 1782, Washington College is the tenth oldest college in the nation and the first chartered under the new Republic. It enrolls approximately 1,450 undergraduates from more than 35 states and a dozen nations. With an emphasis on hands-on, experiential learning in the arts and sciences, and more than 40 multidisciplinary areas of study, the College is home to nationally recognized academic centers in the environment, history, and writing. Learn more at washcoll.edu.

Washington College’s Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience has launched a new series of free virtual events every Thursday, bringing best-selling authors, respected journalists, renowned scholars, talented performers, and a variety of other guests to a wide audience during Washington College’s spring semester.

“Thursdays with the Starr Center” will be eclectic, conversational, and informal. Events will occur Thursdays at 5 p.m., unless otherwise noted. In addition to original events, the series will also feature the events of campus partners like the Black Studies Program at Washington College.

“These weekly events will capture the energy and diversity of the Washington College community,” said Goodheart. “You can come join a lively discussion on history and politics — or just quietly eavesdrop while you’re starting to fix dinner. We hope you’ll return for a regular date with us each Thursday.”

On March 4 at 5 p.m., the Starr Center invites participants to virtually sit down with Starr Center Director Adam Goodheart and acclaimed biographer Neal Gabler, a former Patrick Henry History Fellow at the Starr Center. Gabler will discuss his new book, Catching the Wind: Edward Kennedy and the Liberal Hour. A gripping book of human drama and political history, Catching the Wind does not portray Kennedy as he is so often viewed in popular culture: a reckless hedonist who rode his father’s fortune and his brothers’ coattails to a Senate seat at the age of thirty. Instead, Gabler shows a man racked by and driven by insecurity, a man so doubtful of himself that he sinned in order to be redeemed.

Later in the month, Starr is co-sponsoring two events – March 11 and March 18 at 5 p.m. – with the Black Studies Program at Washington College. March 11 will bring virtual discussions on “Leading While Black,” as alumna Joyell Arvella ’10 fuses her experience of race and gender equity facilitation and reproductive justice in order to disrupt misogynoir and unlearn global narratives that perpetuate colorism, rape culture, and reproductive harm. On March 18, Bucknell University’s Spanish and Africana Studies Professor Nick R. Jones analyzes “black speech” in Spanish theater from the 1500’s through the 1700’s to show how black Africans and their descendants were rendered legible in performative literary texts in the remote event “Speaking While Black.”

April 1 brings political author, journalist, television host, and 2020 election sensation Steve Kornacki virtually to the Starr Center. Kornacki will talk about the 1990’s historical roots of our present-day politics from his book The Red and the Blue, as well as how our current tribalism mentality came to be. In addition to gaining fame recently as NBC’s electoral map guru who barely took a break during election night coverage, Kornacki’s articles have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Boston Globe, and Daily Beast, among others.

For more information about the “Thursdays with the Starr Center” event series, including registration and access, please visit https://www.washcoll.edu/learn-by-doing/starr.

About the Starr Center

Washington College’s Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience explores the American experience in all its diversity and complexity, seeks creative approaches to illuminating the past, and inspires thoughtful conversation informed by history. Through educational programs, scholarship and public outreach, and a special focus on written history, the Starr Center seeks to bridge the divide between the academic world and the public at large.

About Washington College

Founded in 1782, Washington College is the tenth oldest college in the nation and the first chartered under the new Republic. It enrolls approximately 1,450 undergraduates from more than 35 states and a dozen nations. With an emphasis on hands-on, experiential learning in the arts and sciences, and more than 40 multidisciplinary areas of study, the College is home to nationally recognized academic centers in the environment, history, and writing. Learn more at washcoll.edu.