College History & Mission

A History of Vassar College

Vassar College was founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, a successful brewer and businessman. Located in Poughkeepsie, New York (on land that had traditionally been the homelands of the Munsee Lenape people), about 75 miles north of New York City, the college offered young women a liberal arts education equal to that of the best men’s colleges of the day, in a non-denominational setting. Because of the Civil War, the school did not open its doors until the fall of 1865, when 353 students arrived, mostly from New York and other parts of the northeast.  Nearly all activities took place in Main Building, designed by James Renwick as the largest building in the United States at the time.  There was also an Observatory, and a Calisthenium and Riding Academy was under construction.

The first decades were challenging, as the college tried to build enrollment, establish modes of operation, and find financial support. Until 1890, some students were enrolled in a preparatory division.  Those pursuing a B.A. had to choose between a Classical Course, and a Scientific Course, though all took Latin, English, Geography, Chemistry, Logic, Physiology, and Philosophy.  By the 1870s this plan changed, and students had more freedom in course selection.  From the beginning students learned by “going to the source,” supported by significant repositories of primary sources: the Art Gallery, the Library, a “Cabinet” of natural history specimens, and an Herbarium, all of which still exist today.  Faculty like historian Lucy Maynard Salmon especially promoted this pedagogical approach.  Sutematsu Yamakawa of Japan (later Princess Oyama) became the first international graduate in 1882. Outside the classroom, extra-curricular activities included the Philaletheis society, the school newspaper, athletic clubs, and springtime celebrations of “Founder’s Day.”  

Under President James M. Taylor (1886-1914), the college entered a period of stability and expansion.  The first fundraising campaign was launched, enrollment increased, and the campus was enlarged.   Between 1893 and 1902 a quadrangle of dormitories was created; five other buildings went up by 1913, including Rockefeller Hall, a new Chapel, and a new Library, all part of a central, rectangular greensward suggested by the Olmsted firm of architects. The college acquired 500 acres of land adjacent to campus which now is the site of the Vassar Preserve. Apart from building, Vassar’s curriculum was again revised, team sports were formalized, and financial aid was initiated. Some indication of the quality of the academic program was revealed in 1898, when the first chapter of Phi Beta Kappa at a women’s college was founded. Anita Hemmings, the first African-American student, graduated in 1897. Especially after the turn of the century, a number of Vassar faculty and students became involved in the movement for women’s suffrage. 

The period straddling the two World Wars is recognized as a time when Vassar built bridges to the world. During World War I, for instance, it hosted a Training Camp for Nurses, and alumnae sent a Vassar Relief Unit to France to care for wounded soldiers.  In 1925 President Henry Noble MacCracken hired Hallie Flanagan Davis to run the Experimental Theater, a high point in Vassar’s engagement with the arts. Theologian Howard Thurman spoke at Vassar 12 times between 1928 and 1950, and his daughter Olive became one of the college’s first openly Black students. At MacCracken’s invitation, Franklin D. Roosevelt served as a trustee and his wife Eleanor visited campus often. During the 1940s, the college welcomed displaced faculty and students to the community.  Several buildings were constructed, for a variety of purposes, among them Alumnae House, Wimpfheimer Nursery School, Sanders Physics, Blodgett Hall, and Skinner Hall of Music.   The landscape received attention too: students and faculty collaborated on a Shakespeare Garden (now the second-oldest in the country), and Professor Edith Roberts started an Outdoor Ecological Laboratory and initiated plans for a campus arboretum, designed by Beatrix Farrand. Today it boasts 2,200 trees and over 170 species.

In 1946 Sarah Gibson Blanding became the first woman president of Vassar; during her tenure enrollment reached 1,500. After World War II, some male students enrolled in classes on the G.I. Bill.  The general endowment tripled, and the building program continued, responding to new needs.  Modernist architects Marcel Breuer, Eero Saarinen, and Winston Elting and Paul Schweikher each designed buildings, adding to the diversity of Vassar’s architecture.  The college observed its 100th anniversary in 1961 with celebratory events and publications. The 1960s brought great change to Vassar, as in society at large.  A controversy erupted in 1962 when President Blanding demanded that students adhere to the school’s moral code. There were a number of protests against the Vietnam War, and in 1969 African-American students took over Main Building, demanding changes in Black Studies.  An especially important moment in Vassar history occurred in 1969, when the college declined an invitation to merge with Yale University and instead opened its doors to men, making it the first all-women’s college in the country to become coeducational.  Co-education has now existed on campus for more than fifty years, and men represent roughly 40 percent of the student body of around 2,450.  

In recent decades, Vassar has continued to adapt and grow.  A significant development in terms of the student body has been the introduction of need-blind admissions in 2007. The student body and the faculty have become more diverse. As for the curriculum, it has continued to change in thoughtful ways.  The introduction of the “Intensives,” experience-based courses of varying length, has enriched learning on campus.  Ongoing building plans in many ways represented re-commitments to long-held Vassar values and goals.  Additions were made to the Library in the late 1970s and 1990s. During the 90s, a new Observatory, the Walker Field House, and the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center were constructed.  After 2000, the Vogelstein Center for Drama and Film, and the Bridge for Laboratory Sciences, were both dedicated.  The Inn and Institute for the Liberal Arts has recently opened, and a new Admissions Building is in progress.  

Today, the Vassar curriculum is broader and richer than ever, with 53 departments and programs of instruction.  A strong athletics program promotes a variety of team sports for both men and women.  Study abroad opportunities abound, and a commitment to the local community is seen in initiatives like Community Engaged Learning and the Vassar Education Collaboration. Vassar graduates make important contributions to many fields and professions, and there is an active network of alumnae and alumni.  The unique traditions upon which the college was founded are still upheld today: a dedication to the liberal arts and sciences, a commitment to the advancement of equality between the sexes, a determination to excel, a willingness to experiment, and the development of leadership. Vassar stands at the forefront of liberal arts institutions and is a leading force in higher education in the 21st century. 

Presidents of Vassar College

Mission Statement of Vassar College

The mission of Vassar College is to make accessible “the means of a thorough, well-proportioned and liberal education”* that inspires each individual to lead a purposeful life. The College makes possible an education that promotes analytical, informed, and independent thinking and sound judgment; encourages articulate expression; and nurtures intellectual curiosity, creativity, respectful debate and engaged citizenship. Vassar supports a high standard of engagement in teaching and learning, scholarship and artistic endeavor; a broad and deep curriculum; and a residential campus that fosters a learning community. Founded in 1861 to provide women an education equal to that once available only to men, Vassar is now open to all and strives to pursue diversity, inclusion, and equity as essential components of a rich intellectual and cultural environment in which all members, including those from underrepresented and marginalized groups, are valued and empowered to thrive.
 
* From the College’s First Annual Catalogue