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Coat of Arms
Assistant Professor of Biology
Hampden-Sydney provides the opportunity for students to work closely with their professors in both classroom and independent research settings.
In continuous operation since November 10, 1775, the College is one of the oldest institutions of higher learning in the United States, holds the oldest (1783) private charter in the South, and is the oldest of the country's few remaining colleges for men.
Honor
For over two and a half centuries, Hampden-Sydney students have subscribed to two basic statements of honorable behavior:
"The Hampden-Sydney student will behave as a gentleman at all times and in all places."
"The Hampden-Sydney student will not lie, cheat, or steal, nor tolerate those who do."
Academics
Hampden-Sydney's liberal arts curriculum is directed toward the cultivation of a literate, articulate, and critical mind through the study of the sciences, the humanities, and the social sciences. The College offers over 25 majors and over 20 minors toward a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree.
Hampden-Sydney is proud of its Rhetoric Program, which is a reflection of the mission articulated by the school's first President, Samuel Stanhope Smith. Smith, a Valedictorian of Princeton University, aimed to model Hampden-Sydney after his alma mater, but with a "greater emphasis upon the cultivation of the English language than is usually done in places of public education." Smith's goal lives on today as all Hampden-Sydney men learn to express themselves grammatically and persuasively in both writing and speech.
Student Life
Students enjoy a vital and rigorous life at Hampden-Sydney College. Though each Hampden-Sydney man is a student first, student organizations and student government provide excellent opportunities for practicing the principles taught in the classroom, and used in life beyond "The Hill."
With more than 60 clubs ranging from philanthropy and service to athletics and music, 14 honor societies, and 9 social fraternities, Hampden-Sydney has a special interest to suit just about any man.
Student Body
Hampden-Sydney is currently enrolling nearly 1,100 men. Currently, 26 states and 19 countries are represented in the student body. Of those students enrolled, approximately 71% hail from the Commonwealth of Virginia, though traditionally, Virginia residents have represented closer to 60% of the student body. The current student to faculty ratio is 11:1 and the average class has 15 students. Nearly half of the graduating seniors enter graduate or professional school.
Athletics
The athletic program is important at any college, but is particularly important at Hampden-Sydney because of our students' overwhelming interest in athletics. Approximately 30% of the student body participates in intercollegiate athletics and over 70% participate in the intramural program. Athletics, quite simply, is vital to the wholeness of the College.
Faculty
There are 96 highly motivated and dedicated members of the full-time teaching faculty, and a varying number of adjunct professors, with a student-faculty ratio of 11:1.
Leadership
24th President of Hampden-Sydney College, Dr. Christopher B. Howard, is one of the youngest college presidents in the United States.
Location
Part of the 1,330-acre campus, picturesquely set in Virginia's historic Southside, 70 miles southwest of Richmond, has been designated a National Historic Preservation Zone. Farmville, a town of 6500, is seven miles north. None of the eighteenth-century buildings survives, but the Federal architecture first used for the western portion of the Alamo (1817, destroyed 1994) has been maintained as the dominant style for the campus.
The mission of the College is to instill in its students a commitment to sound scholarship through studies in the natural sciences, the humanities, and the social sciences; to cultivate qualities of character and moral discernment rooted in the Judeo-Christian tradition; to develop clear thinking and expression; to promote an understanding of the world and our place in it; to impart a comprehension of social institutions as a basis for intelligent citizenship and responsible leadership in a democracy; to prepare those with special interests and capacities for graduate and professional study; and to equip graduates for a rewarding and productive life.
Accreditation
Hampden-Sydney is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097; 404-679-4500) and is a member of the Association of Virginia Colleges, the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges, the Association of American Colleges, the Southern University Conference, the College Entrance Examination Board, the American Chemical Society, and the College Scholarship Service.
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