Hobart William Smith Colleges

The Colleges provide a student-centered, enriched learning environment that fosters a highly personalized education. Our approach is globally focused, grounded in values of equity, service and leadership, and dedicated to the development of multiple perspectives. Our framework is designed to prepare students to make an impact as citizens and professionals. Students start from the base of a flexible, interdisciplinary curriculum that requires them to choose or create a major or minor that bridges academic disciplines. Because students are encouraged to achieve goals rather than take a prescribed set of classes, they enjoy an array of experiences available to them. The layering of academic study with global study, service learning, career development, creative partnerships with faculty, and leadership on the athletic field, in student government or in the larger community, produces a powerful education. Students study abroad in one of the most ambitious off-campus programs in the country. Through a series of activities and resources that extend from pre-departure to post-abroad, the Center for Global Education prepares students to make the most of their time away and to share their experiences when they return. Many students publish photographs and writings that document their time abroad in the journal, The Aleph, or share them through exhibits and readings on campus. Pathways, a four-year, individualized career development program, enables students to explore their interests and talents, develop career goals, gain experience and launch a career or find the right graduate program. Mentors play a key role in the Pathways program, whether on or off campus. Mentoring relationships with faculty are central to students’ experience. Creative and intellectual partnerships often begin in the Colleges’ small classes and extend beyond the classroom. Students from every discipline can engage in sustained, in-depth study for honors projects. Many students in the sciences find opportunities to work closely with faculty in the field or laboratory; joining their faculty mentors as coauthors and presenters of papers at professional conferences. With faculty, students are involved in planning HWS Day, a yearly conference that brings prominent guests to campus to address topics such as Sports and Society, Earth Day and Einstein’s Legacy. Thanks to the President’s Forum, the President’s Radio Show, a variety of symposia and major events like the Elizabeth Blackwell Award Ceremony, Commencement and Convocation, dozens of prominent speakers come to campus annually. Students have opportunities to engage with leading experts on topics such as photojournalism in Iraq, recent discoveries about dinosaurs and the art of the memoir. Students make a difference through community service and civic engagement in the Finger Lakes region, in national settings and even during study abroad. Many students with a commitment to community service live and work together in a residential theme house. Related to service is active concern for the environment. We are the first college in New York to use wind power. Its The Finger Lakes Institute, which is run on geothermal and solar power, provides ample opportunities to study the environment. HWS’s commitment to gender equity is demonstrated in its athletics programs and student government structure. It also offers Women’s Studies, Men’s Studies and a robust series of activities and events through the Fisher Center for the Study of Women and Men. The Colleges celebrate several gender-specific traditions, largely ceremonial and social, that are based in their history as distinct colleges. Most students take part in our generous program of athletics and recreation. Activities range from individual fitness and yoga to fencing and equestrian clubs to 22 varsity teams. The campus combines contemporary technology and facilities with nearly two centuries of architecture in a stunning, lakeside location.