Skidmore College

Approximately 2,650 students are enrolled at Skidmore pursuing a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree in one of more than 60 areas of study.

Skidmore College

Seal of Skidmore College
Former names	Young Women's Industrial Club (1903–1911) Skidmore School of Arts (1911–1922)
Motto	Scuto amoris divini (Latin)
Motto in English	Under the shield of divine love
Type	Private liberal arts college
Established	1903; 121 years ago (1903) (as the Young Women's Industrial Club), 1911 (as Skidmore School of the Arts), 1922 (as Skidmore College)
Academic affiliations	CLAC Annapolis Group Oberlin Group
Endowment	$426 million (2022)
President	Marc Cameron Conner
Academic staff	211
Students	2,686 (all undergraduate) (2022)
Location	Saratoga Springs, New York , U.S.
Campus	850 acres (340 ha)
Colors	Green & yellow
Nickname	Thoroughbreds ("T-Breds")
Sporting affiliations	NCAA Division III – Liberty League
Mascot	Thoroughbreds
Website	www.skidmore.edu

Skidmore College has undergone many transformations since its founding in the early 20th century as a women's college. The Young Women's Industrial Club was formed in 1903 by Lucy Ann Skidmore (1853–1931) with inheritance money from her husband, who died in 1879, and from her father, Joseph Russell Skidmore (1821–1882), a former coal merchant. In 1911, the club was chartered under the name Skidmore School of Arts as a college to vocationally and professionally train young women. The school's board of regents finally permitted the granting of baccalaureate degrees in 1922, and the school subsequently changed names to the current Skidmore College.

Skidmore College was initially established with a campus in downtown Saratoga Springs. In 1961, the college board approved a move to what would become the new Jonsson Campus: 850 acres on the outer edges of Saratoga Springs, which had been purchased for the college by Skidmore trustee Erik Jonsson, the founder and president of Texas Instruments and the future mayor of Dallas, Texas. Jonsson Tower on the new campus bears his name. The first buildings on the modern campus opened in 1966, and the college gradually moved all operations to the new location.

In 1971, Skidmore began admitting men to its regular undergraduate program. (A few male World War II veterans had been admitted in the mid-1940s.) In 1971 Skidmore also launched the University Without Walls (UWW) program, which allowed nonresident students over age 25 to earn bachelor's degrees. That program ended in 2012.

In 2020, Marc C. Conner became the college's eighth president, replacing Philip A. Glotzbach, who had served as president since 2003. In February 2019, Glotzbach had announced that he would retire at the end of the 2019–2020 school year.

In 2023, the college's computer network was subject to a ransomware attack. The college notified affiliates whose data may have been accessed, and provided two years of a credit-monitoring service. An Oklahoma law firm filed a class-action suit.

Presidents

1. Charles Henry Keyes, 1912–1925
2. Henry T. Moore, 1925–1957
3. Val H. Wilson, 1957–1965
4. Joseph C. Palamountain Jr., 1965–1987
5. David H. Porter, 1987–1999
6. Jamienne S. Studley, 1999–2003
7. Philip A. Glotzbach, 2003–2020
8. Marc C. Conner, 2020–present

Skidmore offers 44 undergraduate majors, an average class size of 16, and more than 1000 courses. The World Languages and Literatures Department offers classes in six languages and self-instructional coursework in five additional languages. Its most popular majors, based on 2021 graduates, were:

• Business/Commerce (92)
• Psychology (42)
• English Language & Literature (39)
• Political Science & Government (31)
• Exercise Physiology & Kinesiology (22)
• History (22)
• Biology/Biological Sciences (21)
• Fine Arts & Art Studies (21)

Students are also encouraged to take their education outside of the classroom with internships. These can be taken for credit and can be completed throughout the academic year; nearly 85% of students participate in an internship during their Skidmore career. Opportunities for these internships are highly publicized both by the departments themselves and by the career center. Due to the definition of degrees by New York State, Skidmore cannot accredit all departments with a Bachelor's of Science. A B.S. is given to those students majoring in art (studio), dance, dance-theater, education, exercise science, business, social work, and theater. The distinction rests in the number of hours of "non-liberal arts" courses allowed toward the 120 credit hours needed for graduation, 60 for a B.S. and 30 for a B.A. These "non-liberal arts"-designated courses are considered by the college to be of a professional nature.

Rankings and reputation

Skidmore is considered one of the Hidden Ivies according to Greenes' Guides to Educational Planning (2000). Skidmore has been named as one of the "New Ivies" by Newsweek. The college was ranked as the 38th best national liberal arts college in the U.S. in the 2024 rankings of U.S. News & World Report. The 2020 Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education ranking of U.S. colleges and universities placed Skidmore at 93rd. For its 2019 America's Top Colleges list, Forbes rated Skidmore 101st overall.

The number of new students enrolling in the Fall of 2017 (class of 2021) was 665; For the class of 2021, total applications were 10,052, with an overall 24.5% acceptance rate, and a yield rate (the percentage of accepted students who enroll) of 26.8%. The median SAT score for the Class of 2021 was 1320, while the median ACT score was 30. For the class of 2026, total applications were 13,183 and 3,367 students were admitted, with an overall 25.5% acceptance rate, and a yield rate of 23.3%.

 

The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery is among the college's main arts facilities. In addition to the Tang, Skidmore has undergraduate studio space as well as several smaller galleries. The Saisselin Art Building houses studios for animation, ceramics, communication design, drawing, fibers, metals, painting, photography, printmaking, and sculpture. Skidmore has a music program housed in the Arthur Zankel Music Center, which contains a large concert hall and facilities.

In 2020, Skidmore broke ground on the 200,000-square-foot Billie Tisch Center for Integrated Sciences, a complex housing 10 Skidmore science departments and programs, 46 research labs, and a maker space for students and faculty, as well as a site-specific 165-foot sculpture by artist Alyson Shotz. The complex, scheduled to be complete in 2024, is named in honor of trustee and donor Wilma "Billie" Tisch, a 1948 graduate.

Most humanities classes are held in one of four academic buildings: Palamountain, Tisch, Bolton, and Ladd. Harder Hall houses math and computer science; geology, chemistry, physics, and biology operate out of Dana Science Center. The average class size is 17 (generally smaller in lab courses) and the typical student-to-teacher ratio is 8:1.

The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery

The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery was opened in 2000, and was designed by the architect Antoine Predock. Predock's design includes two major gallery wings (the Wachenheim Gallery and the Malloy Wing), two smaller galleries (the State Farm Mezzanine and the Winter Gallery), digitally equipped classrooms, and several event spaces. The Tang is nationally known for both its architecture and its holdings, and its excellence has been recognized by The New York Times, Art in America, and Architectural Digest, among other publications.^{[citation needed]} The Tang receives roughly 40,000 visitors annually. The Tang recently hosted a retrospective of the work of Alma Thomas in partnership with the Studio Museum in Harlem.

The Student Government Association

The Student Government Association (SGA) is the official governing body of students at Skidmore College. It aims to implement programs, events, and policies that establish and maintain high standards of community life, academic scholarship, responsible citizenship, and personal growth. In addition to serving as the official liaison between students and the college administration, the SGA is also responsible for providing events and entertainment for the student body, as well as funding and regulating the approximately 90 student-run clubs and organizations on campus. The SGA and its officers must operate in accordance with the SGA’s governing documents, which consist of the constitution, bylaws, and committee operating codes. The constitution sets forth the general structure of the SGA while the bylaws outline specific policies and procedures that the SGA and all student clubs and organizations must comply with. Committee operating codes instruct committees on the purpose of the committee and how it is to function during its meetings.

The SGA consists of four branches, which are the legislative, executive, judicial, and events branches. The main body of the legislative branch is the Senate, which has the power to pass resolutions and either confirm or reject nominations made by the President. There are also various Senate committees and subcommittees, each of which specializes in a different area such as academics or diversity. The executive power of the SGA is held by the Executive Committee, the members of which are the President, the Executive Vice President, and several Vice Presidents who specialize in certain areas such as financial affairs or student life. The Executive Committee is responsible for setting the general direction of the SGA and communicating with the college administration. The judicial authority of the SGA is vested in the Judicial Board, which hears cases regarding violations of SGA policies and procedures and impeachment of SGA officers. The Judicial Board does not hear cases involving violations of college policy, but instead refers those cases to the Office of Student Conduct. The body responsible for planning and executing events is the Student Events Council, which has various subcommittees that specialize in different types of events. The Student Events Council is also responsible for managing Falstaff’s, which is a building on campus that is owned by the SGA and used as a space for student clubs and organizations as well as the SGA to hold events.

Publications

Salmagundi

Salmagundi is a quarterly journal that focuses on the humanities and social sciences. Founded by Robert Boyers, a long-time faculty member in the English department, it has been published at Skidmore since 1969 and now has an international subscriber base of several thousand readers.

Each issue generally includes poetry, fiction, interviews, and essays. Salmagundi's editors often devote large sections of an issue to a timely special subject. Recent theme issues include "The Culture of the Museum", "Nigerian Mathematics", "Homosexuality", "Art and Ethics", "The Culture Industry", "Kitsch", and "FemIcons."

Nadine Gordimer, J. M. Coetzee, Tzvetan Todorov, George Steiner, Orlando Patterson, Norman Manea, Christopher Hitchens, Seamus Heaney, Mary Gordon, Susan Sontag, Benjamin Barber, Joyce Carol Oates, Richard Howard, Carolyn Forche, Martin Jay, and David Rieff are among the writers who have contributed to Salmagundi. Regular columnists include Benjamin Barber, Tzvetan Todorov, Martin Jay, Charles Molesworth, Marilynne Robinson, Carolyn Forché, and Mario Vargas Llosa.

The Skidmore News

The Skidmore News is the college's official student-run newspaper. Its staff is composed entirely of students, and it is published on a weekly basis during the academic year. In 2002, the Associated Collegiate Press awarded the newspaper first place for a four-year college weekly for special coverage of the community reaction to the September 11 attacks. In 2010, The Skidmore News stopped printing physical copies and moved entirely online.

The Skidmo' Daily

The Skidmo' Daily is the college's satirical publication. It was founded in 2013 by Jack Rosen '16, and its editorial board and staff are made up of students. Since July 2016 the paper has been posting content to its website, which includes web-exclusive content not found in the print editions, as well as an archive of print editions.

National College Comedy Festival

The National College Comedy Festival is an annual not-for-profit festival of student sketch and improvisational comedy that takes place each winter on campus. The festival, which first was held in February 1990, includes professional workshops.

Sustainability

Skidmore's Strategic Plan reflects the college's commitment to sustainability and includes a pledge to deepen connections with the local community, emphasize planning for sustainable operation, and reduce the college's environmental footprint. Three of Skidmore's buildings have geothermal heating and cooling systems, and the college has recently hired a sustainability coordinator to assist with efforts to "green" the campus. Skidmore received a grade of "B+" on the Sustainable Endowment Institute's "College Sustainability Report Card 2011."

Skidmore's athletic department, run out of the Williamson Sports Center, currently funds and supports 19 varsity teams, including basketball, ice hockey, rowing and riding. Skidmore is a member of the Liberty League.

From 1973 until 1982, Skidmore athletic teams were nicknamed the "Wombats". In 1982 the team nickname was changed to "Thoroughbreds" because it was felt that the wombat "lacked the image of an athlete."

The SS Skidmore Victory (VC2-S-AP3), a World War II cargo ship, was named after the college. Victory ships (VC2) were a class of cargo ship produced in large numbers by American shipyards to replace losses caused by German submarines.

In 2016, Saratoga Race Course named an annual race after the college. The Skidmore is run by 2-year-olds every August on turf at 5/12 furlongs.

For an extended list of notable graduates, attendees, faculty, and presidents, see List of Skidmore College People.

Some notable Skidmore graduates include MacArthur Fellows Elizabeth LeCompte and Heather Hurst; Cornell Law School dean Jens David Ohlin; longtime Vogue editor-in-chief Grace Mirabella; television producer David Miner; oceanographer Sallie Chisholm; philanthropist Wilma "Billie" Tisch; political operative Anne Wexler; business executives Cynthia Carroll, Oskar Ibru, and Carlie Irsay-Gordon; journalist Arwa Damon; actors Zazie Beetz, Justin Henry, and Michael Zegen; dancers Sybil Shearer and Robert Tracy; historian Judith Flanders; computer scientist Fillia Makedon; game designer Zach Gage; cookbook authors Helen Corbitt and Molly Baz; comedian Chris Fleming; early nutritionist Hazel Stiebeling; musicians Evan Mast and Mike Stroud of Ratatat; artists Grace DeGennaro and Glenda Arentzen; biophysicist and health policy expert Ruby Puryear Hearn; environmentalist Céline Cousteau; and film and TV composer Nathan Barr.

Skidmore attendees have included film director Jason Reitman; actors Jon Bernthal and Lake Bell; musician Evan Dando; and Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry's.