Cedar Crest College

For other uses, see Cedar Crest.

Cedar Crest College is a private liberal arts women's college in Allentown, Pennsylvania.^[4] At the start of the 2015-2016 academic year, the college had 1,053 undergraduate and 387 graduate students.^[5] Men may pursue any master's degree, bachelor's degree, certification, and certificate program offered through evening and weekend study and are welcome to study nursing and nuclear medicine by day.^[6]

Cedar Crest College

Former names	Lehigh Female Academy (1867–1868) Allentown Female College (1868–1893) Allentown College for Women (1893–1913)^[1]^[2]
Motto	Religio, Libertas et Scientia (Latin)
Motto in English	Divinity, Liberty and Knowledge
Type	Private liberal arts college
Established	July 12, 1867; 156 years ago (1867-07-12)
Religious affiliation	United Church of Christ (historically related)
Endowment	$41.5 million (2022)^[3]
President	Elizabeth M. Meade
Academic staff	92 full-time
Students	1,440
Undergraduates	1,053 students
Location	Allentown , Pennsylvania , United States
Campus	Suburban, 84 acres (34 ha)
Colors	Yellow and white
Nickname	Falcons
Website	www.cedarcrest.edu

Founded in 1867, the college is historically tied to the United Church of Christ, though it remains academically independent.^[7] It was previously known as the Allentown Female College and the Allentown College for Women, before taking its current name in 1913.

Academics

 

Aerial view of Cedar Crest College in Allentown, Pennsylvania in 1931

 

Blaney Hall on the campus of Cedar Crest College in March 2014

The college's Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science programs span more than 50 majors. The curriculum also includes programs in Pre-Law, Pre-Dentistry, Pre-Medicine, and Pre-Veterinary Medicine. Cedar Crest College also offers master's degrees.^[8][9] Its MBA Program offers a focus on Women's Leadership.^[10] Undergraduate and graduate programs are also offered to adult students through the college's School of Adult and Graduate Education.^[11]

Performing arts

Theatre

The Theatre major at Cedar Crest College is a holistic major that encompasses both technical experience and performance in the theatre field. First Fridays are offered starting in a student's sophomore year to allow collaboration between those in the Performing Arts majors.^[12]

The college stages four major stage productions which typically includes two musical productions and two straight plays.^[12]

Scholarships

The department offers scholarships based on an audition on a Performing Arts Scholarship Day or submitted by video. These are typically $1,500 per year, four-year renewing scholarships, contingent on the student's participation in productions or classes within the Dance or Theatre majors.^[13]

Campus

Further information: Da Vinci Science Center and William F. Curtis Arboretum

 

The Cressman Library on the campus of Cedar Crest College in August 2012

Cedar Crest is located off Cedar Crest Boulevard at 100 College Drive on the western edge of Allentown, Pennsylvania.^[4] The 84-acre (34 ha) campus is adjacent to the city's Cedar Beach Park.^[14]

The campus includes buildings containing libraries, classrooms, administrative offices, pools, theaters, fitness studios, and dining halls.^[15] Additional classroom and faculty buildings include Hartzel Hall, Curtis Hall and Hamilton Boulevard Building.^[15][16] The college also has four residence halls: Butz Hall, Moore Hall, Steinbright Hall, and the upper level of Curtis Hall.^[17]

Cedar Crest's collection of 140 species of trees is designated as the William F. Curtis Arboretum, which is registered with the American Public Gardens Association.^[15] The arboretum is named for the college's seventh president, who after purchasing the property in 1915, beautified the campus by planting flowers, shrubs and trees from all over the world.^[18]

The campus is also the site of the Da Vinci Science Center, an independent science demonstration facility that opened in 2005.^[19]

Dorothy bell

The bell is a sculpture by Toshiko Takaezu, located on the quad in a garden to honor Dorothy Gulbenkian Blaney's presidency.

Athletics

 

The Allentown United FC soccer club playing on the Cedar Crest College soccer field in August 2019

Cedar Crest, known athletically as the Falcons, competes in NCAA Division III athletics and has teams in basketball, cross country running, field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball, tennis, swimming and diving, track and field, and volleyball. The Rodale Aquatic Center on campus is home to the college's swimming and diving team.

Tennis

During the 2007 season, the Cedar Crest Falcons tennis team placed 4th in the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference (PAC), now known as the Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC). The team also broke two school records, one for the most wins in a season (12) and one for the most PAC wins (7). The team's record was 12–3. Coach Lynn Pigliacampi, at the time, was two games away from becoming Cedar Crest's winningest tennis coach. Pigliacampi played locally at Easton Area High School in Easton, Pennsylvania, where she was undefeated, and at Division I Drexel University. Her father, Jules Pigliacampi, is an assistant coach. The United States Tennis Association named her Coach of the Year in 2008.^[20]

Basketball

Cedar Crest's Falcons basketball team finished the 2008–09 season at 13-11 overall and 8–8 in the Colonial States Athletic Conference. The team posted more conference victories than in the previous nine seasons combined, earning a CSAC playoff berth for the first time in a decade. Head coach Valerie Donohue (Cedar Crest, '95) led the Falcons in tying the school record of 13 season wins set in 1998–99, the last time the team made the playoffs. The sixth-seeded Falcons beat Centenary College's women in the 2009 tournament's opening round.^[21] Donohue was subsequently named the Colonial States Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Coach of the Year.

Cynthia L. Blaschak Softball Field

In the spring of 1997, Cynthia L. Blaschak made a donation to Cedar Crest to build a softball field. This was done as part of her support of the new NCAA Division III varsity softball team that was beginning their season that year. Blaschak was a student athlete herself while attending Cedar Crest. She participated in both basketball and badminton.

Notable alumni

• Jane Amsterdam, editor of Manhattan, inc. and the New York Post^[22]
• Rita Kogler Carver, theater and lighting designer
• Judy McGrath, former CEO of MTV^[23]
• Dorothy Page, former actress
• Suzanne Fisher Staples, author and international news reporter^[24]
• Blenda Wilson, former California State University-Northridge and University of Michigan chancellor^[25]

Notable faculty

• Chrystelle Trump Bond, former American dancer, choreographer, and dance historian
• Anthony S. Caprio, former president, Western New England University
• Richard Druckenbrod, former theology professor and Pennsylvania German language scholar
• Fred Benjamin Gernerd, former Congressman and former Cedar Crest trustee
• Frank Reed Horton, first national president of Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity
• Diane Moyer, former Olympic field hockey player and current associate professor in the psychology department
• Barton C. Shaw, historian
• Pauline Tompkins, former president of Cedar Crest College

References

1. "History's Headlines: Cedar Crest College will be 150 next year". www.wfmz.com. 69 News. 4 August 2016. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
2. "Allentown Female College is ancestor of today's Cedar Crest ** Its first classes were in basement of Zion's Reformed Church". www.mcall.com. The Morning Call. 21 January 2004. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
3. "U.S. and Canadian 2022 NTSE Participating Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year 2022 Endowment Market Value, Change in Market Value from FY21 to FY22, and FY22 Endowment Market Values Per Full-time Equivalent Student (Excel)". National Association of College and University Business Officers. 17 February 2023. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
4. "Cedar Crest College website". Retrieved 2008-05-27.
5. https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/cedar-crest-college-3243#studentbody
6. "Cedar Crest College Catalog • The Center for Lifelong Learning Overview". www.cedarcrest.edu. Retrieved 2016-03-16.
7. "United Church of Christ website". Retrieved 2008-10-13.
8. (PDF). collegedata.com. 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-12-22. Retrieved 2008-05-27.
9. "Cedar Crest College Catalog • 2015-2016". www.cedarcrest.edu. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
10. "Master of Business Administration". cedarcrest.edu. Retrieved 2023-05-12.
11. "Cedar Crest College: An Adult Student's Guide" (PDF). Cedar Crest College Center for Lifelong Learning. August 2007. Retrieved 2008-05-27.^{[dead link]}
12. "Performing Arts". www.cedarcrest.edu. Retrieved 2016-03-15.
13. "Performing Arts – Scholarship Opportunities". www.cedarcrest.edu. Retrieved 2016-03-15.
14. . Allentown, Pennsylvania: Cedar Crest College. Archived from the original on 2003-11-19. Retrieved 2008-05-27.
15. . 2007-2008 Catalog. Cedar Crest College. Archived from the original on November 20, 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-27.
16. . News Release. Cedar Crest College. October 8, 2007. Archived from the original on March 2, 2004. Retrieved 2007-05-27.
17. (PDF). The Crestiad. March 29, 2007. pp. 3–4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-05-22. Retrieved 2008-05-27.
18. . Cedar Crest College. Archived from the original on 2008-05-02. Retrieved 2008-05-27.
19. . Archived from the original on 2008-05-11. Retrieved 2008-05-27.
20. Messner, Sara (November 20, 2008). (PDF). The Crestiad. Vol. 90, no. 10. Allentown, Pennsylvania: Cedar Crest College. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 30, 2011. Retrieved 2009-05-02. Along with the USTA Coach of the Year Award, L. Pigliacampi is also Cedar Crest's winningest tennis coach with a record of 37-26 overall which tops Cedar Crest's previous tennis coach, Mikki Smith (1996-1999) who had a record of 29-28. (Records date back to 1993.)
21. . Colonial States Athletic Conference. March 6, 2009. Archived from the original on March 10, 2016. Retrieved May 2, 2009.
22. Kasindorf, Jeanie (May 30, 1988). "The Amsterdam News". New York. pp. 40–44.
23. "Cedar Crest College Profile". Retrieved 25 March 2013.
24. . Archived from the original on 2013-05-15. Retrieved 2015-07-07.
25. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 17 February 2016.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cedar Crest College.

• Official website
• Official athletics website
• Cedar Crest College on Facebook  
• Cedar Crest College on Instagram  
• Cedar Crest College on Twitter  

40°35′13″N 75°31′08″W / 40.587°N 75.519°W / 40.587; -75.519