McDaniel College

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McDaniel College is a private college in Westminster, Maryland, United States. Established in 1867, it was known as Western Maryland College until 2002 when it was renamed McDaniel College in honor of an alumnus who gave a lifetime of service to the college.<ref name="stone1">Template:Cite web</ref> The college also has a satellite campus, McDaniel College Budapest, in Budapest, Hungary. McDaniel College is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. The college owns and manages a shopping center and residential properties through its for-profit arm.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

History

The college was founded in 1867 as Western Maryland College, and was named for the Western Maryland Railroad because the college's first Board chairman, John Smith of Wakefield, was also the president of the railroad. (Neither the railroad nor the Methodist Protestant Church contributed funds to facilitate the establishment of the college. Some contributions, however, were received from Methodist Protestant laymen, including John Smith.) It had a voluntary fraternal affiliation with the Methodist Protestant (later United Methodist) Church from 1868 until 1974; the adjacent but separate institution, the Westminster Theological Seminary, was a principal site for training Methodist Protestant (later United Methodist) clergy in the Maryland region. The ties with the United Methodist Church were cut over a court case in which Western Maryland and other religiously affiliated schools in Maryland were being challenged over state funding received by the colleges because of their religious ties. The other schools retained their affiliations and won the case.<ref name="stone1" />

The college's first building went up in 1866–1867, with an inaugural class of 37 men and women in September 1867. Western Maryland was the first coeducational institution south of the Mason–Dixon line and was among the first in the nation. The school's original charter read that the school would exist:

For the benefit of students without regard to race, religion, color, sex, national or ethnic origin ... without requiring or enforcing any sectarian, racial or civil test, and without discrimination on the basis of sex, national or ethnic origin, nor shall any prejudice be made in the choice of any officer, teacher, or other employee in the said college on account of these factors.

However, Western Maryland College was primarily a school without minority race representation until the 1960s.

Baker Memorial Chapel was dedicated April 20, 1958. The chapel, was built in memory of W.G. Baker, Joseph D. Baker, Daniel Baker, and Sarah Baker. The organ in the new chapel has been given by two alumni, father and son, Roger J. Whiteford, a prominent Washington attorney and graduate in 1906, and his son Joseph S. Whiteford a graduate in 1943, president of the Aeolian-Skinner Organ Company, Boston, Mass. The chapel was designed by architects Otto Eugene Adams<ref>"O. E. Adams Sr., Dies At 78; Architect's Services Today," article from The Sun, Baltimore, Wednesday Morning, January 31, 1968.</ref> and E.G. Riggs, of Baltimore. The Chapel steeple, 113 feet tall, is visible for miles around and was originally topped by a stainless steel cross Template:Convert in height. The wood panels of the chancel have been designed to complement the antique organ console which was originally in the Bruton Parish Church, at Williamsburg, Virginia. The organ, with its 2,310 pipes, is held to be the largest in the area. The Whitefords also gave the carillon installed in the steeple.<ref>Enoch Pratt Library vertical file Evening Sun April 2, 1958</ref>

In 1975 the college agreed to permanently remove religious symbols atop campus chapels and to introduce strict quotas on Methodist representation on the college board and among the faculty as a result of a settlement with the American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for Separation of Church and State.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Up until the 1980s, there was a specially constructed bunker in the basement of Lewis Hall, the science building, that would have housed the Wartime Information Security Program, a Cold War-era group that would have been responsible for censorship in the aftermath of a nuclear war.

McDaniel College Budapest (formerly known as Western Maryland College Budapest), the European campus of McDaniel College was established in collaboration with College International Budapest in 1994. McDaniel College was also home to the summer training camp of the Baltimore Colts and later Baltimore Ravens NFL team until the 2011 Season when the team relocated training camp to their Owings Mills facility. Newer buildings on campus include the Science Hall, gymnasium, library, and student union center. On January 11, 2002, the trustees announced their unanimous decision to change the name of the college. On July 1, 2002, WMC officially became McDaniel College, honoring alumnus William Roberts McDaniel and his 65-year association with the school. The naming process during the spring of 2002 included input from students, faculty and alumni about possible names.

Since Roger Casey, former McDaniel President, took office in 2010, U.S. News & World Report ranking of the College decreased from 122 in 2010<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> to 134 in 2018.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Over the same period, the enrollment decreased by 17%.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2019 U.S. News & World Report removed McDaniel from the list of National Liberal Art Colleges.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In May 2016, Fitch Ratings revised its outlook for McDaniel from Stable to Negative.<ref name="businesswire.com">Template:Cite web</ref> In June 2016 adjunct faculty at McDaniel voted to unionize. McDaniel is the second four-year university in the state with collective bargaining for the part-time employees.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Adjuncts are represented by Service Employees International Union Local 500.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2017 Forbes assigned McDaniel financial grade C+.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

McDaniel College's current president, Julia Jasken, was inaugurated in November 2021.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Presidents

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A view of McDaniel College
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Another view of McDaniel College
President Tenure
J. T. Ward 1867–1886
Thomas Hamilton Lewis 1886–1920
Albert Norman Ward 1920–1935
Fred G. Holloway 1935–1947
Lowell S. Ensor 1947–1972
Ralph C. John 1972–1984
Robert H. Chambers 1984–2000
Joan Develin Coley 2000–2010
Roger Casey<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 2010–2021
Julia Jasken<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 2021–present

Academics

2019 suspension of majors

In February 2019, the Board of Trustees at the College approved the suspension of enrollment for future students in the majors of Art History, Religious Studies, French, German, and Music. Courses in all of these programs, except for German, will still be offered.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In a letter to students and faculty, McDaniel officials wrote that the number of students currently enrolled in the affected programs makes up fewer than 3 percent of the student body.<ref name="auto">Template:Cite web</ref> The future of faculty in the affected programs is unclear.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> An online petition against the decision, "Open Letter in Support of Faculty in Art History, Religious Studies, French, German, Music, Latin, and Deaf Education at McDaniel College" collected more than 650 signatures.<ref name="auto"/>

Athletics

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McDaniel athletics wordmark

McDaniel athletic teams are the Green Terror. The college is a member of the Division III level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the Centennial Conference (an athletic conference that it's a charter member) since the 1992–93 academic year for all sports (originally for football since the 1981–82 academic year).

McDaniel has 24 intercollegiate varsity sports. Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, lacrosse, soccer, swimming, tennis, track & field (indoor and outdoor) and wrestling; women's sports include basketball, cross country, field hockey, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track & field (indoor and outdoor) and volleyball.

McDaniel's nickname was ranked 13th for U.S. News & World Report weirdest mascot names in 1999.<ref name=Lighter>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:RP The name originated from how teams would describe the Western Maryland Players as "Terrors" on the field. The name stuck and since October 1923 McDaniel College has been known as the Green Terror.<ref name=Lighter />Template:RP

Football

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The Green Terror invented the forward pass, invented the Shovel pass, were the first team invited to the Orange Bowl and claimed the 1929 national championship.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

McDaniel football dates back to 1891 when the first game was played against northern rival Gettysburg College.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

McDaniel was the preseason training camp site for the Baltimore Colts from 1953 to 1971 and the Baltimore Ravens from 1996 to 2010.<ref>"Training Camp To Stay In Owings Mills," BaltimoreRavens.com, Friday 2 December 2011. Retrieved 22 August 2025.</ref> Head coach John Harbaugh still hosts clinics at McDaniel.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2011, McDaniel was ranked 6th in the country for best tailgating by the Weather Channel. This is due to the fans being able to park their cars practically on the field and grill & drink during the game, a tradition that dates to the 1920s.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> McDaniel College was also ranked in Southern Living magazine for the top 20 of the "South's Best Tailgates." At football games McDaniel can have an average attendance over 5,000 and highs as much as 8,750 even during a losing season, ranking in the top five in the country for D3 football.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Notable alumni

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See also

References

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