History
MCLA was founded in 1894 as North Adams Normal School, and it offered first instruction at post-secondary level three years later. In 1932, North Adams Normal School became State Teachers College of North Adams. Along with the name change, it added an upper-division curriculum and awarded the first degree (baccalaureate). Four years later, the school instituted an upper-graduate program. In 1960, the college changed its name to North Adams State College and, later in 1997, to Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, the latter name reflecting its position as the public liberal arts college within the Massachusetts state university system.
In 2004, President Mary Grant initiated collaborations with other institutions to strengthen MCLA's leadership position. The college launched the Berkshire Compact for Higher Education and MCLA Gallery 51. MCLA also is the lead partner in the Berkshire STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Pipeline Network.
In 2008, Governor Deval Patrick signed the Higher Education Bond Bill that includes $54.5 million for a new Center for Science and Innovation at MCLA.
Read more about this topic: Massachusetts College Of Liberal Arts
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The principle office of history I take to be this: to prevent virtuous actions from being forgotten, and that evil words and deeds should fear an infamous reputation with posterity.”
—Tacitus (c. 55–117)
“We may pretend that we’re basically moral people who make mistakes, but the whole of history proves otherwise.”
—Terry Hands (b. 1941)
“... the history of the race, from infancy through its stages of barbarism, heathenism, civilization, and Christianity, is a process of suffering, as the lower principles of humanity are gradually subjected to the higher.”
—Catherine E. Beecher (1800–1878)