Hobart and William Smith Colleges - Coordinate System

Coordinate System

While publicized in tandem as "Hobart and William Smith Colleges" and informally referred to as "The Colleges" (an informal handle drawn from the corporate name), each college has retained its separate identity, while integrating many aspects of student life in an arrangement called the “Coordinate System”. When many single-sex institutions became co-ed in the 1960s and '70s, the colleges chose to maintain two separate entities, joined together in order to work as a whole. The choice is symbolized in the campus sculpture of a scissors embedded in the lawn south of the library.

The colleges share most administrative offices (there is only one president's office, for example) they maintain separate deans' offices, athletics programs, student governments and, until recently, admissions offices. Even some regulations about student life vary. Hobart College allows fraternities and Greek organizations while William Smith does not allow sororities.

A male graduate receives a degree from Hobart College and a female graduate from William Smith College. Alums are always referred to in the single-sex sense of the word, as “alumnae and alumni” and any reference to the institution is always in the plural (“colleges”).

Each college celebrates its own traditions. During the academic year, William Smith College celebrates annual events such as Founder's Day and Moving Up Day. Hobart has Charter Day, which celebrates the 1822 founding and its own honor societies: The Druid Society for seniors (founded 1903), Chimera Society (juniors, 1910) and Orange Key (sophomores, 1926). The William Smith Senior Honor Society is Hai Timai ("Honored Women" in Greek). Each society has specific roles and functions on campus.