Springfield College

Founded in 1885, as the Young Men's Christian Association department of the School for Christian Workers in Springfield, the school originally specialized in preparing young men to become General Secretaries of YMCA organizations in a two-year program. In 1887, it added a Physical (i.e., physical education) department. In 1890, it separated from the School for Christian Workers and became the YMCA Training School and in 1891, the International Young Men's Christian Association Training School.

In 1905, the school became a degree-granting institution.[7]

In 1912, it took the name International YMCA College and in 1954, Springfield College.[8]

Springfield College has had 13 leaders since its inception in 1885.

Springfield College offers bachelor's degrees in more than 40 majors, master's degrees in a variety of different fields, and doctoral program in counseling psychology, physical therapy, and physical education. The student-to-faculty member ratio is 15 to 1.[9] The college is split into five schools: the School of Arts, Sciences, and Professional Studies;[10] the School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation;[11] the School of Health Sciences and Rehabilitation;[12] the School of Professional and Continuing Studies;[13] and the School of Social Work.[14][15]

The School of Professional and Continuing Studies offers degree programs in human services and has seven satellite campuses located throughout the country, as well as representation on the main College campus in Springfield, Massachusetts. Its campuses are located in Boston, Mass.; Houston, Texas; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; St. Johnsbury, Vermont; Tampa, Florida; Springfield, Massachusetts; and Wilmington, Delaware.[13] The human services programs came to Springfield College in 1988, when they were acquired from Southern New Hampshire University (then known as New Hampshire College).[16]

The college is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.[17]

Springfield College consists of one main campus, located in Springfield, Massachusetts, and eight campuses for its School of Professional and Continuing Studies in Boston, Massachusetts; Houston, Texas; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; St. Johnsbury, Vermont; Tampa, Florida; and Wilmington, Delaware.[18]

The main campus spans 100 acres (40 ha) and contains ten residence halls, recreational and fitness facilities, expanded and renovated science and academic facilities, a renovated performing arts center, and the Richard B. Flynn Campus Union, which is complete with a food court, activity and lounge space, and College bookstore.[19]

Springfield College's East Campus, which encompasses 82 acres (33 ha) of forest ecosystem, is located about one mile from the main campus.[20] This location provides rustic facilities for conferences and meetings, and space for outdoor research and recreation. East Campus is also home to the Springfield College Child Development Center, which provides quality early education services for children of members of the faculty and staff, students, and families in the community.

Springfield College's athletic teams have been known since 1995 as the Pride;[21] the teams were nicknamed the Chiefs from 1968 through 1994, and prior to that were known as the Gymnasts or Maroons. The college is a member of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III and most teams compete in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC). Springfield's football team joined the NEWMAC when it began sponsoring football in 2017. The men's soccer, men's golf, cross country and gymnastics teams are affiliate members of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC). The men's volleyball team competes as an independent.

Springfield College is known as the "Birthplace of Basketball", a game created by alumnus and faculty member James Naismith under the founding head of the Physical Education department Luther Gulick Jr. in 1891. Gulick is in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame,[22] which is named for Naismith.[23][24]

Alumnus William G. Morgan invented the game of volleyball.[25]

On January 14, 2017, the Springfield Wrestling team achieved their 1,000th victory. Springfield College joined Oklahoma State, Iowa State, and Oregon State as the only schools to have achieved this milestone.

Stagg Field serves as the College's main athletic field; it was named after former coach, Amos Alonzo Stagg who briefly coached Springfield and went on to play a pivotal role in the development of modern football. The baseball team plays at Berry-Allen Field.

The Springfield softball team appeared in one Women's College World Series in 1977.[26]

The Springfield College women's gymnastics team won the first intercollegiate national championship in 1969 and three of the first four (1971 and 1972).

In 1940 Springfield was one of eight teams to make the 1940 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament.

In 2006 and 2007, the school hosted the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Final Four.

The men's volleyball team has six non-NCAA national titles in the now-defunct Molten Invitational championship, an event for NCAA Division III schools that ran from 1997 through 2011, and also won the first three NCAA Division III Men's Volleyball Championships in 2012 through 2014. All nine championships were won under Head Coach Charlie Sullivan.

The Springfield College Women's Basketball team of 2004–2005, made the Elite Eight of the NCAA Division III basketball tournament.

Women's basketball, coached by Noami Graves, has won several conference tournament championships, including the season of 2006.

Springfield College graduates Rusty Jones G '86 and Jon Torine '95 participated in Super Bowl XLI as the Head Strength and Conditioning coaches of the Chicago Bears and Indianapolis Colts, respectively.[27]

The Springfield College Women's Field Hockey Team has won the NEWMAC (New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference) title for five consecutive years (2004–2008).

The men's lacrosse team won six straight titles (2008–2013) in the now-defunct Pilgrim Lacrosse League, which has since been absorbed by the NEWMAC.

Springfield's Women's Swimming and Diving Team has won the NEWMAC Conference title for ten consecutive years (2001–2010) in the Division III Conference.

Springfield's Men's soccer team were voted National College Champions by the Intercollegiate Soccer Football Association in 1946, 1947 and 1957. This was before the NCAA championship soccer tournament in 1959.

U.S.News & World Report ranked Springfield College #25 for Best Regional Universities – North Region for 2018. This marks the seventh-consecutive year that Springfield College has moved up in the U.S. News & World Report rankings. This year's ranking of the College is up two spots from last year and 42 spots from 2011.[28]

U.S.News & World Report ranked Springfield College no. 12 in a listing of Best Value Schools for Regional Universities—North. This ranking takes into account the College's academic quality and net cost of attendance.[28]

Springfield College is the recipient of the 2016 Presidential Award in the education category of the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. This honor is the highest federal recognition a college or university can receive for its commitment to volunteering, service-learning, and civic engagement.[29]

Since 2009, Diverse Issues in Higher Education has ranked Springfield College's School of Professional and Continuing Studies, formerly the School of Human Services, among the top three U.S. institutions for the number of bachelor's degrees awarded to African Americans in public administration and social services.[30]

The Carnegie Foundation recognized Springfield College as one of a select group of colleges and universities throughout the U.S. that have earned the foundation's Community Engagement Classification in 2015.[31]

Affiliated Chambers of Commerce of Greater Springfield's (ACCGS) awarded Springfield College a 2014 Super 60 Award for revenue for the 10th consecutive year.[32]

The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) named Springfield a finalist for the President's Award for Community Service in 2014.[33]

Springfield College was named a 2016–17 College of Distinction for providing an innovative, teacher-centered undergraduate education with a strong record of preparing its graduates for real-world success.[34]

U.S.News & World Report ranked Springfield College #8 for schools with the highest percentages of alumni enrolling in a graduate school in 2013.[35]

• Harold Amos – microbiologist and professor
• Mark Banker – defensive coordinator for the Nebraska Cornhuskers
• Stanley F. Battle – American educator, author, civic activist and former leader of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Coppin State University and Southern Connecticut State University, 1973
• Vaughn Blanchard, 1912 Olympian in Track and Field and Baseball
• Rick Blangiardi, television executive
• Jeff Blatnick – 1984 Olympic gold medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling, 2015 UFC Hall of Fame inductee[36]
• Raymond Castellani – did not graduate; actor, activist on Los Angeles' Skid Row
• John Cena – professional wrestler and film and TV actor
• Nancy Darsch – Collegiate, Olympic, and WNBA coach
• Tony DiCicco – former head coach of USA Women's Soccer National Team 1994–1999, coach of the FIFA Women's Soccer 1999 Championship Team
• W. Dean Eastman – educator (graduate assistant track coach 1974–76, MSE 1976, CAGS 1977)
• John Forslund – TV play-by-play announcer for the Carolina Hurricanes of the NHL
• Nancy E. Gary – (ScB 1958) dean of Albany Medical College and Executive Vice President of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and Dean of its F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine.
• Dave Gettleman – pro football executive, currently General Manager of the New York Giants
• Wayne Granger – former Major League Baseball relief pitcher and National League saves leader in 1970
• Don Ho – Hawaiian musician and entertainer (attended for one year)
• Dan Hunt – head football coach at Colgate University
• Rusty Jones, strength and conditioning coach for the Chicago Bears
• William G. Morgan – inventor of volleyball.
• James Naismith – Canadian faculty member, invented basketball in 1891
• Erin Pac – bronze medal winner in bobsled at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics
• Boris Pash – commanded the Alsos Mission during World War II.
• Fernando Picó - historian, expert on the history of Puerto Rico[37]
• Albert I. Prettyman – head coach of the United States Hockey Team at the Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
• John Quinlan – model and actor, former professional wrestler
• Manuel Rivera-Ortiz – did not graduate; documentary photographer; attended classes at Springfield Colleges as part of the Massachusetts Migrant Education summer program, where he was offered his first courses in photography and film development.
• Craig Shirley – political consultant and author, associated with Ronald Reagan
• Justine Siegal – baseball coach and sports educator.
• Steve Spagnuolo – former head coach of the National Football League's St. Louis Rams
• Amos Alonzo Stagg – Former head football coach 1890–1891; later head of multiple national champion teams at the University of Chicago
• Sue Thomas — the first deaf person to work as an undercover specialist doing lip-reading of suspects for the Federal Bureau of Investigation
• Tom Waddell – alumnus, physician and founder of Gay Games
• Glenn Warner – president of National Soccer Coaches Association of America in 1953, head coach of the Naval Academy's men's soccer team from 1942 to 1975
• Scotty Whitelaw - former Commissioner of the Eastern College Athletic Conference
• Mike Woicik – former football coach (1978–79) and current coach for the Dallas Cowboys
• Bill Yorzyk – physician and only USA swimming gold medalist in 1956 Olympics, 200 m butterfly

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Springfield College (Massachusetts).

• Official website
• Official athletics website