История колледжа Худ: от женского учебного заведения до университета смешанного типа.

Private liberal arts college in Frederick, Maryland, US

It was established in 1893 by the Potomac Synod of the Reformed Church in the United States as the Woman's College of Frederick. An all female institution until 1971, the college initially admitted men only as commuters. This continued until 2003, when male students were extended the option of residential status.

The college was founded in 1893 as the Woman's College of Frederick by the Potomac Synod of the Reformed Church of the United States. Dr. Joseph Henry Apple, an educator from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, only 28 years of age at the time of his appointment, was named the college's first president. In this first year, eighty three women enrolled, and were taught by eight faculty members in Winchester Hall, located on East Church Street in Frederick. Classes were offered in the liberal arts and music, as well as secretarial trades. In 1898, the first class graduated, with fourteen women earning Bachelor of Arts degrees. Over the next several years, courses in biology, economics, sociology, political science, and domestic science were added. In 1897, the college received a tract of land for its campus from Margaret Scholl Hood. In 1913, the Trustees of the Woman's College announced that the name of the Woman's College would be changed to Hood College, in honor of Mrs. Hood, who gave $25,000 to establish an endowment for the college, and who firmly believed in higher education for women. On January 18, 1913, Margaret Hood's will was filed for probate. In the will, she bequeathed an additional $30,000 to the Woman's College of Frederick provided that the college had changed its name to "Hood College". Part of this bequest was used to fund the 1914 construction of Alumnae Hall. Today, except for Brodbeck Hall, which was built in the 1860s and stood on the campus at its founding, Alumnae Hall remains the oldest building on the college's campus and serves as the central location for the college's administration, also housing the sociology and social work department. In 1915, the college began its move from its former location in Frederick City to its current campus.

In the early 1970s, Hood College began to consider becoming a co educational institution. In October of that year the Hood College Board of Trustees voted to begin enrollment of men as commuter students. Beginning in January 1971, the college became open to men as commuters. The first male student, Aldan T. Weinberg, transferred to Hood after having spent one year at American University and three years in the army. In 1975, Martha E. Church became the first female president of the college, working in this capacity through 1995. In the fall of 2001, the Hood executive committee was charged by the board of trustees with the task of studying the possible impact of male resident students. Based on this report, the board of trustees' ultimate decision was to admit men as residential students. This decision was made based upon the reality that demand for single sex education for women was on the decline. Only three percent of college bound female students preferred a single gender institution.

In an effort to accommodate student growth and to shift away from students who commute to campus, a new residence hall was finished in 2021 and has 64 units. This residence hall will house 201 beds and will be home to the honors program.

Hood College students participate in a number of long standing traditions, some of which date back nearly 100 years, such as the "Hood Hello."

Each class decorates a banner to be displayed in the dining hall. The banners correspond to each class' assigned color, red, green, blue or yellow. Every year, a new representative symbol is designed and painted on the banners. Following a class' graduation, the banners are hung in the atrium of the Whitaker Campus Center.

Alumnae Hall's four Ionic columns are named Hope, Opportunity, Obligation and Democracy (HOOD). The columns were dedicated by the classes of 1915, 1916, 1917 and 1918. Many buildings on campus that were constructed after Alumnae Hall also have four columns, According to some sources, the tradition may have started very early in the 20th century with colored armbands rather than beanies, although the wearing of beanies is officially documented as beginning in the 1950s. Upon arriving at Hood, the members of each incoming class are given dinks with its class color, either blue, green, yellow or red. The four colors rotate so that the color of the previous year's seniors goes to the incoming freshmen. In the past, dinks were worn at special events such as Campus Day, and freshmen were previously required to wear their dinks continuously during their first few weeks on campus. Now, they are primarily worn during opening convocation, Policies for Dollars, and baccalaureate.

Hood College offers 33 undergraduate majors, 19 master's degree programs and 10 post baccalaureate certification programs, including certification programs in education. Hood College has consistently been ranked in the U. S. News & World Report list for Best University in the Northeast.

Each spring students selected by the academic departments make presentations of their completed year long research projects. These students are known as Tischer Scholars, in honor of Christine P. Tischer, alumna and former member of the Hood College Board of Trustees. In the spring of 2013, 22 seniors gave presentations on topics that varied from "First Generation College Students: Challenges and Solutions" to "Effects of Stream Nutrients on Salamander Species Diversity and Abundance."

The Hood College Honors Program is a selective program of study, admitting only a limited number of students each year. Students in the Honors Program take an interdisciplinary seminar each semester, as well as participate in community service, study abroad or internships, and Senior Seminar, allowing students to choose a topic of broad interest and selecting a faculty member to teach the course.

Hood College offers a study abroad program that can be utilized by any student with any major. Some majors require students to spend a semester abroad, including foreign language and literature students.

The Hood College Graduate School is the oldest graduate school in the region. It opened in the summer of 1971 after approval of the program by the college faculty in the fall of 1970 and approval by the State of Maryland in December 1970. The first graduate program was a Master of Arts in Human Sciences. Concentrations were available in Contemporary Government, Counseling and Guidance, Early Childhood Education, Elementary Science and Mathematics, Environmental Science, Public Affairs, Reading, and Special Education. Over the ensuing forty years, that single program has evolved into fifteen master's degree programs and thirteen post baccalaureate certificate programs.