Moravian College

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Moravian College


Established	1742
Type	Private coeducational
President	Dr. Christopher M. Thomforde
Faculty	118 [1]
Undergraduates	1,500 [2]
Location	Bethlehem, PA, USA
Campus	Urban, suburban, park
Annual Fees	$34,800 (2005–2006) [3]
Mascot	Greyhound
Website	www.moravian.edu

Moravian College is a private liberal arts college located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States, in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Bethlehem Female Seminary was founded in Germantown, Pennsylvania by Benigna, Countess von Zinzendorf in 1742 and is the oldest institution of higher education for women in the United States (the Countess was the daughter of Count Nikolaus Ludwig Zinzendorf, who was the benefactor of the fledgling Moravian communities in Nazareth and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania). It began to grant baccalaureate degrees in 1863 and became the woman's college, the Moravian Seminary and College for Women in 1913. Two boy's schools, established in 1742 and 1743, merged to become Nazareth Hall in 1759. This became Moravian College and Theological Seminary in 1807 and began to grant degrees in 1863. In 1954 the two schools combined to form the single, coeducational, Moravian College. [4]

Moravian College currently enrolls over 1,500 full-time resident undergraduate students in a wide variety of majors, all of which are presented in the liberal arts tradition. Its varied and highly regarded music programs grow from the Moravian Church's traditions. The College also has evening undergraduate programs for adults seeking continuing education and two Masters degree programs, the Masters of Business Administration and Master of Science in Education.

1 Moravian campus
- 1.1 South Campus
- 1.2 North Campus
2 Oldest college
3 Notable alumni
4 External links

The college's programs are offered on two campuses, known as either North Campus or South Campus.

Art and music programs are offered in Bethlehem's historic district on the college's South Campus, also known as the Church Street Campus. Many of the buildings on that campus were built during the colonial period, including the Brethren's House, built in 1748, served as a hospital during the Revolutionary War, and currently houses the Music Department. The facilities have been renovated to include an Payne Gallery, an art gallery that offers several shows each year, Foy Concert Hall, an auditorium with excellent acoustics, Peter Hall, a medium-sized recital hall, Hearst Hall, a small recital hall, and student rehearsal rooms and studios. The college presents its famed 'Vespers' services in Central Moravian Church, located on the corner of Main and Church streets across from Brethren's House.

All other programs are offered on a campus whose oldest academic building, Comenius Hall, was built in 1892. North Campus, also known as the Main Street Campus, houses Reeves Library, Priscilla Payne Hurd Academic Complex, Johnston Hall and the Timothy M. Breidagam Athletic and Recreation Center, Collier Hall of Science, the Haupert Union Building, several classroom buildings, and most student housing. The distance between the campuses is about 0.8 miles of Main Street, called the "Moravian Mile." First year students traditionally walk the "Moravian Mile" as part of their orientation activities.

The college has long asserted it is the sixth-oldest college in the United States, after Harvard (1636), the College of William and Mary (1693), St. John's College in Annapolis (1696), Yale University (1701), and the University of Pennsylvania (1740).