Stonehill College


Stonehill College is a private Roman Catholic, liberal arts college in Easton, Massachusetts. Founded in 1948, Stonehill is located on the original estate of Frederick Lothrop Ames, Jr. with 29 buildings that complement the original Georgian-style Ames mansion.
Stonehill College was founded by the Congregation of Holy Cross. Stonehill's engineering majors spend their last four semesters of undergraduate education at the University of Notre Dame, Stonehill's sister institution and another institution founded by the Congregation of the Holy Cross.

History

In the autumn of 1934, the Holy Cross Fathers in North Dartmouth began to look for new quarters because of increasing seminary enrollment. The current Stonehill campus was purchased from Mrs. Frederick Lothrop Ames, Jr. on October 17, 1935. The initial purchase included and the original Ames mansion; the congregation purchased the remaining from Mrs. Cutler two years later. Frederick Lothrop Ames, Jr. was the great-grandson of Oliver Ames, Sr., who came to Easton in 1803 and established the Ames Shovel Company.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts authorized the Congregation of Holy Cross to establish Stonehill College on the Frederick Lothrop Ames, Jr. estate on June 30, 1948. In September of that year the college enrolled 134 men as the first class. Classes were held in the mansion and in the Ames Gym.
The first building built by the college was the Science Building which opened in February 1949. In 1974 the building was renovated and renamed the Tracy Science Building in honor of David Tracy, a former Stonehill advisor and trustee. After the opening of the Shields Science Center in 2009 the building was converted to be used by university administration.
In June 2017 the college announced that W.B. Mason would be donating $10 million to open the Leo J. Meehan School of Business. The school is named after alumnus and W.B. Mason CEO Leo Meehan, and accommodates programs in accounting, finance, international business, management, marketing, economics, and healthcare administration.
The first issue of the College newspaper, The Summit, was published on November 3, 1949. In the fall of 1951 the college decided to become a coeducational organization and enrolled 19 women. The first class graduated from Stonehill on the first Sunday of June 1952 and consisted of 73 men.

Academics

Degrees and academic programs

Through the May School of Arts and Sciences and the Meehan School of Business, Stonehill awards on the undergraduate level the B.A., B.S., and B.S.B.A. They have also added several master's degree programs. The Integrated Marketing Communications master's program was launched during the 2017-18 school year, a Special Education program was launched in May 2019, and a Data Analytics program will launch in Fall of 2020.
Stonehill offers 47 major programs, the opportunity to double major or participate in one of the college's 51 minor programs.

The MacPhaidin Library

The MacPhaidin Library, named in honor of Stonehill College's eighth president, Father Bartley MacPhaidin, C.S.C., was constructed in 1997 and opened in May 1998, at the college in North Easton, Massachusetts. The MacPhaidin Library is three stories high and covers 600,000 square feet. It houses a collection of 250,000 print volumes, including more than 100 full-text databases and indexes, and two computer labs. Various works of local art and history are on display at the library as well as a large collection of historical Irish documents and literature.
Ace's Place Cafe, located on the ground floor of the MacPhaidin Library, was renovated in the summer of 2012 and now serves Starbucks coffee and Sodexo food products. Additional booth and table seating has been added and use of the facility is open for the enjoyment of students, staff, and outside patrons.

Student life

Campus media

Stonehill provides guaranteed 4 years of housing to students admitted as residential students. The housing is set up as freshman/sophomore and junior/senior. O'Hara Hall and The Holy Cross Center are designated freshman traditional-style dorms.
Both freshmen and sophomores have the chance to live in Boland Hall, Corr Hall, and Villa Theresa Hall.
The Pilgrim Heights, the O'Hara Village and the Pilgrim Heights Village suite-style housing is primarily for sophomores.
Juniors and seniors all live in suite-style housing in the Colonial Courts, Commonwealth Courts, Pilgrim Heights, Notre Dame du Lac, and New Hall.

Athletics

The Athletic Department fields 21 competitive NCAA Division II intercollegiate varsity sports. The College's combination of academic and athletic success has garnered Stonehill the #4 ranking in the country among NCAA Division II schools in the Collegiate Power Rankings that are published by the National College Scouting Association. Furthermore, Stonehill finished 65th in the overall NCSA Top 100 Power Rankings across all three NCAA divisions.
The Sally Blair Ames Sports Complex is home to the College staff that sponsors fourteen intercollegiate club teams featuring Ultimate Frisbee, Rugby, Lacrosse and Golf as well as an extensive intramural sports program offering Basketball, Soccer, Floor Hockey and Flag Football.
W.B. Mason Stadium is a 2,400 seat, multipurpose sports stadium. Opened in 2005 at a cost of $4 million, it is the home of Skyhawk football, lacrosse, field hockey, and track & field. W.B. Mason, an office-supplies dealer based in nearby Brockton, Massachusetts, and its alumni employees contributed $1.5 million toward the project.

Notable alumni

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