FORT LEWIS COLLEGE
LISTED IN OUTSIDE MAGAZINE'S TOP 40 COLLEGES
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DURANGO — AUGUST 12,
2003 — Fort Lewis
College was listed 30th in Outside magazine's 40 Best College Towns,
which appears in their September 2003 issue.
"When it came to
ranking North America's best places to learn, live, work and play, we did our
homework, canvassing hundreds of colleges and enlisting an able crew of
undergrad reporters," said Outside communications director Elaine
Garza. "Then we narrowed the honor roll down to 40 schools that turn out
smart grads with top-notch academic credentials, a healthy environmental ethos,
and an A+ sense of adventure."
"This is a further
reflection of the college's growing national prominence as a premier liberal
arts and sciences institution," said Fort Lewis College President Robert Dolphin,
Jr. "We are fortunate to have such a wonderful location to use as an
educational resource."
Outside cited such Fort Lewis College
academic programs as southwest studies, chemistry and biology as top fields of
study. It also noted Outdoor Pursuits, a student-funded program that offers
such trips as a recent mountaineering trek to the summit of Mexico's
18,810-foot El Pico de Orizaba.
Local color weighed heavily
in the rankings. "Durango is the kind of place where the sporting
equipment on the car racks is often more expensive than the cars
themselves," wrote Outside. "River rats swarm to the town's
Class II-III Animas River, and just off 25th Street, backpackers can trek to
Denver on the 468-mile Colorado Trail."
"It's very cool,"
Outdoor Pursuits coordinator Chris Nute said of the ranking. "Fort Lewis
College should be proud and embrace what brings so many people to the college.
Part of it is the magnificent region, the academics, and the Outdoor Pursuits
program. They (Outside) only scratched the surface of what is actually
offered here."
Nute and five Fort Lewis
College students recently summited Alaska's 20,320-foot Mt. McKinley (Denali)
as part of an innovative month that was a collaboration between the college's
Academic Affairs and Student Affairs divisions. Under the guidance of Nute and
Associate Professor of Anthropology David Kozak, students conducted
ethnographic research on expeditionary travel, observing such factors as
individual drive, limitations and group dynamics.
"Climbing Denali isn't
something that is done, by any stretch, by colleges," said Nute.
"This will give Fort Lewis College regional and national attention.
Hopefully it will help with recruitment and retention.
"For Outdoor Pursuits,
summiting Denali will make our program stronger and more appealing to outdoor
students," he added. "This is big."
Fort Lewis College alumna
Kendra Christiansen, who graduated three months ago with a bachelor's degree in
English/communication, compiled a list of local outdoor attributes for Outside.
"The majority of the
student body participates in some type of outdoor activity — from rock climbing
and backcountry skiing to cycling and walking," said Christiansen.
"Students swarm to Fort Lewis College because of outdoor opportunities."
The University of
California at Santa Cruz was rated as America's most adrenaline-friendly
college. Other Colorado institutions to be ranked were the University of
Colorado at Boulder (No. 2) and Colorado College (No. 13).
The complete list of Outside's
40 Best Colleges for 2003 follows:
Doug Lyon’s comment: We can all look at this list and make good arguments
that Fort Lewis College should be ranked higher than it is. But hey, number 30 is pretty good and are very
proud of it!
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RANK |
COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY |
|
1 |
University of California at Santa Cruz |
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2 |
University of Colorado at Boulder |
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3 |
Middlebury College |
|
4 |
Warren Wilson College |
|
5 |
Montana
State University |
|
6 |
Simon
Fraser University |
|
7 |
Dartmouth
College |
|
8 |
University
of Virginia |
|
9 |
Northern
Arizona University |
|
10 |
University
of Iowa |
|
11 |
University
of Vermont |
|
12 |
Humboldt
State University |
|
13 |
Colorado
College |
|
14 |
Cornell
University |
|
15 |
University
of Montana |
|
16 |
Bowdoin
College |
|
17 |
Stanford
University |
|
18 |
University
of Wisconsin |
|
19 |
University
of Hawaii at Hilo |
|
20 |
Southern
Oregon University |
|
21 |
Prescott
College |
|
22 |
Williams
College |
|
23 |
University
of Arkansas |
|
24 |
Evergreen
State College |
|
25 |
St. John's
College — New Mexico |
|
26 |
Sheldon
Jackson College |
|
27 |
Brevard
College |
|
28 |
University
of Oregon |
|
29 |
University
of Idaho |
|
30 |
FORT LEWIS COLLEGE |
|
31 |
Alaska
Pacific University |
|
32 |
University
of California at San Diego |
|
33 |
University
of Arizona |
|
34 |
University
of Wyoming |
|
35 |
Princeton
University |
|
36 |
University
of Minnesota at Duluth |
|
37 |
California
Polytechnic State University |
|
38 |
University
of Georgia |
|
39 |
University
of Texas at Austin |
|
40 |
University
of Miami |
This story was written
by Chris Aaland, director of communications and publications at Fort Lewis
College.