Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Hobart and William Smith Colleges are private liberal arts colleges in Geneva, New York. They trace their origins to Geneva Academy established in 1797. Students can choose from 45 majors and 68 minors with degrees in Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Master of Arts in Teaching, Master of Science in Management, and Master of Arts in Higher Education Leadership. The colleges have graduated 35 Fulbright Scholars, three Rhodes Scholars, and numerous Marshall Scholars, Rangel Fellows, Truman Scholars, Emmy, and Pulitzer awardees as well as United States senators, House representatives, and a United States Supreme Court justice. Hobart and William Smith Colleges is a member of the New York Six Liberal Arts Consortium, an association of highly selective liberal arts colleges. It is frequently ranked among the top 100 liberal arts colleges in the United States. The colleges were originally separate institutions – Hobart College for men and William Smith College for women – that shared close bonds and a contiguous campus. Founded as Geneva College in 1822, Hobart College was renamed in honor of its founder John Henry Hobart, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New York in 1852. William Smith College was founded in 1908 by Geneva philanthropist and nurseryman William Smith at the suggestion of numerous suffragettes and activists including Elizabeth Smith Miller and her daughter Anne Fitzhugh Miller. In 1943, William Smith College was elevated from its original status as a department of Hobart College to an independent college and the two colleges established a joint corporate identity. They are officially chartered as "Hobart and William Smith Colleges" and informally referred to as "HWS" or "the Colleges". Although united in one corporation with many shared resources and overlapping organizations, they have each retained their traditions. Today, students are free to participate in each of the colleges' customs and traditions based on their preferred gender identities. Students can graduate with diplomas issued by Hobart College, William Smith College, or Hobart and William Smith Colleges. History