The rich and colorful history of Amherst College

Image source:  Amherst.edu
Victor Restis has started a series of blogs on the U.S. educational system and the various colleges all around the country to help parents and prospective students find the right one for them. Today's blog explores a college on the East Coast, specifically in the beautiful state of Massachusetts: Amherst College.

One of the founders of Amherst College was Noah Webster, who is most famous for his books and, of course, dictionaries. Webster was a trustee of Amherst Academy, a secondary school. He and several trustees thought it best to build a new and bigger school to help young men with promise and talent "obtain a liberal education with a sole view to the Christian ministry."

Image source: Amherst.edu
Webster and the trustees were successful in raising funds for the new institution, which opened in 1821. Zephaniah Swift Moore was named its first president.

Throughout the decades, Amherst College had pushed for equality and diversity. In fact, in 1826, the school had its first graduate of African American descent. In 1870, Joseph Hardy Neesima, the school's first Japanese student, obtained his degree. Neesima would go on to found Doshisha University, Amherst's sister institution in Kyoto, Japan.

Today, there are a total of 38 degrees in the fields of arts, sciences, social sciences, and humanities being taught in the 1,000-acre school, Victor Restis adds.

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