Bridgewater State College - Definition and Overview

Bridgewater State College is a small public liberal arts college located in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. The school's mascot is the Bears.

History

BSC was founded in 1840 as a normal school styled Bridgewater Normal School. One of the first normal schools in the nation, its initial mission was to train school teachers. Since the 1960s the school has expanded its program to include liberal arts, business, and aviation programs.

Buildings and Layout

Samuel P. Gates House is a small woodframe structure that was once the dwelling house of Samuel Gates. The building today is used as the Admissions Office.

Boyden Hall was constructed in 1924 as the major building of Bridgewater Normal School following the campus' massive fire. It houses the Registrar's Office, Financial Aid services, Student Accounts, the President and Vice President's offices, administrative offices, and several classrooms. On the lowest level, School Street side, is the Horace Mann Auditorium.

Harrington Hall was named in honor of Lee F. Harrington. Formerly it was the Burnell Campus School (see Burnell Campus School below). The building houses the School of Management and Aviation Sciences.

Tillinghast Hall, affectionatley known as "Tilly," is located at the corner of School and Summer streets. Named after the first princpal of Bridgewater Normal School, it houses faculty offices, department offices, a dining hall, the campus Post Office, and Health Services.

The Art Center was originally constructed as the Boyden Gymnasim (see Kelly Gymnasium and Adrian Tinsley Center below). It houses the Art Department, and an indoor track remains on the second floor.

Hunt Hall, formerly the Dr. Albert F. Hunt Junior High School, is located on School St. It houses the parking clerk and student ID services in the basement, and classrooms on the upper floors.

Summer Street House, a former home near the Alumni Center and Maxwell Library, hourses the Political Science Department. Davis Alumni Center, another former home, houses the alumni services office. Christian Fellowship Services building, located on Shaw Rd., is another former house.

The Clement C. Maxwell Library is a four-story cement and brick structure located on Shaw Road with secondary entrances on Park Street. It is named for former college president Clement C. Maxwell. The facility has over 300,000 volumes, an assorted collection of music and videos, and several classrooms. The third floor Special Collections features a small museum and specialized collection of Abraham Lincoln.

The Adrian Rondileau Campus Center was constructed in the 1960s over land that was once Boyden Park on Park Street. It was known as the Student Union until the retirement of then-president Adrian Rondileau. The center boasts several ballrooms and conference rooms, a large cafeteria (featuring a Dunkin' Donuts), several commons', an open access computer lab, and a small dining room. International and Multicultural Affairs, Student Services, Student Government Association, Visitor Information, and Events all have their offices there. A semi-annex to the building is the Bridgewater State College Auditorium, which has two levels of seating and a number of classrooms and offices below it for the Communications, Theatre, and Music departments. The Beach Boys once held a live performance in the auditorium, and it was also home to the world premiere of Drakula: The Rock Opera.

The Marshall Conant Science Building, named after one of the Normal School's early principals, is located on Park Street, and is home to the school's Science Department. Land seperating it from Pope Hall contains a small park, memorial area, and greenhouse. Behind the science building, adjacent to the park and to athletic practice fields, is the campus power plant.

Across from the library and next to the science building is the John J. Kelly Gymnasium. This gymnasium succeeded the Boyden Gymnasium and preceded the Tinsley Center as the main athletic building for the campus. It features both a large and small gym and a swimming pool. The bottom floor houses classrooms used primarily by the School of Education and Allied Students. Near the gymnasium is the Catholic Center.

Frankland W. L. Miles, Jr., Hall and the V. James DiNardo Hall are co-educational dormitories located on the East Campus, separated from the above buildings (West Campus) by an MBTA rail line. They were constructed in the late 1980s and have a small center courtyard.

The John Joseph Moakley Center for Technological Applications is named for the late former US Representative John Joseph Moakley. This state-of-the-art facility constructed in 1995 features multiple computer labs and a large technologically-enhanced auditorium/lecture hall. The faculty union, MSCA, occupies a small house on Burrill Avenue, across from the Moakley Center, and next to the Center is a small, abandoned building once occupied by Dunkin' Donuts.

Walter and Marie Hart Hall is a building located behind, and adjacent to, the Moakley Center, which houses classrooms and offices for the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science and the Department of Secondary Education.

Martha Burnell School, located behind, and adjacent to, Hart Hall, is an elementary school run cooperatively by Bridgewater State College and the Bridgewater-Raynham Regional School District. It serves as a model school and an area for student teaching and observation to take place. It replaced the former Martha Burnell school in Harrington Hall.

East Campus Commons is one of the newest buildings on campus, completed in the first few years of the 21st century. It houses a large dining facility, the campus bookstore, and a new Dunkin' Donuts. It is located across a small courtyard from East Hall, a new co-ed dorm constructed at the same time as the Commons.

The Adrian Tinsley Center was constructed at the same time as East Campus Commons and East Hall. It is located behind the Great Hill Student Apartments and Swenson Field, and is the new home of the college's athletic program. The building contains a modern fitness center as well as a large partitioning gymnasium, a running track on the second floor, and several classrooms.

Also constructed at this time was the Campus Police Headquarters and Operations Center, located slightly downhill from Shea and Durgin Halls. This facility replaced a former, drastically smaller police station located across from the Moakley Center.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority runs a train station for its commuter rail on the BSC campus. It is located on East Campus near East Hall. This is the Lakeville Line, which runs from Lakeville to Boston. Bridgewater is the only college in Massachusetts with a dedicated public rail station.

In the woods behind the MBTA station is the Observatory.

Residential areas

Students living on the campus live in one of a variety of residential areas.

West Campus

Woodward Hall was also constructed in the early 20th century following the campus fire. It is an all-girls dormitory, the only such building on campus.

Scott Hall, located behind the Campus Center and across from the Davis Alumni Center, is a co-ed dorm. In front of the Campus Center, across from the Art Center and next to the science building, is Pope Hall, another such dorm.

East Campus

East Hall, a new co-ed dorm, is located across a small courtyard from the East Campus Commons. It is the only dorm with full climate control.

Great Hill Student Apartments, located up Great Hill from East Hall, is a series of apartment buildings for students aged twenty-one and over. It is the only location on campus where alcohol is allowed.

Shea Hall and Durgin Hall occupy a symmetrical building up Great Hill from the apartments. Constructed c. 1970, this building is home to freshmen resident students. The field located directly in front of Shea/Durgin houses the Dr. Henry Rosen Memorial Tennis Courts.

IT

Bridgewater State College has aggressively upgraded its technology in the last decade (it was recognized as a wired school by Yahoo!). The Moakley Center is the major part of this project, but starting with the class of 2008, all freshmen students are required to have a laptop computer. The college has a special arrangement with Dell Computers for purchasing the laptops, or students may purchase their own. Support and "loaners" are provided at the Moakley Center and the Maxwell Library