Road Trip: Oglethorpe University

We toured some of Georgia's top schools and found out what it's like to attend them.

August 16, 2010 RSS Feed Print

Comment (2)
Tweet

Dr. Ron Bobroff teaches "Historical Perspectives on the Social Order Part Two" at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta.

When their car crashed on Interstate 285, Matt Claiborne, now a senior, and two friends were stranded and lost. Remembering that Prof. Kendra King normally attended a nearby church, they sent a text to her cellphone, seeking help. Immediately, she responded with directions and helped the guys get back to campus safely. At Oglethorpe University, students and administrators say, the divide between budding scholar and professor is often just as easily bridged.

About a five-minute car ride northeast of Atlanta's trendy Buckhead district, Oglethorpe's campus, with its castle-like stone facades and forested surroundings, is walkable from end to end in about 10 minutes. As freshmen quickly discover, it is very nearly impossible to hide or seclude oneself among the school's 1,000 undergraduates—not that they necessarily try.

Named for the state's founder, Oglethorpe embodies the traditional private liberal arts school, yet with an urban edge. While more than 60 percent of students are Georgians, Oglethorpe draws from big public high schools as well as small private academies and, with an accommodating financial aid office, from all socioeconomic levels as well. Minorities comprise 43 percent of the student body and 37 percent of OU students come from Pell grant-eligible households.

President Lawrence Schall has worked to build a sense of community since arriving in 2005. He's known to bring pizzas into dorms for chats with residents and has even tagged along on students' winter break service trips to build houses in New Orleans.

One of Schall's contributions, the Center for Civic Engagement, provides what junior Clair Carter calls "a buffet of service." Students are required to earn points for their involvement in civic activities, such as volunteering in disadvantaged local neighborhoods or simply viewing nearby art exhibits, and most surpass the requirements with ease.

Students say the tightknit feel means high turnouts at campus performances and the Stormy Petrels' Division III athletic events.

As for education, even math and science majors should expect to be skilled writers by graduation. The rigorous core curriculum requires students to write well and often. Classes are designed with a practical, firsthand type of experience in mind. A partnership with AirTran Airways allows professors to take classes on day trips—to Miami, for example, for a close-up look at Cuban art or to Washington to visit the Smithsonian Institution—at no extra charge for students.

Some students say the faculty and administration are what set the university apart. Professors are willing to collaborate with students, and students often have a say in their own studies. Given such close student-teacher relationships, class attendance and participation are a must. "Because they know me, my professors judge me against me, not against other students," says Jasenka Besic, a recent grad.

More About Oglethorpe University:

Fact: The Oglethorpe University Museum of Art features the work of masters like sculptor Auguste Rodin and surrealist painter Salvador Dali.

Undergrad enrollment, 2009: 1,000

Est. annual cost, 2010-2011: $37,940

Georgia Road Trip:

• Emory University
• Georgia Institute of Technology
• Morehouse College

Searching for a college? Get our complete rankings of Best Colleges.

Tags:: Georgia,; colleges,; academics

Reader Comments Read all comments (2)

Add Your Thoughts Comment Name State Email

Please enter the two words below into the text field underneath the image.

Your comment will be posted immediately, unless it is spam or contains profanity. For more information, please see our Comments FAQ.

It's great to see OU getting the recognition it so richly deserves. A '97 graduate with a self-designed major, I decided to return a decade later to earn another degree, spurred by the realization of what I really wanted to do with my life.
The second degree found me taking classes in the evening degree program, the professors of which were stellar, some of which I keep in contact with even today.
For college aspirants: I started at Oxford of Emory, but tired of it and its small class selection after the first year. My high school counselor suggested OU. I found it a perfect synthesis of Oxford and Emory, much more so than a hypothetical amalgamation could ever hope to be.
You can't go wrong with OU.

Derek Hambrick of GA 10:11AM August 18, 2010

My daughter Kelly entered OU as a freshman after graduation from a local (DeKalb College) public high school. It had been a large high school, and Kelly wanted to go to a smaller college. Gifted, in high school she held many positions and certainly stayed busy all the time. She kept her grades up as well, and I was very proud of her and eager to see how she did in a small liberal arts college. She held up her tradition! On the student government for all 4 years, Kelly was also on the student newspaper staff, one year as editor. She held the kind of relationships with her faculty and administration members of which you speak. Although left with a hefty remaining tuition bill, despite all she had done to "earn her way," so to speak, Oglethorpe was well worth it. She's on the Alumni Board now, and is excited every time she flies to Atlanta from Texas (where she lives with her family and works) and I am sure she is an excellent input to the team. I'm so proud of OU - and of her. Pleased to see this article!
CSE

Carole S. Ezzell of GA 6:43AM August 18, 2010