Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Head coach Aliceann Wilber P'12 celebrates with her team after William Smith Soccer won second place in the NCAA Division III National Championships. The Herons participate in the WS Peak Performance Series, where they learn personal empowerment, networking skills, team dynamics and conflict resolution tactics.

Hobart Basketball Head Coach Stefan Thompson 13 leads his team in a huddle before tipping off against the University of Saint Joseph. The Statesmen advanced to the sectional round of the NCAA Division III Mens Basketball Championship and Thompson was named East Region Coach of the Year by D3hoops. Although the final four rounds were canceled due to COVID-19, the team advanced for the first time in program history to the Sweet 16. Every year, Hobart athletes participate in the Napier Leadership Series, where they participate in workshops on study skills, time management, financial literacy and more.

Leaders of the Colleges' student-led cultural clubs gather with Renee Grant, the Associate Director of the Intercultural Affairs Center (left) during the Cultural, Global Awareness and Social Justice leadership caucus.

Circular ironwork is a common element throughout the Napier Classroom Center.

Ironwork in Rosenberg Hall and Napier Classroom Center provides an interesting view looking onto the science quad. Napier Hall when constructed in 1994 picks up on the gable design. The two were named in honor of their benefactors in memory of William J. Napier, Hobart Class of '57, by his widow, Honorary Trustee Jane F. Napier P89 and Honorary Trustee Henry A. Rosenberg Jr. '52, L.H.D.02.

Circular ironwork frames the ceiling in the Saga Dining Hall.

Across Pulteney Street, stands the Welles Tower at The Gearan Center for the Performing Arts, named to honor the generosity of Christopher S. '84 and Catherine Whitney '83 Welles P'12, P'15. The tower light shines many different colors throughout the year.

Warren Hunting Smith Library occupies the symbolic location on campus which most binds Hobart College and William Smith College together. A pattern found on the side of the L. Thomas Melly Academic Center echoes this sentiment.

Warren Hunting Smith Library was built in 1976 and was named after founder William Smith's grandnephew. In 1998, the facility was expanded with the L. Thomas Melly Academic Center, named in honor of Trustee Chair Emeritus L. Thomas Melly 52, L.H.D.02. The addition uses a Post-modern adaptation of crenellation.

Associate Professor of Art and Architecture Michael Tinkler is an architectural historian, with a scholarly focus in Eighth- to 10th-century European buildings. Here, he takes students in his Introduction to Art: Ancient and Medieval on a tour of Demarest Hall and St. Johns Chapel.

The 2-D gables that frame the windows of Coxe Hall are echoed across campus. Medbery and Williams Halls share the gables and crenulations.

This week, we tour the Colleges' iconic buildings and dive into their architectural history with insights from Associate Professor of Art and Architecture Michael Tinkler. When it was built in 1900, Coxe Hall, named for Bishop Arthur Cleveland Coxe, represented a major departure from the campus architectural style. Instead of Gothic, it was Jacobean, and instead of stone, it was built of overburned Harvard brick.

Circular stonework creates an inviting entrance to the Scandling Campus Center. The building is named in honor of Trustee William F. Scandling '49, LL.D.'67 whose philanthropy and dedication to the Colleges was transformative.

In 1961 the interior of Demarest Hall was remodeled and St. Mark's Tower was built, which gives voice to the 142-bell Louis M. Hirshson Carillon.

On a similar tour offered during Homecoming and Family Weekend, Tinkler discusses the similarities of 2-D and 3-D accents and the towers that unify the campus.

A more recent shape frames many campus entrances. This low, segmental arch is featured at the gate to H.J. McCooey Memorial Field, financed in part through a lead naming gift from the family of Herbert J. McCooey, Sr. P'76 P'78 P'82 P'90 P'92 GP'04 GP'08 GP'09.