Hood college

Hood College is a liberal arts college in Frederick, Maryland. In fall 2018, Hood enrolled 2,052 students (1,092 undergraduate students; 960 graduate students). Thirty-eight percent of students are either members of under-represented racial or ethnic populations or from foreign countries.[1]

Established in 1893 by the Potomac Synod of the Reformed Church of the United States as the Woman's College of Frederick, the school was officially chartered in 1897 "with the purpose and object of creating and maintaining a college for the promotion and advancement of women, and the cultivation and diffusion of Literature, Science and Art." The college's founding was the result of the Potomac Synod's decision to transition the coeducational Mercersburg College into the all-male Mercersburg Academy and establish a women's college south of the Mason–Dixon line.[2] In 1913, the institution was renamed Hood College by its Board of Trustees to honor its most generous benefactor, Margaret Scholl Hood, whose land donation allowed the school to move from rented facilities in downtown Frederick to its own campus in the northwest region of the city.

An all-female institution until 1971, the college initially admitted men only as commuters. This continued until 2003, when male students were extended the option of residential status. The influx of new students has led to major changes at the school, including extensive dormitory renovations, and the construction of a new athletic building and a new tennis and aquatic center.[3]