Academics
Everything at Warren Wilson College, a small liberal arts school outside Asheville, North Carolina, can be attributed to its unique approach to learning, where academics are combined with “work and service.” As one student describes the College, it’s “work for the hands, service for the heart, learning for the mind.” Outside the classroom, “students are also required to work 10–15 hours a week on one of many work crews” around campus, and “are also required to fulfill a certain amount of community service work in coordination with one of many community partners.” The “work program at Warren Wilson is one of the main reasons I chose the school,” says one environmental science major, and another student adds that the “work program is [what’s] truly interesting about this school. We run our own little country here basically.” That doesn’t mean academics get short shrift—as one history major points out, “We take as many credits as other college students and we work 10–15 hours a week.” Professors at Warren Wilson earn mostly high praise from students: “They are great at both lectures and discussion, and are able to teach nuanced, complex ideas and concepts in interesting and concise ways.” With the small size and strong sense of community, the faculty here is very involved and very accessible.
Student Body
“The student body at [Warren Wilson] is sustainable, eclectic, earthy, hard-working and very community oriented.” As one photography major puts it, “If you’re looking for someplace different, this is it.” The school’s former motto was “ We’re not for everyone, but maybe you’re not everyone” and some students find that still holds true, though others note that “limited racial diversity” “does not create a welcoming environment to racial and ethnic minorities on the campus.” At the same time, vocal students stress the school’s accepting nature, underscoring that Warren Wilson “has a strong LGBTQ community that [faces] a far lesser level of discrimination at this school than at most colleges and universities.” As an environmental science major puts it, “The environment and proximity to Asheville attract the typical tree-hugging hippie crowd, but there’s really a place for everyone at the college” and nearly everyone is “actively engaged in issues of social justice.” In short, Warren Wilson students are “fantastically talented, hardworking, and willing to think outside the box.”
Campus Life
With class work, community service, and time spent on one of the numerous campus work crews, students say “days are easily filled” and “weekdays tend to be very busy.” When it’s time to relax, “plenty of students spend as much time outside as possible hiking, swimming, skating, exploring the city of Asheville, and partying.” “It’s a very outdoorsy campus environment because we are in the middle of Appalachia” and “we have miles and miles of hiking trails that are campus property.” Beyond the outdoors, “creative writing and coffee culture are a big part of Warren Wilson’s culture,” along with live music and “contra dancing on Thursdays.” Some students say that the work crews are the closest thing the school has to fraternities and some of the more popular pastimes are “activities related to the crews—like blacksmithing workshops, beekeeping workshops, fabric workshops.” With the school’s appreciation of music, the “cafe is usually hosting shows that are a huge draw.” In one student’s estimation, “Everyone at the school loves the outdoors and has a healthy appreciation for taking an afternoon off to explore the river or trails.” Warren Wilson is a place where politically-, socially-, and environmentally-focused “discussions are ubiquitous in and out of the classroom.”
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