Fiske Guide Includes Holy Cross as an Institution Rooted in Tradition, Academics, Community

The College of the Holy Cross was featured in the Fiske Guide to Colleges 2017, a guide created by former New York Times education editor, Edward B. Fiske. The institutions featured in the guide are “are among the best and most interesting” throughout the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

This year’s report highlights the College’s mission of encouraging students to become “men and women for and with others,” and its deep involvement in volunteer programs. “Peers and professors alike offer support and spiritual guidance, and bonds forged in the lab or on the field are strengthened through activities like SPUD (Student Programs for Urban Development), which provides community service opportunities…”

“Volunteering is one way students live out the Holy Cross mission,” one student told Fiske Guide.

The College’s smaller class sizes and “critical thinking and writing” based curricula are highly valued by students and faculty alike, according to the report. Plus, the College helps to foster the relationship between students and faculty through its 10:1 student to faculty ratio. “Holy Cross offers small classes – 68 percent of those taken by freshmen have fewer than 20 students – which help faculty members keep in touch with undergraduates.”

“It’s definitely a rigorous and intense academic environment,” said one freshman. “Professors are very accessible, personable, and willing to help,” said one junior. Another student told Fiske, “One of the great things about Holy Cross is that since it is solely undergraduate, all students are taught by full professors.”

With the combination of community building offerings, such as Montserrat, a program designed to help first-year students integrate into the campus experience, or Purple Pride Day, which celebrates school spirit, Holy Cross keeps its traditions alive, and campus thriving. “Indeed, the close-knit atmosphere offers students a multitude of opportunities to serve other, challenge themselves and create lasting friendships.”

Read more about what makes Holy Cross unique on our “Points of Pride” page.

This “Holy Cross in the News” item is by Jessica Kennedy.