Latin: Collegium Lafayettense | |
Motto | Veritas liberabit (Latin) |
---|---|
Motto in English
|
The truth shall set you free. |
Type | Private liberal arts college |
Established | 1826 |
Affiliation | Presbyterian |
Endowment | $733.2 million (2016) |
Chairman | Edward W. Ahart |
President | Alison Byerly |
Provost | S. Abu Turab Rizvi |
Academic staff
|
215 full-time members |
Undergraduates | 2,533 |
Location | Easton, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
Campus |
Suburban 110-acre (0.45 km2) main campus and additional 230-acre (0.93 km2) athletic complex. |
Colors | Maroon and White |
Athletics | NCAA Division I – Patriot League |
Nickname | Leopards |
Affiliations |
NAICU CIC Annapolis Group CLAC Oberlin Group |
Website | www |
Lafayette College is a private liberal arts college based in Easton, Pennsylvania, with a campus in New York City, NY. The school, founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter, son of General Andrew Porter of Norristown, and the citizens of Easton, first began holding classes in 1832. The founders voted to name the school after General Lafayette, who famously toured the country in 1824–25, as "a testimony of respect for [his] talents, virtues, and signal services... in the great cause of freedom".
Located on College Hill in Easton, the campus is in the Lehigh Valley, about 70 mi (110 km) west of New York City and 60 mi (97 km) north of Philadelphia. Lafayette College guarantees campus housing to all enrolled students. The school requires students to live in campus housing unless approved for residing in private off-campus housing or home as a commuter.
The student body, consisting entirely of undergraduates, comes from 46 U.S. states and Territories and nearly 60 countries. Students at Lafayette are involved in over 250 clubs and organizations including athletics, fraternities and sororities, special interest groups, community service clubs and honor societies. Lafayette College's athletic program is notable for The Rivalry with nearby Lehigh University. Since 1884, the two football teams have met 152 times, making it the most played rivalry in the history of college football.