About Elmira
History & Traditions
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Tradition Links Us

Simeon Benjamin Statue on Elmira College Campus in the Winter History is Made at EC

  • Mark Twain wrote his masterpieces in Elmira,  just a few miles from our campus.
  • We were the first college founded to offer women degrees for a course of study of equal rigor of the best men's colleges of the nation.
  • Founded in 1855, we are over 150 years old. (We became co-ed in 1969.)
  • We received our Phi Beta Kappa charter in 1940; Elmira is one of only 268 colleges and universities in the United States to have a charter from the prestigious honor society. The chapter has won the Triennial Award for the best chapter in the United States at a liberal arts college.
We value tradition at
Elmira College
Visit us and experience it

Purple and gold. Competitive athletics. Our college songs. The college flower-the iris. The Octagon. The annual events.  When we link our arms and sing the "Alma Mater," we are connecting to the Elmira College community, and scores of successful alumni, and the history of this fine, old college.  Elmira College is a place where new ideas are born every day, and our values are never pushed aside.
   

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