Ship Shape

Founded in 1969, the college's mission, shaped by the era's counter-cultural values and growing ecological concerns, led to the creation of an interdisciplinary program focusing on the environment and on community service. All students graduate with a B.A. in Human Ecology (except for a few pursuing master's degrees). Says COA's president, Darron Collins (class of'92), "We were a small, scrappy institution, but we have grown over time in size and recognition." Located on a bluff overlooking the bay, the college began in a cluster of farmhouses, vacation retreats, and a granite French Renaissance style manse designed by Bruce Price in 1895. A garden by Beatrix Ferrand is next door. And, while the school added other structures over the years (including a rambling barnlike performing-arts center by Turner Brooks in 1993 and an expansive Postmodern shingle-style library and dining hall by Daniel V. Scully in 1988), it needed a new classroom building that would .express the sensibility of the school today.