Marietta College is a private liberal arts college in Marietta, Ohio, United States. Its campus encompasses approximately six city blocks next to downtown Marietta and enrolls 1,109 students.

History Marietta College began as the Muskingum Academy in 1797, which was the birth of higher education in Ohio. In April 1797, which was only nine years after Ohio had been settled, a committee of Marietta citizens, led by General Rufus Putnam (the "Father of Ohio"), met to establish a college. The Muskingum Academy, completed late that year, became the first institution of its kind in the Northwest Territory, providing "classical instruction ... in the higher branches of an English education." Its first instructor was David Putnam, a 1793 Yale graduate.Hubbard, Robert Ernest. General Rufus Putnam: George Washington's Chief Military Engineer and the "Father of Ohio," pp. 156, 187, McFarland & Company, Inc., Jefferson, North Carolina. .Hildreth, Samuel Prescott. Memoirs of the Early Pioneer Settlers of Ohio, p. 82, Badgley Publishing Company, 2011. .

The academy eventually evolved into a college, initially chartered as the Marietta Collegiate Institute and Western Teachers' Seminary on January 16, 1833. However, this institution lacked the critical authority to grant degrees, so a wholly new charter was approved two years later, bringing the renamed Marietta College into existence on January 16, 1835. The former Muskingum Academy was continued as the Marietta College College Preparatory Department until its elimination in 1913.

College presidents +Presidents of Marietta CollegeTenureName1835-1846Joel H. Linsley1846-1855Henry Smith1855-1885Israel Ward Andrews1885-1891John Eaton1892-1896John Wilson Simpson1900-1912Alfred Tyler Perry1913-1918George Wheeler Hinman1919-1936Edward Smith Parsons1937-1942Harry Kelso Eversull1942-1945Draper Talman Schoonover1945-1947William Allison Shimer1948-1963William Bay Irvine1963-1973Frank Edward Duddy1973-1989Sherrill Cleland1989-1995Patrick McDonough1995-2000Larry Wilson2000-2012Jean Scott2012-2016Joseph W. Bruno2016-2023William Ruud2023-2024Margaret Drugovich (interim)2025-Kathleen Poorman Dougherty

Academics

Marietta College is a Phi Beta Kappa liberal arts institution, requiring students to complete courses in Quantitative Reasoning, Artistic Expression, Civilization & Culture, Social Analysis, and Scientific Inquiry regardless of their major track. Additionally, students are required to have a secondary academic concentration, and complete an out-of-classroom education experience.

There are three honors tracks: curriculum honors, research honors, and college honors. The curriculum honors track provides a course of study for accomplished students. The research honors designation varies across disciplines but typically involves the writing and defense of a thesis. When a student completes the honors curriculum and successfully defends an honors thesis, they achieve college honors status.

The McDonough Center for Leadership and Business at Marietta College started in 1986 with a $5.5 million gift from the Bernard P. McDonough family. With an inaugural cohort of 28 students, the center originally only offered a Certificate in Leadership Studies. The center today offers a bachelor's degree, a minor and a Certificate in Leadership Studies. There is also the Teacher Leadership Certificate (TLC), an academic program designed for students pursuing careers in education.

Reputation and rankings In 2025 WSJ/College Pulse rankings, Marietta was ranked #4 in Student Experience, Best Salaries and Social Mobility in Ohio and #5 in Ohio for Best Value. Niche.com ranked Marietta the #1 Best Value College in Ohio.

In 2024, Washington Monthly ranked Marietta 32nd among 223 colleges that award almost exclusively bachelor's degrees in the U.S. based on its contribution to the public good, as measured by social mobility, research, and promoting public service. And in 2021, Marietta was included in national rankings by U.S. News & World Report as #3 for Best Value Schools and #8 for Regional Colleges in the Midwest. College Factual ranked Marietta #20 out of 80 Ohio schools.

Student life There are several national and international fraternities and sororities on campus. Students attending Marietta College have the opportunity to qualify for any of 23 honor societies.

Athletics

Marietta College is a member of the NCAA Division III and the Ohio Athletic Conference, a 10-team collegiate conference founded in 1902 and the third-oldest in the nation. The Pioneers compete in 21 varsity sports, including teams in crew, baseball, basketball, men's football, women's volleyball, track & field, cross country, soccer, women's softball, golf, and lacrosse. Esports was added in 2021.

Marietta's baseball team has won six national championships, and an NCAA Division III record: in 1981, 1983, 1986, 2006, 2011, and 2012. The first three were under coach Don Schaly, who died on March 9, 2005; the three most recent have been under coach Brian Brewer. By repeating as the national champions in 2011 and 2012 the Pioneers became the first team to do that in NCAA Division III play since the Rowan Profs won back-to-back championships in 1978 and 1979. Six former Pioneer baseball players—Kent Tekulve, Duane Theiss, Jim Tracy, Terry Mulholland, Matt DeSalvo, and Turner Hill—have reached the Major League level.

The crew program competes at the annual Dad Vail Regatta each spring in both men's and women's events, and earned a gold medal in the Men's Varsity Eight in 2006 and 2025, and gold medals in the Women's Varsity Eight in 2011, 2012, and 2014. Alumni include two-time Olympian and CEO of Boathouse Sports, John Strotbeck Jr., and 2003 World Championship silver medalist in the USA Lightweight Eight, Andrew Bolton.

Broadcasts Marietta sporting events are broadcast on FloSport event streaming. Events are often broadcast on local commercial radio, with baseball games being carried on WMOA, a commercial station in Marietta.

Notable alumni

Alumni of Marietta College are collectively known as the "Long Blue Line".

References

External links

Athletics website The Marcolian, the student newspaper