Dean College

Dean College was founded by Dr. Oliver Dean as a co-educational academy, Dean Academy, in 1865. Dr. Dean was an enthusiastic benefactor of the academy and donated approximately nine acres of land for the site of the school and donated $125,000 towards its construction. After the groundbreaking ceremony held earlier in the year, the first class at Dean Academy began on October 1, 1866, with 44 students attending. The students held class at the local Universalist Church.

Dean Hall, the main building of Dean Academy, was not finished until 1868. During the summer of 1872, Dean Hall was completely destroyed by fire, but reconstruction efforts began immediately. On June 7, 1874, the newly rebuilt Dean Hall was rededicated.

The school's name changed two more times, becoming Dean Junior College in May 1941 and then evolving into Dean College in May 1994.[4]

The school's mascot is a bulldog named Boomer.

Notable alumni include Richard Belzer (John Munch on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit) who was kicked out of Dean College when it was known as Dean Junior College.[5] The founders of CVS Pharmacy, Sid Goldstein and Stanley Goldstein, and the founder of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Austin Barclay Fletcher, also attended Dean. Major League Baseball players Eddie Grant and Gabby Hartnett, sportscaster Greg Dickerson, professional football player Zachary Dixon, best-selling author Emilie Baker Loring, and Academy Award-winning actor Broderick Crawford are also notable alumni.

The 100-acre (0.40 km²) campus includes Dean Hall, the college's oldest structure which houses classrooms, radio station Power 88 WGAO, offices, athletics offices, basketball/volleyball gymnasium, the Center for Student Administrative Services (CSAS), Campus Safety, video production studios/classrooms, the president's office and board room, and two floors of student residences.

In 2011, Dean College unveiled a new campus center.[6]

Dean has completed over $60 million in campus improvements over the past 10 years, including Dorothy and Glendon Horne '31 Hall, Green Family Library Learning Commons, Morton Family Learning Center, athletic field updates (press box, scoreboards, dugouts), Grant Field renovation, and the Rooney Shaw Center for Innovation in Teaching.[7]

There are 13 different residence halls on campus, including furnished condominiums in downtown Franklin, suite-style living, all-female residence halls, all-male residence halls and co-ed residence halls.

Dean College offers bachelor's degree and associate degree programs within four schools: School of the Arts, Dean R. Sanders '47 School of Business, Joan Phelps Palladino School of Dance, and School of Liberal Arts. Dean also offers part-time continuing studies options to serve students who wish to pursue their education on a part-time basis. Part-time students may also enroll in certificate programs.

Dean College offers 16 athletic teams. The teams are known as the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs participate in Division III of the NCAA in the following sports:[8]

Upon transition into the NCAA they accepted membership for all sports into the Great Northeast Athletic Conference except for football which accepted membership into the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference.

Dean College also offers intramural sports.

• Richard Belzer, actor, stand-up comedian, and author
• Broderick Crawford, Academy Award-winning actor
• Jack Cronin, professional football player
• Greg Dickerson, sportscaster
• Zachary Dixon, professional football player
• Sage Francis, hip hop recording artist and spoken word poet[9]
• Austin Barclay Fletcher, founder of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy
• Eddie Grant, lawyer, professional baseball player, U.S. soldier during World War I, and namesake of Grant Field at Dean College
• Sid Goldstein and Stanley Goldstein, founders of CVS Pharmacy
• William D. Green, business executive
• Walt Handelsman, editorial cartoonist
• Gabby Hartnett, professional baseball player
• Doc Hazelton, professional baseball player and college coach[10]
• Eric Holtz, basketball coach
• James Gordon Irving, natural-history illustrator
• Emilie Baker Loring, romance novelist
• Andrae Murphy, American football player and coach
• Kodo Nishimura, Japanese Buddhist monk, and makeup artist
• Baran Süzer, Turkish businessman
• Thomas Paolino, politician
• Lucky Whitehead, professional football player
• Francis H. Woodward, politician
• Maury Youmans, professional football player
• Mike Antonellis, Worcester Red Sox broadcaster

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Norfolk County, Massachusetts

• Official website
• Official Athletics website