Barnard College is a private, independent liberal arts college for women in New York City. It is one of four undergraduate schools affiliated with Columbia University. Founded in 1889, the college was named for Frederick A. P. Barnard, a Columbia president who had argued unsuccessfully for the admission of women to the university. Barnard College was one of the original members of the “Seven Sisters,” a regional conference of seven women’s colleges that also included Bryn Mawr, Mount Holyoke, Radcliffe, Smith, Vassar, and Wellesley.
Students at Barnard College earn a bachelor’s degree from Columbia University, but Barnard maintains its own administration, budget, curriculum, faculty, and trustees. Well-known alumnae of Barnard College include novelists Mary Gordon and Zora Neale Hurston, former United States ambassador to the United Nations Jeanne Kirkpatrick, anthropologist Margaret Mead, playwright Ntozake Shange, musician Suzanne Vega, and homemaking expert and entrepreneur Martha Stewart.
Barnard College athletes play on teams with other Columbia University undergraduates. The athletic teams are called the Lions.
The college’s website at https://barnard.edu/ offers additional information.
