Academics
Combining a “beautiful location,” “excellent” professors, “small class size,” and a “helpful” administration, Fort Lewis College offers a “quality education provided in an intimate learning environment coupled with an outgoing and outdoor community.” “The professors are wonderfully talented, and many are over-qualified for their positions.” Why do such accomplished professors come here? “Durango attracts really high-end professors even though it is a small town because it is so beautiful and so many people want to live here.” Professors bring a “well-balanced mix of instructional styles as well as academic, life, and career advice.” And “they are always willing to spend time outside of class tutoring or talking, and most of them use several learning methods in the classroom.” Like the faculty, “The administration seems connected and accessible.” It seems as though students can’t go wrong in choosing a major, as students cite “archaeology, chemistry, teaching majors,” “great English and history departments,” “business” and “music” as academic strengths of the college. But “Because Fort Lewis is a liberal arts institution, you get a very well rounded experience.” And there’s a “bonus—no grad school, so profs teach their own classes.”
Student Body
You will find on the Fort Lewis College campus an abundance of “outdoor loving, open-minded,” “laid back,” “liberal,” “super artistic, super environmentally aware, intellectual” “hippies.” They profess “all ranges of religious beliefs,” and they are “generally involved in extracurricular activities, such as intramural sports and outdoor pursuits.” As far as where they all come from, one student estimates that “the student body is split in thirds: one-third local, one-third from the Front Range, one-third from all over.” One unique aspect of the Fort Lewis student body is that it “has a high Native American population,” as well as a “lot of good opportunities specifically for Native Americans.” This in large part is a result of the tuition waiver the school generously offers to all Native American students.
Campus Life
“The great outdoors are very important” to those who attend Fort Lewis College. “Winter allows for all sorts of snow sports (snowboarding, skiing, ski-surfing, snowshoeing, ice climbing, winter backpacking/camping), and the summer provides its own set of activities (mountain biking, camping, backpacking, kayaking).” When they’re not on the mountain or in the river, students “hang out in the small downtown area.” “Downtown Durango is very beautiful and historic. There are tons of cool stores to check out, and there are as many restaurants per capita [as] San Francisco, so you won’t get bored with the food.” Durango is also “a very liberal town. Many residents are, for lack of a better name, ‘old hippies.’ This makes for a small town with big dreams.” Case in point, “Durango…likes to shut down Main Street to throw random parties, so that’s right up our alley.” Students enjoy going to the downtown bars, which they describe as “chill.” “A lot of people drink, but no one judges you if you don’t (we’ll just ask you for a ride).” One main attraction of the bars is the fact that “there is great beer in Durango,” reportedly of the “fresh brewed” variety. When students get to thinking, they “think about the environment a lot. Durango is a very environmentally friendly town.”
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