History, Mission

Our History

McDaniel College, Westminster, MD, was founded in 1867, and is one of the first coeducational colleges in the United States. It was originally named after the Western Maryland Railroad Company, whose president offered a generous donation for the building of the first residence halls on College Hill in Westminster, the seat of Carroll County, in Maryland. The college was renamed McDaniel College in 2002, in honor of William Roberts McDaniel, a distinguished member of the college community – a graduate, later professor, President and Trustee in the first decade of the twentieth century – whose leadership greatly contributed to the growth of the institution.

The Budapest campus of McDaniel College was established in 1994. It is located in a beautifully restored, turn of the century school building. Since its founding, more than 200 students who began their studies in Budapest have graduated from McDaniel College.

Our Mission

THE FIRST PRINCIPLES

McDANIEL College believes that liberally educated men and women think and act critically, creatively, and humanely. They take charge of their lives and develop their unique potential with reason, imagination, and human concern. They take their place in the global community, understanding their responsibilities to aid individuals and to contribute to the larger society. McDaniel accepts the challenge to provide an academic and social environment that promotes liberal learning.

We strive to place students at the center of a humane environment so that they may see and work toward their personal goals while respecting others and sharing responsibility for the common good.

We provide a foundation of knowledge about the past and present so that students may be informed about the world.

We provide various approaches to knowledge and personal achievement so that students can think critically about, respond creatively to, and form sensitive, intelligent decisions concerning the world and its future.

We provide instruction in fundamental skills so that the students can express themselves for their own satisfaction and to the larger community.

We provide solid and respected professional programs for the committed student, and, more important, we provide a liberal arts education as an integral part of professional training so that the student will be more flexible, more successful, and happier in the world of work.

In the classrooms, in the residence halls, in the laboratories, on the playing fields, and in the lounges, McDaniel College works to disseminate these First Principles.