The WPA Guide to Wisconsin reaads (Tour 7, pg 390):
In 1847 the Congregational Church founded BELOIT COLLEGE, Bushnell and College Sts., on the east riverbank. Two professors were hired at a salary of $600 a year, but their contract contained the proviso "if we can raise it." The early buildings gave no architectural unity to the campus, for each was in a different style. Later buildings are Georgian Colonial, with slight adaptations. The college has approximately 600 students. One of its strongest departments is that of anthropology and archeology; an alumnus, Roy Chapman Andrews, writer and explorer for the American Museum of Natural History, has become famous in these fields.
On the campus is the Logan Museum (free; open during school year from 8:30 a.m. to 12 m. and 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Mon. through Fri.; 8:30 a.m. to 12 m. Sat.; 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sun.), originally planned to depict the culture of the American Indian but later expanded to present a record of prehistoric man. More than 1,000,000 aboriginal artifacts are displayed here, centered about the extensive Rust collection, donated by the founder of the museum, the late Dr. Frank G. Logan, famous art collector, trustee, benefactor, and honorary president of the Art Institute of Chicago, and founder of the chair of anthropology and evolution at Beloit College. The most interesting object in the collection is the Aurignician necklace fashioned by a Cro-Magnon craftsman 35,000 years ago. Twelve murals in the vicinity (22 on the campus alone) have stimulated local interest and the study of anthropology and ethnology."
From the Beloit College web site:
"Beloit College was founded in 1846, when Wisconsin was still a
territory. The early curriculum was built on the classical
tradition, but students were given an unusual amount of freedom to
choose their own courses. Today, Beloit is recognized for its
longstanding commitment to curricular innovation, and its
first-year initiatives and international education programs.
The Beloit College community is diverse and noted for its
passionate engagement with ideas and the world. Its 1200 students
are from nearly every state, the District of Columbia, and more
than 40 nations. Twenty percent of its students are non-Caucasian;
ten percent come from countries other than the United States. No
more than ten percent of a graduating class is represented in any
one of Beloit's majors.
98% of Beloit's 103 full-time faculty members hold a Ph.D. or
the highest degree in their field. Teaching is the faculty's
highest priority but all professors are active scholars and
artists. Many are leaders in educational reform. Professors serve
as mentors, guides, and partners on research projects and academic
work. A strong tradition of student-teacher collaboration
contributes to the college's lively intellectual community.
Beloit offers more than fifty majors, more than thirty minors,
and a number of dual-degree and preprofessional programs. A
flexible curriculum, grounded in rigorous study encourages
independent research, fieldwork, and collaboration with peers and
professors. Coursework is interdisciplinary, experiential, and
global in scope. The average class size is 15 students; Beloit's
student-to-faculty ratio is 11:1.
Beloit's wooded forty-acre campus includes twenty-eight
buildings in a range of architectural styles; four buildings are
listed on the National or State Register of Historic Places. The
campus is marked by winding pathways, expansive lawns, displays of
public art, and ancient Indian mounds.
The college's academic facilities include the internationally
recognized Logan Museum of Anthropology, the Wright Museum or Art,
a state of the art performing arts complex and research labs
equipped with advanced technology. Beloit offers more than thirty
international programs, dozens of domestic study programs, and
hundreds of internships and field study programs."