“The transition from two separate school identities won’t happen right away, it’s a process. And we’re hoping that Shimer values will be integrated into how North Central operates rather than just blending in,” said Shimer professor Dr. James Donovan.
When you Google “Shimer College” one of the first articles to appear is ‘Shimer College: the worst school in America?’ Yet the article itself actually appears to try to debunk this title that Shimer was labeled with by Washington Monthly in 2014.
The article gave voice to students and faculty of the tiny school who defended its reputation with vigor. Even the author seemed swayed, agreeing that “it’s unjust to reduce this strange, tiny, madly intellectual place to statistics” and provided a final thought that “if Shimer survives, it could be the future.”
Shimer College is now a part of North Central, but that isn’t to say that Shimer didn’t survive; one could say it continues to live on as the Shimer Great Books School. Since the acquisition was finalized in June 2017, the College and Shimer have both been working to combine their previously separate communities. It can be quite a challenge for Shimer — whose student body in recent years numbered at less than a hundred students — to effectively mesh into North Central’s culture.
Staff and students alike had input on the progression of Shimer on campus as the year progresses. Professor Donovan says that among faculty, he and many of his colleagues have been trying to get involved with the other departments on campus.
“Many of us are teaching classes outside of Shimer for a bunch of reasons. We get to know North Central much better and they get to know us,” he said.
Donovan believes that both communities are still getting a feel for this shift and that because of the close-knit nature of Shimer, it may take a bit of encouragement for their community to become more integrated with North Central. He said that he is often thinking in the terms of “how can we best help our students move forward and meld with the rest of the college to build an effective learning community?”
