Seahawk Athletics
Dodge PerformingWho we are
St. Mary’s College of Maryland (SMCM), the National Public Honors College, is a diverse and engaged community of scholars providing an accessible, transformative and experiential liberal arts and sciences education, setting the unrivaled standard in excellence, integrity and social responsibility.
SMCM enrolls some 1,600 students on a 361-acre residential campus. Students choose from more than 60 undergraduate programs and participate in over 70 club activities. A member of NCAA Division III, the Mid-Atlantic Rowing Conference and the Intercollegiate Sailing Association, SMCM fields 23 varsity men’s and women’s athletic teams. The College has won the United East Conference's Presidents' Trophy for highest athletic performance for three years in a row, and has produced 17 national sailing championships and more than 150 sailing All-Americans.
Location
Founded in 1840 as a monument to the establishment of the state of Maryland, the College is located on the banks of the St. Mary’s River at the site of Maryland’s first capital at Historic St. Mary’s City.
Our ethos – the St. Mary’s Way – is inherently linked to the spirit of tolerance and sense of place that is St. Mary’s City. Our community believes in sustaining our natural environment that feeds the Chesapeake Bay; cultivates a culture of tolerance and respect for others; and fosters a spirit of lifelong learning, caring and service.
Located just minutes from Naval Air Station Patuxent River, St. Mary’s College of Maryland connects students to one of the region’s most important employers through partnerships with Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division and The Patuxent Partnership. Students gain access to internships, research opportunities, and career pathways in STEM, business, and national defense.
History of The College
St. Mary’s College of Maryland rests on land deeply rooted in Maryland’s early colonial and Indigenous history. The campus lies along a bend of the St. Mary’s River—territory once home to the Yaocomaco people—and near where English colonists arrived with the Ark and Dove in 1634 and established St. Mary’s City, the original colonial capital of Maryland.
Over the centuries, the institution evolved from a seminary and female academy into a public honors college. In 1927, it became Maryland’s first junior college; by the mid-20th century it transitioned into a fully coeducational four-year institution, and in 1992 the General Assembly designated it as Maryland's public honors college — the first standalone public honors college in the US.
You can learn more about its full history, land acknowledgment, and remembrance efforts below:
