It’s Tuesday again, so that means it’s time for a new University Spotlight! This week we take a look at Wheaton College in Massachusetts. It’s the university of Slamstox soccer player Tom Bareven!
Tom is originally from Israel but lived in the Netherlands during his youth. In the Netherlands, Tom played soccer at vv Scharn in Maastricht and graduated from high school. After that it became time for adventure! In August 2020, Tom left for the USA. He is now part of the Wheaton Lyons as a student-athlete and is studying ‘Business and Management’. He and his team are part of the NEWMAC Conference in Division III. The Wheaton Men’s Soccer team posted this post on Instagram to welcome Tom to the team. Let’s go Wheat!
Want to know more about Tom’s new home? Keep reading!
Campus
Wheaton College was founded in 1835, at the time as ‘Wheaton Female Seminary’. A university for women only. At the time, 50 students and three teachers were part of of the university. Wheaton College now employs nearly 2,000 students with 140 employees every year.
The campus is located in Norton, a small town in Massachusetts with about 20,000 residents. Being a small town, Wheaton College is a very important part for the residents! That is why the student-athletes are regularly encouraged by the people of Norton.
Wheaton has a beautiful campus with several beautiful buildings, part of the campus you can see in the picture below. Most students live on campus in different buildings, there are 18 different ‘dorm buildings’.
Of course, the student-athletes at Wheaton, of which Tom is part, must be taken good care of. The Wheaton Lyons use several beautiful facilities that are part of the campus. We tell you more about some of them below.
The ‘Haas Athletic Center’ is a collective building on campus where various sports are practiced. Most student-athletes and coaches can be found here on a daily basis. The center consists of a large sports pool, an indoor 200-meter athletics track, indoor tennis courts, three basketball courts and a gym. You can see the beautiful center in the picture below.
The ‘Clark tennis courts’ is home to the male and female tennis team. The complex consists of 7 tennis courts and it was built in 1958. It takes its name from the Clark family who made big donations to the university. Both daughters were student-athletes at Wheaton College.
The ‘Keefe Field’ is where Tom and his teammates can often be found. The field has been part of the soccer team since 1988 and takes its name from ‘Jean Mulcahy Keffe’, former student in Wheaton. Via this link you can view a panorama view of the soccer field. The female soccer team uses the ‘Mirrione Stadium’, another soccer facility. Fun fact: in 1994 ‘Keefe Field’ was used by the ‘Nigerian Men’s Soccer Team’ so that they could prepare for that year’s FIFA World Cup.
There is also a soft and baseball field at the university, the ‘Pappas Fitness Center’ and way more. If you want to take a look at the page with all facilities of Wheaton College, check this link.
If you want to see more of the Wheaton College campus in general, check out the campus video tour below.
Athletics
The Wheaton Lyons: the group of student-athletes at Wheaton College! The teams are part of the NEWMAC Conference in Division III. There are a total of 19 different teams, of which 11 women’s teams and 8 men’s teams. The university colors are blue and white. The mascot is Roary the Lion! Roary has only been part of the university since 2016, but has since become an integral part of important competitions and events.
The Wheaton Lyons have already won 8 NCAA Division III championships, that’s amazing? Also, a total of 64 student-athletes achieved an individual national championship. In the past 10 years, 29 Conference titles have been won. One of the exceptional sports at Wheaton College is synchronized swimming: one of the oldest college sports that we don’t see often anymore!
By now you will wonder why the Wheaton Lyons is spelled with a ‘Y’. It may seem strange to people, but behind the ‘Lyons with a Y’ is a historical story. Wheaton owes this nickname to its founder, Mary Lyon. At the time, she was a pioneer in the American education system for women and started Wheaton College with the ambition to offer women a wide variety of education. To this day, Wheaton’s student-athletes are referred to as the Wheaton Lyons. Go Lyons!
Academics
Tom is studying Business and Management at Wheaton College, but many more other studies are offered as well. You can find out which courses these all are via this link.
To find out more about the academic part of Wheaton College, we have listed a number of fast facts for you!
Did you know….
- that the average GPA of students at Wheaton College is 3.44?
- that students from 21 different countries study at Wheaton College?
- that students from 25 different US states study at Wheaton College?
- that 59% of all students at Wheaton are women?
- that the average class consists of 15-20 students?
- that there are a total of 19.000 Wheaton alumni from 80 different countries?
Do you, just like Tom, want to become a student-athlete in the USA? Or would you like more information about student-athletes and scholarships? Reach out, we will help you!
