In the early 1880’s Professor Lewis and others had suggested changing the name of the University from Madison to Colgate. It was not until the close of the decade, however, that sufficient sentiment had generated among alumni and friends to make such a move possible. The arguments for it were clear. The Colgate family had been intimately and devotedly associated with the institution since 1823 as trustees and benefactors and their wise counsel and financial assistance had been of great importance for nearly seventy years. Of the estimated $850,000 of capital assets of the University in 1889, $605,000 represented their gifts. In addition, they had been generous contributors for current expenses. Those who wanted the change could cite many precedents for expressing gratitude to benefactors by attaching their names to colleges, as for example, Colby, Bucknell, and Brown, as well as Harvard and Yale. Then, too, they pointed to the confusion of Madison University with the University of Wisconsin at Madison which annoyed alumni in the West. In the East there was a Methodist theological seminary at Madison, New Jersey, which could mislead the unknowing, and also neighboring Hamilton College at Clinton which was frequently mistaken for Madison University since Madison University was often loosely identified as “Hamilton” from its location in the village of that name. The arguments against the change rested