Author Archives: lisa

p. 321 – The Case Administration, 1942-1962

Dean of Students, Kallgren, Dean of the College in 1943 to enable him to assume some of the President’s functions since Mr. Case often had to be away from the campus. The office of Assistant to the President was also established in 1943 and F. Reed Alvord, ’31, appointed to it; in 1945 he became Secretary of the University as well. To collect and preserve the University’s records and to supply information from them, Howard D. Williams, ’30, a member of the History Department, was appointed Archivist in 1947. The office of Dean of Faculty, abolished in 1934, was revived in 1945 with the appointment of Sidney J. French, Professor of Chemistry. The mounting burden of arranging for financial assistance and scholarships led to the creation of the position of Director of Student Aid to which William F. Griffith, ’33, was named in 1945; by 1957 he had become Dean of Admissions and Student Aid and was made Dean of Students a year later. The position of Vice-President for Development was established in 1958 and filled by Howard L. Jones, ’39, who had been Director of Development. Facilitating the work of these and other officers were the regular Administrative Staff meetings for discussion of problems and procedures which President Case instituted in 1942. Miss Gertrude E. Edgarton became the President’s Secretary also in 1942.

Anticipating the University’s post-war requirements, Mr. Case in 1943 appointed a faculty Committee on Needs and Resources and encouraged the Trustees and the Alumni Corporation to select similar groups; all three would cooperate in establishing a priority schedule of needs and canvass possible sources for meeting them. From this nucleus evolved the Development Council and the organization of a Development Office for which F. Gordon Boyce, ’39, became executive officer in 1946. Meanwhile, the annual Alumni Fund, thanks to the efforts of Carlton O. Miller, ’14, Alumni Secretary, and alumni workers throughout the country, had greatly increased goals which were met, making this resource most important in financing the University. Rapidly spiraling costs of all kinds gave special urgency to fund raising. With the blessing of the Committee on Needs and Resources, a successful drive was launched in 1947 to raise $250,000 for a Colgate infirmary and the Hamilton hospital. The most important single accomplishment was the Development Campaign begun in 1956 with an objective of $3,300,000 for raising faculty salaries, building a new library and an athletic center, and meeting operating costs of the

p. 320 – The Case Administration, 1942-1962

Veteran's Housing, A1000-69, Folder 6, p320    Veteran's Housing, A1000-69, Folder 5, p320

 

January, 1943, was appointed Assistant Dean for the civilian group, and later succeeded by Dr. Paul S. Jacobsen, ’27, of the Political Science Department. Civilian and military students together published the Maroon and Banter. The latter temporarily lost its character as a humor magazine to take on some of the features of a yearbook in lieu of the Salmagundi which did not appear. Members of both groups under Dr. Daniels’ direction staged some noteworthy dramatic productions.

With the release of men from the service at the war’s end the University faced the problem of accommodating a greatly expanded student body in excess of 1,300, a large proportion of them veterans. Dr. George H. Estabrooks of the Psychology Department became Director of Veterans’ Affairs and Dr. James A. Storing of Political Science, Director of Studies for Veterans. George Werntz, Jr., returned from the Navy to resume his duties as Director of Admissions. Many of the faculty members who had been on leave in the armed services or in government positions were back in the classroom and additional staff had to be recruited. An office to assist veterans in obtaining employment was opened in New York City under the supervision of Dr. Clifford E. (Woody) Gates, ’15, Professor of German.

Administrative innovations of the Case period included making

p. 319 – The Case Administration, 1942-1962

The last Navy program assigned to Colgate was established in July, 1944. It was V-7, an academic refresher course set up to prepare men coming directly from the fleet, in from 6 to 18 weeks, for officers’ training at midshipman’s school. Colgate was one of the three colleges participating in the program. It replaced the War Service Training program which was terminating in August. All men in it had completed at least two years of college before entering the Navy, some were graduates and a few even had master’s degrees. Their schedule included concentrated courses in mathematics, physics, engineering drawing, and English. Lt. Arthur C. Mooney was officer in charge under Lt. Commander Held. Dr. French was co-ordinator for the college until appointed Acting Dean of the Faculty when Dr. Everts succeeded him. The total enrollment for V-7 when it was decommissioned in October, 1945, was 848.

To provide entertainment for members of the units on the campus, local organizations, townspeople and faculty made available and supported a U.S.O. house, a large 1850’s mansion in the center of the village. This was the only U.S.O. center at any college participating in any services-training program. Here were found game rooms, a writing room, a piano, radio, newspapers, and magazines and in the kitchen was an old coal stove which radiated cheer as well as heat. Local ladies were hostesses and on Saturday night and Sundays served coffee, sandwiches, cookies and cake. For a time, weekly dances were held at the Student Union, with girls being brought by bus from schools and neighboring communities, and churches occasionally held “open house” affairs.

Although bluejackets and Marines decidedly outnumbered the civilian students every effort was made to keep the latter from feeling like forgotten men. There was little friction between the civilians and military as they shared classrooms, the gymnasium and other facilities and joined in sports and other activities together. Fraternity life was greatly restricted, of course, since there were so few civilian students and eleven houses were preempted for Navy quarters and the Sigma Chi house for an auxiliary infirmary. The University rented the D.U. and Theta Chi houses for dormitories for the civilians and served meals in the latter. Dr. Earl Daniels of the English Department and Mr. Edwin J. Downie, ’33, of the Mathematics Department were their  advisors. Dr. Howard B. Jefferson of the Philosophy Department in

p. 318 – The Case Administration, 1942-1962

Military Review, World War II, 1943, A1057-Pictures, Folder 2, p318

program on the campus, a V-12 unit, comprising navy and marine enlisted men who were officer candidates. The first contingent arrived in July, 1943. Since the V-12 unit placed its men in regular college courses there was considerable satisfaction among faculty and administration even though requiring all trainees to take physics and mathematics made it necessary to expand these departments. Eleven fraternity houses were made available for V-12 quarters and offices were set up in the Student Union. The first officer in charge was Lt. Commander Donald R. Green. He was soon succeeded by Lt. Commander Omar C. Held, former dean of students at the University of Pittsburg, who contributed greatly to the success of the V-12 unit at Colgate; Capt. Leonard M. Foley, U.S.M., had special responsibility for the Marine trainees. Dean Carl A. Kallgren, ’17, was the coordinator representing the college. Trainees were informed in March, 1944, that those who came to Colgate directly from secondary schools would be granted full credit for work taken at Colgate and be automatically admitted as regular students if they returned after war service, while those from other colleges could apply for admission by transfer. The program ended in June, 1946. Its total enrollment had been 1,137 of whom 736 were bluejackets and 401 Marines.

Naval Flight Prep. school established (p. 317)

as to the date was uncertain. By student request, military drill and calisthenics were instituted in November, 1942, to promote physical fitness when the call should come. The program continued until civilian enrollment in early 1943 became too small to maintain it.

Because of the accelerated academic schedule, the Class of 1943 graduated December 13, 1942. Wartime travel difficulties failed to keep parents and relatives from coming in great numbers to see 184 seniors take their degrees. The consciousness that most of them would soon be in service and some would never be back made this “White Commencement” probably the most poignant in Colgate’s history. Later commencements were held at the end of each term, some with so few seniors present that the exercises took place in the library of the President’s House.

Meanwhile, the new president had been active in Washington trying to convince appropriate officials of the University’s qualifications for training naval cadets. In December he could report that Colgate had been asked to become one of 20 colleges to establish a Naval Flight Preparatory School on January 7, 1943. Six hundred cadets would be assigned to the campus to take a three-months course in the study of aircraft and an intensive program of physical training prior to going on to flying school. From this date forward a large proportion of the University’s instruction and facilities were to be devoted to the use of the Navy for this program and others to follow. Lt. Commander E. Trudeau Thomas, headmaster of a boys preparatory school in Pennsylvania, was officer in charge of the unit and Dr. Sidney J. French, coordinator for the college. The unit was always at or near the top position in scores on uniform tests administered to all Naval Flight Preparatory Schools. This record is noteworthy when it is remembered that most of the Colgate faculty, unlike instructors at the engineering colleges in the program, had only limited backgrounds for teaching such subjects as navigation, mathematics and physics. They successfully “re-tooled” and met a demanding assignment. The cadets lived in the dormitories and were fed in the Student Union which was also headquarters for the Unit. When the program was discontinued in September 1944 its enrollment had totaled 2808.

The excellent records established by the War Training Service and the Naval Flight Preparatory School programs, and the cordial relations between Colgate and Navy personnel favored establishing a third

Civilian Pilot Training Program becomes War Training Service Program (p. 316)

PRESIDENT EVERETT NEEDHAM CASE, 1942-1962
PRESIDENT EVERETT NEEDHAM CASE, 1942-1962

The Civilian Pilot Training program which had been in operation since October, 1940, had developed by July, 1942, into the War Training Service program for flight training for Army and Navy enlisted cadets, and, after September, for Navy Cadets exclusively. Despite the loss of the hangar and 21 planes by fire two months later, the instruction was not interrupted since the Navy replaced the planes and suitable housing for them was provided. Dr. William J. Everts, ’23, of the Romance Language Department was coordinator for the program until it terminated in August, 1944, having graduated over 500 cadets since its inception.

Campus morale in the fall of 1942 was understandably abnormal since most students expected to be in uniform but government policy

Everett Needham Case becomes 9th president (p. 315)

Chapter XV – THE CASE ADMINISTRATION 1942-1962

When Josiah Quincy brought his history of Harvard University, published in 1840, to 1780 he stated that he had reached “our times,” a period too close for proper perspective and that he, therefore, would restrict it to “an outline of events.” Though Colgate’s history is far shorter than Harvard’s, 1942 can be viewed as ushering in a modern era best treated by a brief recording of what seem to be high points, subject to revision as perspective lengthens.

Everett Needham Case, the ninth president, formally entered on his duties at his inauguration September 24, 1942. He had graduated from Princeton in 1922 and studied at Harvard from 1924 to 1927 following study for an honors degree in modern history at Cambridge University. After experience in industry he became assistant dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration in 1939. From 1927 to 1933 he had been assistant to Owen D. Young of the General Electric Company whose daughter he married and who was to make her own contribution to the Colgate community through gracious hospitality, membership on a variety of committees, her scholarly interests, publications, and stimulating and creative ideas.

The new president, in his first address to faculty and students, stressed Colgate’s obligation to see that its facilities were used with the greatest possible effectiveness in the war training program. In fulfilling this responsibility the University would not only contribute to military victory but also keep itself alive; its Navy contracts were to prove most helpful in meeting basic operating costs. The enrollment for the fall term was 873 which was only 15 percent below normal but there was every reason to expect it would be drastically reduced by calls to the  armed services; by July, 1944, the figure stood at 77 civilian students.

p. 314 – The Cutten Period, 1922-1942

profound adjustments could be foreseen. None-the-less, the University was in a strong position for adapting to new conditions of the immediate present and for planning for the long-range future. It could count among its assets a sound financial basis, expanded and well-kept buildings and grounds, an able faculty, a loyal alumni body, and a reputation not only for athletic prowess but also for a progressive educational program of high quality. President Cutten’s leadership had indeed been productive.

p. 313 – The Cutten Period, 1922-1942

M. Williams, ’95, President of the Alumni Corporation, and Bernard P. Taylor, ’24, Secretary, and its effectiveness assured its perpetuation by each successive senior class. The commencement of 1940 was made notable by granting an honorary degree to Mrs. Frances Payne Bolton, Member of Congress and the great-granddaughter of Elisha Payne, one of Colgate’s “Thirteen Men.”

As the expanding Alumni Corporation came to play an increasingly greater part in University life, a full-time secretary became necessary.Raymond E. Brooks, ’06, one of the organization’s founders, was appointed in 1925 to relieve Professor Alton, who had combined responsibilities for alumni affairs with his many other duties, and was assigned office space in the Administration Building. His successors were: Bernard P. Taylor, ’24 (1929-35), Herschel L. Mosier, ’22 (1935-42), and Carlton O. Miller, ’14 (1942-60); the latter had also been one of those who had established the corporation in 1919.

The program for alumni activities included the annual Homecoming Day, first held in the fall of 1923 to give the graduates an opportunity to see the college “in its shirtsleeves” since the usual day-to-day operations were suspended when they came in June. With the conclusion of the Million Dollar Campaign, the first of the annual alumni funds was established in 1925 to be completed the following spring. As a means of building alumni loyalty and interesting prospective freshmen in Colgate, the corporation in 1926 and 1940 sponsored the production of films which presented various characteristic features of undergraduate life in and out of the classroom and which had extensive showings before alumni groups and in secondary schools. Student selection was a service to the University which appealed to many alumni and under the leadership of George W. Cobb, ’94, committees for this purpose were formed throughout the country and sent many fine young men to Colgate. Undergraduates were also enlisted in this enterprise and prizes were given for those who were particularly diligent in the work. To honor those men who made outstanding contributions, the Alumni Corporation in 1937 instituted Alumni Awards for Distinguished Service; the first recipients were most fittingly James C. Colgate and George W. Cobb.

As Dr. Cutten’s administration drew to a close with his resignation to take effect in the summer of 1942, World War II had already changed the aims and operation of the University and further and more

Class of 1930 first to have Senior Torchlight ceremony (p. 312)

players of the period became All-Americans-J. Edward Tryon, ’26; Leonard D. Macaluso, ’31; John F. Orsi, ’32; and Robert L. Smith, ’33, captain of the famed 1932 team. The Colgate undergraduate spectators, too, won recognition as “the All-American cheering section.”

With the Seminary’s removal to Rochester in 1928 the time was opportune for changes in commencement practices and festivities. The Class of 1929, with their gift of Bachelor of Arts hoods, introduced a new note of color at the graduation exercises. The Alumni Corporation, in an attempt to induce graduates to return to the campus, in 1930 established Alumni Day on the Saturday prior to the Monday of the actual commencement exercises. The Class of 1930 was the first to carry out the Senior Torchlight ceremony on the Taylor Lake peninsula, on Baccalaureate Sunday evening, and James C. Colgate delivered to them the first of a series of memorable homilies he was to give on these occasions. The idea for the ceremony originated with Frank