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p. 294 – The Cutten Period, 1922-1942
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p. 293 – The Cutten Period, 1922-1942
floors of Eaton Hall became a dormitory and the Departments of Philosophy and Religion and Music were assigned offices and classrooms on the first. The Chemistry Building was converted to the use of the Department of Biology in 1930 when the Department of Chemistry moved into the new McGregory Hall. Spear House after a century as a faculty residence and fraternity house was reconstructed in 1935 for the Samuel Colgate Baptist Historical Collection which was transferred to it from the Library. When space in the new James C. Colgate Student Union Building became available for the campus post office and student organizations in 1937, Taylor Hall which had housed them was remodeled for a faculty club and largely furnished with articles from the James B. Colgate mansion in Yonkers which was being demolished.
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Tagged Chemistry Building, Eaton Hall, Faculty Club, James C. Colgate Student Union Building, Samuel Colgate Baptist Historical Collection, Taylor Hall
p. 292 – The Cutten Period, 1922-1942
The University weathered the Depression without major dislocations. Plans made in 1930 for a $5,000,000 fund-raising campaign with the assistance of the New York firm of Tamblyn and Brown, of course, had to be abandoned. Strict economies were enforced. Only students who could afford the rising tuition charges or could work out methods of financing their education by loans or other means were encouraged to apply for admission. An extensive employment program supported by state and federal funds provided assistance for many. Faculty salary decreases were avoided, however; budgets were balanced, and in 1942 there was even a surplus. Also a new instructional program was inaugurated,. new buildings erected and the campus improved.
Dr. Cutten had a keen interest in what came to be called the University’s “plant.” The growing enrollment since the days of President Merrill had long pointed to the pressing need for their expansion and the action of the Trustees in 1924 limiting the student body to 1,000 gave a basis for future plans. The value of the buildings and grounds rose from $1,464,000 in 1922 to $4,016,000 in 1942. Primarily through the President’s efforts real estate holdings were increased through purchase and gift by more than 320 acres, portions of which were for a new athletic field and golf course. The field was ready for use in 1939 and formally dedicated at a football game with Duke University in 1940. This 27 acre tract provided facilities not only for football but. also for baseball, soccer, lacrosse and intramural sports. Deacon Jonathan Olmstead’s house and farm were donated in 1926. The house was reconditioned and fitted out with old furniture in 1934 and kept as a memorial to the Thirteen Men who had met there in 1817; since World War II it has also provided living quarters for members of: the staff. In 1933 the walls of the dining room of the President’s House were decorated by a series of nine murals representing outstanding events in Colgate’s history, some with poetic license, done in crayon on unbleached muslin by Bill Breck. Six houses near the Broad Street and Kendrick Avenue corner were removed thus opening up an unobstructed view of the Campus and permitting the construction of the main entrance at this corner in 1929. In the same year a pair of swans, the gift of friends, graced Taylor Lake, recently cleaned of its accumulated silt.
Extensive remodeling was a significant part of the buildings and grounds program. With the Seminary’s removal in 1928 the upper
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p. 291 – The Cutten Period, 1922-1942
NORMAN F. S. RUSSELL, ’01
GEORGE W. COBB, ’94
WILLIAM M. PARKE, ’00
one of the obligations the family assumed when the University took their name. He looked forward, however, to the time when a reputation for quality and educational efficiency would bring outside assistance and he worked consistently and steadily to that end. Gifts and bequests totaling $1,862,000 were added to the invested funds and the endowment increased from $3,163,000 in 1922 to $5,828,000 in 1942 ( the 1922 figure included monies reserved for the Seminary which were subsequently transferred to the Colgate Rochester Divinity School).
Income from tuition was an important part of the University’s finances. In 1922 the charge of $180 was less than at most colleges with which Colgate was classed. The next year it was raised to $200 and in 1935 had reached $400 where it remained until 1946. Reduced income from endowment and other sources had made the rise necessary, Dr. Cutten explained, and he noted regretfully that Colgate’s tuition was exceeded by few colleges and not reached by many. Scholarship aid was increased so far as possible in proportion to tuition changes. Colonel Austen Colgate’s bequest of $1,125,000 in 1931 was most timely for it made possible the establishment of 18 four-year scholarships of from $1,000 to $1,500. In 1935 plans were advanced for scholarships for outstanding sub-freshmen selected on a regional basis, but it was not until after World War II that they took shape as the War Memorial Scholarships maintained by the Alumni Fund.
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Tagged Austen Colgate, Student Expenses
p. 290 – The Cutten Period, 1922-1942
DR. ALFRED E. ALTON, ’02
RAYMOND E. BROOKS, ’06
the University and the Union of the two seminaries as the Colgate Rochester Divinity School became possible. The merger was achieved in the summer of 1928 after all formalities had been completed. No longer would the two institutions compete for funds and students; savings could be accomplished by eliminating the duplication of ad-ministration, facilities and faculty; and a greatly improved curriculum could be offered, especially because the Rochester location would enable the faculty to use “clinical material” for training prospective urban pastors, and also make available courses on the graduate level at the rapidly expanding University of Rochester. Instead of two declining Baptist seminaries there was one strong one admirably fitted to educate young men for the ministry. Henceforth, Colgate was to be a non-denominational college devoted solely to the liberal arts.
Among the first areas to receive Dr. Cutten’s attention was finances. James C. Colgate told him the Trustees would be responsible for raising funds; the President concentrated on balancing the budget. By 1924 he had reduced the annual deficit, which had become an item of long standing and which was $34,000 in 1923, to $286.79. This accomplishment without doubt gave Mr. Colgate genuine satisfaction which the record thereafter sustained since no further deficits appeared in the Cutten administration. Making up deficits, which had totaled nearly $700,000 since the 1890’s, Mr. Colgate had come to regard as
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Tagged Colgate Rochester Divinity School, Deficits, Finances
Seminary moved to Rochester; Colgate becomes non-denominational college (p. 289)
as Dean of Students in 1931. Carl A. Kallgren, ’17, formerly a member of the English Department and more recently a pastor in Binghamton, followed him in office in 1933.
After a reorganization of the curriculum the academic departments were grouped into six “schools” in 1928-Physical Sciences, Biological Sciences, Social Sciences, Philosophy and Religion, Fine Arts, and Languages-and in 1936 a seventh, Physical Education and Athletics was added. Directors were appointed for four of them-Dr. Bewkes (Philosophy and Religion) and Rodney L. Mott, Ph.D., Wisconsin, 1922, and a former member of the University of Chicago faculty who was made both Professor of Politics and a director (Social Sciences) in 1934; and Leo L. Rockwell, Ph.D., New York University, of the University of Michigan was made both Professor of English Literature and a director (Languages) and William A. Reid, ’18, Graduate Manager of Athletics since 1919 and Associate Professor of Physical Education (Physical Education and Athletics) in 1936. They took over many administrative duties usually associated with the office of a dean of the faculty, including those relating to personnel and budgets.
Another important administrative change which seems to have come about primarily through the President’s leadership was the removal of the Seminary to Rochester to be merged with its counterpart in that city. From time to time since the 1850’s denominational leaders had proposed that Baptist theological seminaries in the East unite and in 1914 an abortive attempt was made to join Newton and Colgate. By 1925 there was mounting criticism of the latter because its development lagged behind that of the College and its curriculum lacked essential courses, especially those relating to practical church problems. Following a three-way discussion involving Newton, Colgate andRochester the two latter institutions reached an agreement which the Baptist Education Society at Hamilton and the New York Baptist Union at Rochester duly ratified in 1926. William C. Eaton, ’69, viewing the action as a betrayal of the principles his father, President Eaton, had fought for in the Removal Controversy of 1847-50, protested but he was unable to win many adherents to his position. As authorized by an act of the New York State Legislature in 1927, action was brought in the courts which led tothe vacating of the injunction of 1850, so far as it related to the Seminary, and the way was cleared for cancelling the Compact of 1893 between the Education Society and
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Tagged Carl A. Kallgren, Compact of 1893, Dean of Students, Eugene G. Bewkes, William C. Eaton
p. 288 – The Cutten Period, 1922-1942
ment of Health was set up in 1924 and Morrill L. Ilsley appointed full-time University physician; Dr. Linn C. Beebe succeeded him in 1928. James D. Howlett, ’00, a former New England headmaster, in 1927 became Director of Personnel responsible for the “selection, conservation, and guidance of students” but soon was made Director of Admissions and Assistant Dean. George Werntz, ’33, Dean Howlett’s assistant in 1938, took over as Director of Admissions when he retired in 1942. George H. Estabrooks, of the Psychology Department, in 1930 became Director of the Placement Bureau which assisted graduating seniors in finding employment. Through a trustee’s generosity it was possible from 1928 to 1933 to have professional YMCA Secretaries, Claude C. Shotts and Charlie Gregory. To coordinate and supervise non-athletic student activities L. Robert Oaks, ’29, served as Graduate Director from 1929 to 1932. This office lapsed until 1937 when J. Russell Freeman, ’35, was made Director of Activities for the newly completed Student Union and assumed many of the duties of the former Director; his successors were Cyrus R. Pangborn (1939-40) and Robert J. Grant (1940-42). In the ’20’s Dr. Alton, in his many sided role, had been in charge of all University publicity. When in 1933 the office of Director of Journalistic Activities was established Dexter H. Teed, ’24, a professional newspaper man, took over this responsibility. In 1940 Colgate had its first Director of Public Relations, W. Emerson Reck, who expanded much of the work of the Director of Journalistic Activities. Professor Shepardson resigned as Treasurer in 1923 to be succeeded by Charles H. Wilmot, ’22, who was also Business Manager, and he, in turn, in 1936 by John W. S. Littlefield, ’22, who came to the campus with experience in banking in New York. Added to the Treasurer’s office was the position of Bursar to which Frederick W. Piotrow, ’20, was appointed in 1932. A campus store under the supervision of the Treasurer’s office was first opened in 1932 with William F. Cutten, ’32, as manager.
After the deanship became vacant with the resignation of Dr. Crawshaw, Clarence H. Thurber, ’12, Ph.D., Columbia, 1929, who had been professor of education at the University of Buffalo, was appointed in 1930 Dean of the Faculty and Director of the Educational Program, a position he held until 1933. To supervise student affairs and provide counseling, Eugene G. Bewkes, ’19, Ph.D., Edinburgh, 1924, and a member of the Philosophy Department since 1927 was selected
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Tagged Alfred E. Alton, Bursar, Campus Store, Dean of the Faculty, Director of Admissions, Eugene G. Bewkes, George H. Estabrooks, Linn C. Beebe, William F. Cutten
p. 287 – The Cutten Period, 1922-1942
rallies when his succinct and telling remarks won suspenseful attention and great applause.
Throughout his twenty years at Colgate, Dr. Cutten had as his secretary Miss Alice 1. Smith who had served in similar capacity for President Bryan and for Dr. Read when he was President pro tem. A daughter of one of the old Hamilton families and steeped in village and University history, she was an invaluable member of the administrative staff. Her quick perception, discretion, friendliness, and kindly wit contributed greatly to smooth operation of the top executive office.
Increasing University functions and responsibilities led to considerable administrative proliferation during the Cutten period. A Depart-
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p. 286 – The Cutten Period, 1922-1942
and it was the task of the colleges to prepare them for their responsibilities. He called for a re-examination and experimentation with the curriculum and teaching methods to insure that the best education might be provided. Moral training, he added, must be joined to intellectual training to instill ideals of service for society.
When a man accepts a college presidency he has to choose carefully the areas to which he is going to devote his energies in addition to carrying out his specific duties as head of the institution, Dr. Cutten frankly stated as his administration drew to a close. He had decided at the outset to give slight attention to alumni affairs since the newly formed Alumni Corporation was working well. Nor did he attempt to participate in political or philanthropic affairs locally or on a larger scene save for brief terms as president of the International Association of Torch Clubs and the National Council of the YMCA. He elected to concentrate on his official duties and render service by making the University a more successful instrument for education. Aside from golf he seems to have found no time for hobbies until the mid-’30’s when he became interested in old silver as a result of Mrs. Cutten’s research on the subject for a paper before a women’s club. Together they published The Silversmiths of Utica (1936) and subsequently he produced four more books and several articles. He was also a noted collector. Like his predecessors for over thirty years, Dr. Cutten worked closely and harmoniously with James C. Colgate who was to continue as President of the Board of Trustees until 1935 and thereafter as Honorary President with William M. Parke, ’00, a New York City attorney, as his successor. The President and Mr. Colgate were in frequent, detailed and cordial correspondence. Often when he had a knotty problem which needed face-to-face discussion Dr. Cutten would take the night train from Utica to New York, go to Mr. Colgate’sapartment for breakfast, and come away with a decision. He and Mr. Parke were somewhat more deliberate in reaching conclusions. Even after retirement Mr. Colgate retained an active interest in University affairs and was consulted about them until his death in 1944. He sought to bridge the usual gulf between Trustees and students whose thinkings and concerns he understood. He reprimanded a Maroon editor with a kindly light touch when referred to as “Dr. Colgate” rather than “Jim” which he preferred. Among his genuine pleasures were his appearances before the students at chapel services or football
JAMES C. COLGATE, ’84
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p. 285 – The Cutten Period, 1922-1942
PRESIDENT GEORGE B. CUTTEN, 1922-42
president had idiosyncrasies which they would do well to indulge. He strongly opposed smoking, especially because it was a fire-hazard and its debris gave, as he said, a “pig pen” appearance to the buildings. A confirmed teetotaler, he attempted to prohibit the use of alcoholic beverages. Dogs were to be tolerated only out-of-doors and walking on the grass he strenuously sought to prevent.
Dr. Cutten’s inaugural address, “The Reconstruction of Democracy,” revealed much of his basic philosophy and set the course for his administration. He maintained that there never had been a true democracy because the low level of the intelligence of the people would not permit it. Rather, the intellectual aristocracy, in fact, ruled
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