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Coeducation becomes part of the undergraduate program (p. 339)

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Among the administrative changes of the Barnett period was the creation of a new office. A Provost was appointed to be in charge of university affairs in the absence of the President. The Vice President for Development was made Vice President for Development, Alumni Affairs, and Public Relations. The office of Vice President for Business and Finance was set up as a concurrent appointment to be held by the Treasurer. The staff of the Dean of Students was enlarged by adding an Assistant Dean of Students for Fraternities, to provide professional leadership in developing policies and standards for fraternity chapter operations.

Colgate’s enrollment, slightly less than 1,500 in 1962, had risen to just over 2,000 in 1968. Tuition, which had been $1,375 in 1962, by 1968 had increased to $2,285. So far as possible students whose financial resources were inadequate to meet costs were assisted by scholarships, work opportunities, and loan funds.

Coeducation became a part of the undergraduate program in 1968. Women were first permitted to study on the graduate level in summer session in 1959 and at the special summer session commencement in 1961 they received their first earned degrees (M.A.). They were admitted to the teaching intern program in 1963 and attended classes during the regular academic year. Accepting the recommendations of a trustee-faculty-administration-alumni committee, the Trustees in 1967 endorsed the principle of coeducation and directed that feasibility studies be made of methods by which it might be adopted. A few months later, however, they decided that a pilot program should be initiated in September, 1968, and three women were admitted as undergraduates. Plans were made for Skidmore College students (approximately 50) to join in the 1969 January Plan on the Colgate campus and for the same number of Colgate students to participate in Skidmore’s January Plan. For the spring term of 1969, Colgate and Vassar College expected to initiate an exchange of students, probably 20-30, on a one-to-one basis. Vassar had already completed similar arrangements with Williams and Trinity Colleges.

Noteworthy features of undergraduate life included the elimination of compulsory chapel. Worship services, normally led by students, were held Wednesday morning with voluntary attendance. In October, 1964, and in March, 1968, students organized and conducted the Creative Arts Festival and the Fortnight of the Arts which afforded

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Dana Arts Center, Cutten Hall, Bryan Hall, and O’Connor Campus Center built (p. 336)

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also established a scholarship program for five years with an initial grant of $130,000 with the possibility of extending it for a second five-year period.

The expansion of Colgate’s physical facilities, an important feature of the Case presidency, continued during his successor’s. Four new buildings were erected and others modified or renovated. With the destruction of the Administration Building by fire in October, 1963, the old library, then serving as a Foreign Language Center, became the new Administration Building after extensive alterations and the transfer of the language center to Lawrence Hall. The Reid Athletic Center, in use since 1959, was completed in 1966 with the dedication of the basketball court to the memory of Wesley M. Cotterell, ’19, Trustee, 1961-65; the hockey rink in 1965 had been named for J. Howard Starr, Professor of Physical Education Emeritus, and former hockey coach. Alumni Hall was completely remodeled in 1965 and occupied by the Division of the Social Sciences, except for the Education Department which was located in Lawrence Hall; Arthur A. Meggett, ’36, was the architect. The Arts Center, named for Charles A. Dana whose foundation had provided a challenge grant as the basis of the funds raised for the building, was completed in 1966. A striking example of modern architecture, it was designed by Paul Rudolph, and provided classroom, office, studio and performing space for courses and activities in the fine arts, music and drama, and also housed a theater and an art gallery. Two residence complexes, Cutten and Bryan Halls, were completed in 1966 and 1967; the architects were Perkins and Will. The first was named for Colgate’s eighth president and comprised four houses commemorating faculty members active during his term-Albert P. Brigham (geology); Frank L. Shepardson (Greek and University Treasurer); Harold O. Whitnall (Geology) and Melbourne S. Read, (Philosophy, Psychology, Education, Vice President, 1912-21, and President pro tem, 1921-22). The second building perpetuates the memory of Colgate’s seventh president and also consists of four houses named for Dean William H. Crawshaw, ’87; George W. Cobb, ’94, Trustee (1907-45) and donor of the Cobb Awards; William M. Parke, ’00, Trustee (1926-61; President, 1937-48); and Norman F. S. Russell, ’01, Trustee (1928-54; President, 1948-52). The A. Lindsay and Olive B. O’Connor Campus Center, designed by Arthur A. Meggett, ’36, and opened in 1967, provided facilities for the

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Posted in Chapter 16, p. 336, The Barnett Period 1962-1969, timeline

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Vincent M. Barnett Jr. becomes president (p. 333)

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Chapter XVI -THE BARNETT PERIOD, 1962-1969

If the reference to Josiah Quincy’s reluctance to cover in detail the history of Harvard for the half century prior to the date of publication, on the ground that he lacked proper perspective, had relevance for the Case administration in the previous chapter, it is especially pertinent for the last seven years which round out Colgate’s century and a half. The University’s historian of the future may well evaluate this period as one which saw the most rapid and far-reaching changes of any of the institution’s entire development. For the present, there remains the task of attempting to record some of the high points.

To serve as Acting President until a successor to Dr. Case could be found, the Trustees, in June 1962, selected James A. Storing, Dean of the Faculty and Professor of Political Science. His wide experience and familiarity with the Colgate scene eased the transition from the old to the new regime. Vincent M. Barnett, Jr., the President-Elect, took up the duties of office in February, 1963, and was inaugurated the following April. A graduate of the University of California, he had a Ph.D. in government at Harvard and had been a member of the Williams College faculty since 1939 where he was Professor of Political Science and Chairman of the Department.

The first major change was the reorganization of the curriculum and calendar. The proposals which the faculty had studied extensively prior to Dr. Barnett’s arrival were adopted in the spring of 1963 for introduction in 1964-65. They provided that students would normally enroll for four courses rather than five as had been customary; the regular term was shortened from 16 to 14 weeks-that for the fall beginning in early September and ending in December and that for the spring starting in February and ending in May-and incorporated

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Commencement first held outside (p. 331)

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SENIOR TORCHLIGHT CEREMONY, 1954
SENIOR TORCHLIGHT CEREMONY, 1954

torches reflected in the icy Taylor Lake and symbolized the end of the long black-out of war. The commencement exercises were first held in 1955 in the Quadrangle instead of the Chapel to accommodate the larger number of graduates and their families and friends.

Alumni reunions, formerly occurring on commencement weekend, were moved in 1955 to the weekend after graduation. To give alumni greater opportunity to meet with members of other classes of their college generation a new reunion schedule was first put in use in 1956 which had worked successfully at Dartmouth since 1948. The flexibility of the program provided for celebrating the key 10th, 25th, 40th and 50th anniversaries of the exact year of graduation.

Colgate’s war service records, which Miss Alice I. Smith, formerly President Cutten’s secretary, meticulously kept up to date for the Alumni office, showed that approximately 3740 of the nearly 7,600 living alumni were in uniform and that there were 141 Gold Star men. One of their most notable morale builders for Colgate servicemen was the mimeographed Newsletter which William A. (Bill) Reid, ’18, Director of Athletics, edited and published. He drew on correspondence with them for much of his copy and sent his missive by first class mail to all corners of the earth. So far as is known, no other college provided its alumni with a similar vehicle of news and cheer.

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WRCU starts broadcasting (p. 328)

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peace in 1943 came a series of annual summer conferences on this topic from 1944 to 1946, sponsored by the University and the New York State Citizens’ Council, in charge of Dr. Raymond O. Rockwood of the History Department. From this enterprise developed the Colgate Foreign Policy Conference, with Professor Charles R. Wilson, Chairman of the History Department as Director; it was held each summer, 1949-59 and 1961.

Though the war broke the continuity of campus life the returning veterans and new students quickly picked up its strands. To assist them Lloyd L. Huntley, ’24, was appointed Director of Student Activities in 1947. From his office in the Student Union he coordinated all student extra-curricular activities except publications and athletics. New enterprises included the Campus Fund Drive, in support of the Red Cross, March of Dimes, and other charitable organizations, which was established in 1947; and the radio station WRCU which began broadcasting in 1951.

With standards of admission rising after the war freshmen were better prepared than formerly. By 1962 enrollment seemed stabilized at approximately 1,400. Tuition, which reflected price increases and inflation, more than tripled, going from $400 in 1942 to $1,375 in 1962. George W. Cobb, ’94, established the awards bearing his name to be given to undergraduates who demonstrated outstanding leadership and devotion to the University and who were especially effective in developing among prospective students an interest in Colgate. The War Memorial Scholarships, maintained by the Alumni Fund, were instituted in 1946 and enabled many students of high leadership and academic qualifications to come to Colgate.

Swollen enrollment after 1945 created serious student housing problems, particularly since many of the returning veterans were married and often had families. To accommodate them the University and the Federal Public Housing Authority provided converted barracks which met their needs quite satisfactorily.

Fraternities reestablished themselves quickly. Two new ones were added-Tau Kappa Epsilon in 1952 and Alpha Chi Epsilon, a local, in 1959-making the total 15. Phi Kappa Tau built a new house in 1951 and Sigma Chi in 1959. In response to faculty and undergraduate pressures, the Board of Trustees took a stand in January, 1955, against membership clauses which discriminated on the basis of race, creed, or

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University Studies established (p. 327)

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Sciences, and University Studies (embracing the core courses). Each was administered by a Director, subordinate to the Dean of the Faculty, for whom the five directors served as an advisory group.

Under Mr. Case the role of faculty as a deliberative body for discussing and deciding academic affairs was revived. Instead of meeting regularly only three times each year, as had been customary in the ’30’s, the faculty convened once a month. As a kind of “academic senate” there was the Educational Policy Committee which was set up in 1947 following the discharge of the Committee on the Post-War College after its report had been adopted. The membership included the President as chairman, the deans and some other administrative officers, and division directors, all ex officio, and elected faculty members who constituted the majority. Two ad hoc faculty committees, one on the Humanities and the Self-Study Committee, conducted extensive investigations of the curriculum and its possible revisions and of the efficiency of administrative and instructional procedures and made several recommendations, some of which were implemented. Likewise, four separate visiting committees of outside experts, invited to the campus in 1958, and 1960-’62, to examine the work of the Divisions, made helpful suggestions for improvements.

Closer relations between the faculty and Board of Trustees were promoted by the Faculty Conference Committee, first appointed in 1954 as a Liaison Committee, to consult with the Trustee Committee on Academic Affairs. It was useful in supplementing the President’s presentation to the full Board of faculty views and needs.

The faculty’s economic and organizational status improved greatly under Mr. Case’s administration. By 1960-61, the average salary for full-time members in all ranks reached more than $9,000. Fringe benefits, in addition, included the annuity and group insurance programs and payments of medical insurance premiums. In 1959 it was possible to revive the program of sabbatical leaves which had been in abeyance since 1929. Six months with full salary or a year on half salary was arranged to enable professors to travel, carry on research, and restore some of the energy expended over the preceding six years. Growing out of Post-War Committee discussions came a statement on academic freedom,tenure, and promotions adopted by Trustees and faculty in 1948-49.

Out of faculty and community discussions of the problems of the

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Kenneth W. Morgan appointed first university Chaplain (p. 326)

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A. Choquette, Chairman of the Romance Languages Department, it was a supervised workshop equipped with a variety of modern audio-visual aids.

With the adoption of the post-war program, preceptorial counseling, which faculty members had formerly provided for freshmen and sophomores under the Colgate Plan, was entrusted to graduate students who served as counselors to freshmen only. Administered by a Director of Preceptorial Studies, the program involved the assignment of about twenty freshmen to a Graduate Preceptor. Besides his counseling duties, the preceptor spent half his time in studies for the master’s degree. By action of the faculty in 1962, the Preceptorial Program was terminated in favor of using instructors of small sections of a new course in rhetoric and literature and undergraduate and graduate resident advisors. Counseling services were strengthened in 1959 with the appointment of a University Counselor, a trained clinical psychologist to assist in exploring and solving personal problems, and by setting up of a well-equipped Placement Center in the Spear House to offer guidance to seniors in the choice of jobs or graduate schools.

The appointment of Kenneth W. Morgan as the first University Chaplain in 1946 gave new leadership and effective organization to the religious life of the student body. Under his direction the University Church provided regular Sunday worship in the Protestant tradition and a study and service program. Guided by the Chaplain, the Colgate Religious Association facilitated the work of all religious groups on the campus. The chaplains, who were also on the Philosophy and Religion Department staff, had a part in the University counseling services by advising students with religious problems.

Beginning in 1946 Colgate offered a five-year program in teacher education leading to a Master of Arts degree. It grew out of faculty discussions prior to the war and in conformity to the State Education Department certification requirement of a fifth year of graduate study in addition to the usual four years for a bachelor’s degree. A program for those who wished to teach physical education and a selected subject-matter field was instituted in 1947.

The seven “schools” into which the curriculum had been organized in the 1930’s were replaced by five Divisions-Humanities, Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Physical Education and Athletics, Social

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The Core Curriculum (p. 324)

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EVERETT NEEDHAM CASE LIBRARY
EVERETT NEEDHAM CASE LIBRARY

the Thirties.” The Core Curriculum provided courses in the natural and social sciences; foreign geographical areas; and representative works of art and literature, and philosophy and religion in the humanities; with instruction by intensive study of carefully chosen case materials whenever possible. Designed to give a coherent if minimum education in the liberal arts and sciences the Cores absorbed about a fourth of a student’s schedule and extended throughout all four years of college. The concentration program (departmental or topical) in the last two years and electives rounded out the course of study. Integrated with the academic offerings was the Air Reserve Officers Training Corps program which was instituted in 1947 and carried credit for the  bachelor’s degree.

Chapel House, A1000-29, Folder 1, p324

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Seven Oaks opens in its East Lake Road location (p. 323)

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East and West Halls, had been completely renovated in 1954.) The library, designated the Everett Needham Case Library in 1962, was dedicated in 1959. As far back as 1931, Charles W. Spencer had stressed the need for a new building but it was his successor, Thomas M. Iiams, who was to have a major role in planning the structure and to see it take shape. The architect was Robert B. O’Connor (D.F.A., ’59) of O’Connor and Kilham. Chapel House, an anonymous gift, was designed by Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill and completed in 1959. It has a chapel for meditation and prayer, a library, a music room, and facilities for a small number of interfaith resident guests. The Athletic Center, honoring William A. Reid, ’18, Director of the Division of Physical Education and Ath1etics (1935-1955), was opened in 1959, also; its architect was Oscar F. Wiggins, ’22. Watson House, a home for the President, given by Mrs. Thomas J. Watson, Sr., in honor of her late husband, was ready for occupancy at the time of Mr. Case’s retirement in 1962. Arthur A. Meggett, ’36, designed the building; its completion made the president’s former residence, Merrill House, available for the Faculty Club.

Two other facilities should be mentioned. The first, the Colgate Camp on Upper Saranac Lake, was the gift of S. Bayard Colgate (LL.D., 1958), a Trustee, and his family in 1953. It is well suited for use of the Outing Club and for faculty conferences and summer recreation. The second is the new Seven Oaks golf course in the valley east of the campus and the village which was opened in 1958 to supersede the old course behind the dormitories.

As early as 1941 the American Association of University Professors Chapter began a survey of the curriculum and University organization. In the spring of 1943, at Mr. Case’s suggestion, a committee on the Post-War College was established from the faculty with the President as Chairman, to continue the study with particular reference to the needs of a world at peace. Its far-ranging report received searching faculty analysis and was adopted, part by part, from 1945 to 1947.

Central to the program was the general education Core Curriculum, made up of a series of courses prescribed for all students. This concept was an outgrowth of experience with the five one-semester survey courses in the Biological Science, Physical Sciences, Social Sciences, Philosophy and Religion for freshmen and a course in Fine Arts for sophomores, which were an important feature of the “Colgate Plan of

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Infirmary Wing of Hamilton Hospital opens (p. 322)

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WILLIAM (BILL) A. REID, ’18
WILLIAM (BILL) A. REID, ’18
CARLTON O. MILLER, ’14
CARLTON O. MILLER, ’14
JAMES A. STORING
JAMES A. STORING

University for the three-year period of the drive. Under the leadership of Clarence J. Myers, ’20, and “Vellington Powell, ’21, co-chairmen, and Howard L. Jones, ’39, Director of Development since 1952, the sum was raised but due to rising building costs the effort was extended from three years to five and the total of more than $4,300,000 contributed made it possible to undertake the construction as planned. A notable donation was the Ford Foundation Grant of $765,000, Colgate’s portion of the half-billion-dollar fund given in 1955 by the Foundation to 126 independent liberal arts colleges and counted toward the Development Campaign objective. Herman Wendt, Jr., ’27, gave Colgate a million dollars in 1961, the largest single gift in the Case period. By 1962 Colgate’s endowment had a book value of over$11,500,000; its buildings, grounds and equipment were worth more than $9,200,000; annual income and expenditures exceeded $4,300,000.

The second of Mr. Case’s two decades as president saw the construction of six major buildings. The first, the Infirmary Wing of the new Hamilton Community Memorial Hospital, was opened with the hospital in 1952; they were the realization of dreams of town and gown since 1926. A residence hall, designed by McKim, Mead, and “White, was erected on the site of Eaton Hall which had been razed to make way for it. Opened in 1957, the building comprised three houses, named for Presidents Kendrick, Eaton, and Dodge. (The dormitories,

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