Tag Archives: Deficits

p. 290 – The Cutten Period, 1922-1942

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DR. ALFRED E. ALTON, ’02
DR. ALFRED E. ALTON, ’02
RAYMOND E. BROOKS, ’06
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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p. 266 – The Bryan Period, 1908-1922

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Dr. Albert Perry Brigham, Bio Files, p266Dr. William Newton Clark, '61, Bio File, p266Prof. Melbourn S. Read, Bio File, p266

 

 

mained an effective bar to Foundation approval. Dr. William M. Lawrence resigned as President of the Board in 1912 to accept the Lectureship in Christian Ethics in the Seminary. Sidney M. Colgate, one of the sons of the late Samuel Colgate and a member of the family soap company, succeeded him. Following Mr. Colgate’s resignation in 1921, his cousin James C. Colgate, became President and was to remain active in that position until 1935.

University finances do not seem to have given President Bryan much worry since he regarded this area of operations as Trustees’ domain. Income during his term increased from $76,000 at the beginning to $231,000 at its conclusion, while expenditures rose from $97,000 to $266,000. A growing enrollment meant additional tuition income but at the same time raised the operating costs. This situation, in part, explains the regular deficits which ranged from a low of $38,000 in 1911 to a high of $66,000 in 1918. All of them James C. Colgate made up with assistance from his mother and sister but, tiring of this practice, he had a budget system instituted in 1921 to provide greater control of expenses. This innovation must have contributed to the reduction of the deficit from $58,000 in 1920 to $26,000 in 1922. The

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James B. Colgate passes away (p. 244)

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acknowledge he had much to learn about educational matters and willing to accept the judgment of the Dean and others.

Dr. Merrill had a clear picture of the University’s finances and sought to improve them. Despite the income from the Dodge Fund there were annual deficits ranging from $22,000 in 1899 to $42,000 in 1908. Of the three divisions of the University, the College accounted for the largest percentage of loss which reached $21,000 in 1908. This increase is explained in part by growth in College enrollment from 151 in 1899 to 287 in 1908 accompanied by more tuitions remitted and additional expenditures for faculty salaries and for maintenance of buildings and grounds. The tuition of $60.00 was much lower than that in most colleges in the east and none was charged in the Seminary; that for the Academy was $45.00. As he had done for the past several years, James C. Colgate made up the deficits, contributing over $300,000 from 1899 to 1908. Meanwhile, the endowment, excluding the $1,000,000 Dodge Fund, grew from nearly $556,000 to $695,513 in 1908.

The University’s munificent patron, James B. Colgate, died at the age of eighty-five in 1904 not long after he had made his last large gift of $100,000 for endowment. In attempting to arrive at a summary of Mr. Colgate’s chief benefactions, admittedly incomplete, Dr. Merrill estimated that they totalled over $1,700,000. Gratefully acknowledging them, he pointed out to the Trustees, none-the-less, that the University would need many friends and many large donations to keep its standing at a time when most of the nation’s colleges were expanding rapidly. On James C. Colgate’s declining to become his father’s successor as Trustee President, the Rev. William M. Lawrence, Class of 1870, was chosen. Formerly pastor of a large Baptist Church in Chicago, where he had a prominent part in founding the University of Chicago, he was an active alumnus and in 1905 had become pastor of the North Orange, New Jersey, Baptist Church.

Dr. Merrill demonstrated a Hair for what later generations would call public relations. He felt that the advantages and needs of the University should be advertised as widely as possible. He traveled extensively to speak before secondary schools, churches and religious groups. Alumni relations he regarded as especially significant and he not only met with alumni clubs but encouraged the forming of new ones. He printed his annual “President’s Report” and mailed it to

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p. 221 – Colgate in the 1890’s

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President George W. Smith, 1895-97, Presidential Photographs (Artificial Collection), p221

public lectures for the recently established University Extension Program were all, no doubt, contributing factors toward his breakdown.

During the latter part of Smith’s, presidency, Professors Crawshaw and Brigham had jointly shared the duties of the office, amicably and harmoniously. From 1897 to 1899 Crawshaw was Acting President and in 1897 also he was made Dean, a position he was to fill with great distinction for 33 years. Though the double load from 1897 to 1899 was a heavy one, the generous support which James C. Colgate gave enabled him to carry the burden.

The Seminary, too, experienced administrative change. Professor William H. Maynard was made its first-Dean in 1891. He resigned in less than three months to be succeeded by the saintly and beloved Professor Hezekiah Harvey who served until his death in 1893. Professor Sylvester Burnham followed him from 1893 until 1913. In each instance these men continued their teaching while serving as Dean.

Reorganization in ‘the Treasurer’s Office included the resignation of William R. Rowlands in 1896 and the appointment of William M. West, President of the Hamilton bank, as his successor. Bookkeeping was modernized to provide closer supervision of accounts and, beginning in 1890, Treasurer’s Reports were published annually for distribution to the Trustees.

For all but two years during the period, 1890 to 1899, the accounts showed yearly deficits, often running to’ as much as $35,000. James B.

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p. 178 Administration, Faculty, and Instruction in the Dodge Era

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tration were the Treasurers of the University and the Education Society. Professor Philetus B. Spear, Class of 136, who had been appointed University Treasurer in 1864, continued in that office until 1888. He had a well-deserved reputation for shrewdness, thrift, industry, and energy in the solicitation of funds. Through his management, and with the cooperation of James B. Colgate, the University added several acres to the campus to extend the northern boundary to its present limit.

Spear’s immediate successors were James W. Ford, ’73, former teacher and Principal of Colgate Academy (the Academic Department or Grammar School), who served from 1888 to 1889, and William R. Rowlands, ’74, who was in office from 1889 to 1896.

Deacon Alvah Pierce, University Trustee, 1846-47, 1850-91, and Treasurer of the Education Society since 1837, completed his 50 years of service in 1887. His successor was Hinton S. Lloyd, Class of 1856, and a graduate of the Seminary in 1858, who, following pastorates in New York State, had already been the Society’s Corresponding Secretary since 1877. On being appointed Treasurer ten years later he carried on in both capacities until 1907 when he retired as Treasurer but continued as Corresponding Secretary until 1915. He, like Spear, was astute, industrious, and had a painstaking zeal for ministerial education.

Financing the University in the Dodge period posed few problems, thanks in large part to Treasurer Spear’s frugal management and the generosity of James B. Colgate and members of his family. Mr. Colgate enjoyed making his donations as, for example, the “Arizona” gift of $50,000 for endowment. This was a free-will thank-offering made in 1880 “to recognize God’s providence” in preserving that steamship on which he had been a passenger when she was en route to Liverpool the previous November and seemed sure to founder after striking an iceberg. This gift and others helped to raise the total endowment of $177,000 in 1869 to $539,000 in 1890. Annual income from student fees, investments, and other sources for the same period rose from $23,000 to $40,000 while annual expenditures showed an increase from $25,000 to $36,000. For 11 out of the 22 years of the period there were modest deficits. In the early 1870’s the Grammar School shared in the Literature Fund as distributed by the Regents of the University of the State of New York.

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