Tag Archives: James C. Colgate

p. 341 – The Barnett Period, 1962-1969

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meeting of the Board each year would be open to faculty and students who might wish to discuss any matter with the Trustees and that faculty and students should be seated on all standing committees of the Board except the Executive Committee. Meanwhile, the faculty had voted that there be student members on all faculty committees except the Curriculum Committee.

By the fall of 1967, some months prior to the sit-in and its consequences, Dr. Barnett had come to the conclusion that the presidency of an American college could no longer provide the personal satisfaction he had hoped for, such as opportunities for teaching, scholarly pursuits, and professional consulting work. He had intended to announce his retirement in June, 1968, effective a year later, when the University would be entering a new cycle of planning, he informed the campus community. Subsequent campus developments, however, convinced him that a review of University policies and structures was so urgent that his successor should be found promptly so that he might participate in this examination. Furthermore, the endowed professorship which he had accepted had become available a year earlier than he had anticipated. These were the circumstances which prompted him to advance his retirement date to February 1, 1969. During his tenure Colgate made notable advances in teaching, physical plant, and financial resources and his efforts for a greater Colgate won him esteem and gratitude.

The changes of the 1960’s reflect the unrest and concern to be found quite generally throughout American colleges as well as on the Colgate campus. On the eve of the 125th anniversary, James C. Colgate sent a message to the alumni which has relevance for all who support the University on its 150th birthday. He wrote:

We have a grand past to celebrate. This is one asset which cannot be taken away. It is ours.

As to the future I have no anxiety. With such a history we cannot be on a dead end street . . . [All] will not be unanimous in their views but will be united in their efforts and a greater Colgate will result.

‘Faith of our fathers, holy faith,
We will be true to thee till death.’

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p. 313 – The Cutten Period, 1922-1942

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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

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

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Old Golf Course behind President's House c. 1920, A1000-63, Folder 2, p312

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

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Seven Oaks golf course completed (p. 309)

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had lived before migrating to the United States, was completed in 1928. The next year James Dalgety came as the first coach and golf professional. When new Huntington Gymnasium pool, the gift of James C. Colgate, was put in use, swimming was added as a sport in1926 under the coaching of J. Howard Starr of the Physical Education Department.

Dr. Cutten sought to foster winter sports, especially as an outlet for student energy. Hockey which had an intermittent existence since 1916, partly because winter weather sometimes failed to provide the necessary ice, returned in 1928 as a minor sport and in 1929 had become a permanent part of the program. Ten years later skiing gained recognized athletic status and won popularity under the sponsorship of David W. Trainer, of the Geology Department, a Dartmouth alumnus who as an undergraduate had been active in the Dartmouth Outing Club. In appreciation of his efforts the ski slope behind the Huntington Gymnasium was named Trainer Hill.

In addition to the required two years of freshman-sophomore physical education, Colgate in 1930 introduced an intramural program. Supervised by the Physical Education Department, it afforded all students opportunity for athletic competition on the basis of fraternities and other groups and elicited a wide response. Several sports, such as golf, tennis, handball, squash, and swimming were stressed as those which could be carried over into the post-college years.

Colgate’s football record of the ’20’s and ’30’s matched, and in some instances surpassed, that of the preceding decades. Students, alumni, faculty, trustees, and townspeople shared in giving the team enthusiastic support. There probably were no followers more eager than the President of the University and the President of the Trustees. Dr. Cutten, the former Yale center, who occasionally took a hand in coaching, could always be relied on for rousing speeches at student and alumni rallies; Mr. Colgate repeatedly stressed the ideals of good sportsmanship, as well as the “will to win” theme. The editor of the Alumni News, recognizing in 1927 that at Colgate and many other colleges there was undue emphasis on football, believed that instead of trying to “drive the customers away from the side-show” greater effort should be made to get them interested in the “main tent”-i.e. the intellectual life of the college. In developing the Colgate Plan the University was attempting to demonstrate the worth of this approach.

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Huntington Gym (p. 295)

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austen-colgate_0

The first of the new buildings of the Cutten period was the dormitory, Andrews Hall, made possible by the bequest of Richard M. Colgate, supplemented by gifts from his brothers. Designed in “collegiate Tudor” by Frederick H. Gouge and William M. Ames of Utica, it was completed in 1923 and named for the late Newton Lloyd Andrews, beloved dean and Professor of Greek.

The gymnasium was the second of the new buildings. As early as 1911 “Doc” Huntington had pointed out that the rapidly expanding enrollment had made the old gymnasium most inadequate and soon plans were underway to replace it. Actual construction, however, had to wait until 1924 when alumni and students, led by George W. Cobb, ’94, President of the Alumni Corporation, and Clarence J. Myers, ’20, staged an enthusiastic and successful drive to raise the necessary funds to supplement those already pledged and those contributed in the 1920 financial campaigns. Under the direction of Franklin B. Ware, architect of New York, the building, including the swimming pool, the gift of James C. Colgate, was completed in 1926. Named in tribute to the beloved Dr. Ellery Channing Huntington, the “grand old man of Colgate athletics,” it proved admirably suited to the University’s needs. The old gymnasium which it was planned to convert into a student union and Y building, was destroyed by fire only a few weeks before its successor was ready for occupancy.

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p. 286 – The Cutten Period, 1922-1942

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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
JAMES C. COLGATE, ’84

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p. 274 – The Bryan Period, 1908-1922

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1912. To meet the competition of other preparatory schools and the improved public high schools, the Academy had needed new equipment for science instruction, a gymnasium, and dormitories-all at a cost of about $150,000, which was not available. Furthermore, Principal Shepardson reported a small falling off in enrollment but more significant was the disadvantage of being in the shadow of the College for which the Academy was no longer a significant “feeder,” nor did many of its students enter the Seminary. Changed conditions made clear the wisdom of closing, a step which James C. Colgate approved but which his sister, Miss Mary, out of loyalty to the memory of their father whose “pet” the Academy had been, could never accept.

Statistics of over-all enrollment growth show that the total number of students on campus in 1908 was 492 and that there was a rather steady rise from that number to 678 in 1922. The most significant feature is the increase for the College from 307 at the beginning of the period to 624 at its conclusion. Except for 1918, the Seminary enrollment varied from a low of 36 to a high of 51. The Academy during its last four years, 1908-1912, had from 124 to 136 students. By 1920 the geographical distribution of students had broadened and become more cosmopolitan with 24 states and six foreign countries being represented, President Bryan reported to the Trustees.

The Bryan period also shows a notable increase in expenses for students in the College. The bare minimum of about $150 in 1908 had risen to about $500 in 1922. The tuition of $60 which was among the lowest in the East in 1908 rose to $180 in 1922. Tuition in the Academy was $45. Expenses for Seminary students were much less, of course, since they paid no tuition and could live in rent-free rooms in Eaton Hall. So far as scholarships and other funds would permit, the University intended that no diligent, worthy student should leave for lack of funds. Both Dean Crawshaw and the faculty were disturbed by an increased scale of expenditures, especially since a large number of students came from homes of limited means.

Student religious life, aside from required chapel attendance and occasional participation in village church activities, centered in the YMCA which had an energetic program under Professor Alton’s guidance which included prayer meetings and Bible study. After Taylor Hall became available in 1912, the “Y” established social rooms  there and for a brief period maintained a snack bar open from 8:00 to

TAYLOR HALL, HOME OF THE ACADEMY FRATERNITIES
TAYLOR HALL, HOME OF THE ACADEMY FRATERNITIES

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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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p. 261 – The Merrill Presidency, 1899-1908

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In the conflict between the claims of the athletic field and the classroom the faculty seems to have stood staunchly by the eligibility rules published in the Catalogue. Team members were generally good students and occasionally included Phi Beta Kappas, Walter Runge and Earl Sweet among them. Though the Athletic Advisory Council, the faculty committee on student organizations, and “Doc” Huntington supervised the sports programs, the President also kept an eye on them. He had serious reservations about football because of the physical danger to the players and certain elements of “unfairness” which he found in the game and in 1903 published his criticisms in the North American Review. Later, however, he was more hopeful. He endorsed the national campaign for cleaning up the game which followed President Roosevelt’s luncheon at the White House in 1905 with coaches and physical education directors. The next year Colgate adopted the new rules to eliminate brutality in the game as announced by the National Intercollegiate Football Rules Committee and joined the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States, recently formed to secure fair and reasonable college sport.

Throughout their many vicissitudes James c. Colgate maintained a keen interest in all phases of the athletic program, especially football. He gave considerable material aid but even more valued were “his uncloaked enthusiasm, his personal interest in schedule, coach, team and players and his unequivocal championship of the highest ideals of sportsmanship.

From 1886 to 1900 the teams had been identified by the colors orange and maroon but there had developed a wide latitude of shades for each ranging from yellow and crimson to pink and garnet. In the spring of 1900 the Students’ Association and faculty adopted maroon as the Colgate color and filed in the Library a swatch of silk of the correct shade.

President Merrill sought to give special dignity to commencement and other public academic occasions by the wearing of caps and gowns. In 1899 the faculty and trustees adopted his recommendation that gowns be required of seniors and academic regalia requested of the faculty. Shortly before the 1900 commencement he gave an extended chapel address on academic costume and its significance in anticipation of its first formal use at Colgate.

Over the commencement of 1908 hung a cloud of gloom because of

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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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