Tag Archives: Student Expenses

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

Posted on June 21, 2012 by | Comments Off on Coeducation becomes part of the undergraduate program (p. 339)

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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Posted in Chapter 16, p. 339, The Barnett Period 1962-1969, timeline

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WRCU starts broadcasting (p. 328)

Posted on June 21, 2012 by | Comments Off on WRCU starts broadcasting (p. 328)

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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Posted in Chapter 15, p. 328, The Case Administration 1942-1962, timeline

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p. 291 – The Cutten Period, 1922-1942

Posted on June 14, 2012 by | Comments Off on p. 291 – The Cutten Period, 1922-1942
NORMAN F. S. RUSSELL, ’01
NORMAN F. S. RUSSELL, ’01
GEORGE W. COBB, ’94
GEORGE W. COBB, ’94
WILLIAM M. PARKE, ’00
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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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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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. 202 – Student Life, 1869-1890

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decade do not seem to have raised the number of admissions. The modest increase in the College enrollment may have resulted from the University’s growing reputation under Dr. Dodge’s leadership.

Tuition in the College remained at a low of $30.00 a year throughout the entire period while for the Academy it increased from $20.00 in 1869 to $36.00 in 1890. No tuition or room rent was charged the theologues. Room rents for College students and academes rose in 1887 from $9.00 to $10.50 and $15.00 a year and board was about $3.00 a week. Approximate overall costs per year for the College students increased from $168 to $180; for those in the Academy they rose from $159 to $200; but for those in the Seminary they remained about $130.

Until the new measures were taken for campus improvement in the early 1880’s, largely under Professor Taylor’s direction, student “house-keeping” in the dormitories was somewhat unsupervised and casual as it had always had been. The occupants papered, painted and carpeted their rooms as they chose and some even kept house plants in their windows. Each room was heated by its own stove, of course, and students furnished their own coal and wood and their banging coal scuttles and ash cans often resounded through the stairwells and halls.

After the Boarding Hall had been converted into apartments in 1874 students fended for themselves. Some took their meals with private families but the prevailing trend was to eat at fraternities or “clubs,” which occasionally bore such fanciful names as “Les Gens de Qualite.” At Thanksgiving Dr. Dodge, at his own expense, made it a practice to see that each group had a turkey.

The Seminary professors and the Education Society Secretary, Dr. Lloyd, seem to have had difficulty in maintaining proper standards for admitting theological students. There was a scarcity of well-qualified men and it would appear also that several of limited abilities and background were attracted by a rather generous financial assistance policy. Many supplemented their resources and gained vocational experience, as their predecessors had done, by supplying in nearby churches, occasionally to the detriment of their academic obligations because of activities not directly related to their preaching assignments.

Though the University had a standing rule prohibiting students from marrying, men already married were occasionally admitted to the Seminary, especially those who enrolled in the Shorter Course. The

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p. 160 – Recovery and expansion, 1850-1869

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time winked at accepting those whose qualifications were doubtful. One alumnus of the Class of 1854 recalled:

 

We had students of every eligible age and previous condition of servitude, green blades and stubs; some with bald heads and corrugated cheeks, nearly fifty years old; some who couldn’t get a lesson; some who preached about as often as they recited and who used the name of the institution as a password rather than its facilities for qualifying themselves. The classes were medleys, not homogeneous. When students came from other institutions they were accorded class standings on ‘courtesy’ without examination.*

 
He also commented that some of the Seminary men tried to substitute “piety” for studies and outranked the smaller but growing number of “aliens,” or non-ministerial students. Returning from supplying in the churches, “jingling their pockets and sporting a gold watch or a set of furs,” the theologues excited the resentment of poverty-stricken “aliens” who, had to rely for their money on selling books or other vacation jobs.

Annual expenses for undergraduates rose from $93 in 1850 to $168 in 1869. The increase is explained principally by the rising cost of board-$1.25 per week in 1850 and $3.00 from 1864 to 1869. “Incidental Expenses” also advanced from $3.00 to $8.00, but tuition remained at $30.00, room rent at $9.00, and sacred music at $1.00. For students in the College who were preparing to preach, room rent was free. Seminary students likewise paid no room rent and, in addition, received their tuition; their other expenses were the same as those in the College. For the Grammar School, fees were identical with those in the College except for the lower tuition of $20.00. It was estimated in 1868 that a student could live “very comfortably and even genteely for about $250.”

The Stewards and their wives appear to have been successful in satisfying student appetites. There were mild objections to the fre­quency of “donation mutton” or dried cod fish, but one alumnus from the Class of 1856 recalled with pleasure “the plain yet toothsome hospitality” dispensed at the amazing low price of $1.25 per week and the clean dining room with its throngs of hungry yet gay and cheerful” boarders. The menus included flapjacks, molasses, potatoes, and coffee for breakfast, meat and apple pie at noon; and bread and butter, apple sauce, cookies and tea for supper.

* Madisonensis (Apr. 24, 1886), 176.

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p. 83 – Student life, 1833-1846

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entered left to go into the ministry without completing their courses or even advancing to the beginning of the theological instruction. The principal reason was lack of funds.

The Education Society, so far as its means permitted, assisted poor students after they had been enrolled long enough for the faculty to judge their “character and talents.” As beneficiaries, they received board and tuition in return for a pledge promising to refund the expenditures in their behalf. In 1840 the Trustees refused to accept students as beneficiaries unless they gave clear intention of completing their course.

The total annual expense in 1833 in any of the three departments was $58.00, of which $16.00 represented tuition and $42.00 board and washing at the rate of $1.25 per week. By 1846 expenses for a lay student in the collegiate department totaled $93.00. Of this sum, tuition represented $30.00; board and washing, at $1.25 per week, $50.00; room rent, $9.00; incidentals, $3; and sacred music instruction $1. A non-ministerial student in the academic department paid the same charges except tuition, which was $20.00. Ministerial students in the academic and collegiate departments were not charged for room rent, hence their expenses were $74.00 and $84.00 respectively. Stu­dents in the theological department paid only $54.00 since tuition and room rent were free.

The quality of food which the Steward, in his efforts to keep down expenses, was able to provide for $1.25 per week would not be rated very high by modern standards. One student wrote in 1841, that breakfast consisted of coffee, bread and butter; dinner of meat, potatoes, bread and butter; and supper of milk, bread and butter. Today such a diet would be considered totally inadequate, but a century ago when Americans made relatively little use of fresh fruits, milk and leafy vegetables it was not so unsatisfactory as it now seems.

In the late 1830’s, Steward James Edmunds had great difficulty in getting provisions. Flour cost more than $60.00 a barrel and ordinary quality wheat $1.87 a bushel. Over three barrels of flour, or fifteen bushels of wheat, were needed each week to supply his boarders. Since the Steward did not find sufficient breadstuffs in the immediate vicinity, he had go as far as Ohio to buy them. He also resorted to substituting potatoes for the expensive wheat flour.

The Cottage Edifice served as the commons until 1838 when the

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