Vice President and Director of Research at the Rockefeller Archive Center and author of “Becoming Colgate: A Bicentennial History” James Allen Smith ’70 delivered a speech in celebration of Colgate University’s Charter Day on Thursday, March 5.
In his talk, Smith used 13 vignettes and 13 reflections to capture key moments in Colgate’s history. He began by proposing that important moments in the university’s history occurred even before Charter Day on Sept. 15, 1817, when 13 founders gathered at the Olmstead House to establish a university.
The moment the Baptist Education Society eventually received a state charter and was permitted to collect $5,000 – roughly $125,000 today – is now celebrated as Charter Day. At the time, the school had only one student: Jonathan Wade, who studied Latin with Daniel Hascall. The founders spent exactly $27.12 on his education.
Following the charter, the institution had no buildings, faculty, curriculum, name or even a decided campus location.
While researching his book, Smith sought to understand the origin of Colgate’s well-known hill. He learned from geology professors that the hill’s terraced structure formed during glaciation periods. He also discovered that many campus buildings were constructed using stone quarried directly from the hill by early students, including East and West Hall, which still stand today.
“The hill matters,” Smith said. “It’s the stone that has given us our campus … It’s been interesting to realize how the hill is embodied in student memory.”
Smith also acknowledged that the hill sits on land once occupied by the Oneida Nation, whose presence in the region dates back more than a thousand years. He highlighted this history by naming seven Native American students from mission schools in Michigan who studied at Colgate. At a time when many universities would not admit them, Hascall welcomed the students and secured federal funding for their education.
At the time, Colgate was still a Baptist missionary school and did not grant degrees. Instead, students received diplomas stating how long they attended before being “dismissed honorably.” The charter eventually allowed the institution to award formal degrees.
Because of its missionary roots, Colgate also attracted international students early in its history. The first international student traveled from Burma (now Myanmar), and by the late 19th century, students from 18 to 20 different countries had attended Colgate.
Senior and Student Activities Association President Christopher Powers said he was struck by the university’s early global reach.
“It was really fascinating to see how global Colgate was early on,” Powers said. “I enjoyed hearing about how things have changed, and how we got to where we are today.”
Smith pointed to other ways Colgate was ahead of its time in terms of diversity. Following the Civil War, the university admitted African American students despite opposition from some Southern students. According to statistics compiled by W. E. B. Du Bois, Colgate ranked among the top seven or eight colleges in the country in the number of African American students enrolled in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Issues of race and social justice continued to shape campus life during Smith’s own time at Colgate. In 1968, a Black student was shot at with a starter pistol while walking down Broad Street. In response, students occupied the administration building to demand change.
Smith also highlighted the role of education and opportunity in Colgate’s history through the story of Mabel Dart Colegrove. As the daughter of a boarding house owner, she began studying at Colgate at 14 years old. Although she completed her final semester at Vassar College, she was later recognized as the first female graduate of Colgate.
Smith noted that Colgate could have become coeducational as early as the mid-19th century through a potential merger with Hamilton College’s female seminary.
“The first woman inevitably led me to talk about a theme in this book and a theme in the history of higher education,” Smith said. “The theme of manliness.”
War also played a defining role in the university’s history. During the Civil War, Colgate students formed their own company to fight for the Union. ollowing the Civil War, ideals of masculinity became closely tied to college life; athletics and social clubs were seen as expressions of “manly virtue.” Smith recalled traditions from his time at Colgate, including interclass competitions in which students attempted to steal statues from other classes. The curriculum also evolved over the years. By the 1880s, the university expanded beyond classical studies to include modern languages and the sciences, helping transform Colgate into a liberal arts institution.
After World War II, a number of women came to campus alongside their veteran husbands who were continuing their education. Although these women did not receive degrees, their presence foreshadowed the eventual transition to coeducation.
Despite a 30 percent application increase, the University planned to admit only a few hundred women. However, Smith noted that female applicants often had significantly higher SAT scores than men, and within a short time, the 1,800 enrollment size became evenly divided.
Women students also pushed for greater equality on campus, such as inclusion in Division I athletics. Smith briefly discussed how athletics distinguished the university from many smaller liberal arts colleges.
He also described a once-vibrant musical tradition on campus, explaining that nearly every fraternity maintained its own orchestra or musical group.
“Every fraternity was engaged in cultural life. We had a banjo and a mangolist group and they toured. We even had an orchestra for about 30 years,” Smith said. “The arts have been important and they became much more important.”
Smith concluded his talk by emphasizing the longstanding relationship between Colgate and Hamilton Village. In the university’s early years, local residents contributed $6,000 to support the institution when Rochester attempted to relocate the charter and successfully recruited eight of Colgate’s 10 faculty members. Despite the effort, Hamilton residents remained steadfast.
Sophomore Gianna Amatuzzi said the lecture highlighted the lasting impact Colgate has on its alumni.
“The talk made me even more excited to be at Colgate and more grateful for the opportunity to be here and how my experience continues on beyond being a student,” Amatuzzi said.
When Smith attended Colgate, there were 412 men and just two women in his graduating class.
“As I thought harder about it, I realized we confronted a war, we confronted threats around the world, we dealt with gender equality and race,” Smith said. “And, I think every student generation is shaped by things going on in the outside world.”
He expressed a degree of pessimism about the contentious world that Colgate students will enter after graduation is much, but maintained his faith in the institution.
“I’m not at all envious of the world you’ll be entering, but I do know that Colgate is equipping you very well for the world you will inhabit,” Smith said.
