Between 1965 and 1988, owing to a desire to escape (or at least hunker down) from a particularly cruel Central New York winter, a special, four-week term of extended study was devised at Colgate University. This “Jan Plan” required each student to pick a project to spend the entire month on, often outside of their typical course of study, which would then be presented and graded before the beginning of the spring semester in February.

In 1968, several members of the Colgate community set out to make a short documentary entitled “Spirit of Colgate,” which seems to have been a Jan Plan project. The short film, which is now digitized in the library’s online archives, was written and directed by the alumnus and documentary filmmaker, Julian Padowicz, and is credited as being produced by “The Men of Colgate University.” A relaxed pace, prioritization of aesthetically pleasing shots and recurring characters make “Spirit of Colgate” feel far removed from the efficient catalogues of course offerings and facilities common to Colgate’s promotional films today. Rather, “Spirit of Colgate” is a time capsule of the spirit and essential energy that the school had during the late ‘60s. 

“Spirit of Colgate” begins with a film leader, which in its now-digitized form feels like a charming relic, before moving to a shot of a young man walking quickly down a barely recognizable Broad Street. Another young man’s voice begins a voiceover. 

“There isn’t enough time. The more you do, the further you are from the end. It keeps opening up in front of you, and suddenly you’re going in twelve directions at once,” the voiceover said. 

Cars pass in front of the camera, which settles on a yellow and blue historical marker bearing the legend: 

COLGATE UNIVERSITY

FOUNDED IN 1819.

CHARTERED AS MADISON

UNIVERSITY IN 1846.

RENAMED COLGATE IN 1890.

These landmark signs are a common sight in upstate New York, designed to remember historical context that may no longer be easily visible. Colgate’s stint as Madison University and its origins as the “Baptist Education Society of the State of New York” and the “Hamilton Literary and Theological Institution” are crucial eras in the school’s history that often feel far removed from Colgate today. This shot of Broad Street toes the line between familiarity and distance, with Hamilton’s main thoroughfare serving colorful classic cars instead of Subarus and Ford Broncos, and the student on screen wearing a timeless flannel and a vintage haircut.

As the camera slowly zooms out from a close-up on the historical marker, a men’s choir begins to sing “In Eighteen Nineteen,” a campus song about Colgate’s early days that is still occasionally heard today at a cappella concerts. The song’s second verse begins with the lyric “Up the Hill”, which is now a common nickname for the center of campus where academic buildings, underclassman dorms and dining halls perch high above the town of Hamilton. The walk up the hill has been a challenge at Colgate since the days when the whole student body trekked down from class to a dining hall near Taylor Lake three times a day — in a way, it is one of the most consistently unifying experiences of going to Colgate. 

The voiceover continues, describing Colgate’s environment in a broader sense.

“The student body here at Colgate is under 2,000. The town itself, Hamilton, is only another 2,000. We’re 30 miles from the nearest city, and, in the winter, it gets pretty cold,” the voiceover says. 

Those population numbers have swelled over time to around three and four thousand, respectively, but the sentiment remains: town and gown are small, remote and necessarily intertwined. It still gets cold. 

“Spirit of Colgate” then transitions into a series of clips: a student and teacher in a chemistry classroom, an orchestra rehearsal followed by a theatrical production, an electronics class full of oscilloscopes, two students doing psychology homework, a football game with full stands of cheering fans, club rugby practice and the Hall of Presidents being used as a dining hall. Change the clothes and haircuts, and most of these videos could have been filmed today. It feels like watching a period piece that was shot on the street you grew up on. The young man’s voice returns.

“One day, it suddenly grabs you. What am I doing here? What am I doing?” the voiceover asks. 

The question of purpose sits at the heart of the liberal arts. Colgate’s breadth of study is designed to help students find their purposes in even the most unexpected places. And yet, for most students today, the primary reason to attend Colgate is to prepare for the careers they want or think they should want. The school depicted in “Spirit of Colgate” is focused on questions, self-discovery and academic exploration, all of which are values that often seem to have fallen to the wayside at an increasingly career-driven school.

The official stance of the university on its goals as an institution is detailed in “The 13 Goals of a Colgate Education,” which reflects attitudes that can be traced back to the words of former Colgate President George E. Merrill. 

“Education must first discover the mind, the ability, the bent of disposition, the foundations of character, and then devote itself to making all of these what they ought to be…the aim of education [is] to make a man,” Merrill said. 

Idiomatically, “making a man” involves actively guiding someone into adulthood by encouraging the development of all facets of their personhood. Especially at schools like Colgate that are primarily attended by people in their late teens and early twenties, college is many students’ final step in the transition from childhood to adulthood. Though this school continues to prepare students well for the working world, the Colgate community must remember the role of the school on the hill in developing the whole person and guiding students in developing the interests and questions that will drive them for the rest of their lives.