Siena College - Saga Yearbook (Loudonville, NY)

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Rev. Jerome Dawson, O.F.M. Gibbons, D.D., then Bishop of Albany, who in 1937 had invited the Franciscan Friars to establish a Catholic Men's College in his diocese. The years from 1942 to 1946 were sorrowful ones for the entire world, but they were especially sad for Siena because, during those years, forty-six of her brave sons died vaiiently on the war torn battlefields of the world. The liberty that these men fought for and preserved is the reason why Siena's history does not end here, but goes on. Since the war there have been many changes in the cur- riculum and the campus of the college. The college had to adopt a temporary accelerated program in order to fulfill its duty during these war years. From July of 1942 until August of 1944, the College, in coniunction with the United States Navy, trained uniform personnel as prescribed under the V-5 Program. This program was discontinued in September of 1944 when the College returned to the usual two semester and a six week summer session. One of the most remarkable changes in the college was the teriffic increase in the number of students attending the school after the war. The campus was actually bursting its seams in the year 1948 when enrollment sky-rocketed to 2,752 students. Three fourths of this figure were veterans. In order to provide classrooms, it was necessary to construct a perfabricated building of eight ciassrooms on the campus and to rent a hall in the nearby town of Latham. Located on the southeastern corner of the campus are two adjoining Georgian-Colonial styled buildings. Although from their external ap- pearances neither resemble that which we call a house , both of these magnificient structures truly are houses. One is St. Mary of the Angels Chapel and the other is the Friary. The former being the house of God and the latter the Faculty house of the Friars. It was only eight short years ago on April 25, 1949, that the Most Reverend William A. Scully, D.D., then Coadiutor Bishop of Albany, blessed and laid the cornerstone of the Friary, which was completed in July of 1950.

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1950 is another important year in the annals of the institution for in April of that year the United States Army established a Field Artillery R.O.T.C. unit on the Campus. Field Artillery and Military personnel were assigned to the school to direct the program of Mili- tary Science and Tactics which started in the Fall of 1950. The course offers, upon successful completion, a commission of Second Lieutenant in the Field Artillery of the United States Army Reserve. Since its inception in 1950, approximately 125 Siena graduates have received commissions. Just as the training in the R.O.T.C. enables these men to be soldiers in the Army of the United States, so also does the christian training by the Friars help all the graduates of Siena to be strong soldiers in the Army of Christ. The rapid expansion of the College demanded the erection of the Library which makes more complete the fulfillrhent of the words of Francis Bacon, Reading maketh a full man . . . . On October 12, 1953, ground was broken for the construction of the building. In 1954 the newly constructed Library was named for the priest who as Chairman of the Board of Trustees from 1937 until 1943 aided the growth of the college immeasurably. It was with profound re- spect and deep gratitude that the library was dedicated to the Very Reverend Jerome Dawson, O.F.M. In this short history of Siena College it has been impossible to record the contributions of the countless individuals who have helped the College to become the fortress of learning . These people have made the College the beacon of learning and the cross of devo- tion for the three thousand sons and daughters that wear the seal of Siena College. Hail Siena, Alma Mater May your Cross on dome of gold, Be the beacon ever offer For the youth your arms enfold.