Binghamton University - Colonist Yearbook (Vestal, NY)

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X A SORT OF A SAGA On the night of October 6, 1950, Thomas E. Dewey, governor of the State of New York, faced a capacity crowd of students, teachers, dignitaries and area citizens in the Endicott-Johnson Recreation Center in Endicott and for- mally dedicated Harpur College of the State University of New York. With this dedication Governor Dewey began a new chapter in the growth of a college whose roots were first planted in 1932, when Syracuse University instituted an Extension Division program for area students here in Endicott. In response to the community's obvious need for a full-time college-which was accentuated by the large number of returning veterans - the university in 1946 established Triple Cities College, which opened its doors to an invading army of 957 students in October. Dr. Glenn G. Bartle, now Provost of Harpur College, and a full-time faculty of fifty-five, directed a program of freshman and sophomore work in Liberal Arts and Busi- ness Administration. Classes were held in the Bowes man- sion, now the college Administration Building, and the E-J clubhouses. Vacant lots near the main building were procured and the pre-fab classrooms were erected: East Hall in 1946, West Hall in 1947. The second year of TCC's existence bore all the signs of growing pains which accompany the process of matur- ation. More GIs returned from the armed forces, swarmed

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I i 1 into collegeg classrooms became more thickly populated, there was demand for more courses and for a junior-senior curriculum. The desire of students to remain here and acquire a degree prompted Syracuse in January of 1948 to approve a syllabus of study for degrees in nine major fields. The rapid progress of the temporary college clearly demonstrated the need for a permanent institution of higher learning in this valley. After the creation of a State University of New York in March 1948 by act of the State Legislature, community leaders formed a Citizen's Committee of 175 members, under the chairmanship of Edgar W. Couper fnow a trustee of the universityj. This committee began an immediate campaign to secure the I i establishment of a unit of the new university in Broome County. Community response was gratifying. In Decem- ber, Broome County became the first area in the state to bid actively for a community college when the Board of Supervisors voted to offer one million dollars toward the construction of a college here. At the same time, an ad- ditional contribution of one million dollars in capital assets was promised by the Committee, including the facilities of TCC, the installation of all public utilities by the Town of Union, and a site of 238 acres donated by Thomas J. Watson of IBM. In February of 1950, the university Board of Trustees accepted these offers and approved a state grant of two million dollars-matching the community's contribution-