Siena College - Saga Yearbook (Loudonville, NY)

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F irst College Building first time on the 22nd of September, 1937, His Excellency invoked the blessings of the Church upon the new institution and de- livered afterward a brief speech to the ninety students who comprised the first Class. He declared that this ceremony inaugurated . . . one of the most important works which has been done in the Diocese of Albany. Nine months later, upon the occasion of the laying of the cornerstone, Bishop Gib- bons again addressed the students and faculty. We are grateful, he said, for this op- portunity to bless and erect a building dedia cated to God's glory and to the sacred cause of education. This college will stand for truth. The members of the faculty during the first year were: the Rev. Cyprian Mensing, O.F.M., Ph.D., Dean of Studies, and the Rev. Fathers Lambert Zaleha, Adalbert Ca1- lahan, Lawrence J. Kidder, Joseph Vann, Benjamin Kuhn, Alcuin Shields, Bernard A. Tobin, and Mr. John R. Wilkinson. The first permanent building was opened on October 17, 1938, to the ninety returning students of the Erst year, and 160 new en- rollees. Many additions were made to the faculty at this time, and Fr. Cyprian was made president of the College, which was now independent of St. Bonaventures and Operated under a temporary Charter granted by the University of the State of New York. Evening courses were offered for the Erst

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COLLEGE, named for the Frana St. Bernardine of Siena, was founded in September, 1937, by the Franciscan Fathers of the Province of Most Holy Name. At that time, and until June 20, 1938, when the cornerstone of the main building was laid, the College was operated under the Charter of St. Bonaventures College of Allegany, in the State of New York. The first year, all Classes were held in what is now the Monastery. This large resi- dential building, erected in the last century, was subjected to extensive alterations during the summer of 1937 in order temporarily to accommodate the ninety students and eight faculty members of the beginning semester. There were three Classrooms-two 0n the main floor, and one in the basement-and a small library. Most of the rooms still retained some of the atmosphere of their former state, and studies were pursued before Ereplaces and marble mantelpieces. A recreation center was located in an old barn which, if it could be returned today as it was then, would stand upon the driveway slightly to the east Of the front entrance. It was His Excellency, the Most Rev. Edmund F. Gibbons, BlSllOp of Albany, who asked the Franciscan Fathers into the Capital District to establish here the only Catholic college for men in the east-central area of New York State. When the College was opened for the

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time, and were made available to men and women alike. The College is situated in one of the most historic sections of the state. Be- cause of its proximity to the locale chosen by Cooper for his Leatherstocking Tales, the name ilMohawksh was recently ascribed to its athletic teams. The highway running past the campus has been traveled since prev revolutionary days by those journeying be- tween Albany and Saratoga. A year later the west wing of the build- ing was erected, but it remained unnnished until September, 1040, when the Hoor space was partitioned into the needed Classrooms, laboratories, and library facilities. T0 the library was set aside nearly one third of the t0p Hoor. A large reading room was provided, and a stack room which at present houses approximately 10,000 vol- umes, and one of the most complete collec- tions of reference periodicals in the Capital District. The list of current periodicals num- bers nearly 150. Fr. Alcuin Shields, chief librarian, ordered the Classification of books Changed in 1939 from the Dewey Decimal System to that employed by the Library of Congress. In 1938, Siena students in need of Enane 0131 help to go on with their college work were enabled for the first time to receive assistance from the National Youth Admine istration. Fr. Cyril McGuire was made the college supervisor for the student aid pro- Blessing of the College, September, 1937