Siena College - Saga Yearbook (Loudonville, NY)

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gram. Needy students were put to work in Clerical positions, library work, maintenance, and construction. Shortly after the 1940-41 school year had begun, another part of Siena,s thirty-eight acres was excavated for the second building, a gymnasium. It now stands on the site of a former apple orchard. In honor of His Excellency, the Most Rev. Edmund F. Gibbons, Bishop of Albany, the structure has been named Gibbons Hall. At about this time the College acquired a residential building towards Albany on the Loudonville road. It is being used to provide housing for lay professors. One of the Erst extracurricular activities organized at 816113 was its basketball team. First coached by John Carrol of Albany, and then by Hank Bunoski, a former basketball star of the St. Bonaventure team, the Siena players have met such schools as St. Jolnfs of Brooklyn, Seton Hall, the State College of Albany, and the University of Mexico. The present enrollment of the College now approaches 1,000 students, day and eve- ning. The faculty numbers nearly fifty; in all, an amazing growth from the country residence with its ninety students and eight teachers of only a few years ago. Following the laying of the cornerstone on June 20, 1938, the Rev. Father Thomas Plassman, president of St. Bonaventures College, spoke to those present and ex- plained, in part, the purpose of the new institution. These pictures depict the building progress toward the completion of Siena H211. May, 1938, marked the first stages of construction, as steel and stone began to give evidence of the new college

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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

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ask, why go back 500 years to Choose a name of medieval days and inscribe it over the portals of a modern college? iiMy answer is a straightforward reply to an honest question. The distress and dismay that irk the minds and hearts of men send forth a plaintive cry for convictions, bold and Clear. And it was conviction that prompted us to adorn this institution with the name of Bernardine. First, because he is a canonized Saint of the Church. iiThe history of Liberal Arts accords due credit to the monuments and masterpieces of Franciscan origin, such as the hrst bibe lican versions in nearly every vernacular of Europe; the Erst grammars and lexica of both the ancient classics and the pagan tongues of Asia, Africa, and America . . . thC Erst schools on American soil founded by our missionaries of the South, and the hrst print- Laying Cornerstone of Siena H2111, june, 1938 ing press tin the new worldi , and the first book printed in the W estern Hemisphere. iiThere is a question in the minds of iiModern parlance has coined the term Cathedral of Learning And well does this title ht the School of Liberal Arts. A cathe- inany here present and of many others not here present, said F r. Plassnian, hand I con- sider it my duty and privilege to give answer. dral of learning whose foundation must be XVe have just laid the cornerstone of a pro- the early formation and instruction of our posed Liberal Arts College at the very gate elementary and high school training. Upon of our beautiful capitol of the Empire State this solid structure, which has grounded our and, when this building is completed and YOUth in the elementary arts 0f reading and when the State Education Department shall have granted the Charter, this institution shall function under the patronage of St. Bernardine of Siena. But why, you will justly 11