Siena College - Saga Yearbook (Loudonville, NY)

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Fr. Mark Kennedy, O.F.M. President When Father Mark came to Siena in September, l943, as President of the College, registration was fall- ing to its lowest ebb as a war casualty. Nevertheless, Father Mark carefully guided and nurtured Siena through these slim years until today it has surpassed any past experience with further growth readily in sight. In Father Mark every student of Siena has an under- standing friend with whom he may chat, or from whom he may seek advice at any time, whether it be in his office or about the campus where he is so often seen walking. As alumni, we will still feel that we have in Father Mark a constant friend upon whom we can depend in time of need. Fr. Cyril McGuire, OFM. Vice President Father Cyril McGuire, O.F.M. came to Siena College in September of 1938 in the capacity of Vice President of the College. The Graduating Class will well remember him for his Old and New Testament Classes. While still Vice President, the night students will remember him as the Moderator of Sigma Omega. During the war years Father Cyril was transferred to St. Francis Friary, where he held the position of Secretary to the Provincial, but he returned to Siena College in l946 to fill the vacancy he had left. He is well known to all the Seniors for his guiding hand and is held in great esteem by all the students. Page 7

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A Bishop and a priest gave up their fruitless search and returned to the Cathedral, spirits and clothes dampened by a pelting rain. They had failed, and miserably at that, to come across a suitable location for a Catholic college in central New York. The Bishop was the Most Reverend Edmund Francis Gibbons, D.D., of Albany, New York; the priest was Father Thomas Plassman, O.F.M., President of St. Bonaventure Col- lege at Allegany, New York; and, the time was ten years ago. The enterprising Bishop of Albany and Father Plassman had realized the need for an institution of higher Catholic learning in the Capital District. Both were well convinced of the apparent foolishness of attempting to start a college in an area that already boasted of old and well-known schools. But, worldly wisdom means little to men imbued with zeal for God's work. The necessity was granted, and demanded action. Come the Spring of the year l937, and, through the much appreciated efforts of Mr. James Glavin, and Mr. John M. Tracy, the Garrett estate in Loudon- ville became the property of the Friars Minor. The purchase was a diplomatic achievement in a neigh- borhood predominantly Methodist. Known today as the Friary, the little white Colonial homestead, with its thirty-eight acres, became the embryo College. Ten years after the Fathers moved in, the College today includes the imposing Georgian-Colonial red-bricked Main Building, the modern Gibbons Hall, two annex buildings, a library, a Faculty building, plus the former Haywood estate, the Navy House . More remote adjuncts that are the possession of the college are Camp Kiwassa, a house opposite the Loudonville post- office, and the former Canary Inn at the extreme north end of the campus. St. Ambrose Hall in Lathams is rented. This phenomenal growth within the short period of a decade has earned for Siena College the title of America's Fastest Growing College . To choose the patron and titular-protector of the infant College had not been difficult. Without hesi- tation, Father Plassman had suggested Saint Ber- nardine of Siena, eminent Franciscan scholar of 550 years ago, which servant of God Pius II had called a second Paul the Apostle. Today the College is pop- ularly known as Siena College. The explanation of Siena's rapid expansion is that of the ever ancient, ever new Providence of God. How else has it been possible for such an Institution to thrive without a single endowment, at a time when competition for student enrollment was very real! To build a new college was sheer business folly; but, the tools for Christ's sake paid little heed to human opinion. The bold venture met with astounding suc- cess. The modern group of buildings in existence today are the fruits of the labor, fears, and tests of Faith in God, endured by the Franciscan Fathers who pi- oneered the movement. Ninety-two students took their places in the tiny classrooms of the five-room house on the bright morn- ing of September 21, 1937. Seven priests and two brothers inaugurated the great work at St. Bernardine of Siena College. The Presidency was ably filled by Rev. Cyprian Mensing, O.F.M. The only member ol that small community here today is the popular Rev We Sm Benjamin A. Kuhn, O.F.M., a familiar figure in up- state New York. Beginnings were hard, if at times hilarious. The Loudonville police were soon to rush to the scene, on the complaints of the neighbors that the Franciscans were running around in their bathrobes. The Law de- sisted in its order to don more decent attire, when enlightened by the information that the heavy coarse brown garment was worn over the very conventional male accouterments. Those were the days when there were no benches in the Chapel, and an occasional rat hunt was launched to rid the premises of a dozen or so of the pests. Such chores as shopping for groceries were in the order of the day. Only an entire trust in God's protection and blessing sustained the Friars and students through that first trying year. The merit of the school was proven in that year. Siena College received official recognition from the Board of Regents of the University of New York, with a Provisional Charter conferred on June 17, 1938. Five months later, a solemn dedication announced the completion of the first wing of the new modern building. Credit for the design goes to Gander, Gander, and Gander of Albany, three men of unfailing cour- tesy and cooperation . The Friars gladly took over their new quarters on the fourth floor. The altar of the Chapel was of imported Italian marble with onyx trimmings, the gift of Rev. Thomas A. Quinlan, pastor of St. Mary's Church, Scituate, Massachusetts. Bright classrooms, well-ventilated laboratories, and a large cafeteria promised excellent accommodations for fu- ture student bodies. The College expanded its endeavors to the educa- tion of the fairer sex; and, a co-educational program was introduced. This was also the year radio listeners heard Fred Waring of the NBC network feature his own Song of Siena during the Chesterfield program of. De- cember 22, 1938. It proved to be great publicity for the twosyear-old school. The more martial Siena Fight Song, composed by Rev. Raymond A. Beane, O.F.M., was to replace the Waring number at a later date. Soon the Faculty was to discover that all was not too sympathetic on the educational front. Unexpected opposition arose when the school planned to present Father Hubbard, the glacier priest, at Chancellor Hall in Albany. The self-instituted New York League for the Separation of Church and State obtained an injunction restraining Dr. Frank P. Graves, State Com- missioner of Education, from permitting Siena College the use of the Hall. The case, however, was won; and, on February 15, 1939, Father Hubbard spoke to a capacity crowd. The small College was making its presence felt. Applications arrived in ever increasing numbers during the next two years. The rolls of the third year, September, l939, listed seven hundred entrants. Sev- enty of these young men enlisted in the CAA to work for their private pilot licenses under Father Cronan Mullen, O.F.M., and Doctor Nichols. The one thousand