Siena College - Saga Yearbook (Loudonville, NY)

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nedy, O.F.M., as first Guardian. The .1 A first lay member of the faculty was 99 Mr. John R. Wilkinson, who taught accounting, and was later named .. Dean of the Business Division.During . ,. . ii i a t r the scholastic year of 1940-41, Dr. A ' 1e; Egon Plager and Dr. Albert Uffen- 9; ' heimer were engaged in the depart- 7 ments of Sociology and Biology, re- spectively. From the staff of seven . priests and one layman in 1937, the 1 faculty had increased to fifty members by the Fall of 1941. From the founding years, many in- cidents could be recalled which reHect the pioneering labors of the faculty, clergy and lay. The Loudonville Police were rushed to the Garret Estate in the first week of school in 1937, to in- vestigate the complaint of neighbors concerning men dressed in bathrobes. Occasional rat hunts in the original building gave zest to the dreary as- spects of education. Yet, in the Fran- ciscan spirit the smaller and friendlier animals, such as dogs and chickens, were tolerated, and many Friars adopted hobbies which involved the care and feeding of these creatures. As the fateful guns of Europe resounded about the world, an em- bryonic Franciscan college had been firmly established in Capitol District. The words of Bishop Gibbons had taken seed on this fertile spot 4 This college will stand for truth. THIS CORNERSTONE marks the beginning of the physical growth of Siena. AS REFLECTIONS of Divine Love, animals have always been welcomed by the Friars. THE CAFETERIA in Siena Hall served as a student center for the young college.

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The academic life of the college was the herald 0f the physical de- velopment of the campus. In 1958, the Evening Division was opened with nearly one hundred students registering. Siena boasted the first Evening Division in the Capitol Dis- trict to offer courses leading to a Bachelofs degree. At the opening of the third academic year a complete four-year curriculum was offered. In AN AERIAL VIEW 0f the college portrays academic expansion in a rustic setting. June, 1941, seventy-six students who had entered the tiny farm house four years before received their degrees from the University of the State of New York through Siena College. These students truly realized that they had participated in the founding of a cathedral of learning. The original Community of Fran- ciscans became a formal convent in July, 1945, with the Rev. Mark Ken-

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ON MAY 29, 1947, The Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes was dedicated to the valor of the Siena war dead. As early as September 50, 1939, Siena Col- lege was approved as a Primary Flying School by the Civil Aeronautics Administration. Under this program ground training was offered to Civilian cadets 0n the Siena Campus and Hight instruction at Albany Airport. When the charter was formed on October 1, 1939, twenty students registered. In 1942, to meet the war- time emergency the program was extended to include a naval combat pilot course of study. The naval students and future Army radio technicians participated in this accelerated cur- riculum from 1942-1944. During these years Siena received the for- mal approval of Catholic University and was awarded membership in the Middle Atlantic States Association Of Colleges. The six year term of Ft. Cyprian Mensing, O.F.M., was con- cluded on July 51, 1943.