Union College - Garnet Yearbook (Schenectady, NY)

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The Stor of Union f J il ff?- fe.. -' MUCH of the spirit and tradition arises in the circumstances surrounding its establishment and origin. Union College was an outgrowth of the American Revolution, conceived by the uniting of the spirit of a free people with the determination that their children should be taught how to protect that freedom. Thus it was that in 1779 a petition for a college was framed, not by one man who desired his name to go down into the archives of history, nor by a small coterie interested in obtaining political and social influence, but by a group of united citizens of all religious beliefs with a single end in view. john Cuyler and eight hundred inhabitants of Albany and Tryon Counties and Thomas Clarke and one hundred and thirty-one other inhabitants of Charlotte County, petitioned as free citizens for the establishment of an academy for the education of the young men of their community. This was the inception of Union College. It was not till 1785 that the academy actually came into existence. It was another ten years before a charter was granted. Thus the year 1795 is the offi- cial year of birth of Union College, one of the oldest undenominational col- leges in America. Two years later, amid much celebration and acclaim, the first commencement exercises were held. Nunc est formossimus annus, read the opening declaration of the ceremonies, and three Union men proudly re- ceived their degrees. It was not till the presidency of Eliphalet Nott which began in 1804 that Union became one of the outstanding colleges in the country. Dr. Nott formu- lated the patterns of the college which remain even to the present time. Perhaps the most important accomplishment of Dr. Nott was the securing of the present site of the college. Union College, wrote undergraduate john Gafe fo Jackson's Garden - This sunken garden, whose hisfory exfends back more fhan a cenfury fo Profes- sor lsaac Jackson. is considered one of fhe fines! in America. Howard Payne in 1806, is built on the worst swamp in America. To remedy this situation, Eliphalet Nott purchased two hundred and fifty acres of land on the hill above the Mohawk, approximately one hundred of which remain to make up the campus today. In 1813, he secured the services of joseph jacques Ramee, a noted European architect, who de- signed a grand plan for Union College. In 1812

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ami na i -wi .i' - 5 '.sZjH:F:.,:... ,. plan had been begun but was halted at the inau 'N 1 !TI 'li.'4.:l: illvll '54, .. V A l' , .W in jp. K ,akin , . ,. 7 .-V J k V- V .. h . . .. ,-. 4 . lx- - . - - -. - , . .,- -, ,-- , annum :fu - r. , . ,-1.:, th., ' li ......,..w .,, , A i .1,.-1 - :jp ..- H , -nv - ' . Eli fE' s'5:5 7.w'i f -- .4 f -, Ei:5i:q -ws, a .' .' , , l u 5. L., The original plan for fhe cam- pus as drawn by fhe French archifecf Jean Jacques Ramee aboul' 1810. -.4 .. the construction of the college b a s e d u pon s o m e horrible guration of Ramee's plan. The symmetry and orderly outline designed by Ramee-even going so far as to balance the number of trees f l 'd o eaci si e of the campus-is repre- sented by North and South Colleges on either side of Library Field. It may be noted that many colleges and universities in the country have adopted a plan- ned and symmetric method of designing a campus first begun at Union in 1813. Dr. Nott, himself, was an outstanding man. Believing thoroughly in the pragmatic theory of education, he was termed a man of one book-experi- ence . Knowledge, education, philosophy-all were important only in their relation to the problems and obstacles encountered by the individual student in every day life. It is not odd, therefore, to find the beginnings of scientific edu- cation instituted during his presidency, and in 1845, he included Civil Engi- neering in the curriculum of Union College. In 1802, the rules of Union College-the rules of any college at that time, in fact-were filled with minute regulations and strict formulae which had to be unequivocally adhered to by the student body. The following maxims are only a few of the many which were mandatory for all undergraduates at that time. If a student, reads one rule, shall wilfully insult or strike any of the officers of the college or break their windows, he shall be rusticated or ex- pelledf' Another rule provided for a twelve cent fine for whoever should be found smoking a pipe or segar in any part of the college except in his own room. Students also were forbidden to visit Taverns without liberty or to ap- pear in indecent dress or in womenls apparellf' It was Dr. Nott who relaxed the stringency of these cumbersome and ineffectual regulations. Because of his leniency, the fraternity system originated at Union College with the founding of Kappa Alpha in 1825. Union became the Mother of Fraternities. Aerial view of fhe cenfral por'l'ion of Union's hundred- acre campus. The Library and Washburn Hall in fhe fore- ground. Alexander Field in fhe background.