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Colgate University
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Colgate University is a private liberal arts college located in the Village of Hamilton in Madison County, New York, USA. It was founded in 1819 as a Baptist seminary, but has since become non-denominational.
As of 2008, Colgate is ranked 18th in the U.S. News and World Report ranking of liberal arts colleges in the United States and 44th in the Forbes ranking of all U.S. universities. It is also listed as one of thirty Hidden Ivies. Colgate students compete in 23 NCAA Division I sports.
Colgate has a distinct architectural style.
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Encyclopedia
Colgate University is a private liberal arts college located in the Village of Hamilton in Madison County, New York, USA. It was founded in 1819 as a Baptist seminary, but has since become non-denominational.
As of 2008, Colgate is ranked 18th in the U.S. News and World Report ranking of liberal arts colleges in the United States and 44th in the Forbes ranking of all U.S. universities. It is also listed as one of thirty Hidden Ivies. Colgate students compete in 23 NCAA Division I sports.
Colgate has a distinct architectural style. Its first building, West Hall, was built by students and faculty from stones from Colgate's own rock quarry, and a majority of the newer buildings are built in a similar fashion. The most distinctive building on campus is the Chapel (Colgate Memorial Chapel), which is used for lectures, performances, concerts, and religious services.
History
In 1817, the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York was founded by thirteen men (six clergymen and seven laymen). Two years later, in 1819, the state granted the school's charter, and in 1820, the school was opened. In 1823, Baptists in New York City (including soap maker William Colgate, who created Colgate-Palmolive) moved their seminary to Hamilton, NY to form the Hamilton Literary and Theological Institution. This was the beginning of the Colgate family's involvement with the school.
The school changed its name to Madison University in 1846. In 1850, the Baptist Education Society planned to move the university to Rochester, but was halted by legal action. Dissenting trustees, faculty, and students founded the University of Rochester.
After seven decades of the Colgate family's involvement with the school, Madison University changed its name to Colgate University in 1890 in honor of William Colgate and his two sons, one of whom, J. B. Colgate, established the Dodge Memorial Fund of $1,000,000. The theological side of Colgate merged with the Rochester Theological Seminary in 1928 to become the Colgate Rochester Divinity School, leaving Colgate to become non-denominational. In 1970, Colgate became coeducational.
Academics
Colgate offers 51 undergraduate concentrations leading to a Bachelor of Arts degree, all of which are registered officially with the New York State Department of Education. The three most common majors are biology, economics, and political science. In addition, Colgate has strong foreign language, physics, history, psychology/neuroscience and geology departments.
The University has a small graduate (Master of Arts) program for Education, which graduates 3-7 students each year.
In addition to regular campus courses, the university offers 22 semester-long off-campus study groups each year, including programs in Australia, China, Japan, India, several Western European countries, Washington, DC, and the National Institutes of Health. Approximately two-thirds of Colgate undergraduates study abroad, which is a high proportion considering other colleges and universities in the United States. About 95% of seniors graduate and most alumni proceed to graduate schools in law, administration, engineering, medicine, the arts and the sciences, as well as to financial, administrative or scientific occupations. There is hardly a walk of life where alumni of Colgate University are not represented. However, a significant clustering occurs in business, the media, and the life and earth sciences.
Initiatives
Colgate founded the Upstate Institute in 2003. The Institute was created to be a center of information and knowledge about upstate New York. Currently, they do research on counties in the area, as well as support outreach and volunteer organizations.
The school has also provided assistance to the town of Hamilton in its attempts to revitalize and renovate its buildings and businesses. Colgate was one of the initial sponsors of the Partnership for Community Development, which seeks economic development and growth in the area.
Campus life
Housing
All first-year students are required to live "up the hill" in residence halls located close to the academic buildings. West Hall, the oldest building on campus (built in 1827), is still used as first-year housing. Second-year students can live in residence halls on campus or apartments off the hill. Upperclassmen can choose to live in campus housing, including apartments, "townhouses" built down Broad Street, or themed houses. Around 250 seniors can choose to live in off-campus homes or apartments.
Students involved in Greek life have the options of living in their organization's house. As of the Fall 2008 semester, there are six fraternities and three sororities recognized on campus.
Campus media
Colgate's student newspaper, The Colgate Maroon-News, is the oldest college weekly in America. The Colgate Maroon was founded in 1868 as the 'Madisonesis', and merged with The Colgate News in 1991 to form the newspaper in its current form. The Maroon-News covers campus news and activities, sports, as well as a number of columns on the arts and other features.
WRCU, Colgate's radio station, broadcasts on 90.1 FM. During the semesters, the station broadcasts a wide variety of student programming, and during the breaks, it simulcasts WRVO (SUNY Oswego), the local NPR affiliate.
CUTV is Colgate's closed-circuit television channel that airs a number of student-produced shows, as well as movies.
A cappella
Colgate has four a cappella groups.
The Colgate Thirteen, an all-male a cappella group, was founded in 1942 in a split from the University Glee Club and is the country's third oldest. Known as the "thirteen," they notably performed the National Anthem at Super Bowl XIII.
The Swinging 'Gates, Colgate's all-female a cappella group, was founded in 1974. The group has built many traditions with the Colgate Thirteen over the years and roam the country singing for alums. The 'Gates were complimented by columnist Peter King in Sports Illustrated.
Colgate has two coed a cappella groups: The Colgate Resolutions, and The Colgate Dischords. The former was founded in 1992; the latter in the fall of 2001, making it the newest a cappella group on campus. They perform at Colgate and other schools in both formal and informal venues.
Traditions and legacies
The number 13 is considered to be lucky to Colgate. It is said that Colgate was founded by thirteen men with thirteen dollars and thirteen prayers. This manifests itself in a number of ways, such as Colgate's address (13 Oak Drive); zip code, 13346, which begins with 13 and the last 3 numbers add up to 13; and the number of students in certain groups such as Konosioni.
Konosioni, Colgate's senior honor society, honors outstanding achievement in co-curricular activities and the spirit of Colgate. It was founded in 1932 with the joining of two secret societies: the Gorgon's Head and the Skull and Scroll. Each year 26 students (13 for each original group) are peer-selected for membership.
In 1936, the Colgate swim team made its first trip to Fort Lauderdale, Florida for spring break training at the Casino Pool. This became a regular tradition for Colgate that caught on with other schools across the country, and proved to be the genesis of the college spring break trip.
The Colgate University Rugby Football Club is the oldest club sport at Colgate, founded in 1967. It participates in the New York State Rugby Football Conference, Division II. Their games are played on Academy Field, near Oak Drive on campus.
Ellis Island National Monument displays an anti-immigration statement by George Barton Cutten, Colgate's eighth President, warning that "The danger the 'melting pot' brings to the nation is the breeding out of the higher divisions of the white race...." The topic of how to come to grips with the legacy of a former university president who espoused such views, but also presided over a long period of expansion for the University, has been a topic of debate at Colgate in recent years.
Acknowledgments
Colgate is listed as one of America's 25 "new Ivies" by Newsweek magazine. It is also on the list of "100 best campuses for LGBT students." In October 2006, Colgate was ranked as the second most fit college in America by Men's Fitness. The University's campus is recognized by many as one of the most beautiful in the country and earned a fifth place ranking on the StudentsReview poll in 2005. Colgate has been ranked third by the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education for its success in integrating African-American students. In July 2008, Colgate was named fifth on Forbes' list of Top Colleges for Getting Rich, the only non-Ivy League college in the top 5.
Statistics of Class of 2012
- 2,251 accepted out of 9,415 applicants (50 states, D.C.; 119 countries)
- SAT middle 50% of admitted students: 660-740 verbal, 670-760 math
- The admissions office is not looking at the writing section of the new SAT until they determine whether it is an accurate predictor of academic achievement in college.
- ACT middle 50% of admitted students: 31-33
- Average GPA: 3.74 out of 4.0
- Students from public/private high schools: 69%/31%
- Tuition / Tuition, Fees, Room and Board - $39,275/$49,907
- Student-Faculty Ratio - 10:1
- Average class size - 19
Athletics
80% of Colgate students are involved in sports on three different levels, varsity, club and intramural. Approximately 25% of students are involved in varsity athletics. There are 25 varsity teams, over 40 club sports teams, and 18 different intramural sports.
Colgate is part of NCAA Division I for all varsity sports; the football program competes in the Division I FCS. The athletic teams are called the "Raiders," and the traditional team colors are maroon and white, with a more recent addition of gray in the 1970s. Colgate is a member of the Patriot League for all varsity sports except for hockey, in which both its men's and women's teams are members of ECAC Hockey.
For much of its history, Colgate's sports teams were called the "Red Raiders." The origin of the name is disputed: some claim it was in reference to the school color (maroon); others believe it was a reference to the team's ability to defeat its much larger rival, the Cornell University "Big Red." However, the controversial Native American mascot reflected a third possibility. In the 1970s, the school debated changing the name and mascot due to concerns that it was offensive to Native Americans. At that time the name was kept, but the mascot was changed from a Native American to a hand holding a torch. In 2001, a group of students approached the administration with the concern that the name "Red Raiders" still implied a Native American mascot. The school agreed to drop the word "Red" from the team name starting in the 2001-02 school year, due to concerns about the lingering association of "Red" with previously used Native American iconography (whether or not the use of the term "Red" was intended as such). Some local TV outlets still use the logo with "Red Raiders" on it. A new mascot was introduced in 2006.
In 1989-90, Colgate became the smallest school in NCAA Division I history to reach the NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship Tournament Final, where they lost to the University of Wisconsin.
Colgate University's football was given a Division I first place ranking by Parke Davis in 1875 and 1932, and appeared in the Associated Press Division I polls in 1942 and 1977. The 1932 team was "unbeaten, untied, unscored upon... and uninvited", in that it registered shutouts on all nine of its opponents, but was not invited to the 1933 Rose Bowl. Colgate began playing in NCAA Division I-AA, now known as Division I FCS, in 1982, and made the Division I-AA (now FCS) football playoffs in 1982, 1983, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2005, and 2008.
In the 2003 season, the Raiders made it to the NCAA I-AA championship game in football for the first time, where they lost to the University of Delaware. Their season record was 15-1. At the time, they had the longest winning streak in all of Division I football, including one win over a Division I-A (now Division I FBS) team, Buffalo. The team received a second place ranking by The Sports Network at the conclusion of the season.
Cornell is a common rival in all sports; hockey games against Cornell are major events on campus, with students lining up for hours before the game in order to secure tickets. Colgate's teams (with the exception of football, golf, and men's hockey) also compete annually against Syracuse University. Cornell and Syracuse are both within two hours of Colgate's campus. Colgate and Syracuse were once bitter rivals in football (there are some old traditions related to their games), but a variety of factors, including the splitting of Division I football into Division I FBS and Division I FCS in the late 1970s helped end the annual game, except for contests in 1981, 1982, and 1987 (because of the Patriot League's policy limiting football scholarships to less than half of the allowed total of 63 for FCS schools — in fact, Patriot League football teams give none at all — wins against Patriot League opposition do not count towards bowl eligibility for an FBS school). Their men's lacrosse rivalry remains fierce, and resumed in 2006 after a few years' gap.
Outdoor education
Colgate has a very strong Outdoor Education program. Courses are taught by student instructors who undergo a rigorous six-month training program including Wilderness First Responder certification. Trainees are chosen by an application process in the early fall that is open to all first-year and sophomore students. Courses include hiking, backpacking, sea kayaking, whitewater kayaking, canoeing, rock climbing, mountain biking, caving, geo-caching, outdoor cooking, cross-country skiing, ice climbing, telemark skiing, x-country ski touring, and winter camping. Each August before first-year orientation, OE takes between 160 and 300 first-year students on 8-person, week-long back country canoeing, backpacking, and kayaking trips (called 'Wilderness Adventure') to the Adirondacks.
Notable alumni, faculty, and staff
External links
A capella groups
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