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The Hall of Alumni and Friends

By Colgate Communications

In spring 2018, students taking the course HIST 114 History of Colgate took to the archives to uncover forgotten and lesser-known aspects of the school’s past. Andres Gonzalez ’21 discovered that for nearly 100 years, the Hall of Alumni and Friends — today, the unassuming Alumni Hall — served as the pinnacle of the campus. This story is largely derived, with permission, from his writing and research.

1859
Alumni Hall in the mid-20th century
Alumni Hall in the mid-20th century

Alumni Hall in the mid-20th century

“Imagine that it is 1860, and your carriage has just arrived at the quaint town of Hamilton, N.Y.…

“You step out of the carriage dressed in a suit and tie and begin to trek up the treacherous hill. As you scale the hill, imagine seeing nothing. The magnificent Memorial Chapel is just a plot of grass and the modern Case Library is absent. But, as you crest the hill, you see it; the blossoming trees seem as if they are pointing to it. It is grand and beautiful. It gleams in the sunshine. It is the epicenter of the campus. It is Alumni Hall.” —Andres Gonzalez ’21

It is with this mental exercise that Andres Gonzalez ’21 chose to introduce his readers to the legacy of Alumni Hall, a building on campus whose rich history he recognizes as being largely unknown in today’s Colgate community. Currently the unassuming home to the Longyear Museum of Anthropology and several academic departments and programs in the social sciences, Alumni Hall was once the academic, spiritual, and community hub of a growing campus.

For many years, it was the site of an ongoing war between the freshman and sophomore classes.”

Andres Gonzalez ’21

Origins

The addition of non-seminary students to the community on the hill in 1839 increased the size of the student body, and by 1850, it became clear that the existing structures of the Western Edifice and Eastern Edifice (today’s West Hall and East Hall) were insufficient to support the academic mission.1

Under the leadership of Reverend Henry C. Vogal, the cash-strapped institution set out to raise $20,000 — the equivalent of roughly $575,000 today — for a new academic building to be named in honor of its contributors, the “Hall of Alumni and Friends.”2 Notable among the donors were members of the Colgate family, including James B. Colgate, Samuel Colgate, Charles Colgate, and Robert Colgate.3

By 1859, the school had raised sufficient funds to begin construction, with the ceremonial laying of the building’s cornerstone — still visible today on the corner nearest the Academic Quadrangle — on August 17, 1859.5 Like many of the early buildings on campus, construction utilized stone quarried from the top of the campus’s hill.

After two years of construction, the initial structure was mostly complete in 1861, but the project found itself facing financial challenges. The fundraising effort had only raised roughly three quarters of its initial $20,000 goal, and the building had only its external structure and a third-floor chapel completed.6 The interior of the lower floors was left unfinished for another year until the necessary funds were raised, and the building was completed in 1862.

Did you know?

During construction, an aerial tramway proposed by Washington A. Roebling — who later designed the Brooklyn Bridge — conveyed stone from the quarry to the worksite.4

Role on Campus

When finally completed, the chapel and classroom spaces of the new building made it a vibrant academic focal point of the campus. Even today, the classrooms and faculty offices of Alumni Hall continue to serve the academic needs of many Colgate students.

While its early functions were academic and religious in nature, it soon became a crucial point of community for the campus. The building was incorporated into traditions and expressions of school spirit. Notably, for many years, it was the site of an ongoing rivalry between the freshman and sophomore classes, including the annual tradition of the “salt rush.”

The salt rush emerged as a tradition in the 1880s, when, following the first chapel service of the academic year, sophomores would throw salt upon the new class of students. Eventually, the administration deemed the chapel an inappropriate location for such a practice, and it was moved to the exterior of the building.7

Vintage photo of the student Salt Rush

Students throw salt outside Alumni Hall during the “Salt Rush,” circa 1904–1907
Vintage photo of the student Salt Rush

While today the tradition — which could turn quite violent — seems ill-advised at best, Gonzalez reflected that at the time, “The salt rush epitomized the freshman and sophomore classes’ rivalries and was a rite of passage for the young freshman boys… For students, the salt rush was more than just a rivalry — it represented survival of the freshman class and their initiation as students of Colgate University.”

Though, perhaps luckily, the salt rush tradition has not survived to the present day, its practice in and around the Hall of Alumni and Friends over the span of several generations of students was indicative of the important role the building played in all facets of campus life.

Revitalization

Gonzalez concluded his research with the following overview and reflection on the most recent large-scale renovation of Alumni Hall in the 1960s, which reworked the building into the space currently utilized by today’s students and faculty:

About one hundred years after its construction, Alumni Hall was ready for a complete interior renovation. Renovation began in 1960 and would include classrooms of different sizes, closed circuit TV, an anthropology museum, faculty and departmental offices, and the addition of a fourth floor. Construction was completed in 1965, with a total cost of about $530,850, roughly $4.2 million dollars today. This is the Alumni Hall we walk past every day, and I encourage future students and professors to remember the history of Alumni Hall, adding their own histories to the glorious building in doing so.8, 9

Archival sketch showing the proposed location for Alumni Hall, referred to as "New Edifice" in the sketch

Report on “new edifice” location, August 1859

Archival image of Alumni Hall, the Western Edifice, and the Eastern Edifice, as seen from further up the hill

Alumni Hall, West and East Halls, circa 1880s–1900s

A construction worker drives a bulldozer inside the gutted interior of Alumni Hall

Alumni Hall under renovation, 1965

Alumni Hall Today

Of course, Alumni Hall’s story does not end with that last major renovation. Today, the building — which houses several academic departments, including Africana and Latin American studies, history, Native American studies, peace and conflict studies, and sociology and anthropology — continues to expose members of the campus community to fascinating exhibitions in the Longyear Museum of Anthropology. Features, including chair lifts and an external ramp, have been added to make the building accessible to all. And classrooms have continued to evolve and incorporate new technologies to support the teaching work of Colgate faculty. Most notably, the Peace and Conflict Studies Program has built a one-of-a-kind “war room” featuring large televisions, iMac workstations, and high-quality conferencing microphones. This space serves as a laboratory for students and faculty in the program to explore the history and impact of conflicts and peace accords in remote collaboration with experts far afield.10

Notes & Sources

Endnotes
  1. James A. Smith, Becoming Colgate, Colgate University Press, forthcoming 2019
  2. Ibid.
  3. Letter to development office regarding donations for Alumni Hall, Building and Grounds collection, A1000, Colgate University Special Collections and University Archives
  4. Aleta Mayne, “Colgate Folklore, Facts & Falsehoods,” Colgate Scene, Autumn 2015
  5. “Madison University” — Laying Of the Corner-stone of the Hall of Alumni, New York Tribune, September 9, 1859, Building and Grounds collection, A1000, Colgate University Special Collections and University Archives
  6. Letter to Reverend Vogal from the development office regarding the funding of Alumni Hall, Building and Grounds collection, A1000, Colgate University Special Collections and University Archives
  7. Untitled, Madisonensis, October 2, 1900, 2
  8. “$600,000 Renovation Slated For Old Colgate Building,” The Mid-York Weekly, April 15, 1965, Building and Grounds collection, A1000, Colgate University Special Collections and University Archives
  9. Report on the Renovation of Alumni Hall from Colgate University, Building and Grounds collection, A1000, Colgate University Special Collections and University Archives
  10. Mark Hine, “Project Spotlight: Peace and Conflict Lab 2.0,” Innovations: News from Information Technology Services, Spring 2018
References
  • Gonzalez, Andres, “The Hall of Alumni and Friends, Colgate University,” HIST 114 History of Colgate, April 19, 2018
Images in Order of Appearance
  1. Photo by A.A Meggett, Buildings and Grounds collection, A1000, Colgate University Special Collections and University Archives
  2. Hanke family papers, A1018, Colgate Special Collections and University Archives
  3. Baptist Education Society of the State of New York records, A1010, Colgate University Special Collections and University Archives
  4. Buildings and Grounds collection, A1000, Colgate University Special Collections and University Archives
  5. Photograph by Richard Broussard, Buildings and Grounds collection, A1000, Colgate University Special Collections and University Archives

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