Message from the President

Autumn 2018

To be on the Colgate campus in these past months is to witness two related yet conflicting phenomena: the celebration of the past and a push toward the future. In late August, Bicentennial banners began appearing on Memorial Chapel and on all of the light poles in the Academic Quad. New banners also march up Oak Drive. On the banners is a “C” that is derived from the mark on the 1904 Salmagundi and on a number of old sports team uniforms. It is a piece of Colgate’s history. It is also new, something different for the eye to see. To be on the campus is to be struck by them.

Colgate President Brian Casey and dog, EmrysOn the side of the hill is the newly constructed Benton Hall, home to career services and the Office of National Fellowships and Scholarships (which helps students and alumni apply to Rhodes, Marshall, and Fulbright scholarships, among others). It is as modern a building as Colgate has ever built, filled with touch screens and smart boards, cooled and warmed with environmentally sensitive systems of great efficiency. It is also, to see it in person, somehow old looking. Built of traditional gray stone with a slate roof, it looks as if it has been in its location for decades, sitting next to the academic buildings all Colgate alumni remember. The unattractive parking lot that, until recently, marked its spot is a very distant memory. It is hard to fully decide whether Benton Hall is a new building, or an old one.  But it seems clear that Colgate is building in an important way.

New residence halls are now rising above Andrews and Stillman halls. They, too, seem old and new. They are something the eye has to adjust to, yet they are designed in silhouettes and materials familiar to any Colgate graduate.

Finally, as you are fully aware because you are reading this column, these words come to you in a redesigned Colgate Magazine, one that contains the older names of “The Scene” and “Salmagundi” as sections in the new design.

We are celebrating Colgate’s Bicentennial throughout this entire academic year, and we will speak of our history. Three books about Colgate’s history are being published this year, including a photo book titled When Through Thy Valley — words familiar to all alumni as the opening line of Colgate’s alma mater. A website also captures much of the past, and for that we can thank a large group of administrators, faculty, staff, Alumni Council members, and students.

I was struck by the phrase the Bicentennial Committee chose to capture the themes of the year: “Proud Tradition. Bold Ambition.” These words are on all the new banners and they capture, in some important way, how I view my responsibilities in this position. As Colgate’s 17th president, I remain deeply aware of the work of the 16 presidents who came before me, and the work of the trustees, faculty, and alumni who have brought us to the beginning of Colgate’s third century.

But I spend much of my day — as I should — thinking about our bold ambitions. Upon our past we must build new heights of excellence. Academically, we must determine how best to ever deepen our academic program and establish that this is an institution of profound academic achievement and rigor. We must seek new ways to attract to our valley faculty, students, and staff of great experience and ability. We must consider how best to build a campus for the next century. We must invest in our student housing and social spaces so they can form meaningful communities. In each of these areas, I spend my days in the frame of “bold ambition” — but, as always, ever mindful of our “proud tradition.”

The other phrase the Bicentennial Committee considered as a guiding frame was “Always Ascending.” They chose the other phrase — Proud Tradition, Bold Ambition — because it seemed to give more space and possibility to acknowledge and celebrate our past. But it is important for me to state that, as we enter into our third century, the call to be always ascending animates this office and this administration.

In a year of celebrations, we must keep an eye on the future. And we must dream boldly. The 16 occupants of this office before me would demand no less. The tens of thousands of alumni who cherish this university should expect no less.

So, the new year and a new century begins. It’s time for banners and celebration. And it is time for the long, steady, good work of a university always ascending.