Colgate University
Colgate University is a prestigious private liberal arts college in the town of Hamilton in upstate New York. With 277 faculty it currently enrolls 2,800 undergraduates leading to the degree of Bachelor of Arts. It also operates a small graduate program leading to the Master of Arts in Teaching, and a few select students may enroll in Master of Arts programs in academic subjects.
The president is Rebecca S. Chopp .
There are 30,000 living alumni. Famous dead alumni include liberal theologian Harry Emerson Fosdick (1900), Republican statesman Charles Evans Hughes (1884), and black Baptist Congressman Adam Clayton Powell (1930).
History
The University developed from the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York, which was founded in 1819 by "13 men with 13 dollars, 13 prayers, and 13 articles" - hence the lucky-13 tradition at Colgate. Named Colgate University in 1890 in recognition of the long service and generosity of members of the Colgate family, the institution has been non-denominational since the seminary moved to Rochester in the 1920s.
After 150 years as an all-male institution, Colgate accepted women as entering students in 1970. Women currently comprise approximately 51 percent of the undergraduate enrollment.