Alma Mater
by Frank Betancourt ’41
Beautiful upon the hill
looking out to sea, there our thoughts are turning still to hours spent with thee. We love thee alma mater
our praise to thee we’ll sing, for Wagner will forever be deep in our memory.
Memories & Milestones
1883 – Present
As alumni of Wagner College, we encourage you to look back with pride on the accomplishments of our past. The milestones that have made us who we are and the memories we all treasure about the College—these are our heritage, our foundation. Though change has been a constant, so has our vision. Thus, Wagner has become, through insightful leadership and a commitment to our mission, the place we take pride in today.
One Hundred Dollars and a Prayer
Wagner College was founded in 1883 in response to the direct needs of a community in Rochester, New York, thus beginning the long tradition of intimate connections between the College and the community in which Wagner is, and was, located.
The idea of Wagner College began beneath an apple tree. A place of escape from the summer sun, the shade of this apple tree was the frequent meeting place for Pastors Alexander Richter of Zion Church and George H. Gomph of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church. The needs of the Rochester-area community were the frequent subject of conversation for these two men. Among these, the spiritual and cultural needs of the immigrant community they served were of particular concern. On October 15, 1883, several ministers met with Pastors Richter and Gomph, and the Lutheran Proseminary of Rochester was formed. On this date, the vision of Wagner College began.
The school arose from the generous support of other prominent members of the community, and with six students and a yearlong budget of one hundred dollars, Wagner began educating its first students. The first in many milestones for the College came three years later in 1886 when John G. Wagner, Vice President of the Board of Trustees, provided a gift of $12,000 for a permanent home for the fledgling school in memory of his son George, who had he lived, hoped to become a minister himself. In that year, Wagner received its name, the Wagner Memorial Lutheran College.
The first major milestone in Wagner’s history occurred in 1886. John G. Wagner provided the funding that was to support Wagner College for years to come and provided the name by which we are known today.
Beautiful Upon the Hill
Reverend Frederic Sutter’s vision for Wagner was always clear. When looking to expand, the College turned to him for guidance. Frederic Sutter was a graduate of Wagner, had a parish in Staten Island, and saw the role of the College changing. He envisioned a college that would provide education for the community and whose graduates prepared to serve their community in many ways. The curriculum changed then to sustain this vision the idea of the value of a broad and deep liberal arts education took root at Wagner College.
In 1918, Wagner moved to Staten Island, to the 38-acre former estate of Sir Edward Cunard of the Cunard Steam Ship Company. For a price of $60,000, and with the help of a friend of the College, Dr. Justus Holtzstein, Wagner purchased the property. Soon after, the first Staten Island class of 16 students, one professor and 2,000 books took residence on Grymes Hill. The campus then consisted of only a handful of buildings, including the Cunard mansion, a cottage at the gate of the estate, a barn and a former hotel.
Along with the students, Dean William Ludwig moved to Staten Island to foster the growth of the College. So important was his connection to the College and the students that in 1936, students proposed that the new men’s dormitory be named Ludwig Hall. Both men, Dean Ludwig and Reverend Sutter, set the example for so many faculty and administrators of Wagner College. Dedicated teachers continued to provide students throughout the history of Wagner with the leadership model these men began.
Reverend Sutter’s vision then of a liberal arts college sustained by and sustaining the community is our vision today. This link to the community, so vital then, is as important now.
The Vision Grows
Twelve years after arriving on Staten Island, Wagner marked another milestone in the opening of a major Wagner landmark—Main Hall, or the Administration Building, as it was named in 1930. The building of Main Hall arose from the efforts of the College in the years following the move to establish itself as a vital institution. In his 1935 inaugural address, President Clarence C. Stoughton commented upon a commitment that Wagner has always made. He said, “But while we do not need more universities, we do need more small liberal arts colleges, where personality remains sacred, where the student is always an individual, where his individuality is developed and emphasized…I would have Wagner men and women aware to that need for such leadership, I would have them prepared to meet it, I would have them strong-hearted captains in the never-ending fight for freedom, for nobility, for honor, for truth.” Defining the Future By 1940, Wagner’s enrollment had grown to 400 students, and while the academic program for these students was based in the liberal arts, this period was to alter the program for students at Wagner. World War II temporarily affected the curriculum at Wagner, but led to at least one milestone for the College, the creation of the nursing program as the Nursing Cadet Corps in 1943. As the first Viewbook for the program states, “The opening has taken place when the need for well prepared nurses is very great, both in civilian and military fields; the school of nursing, however, is a permanent development with an integral part in the whole college program.” This was the beginning of a long and successful history of the nursing program at Wagner. The Expansion Continues A decade of expansion for the College led to a culminant event in 1959—the renaming of the College. On August 31, 1959, we officially became Wagner College. It seems appropriate then that by this time, Wagner had realized many of the dreams of its founders. Enrollment had increased to over 2,000, and 3,600 alumni formed the greater Wagner community. And in 1958, Frederic Sutter completed a remarkable 40-year term as President of the Board of Trustees. The 1950s were certainly a pivotal decade for the College, for during these years the vision coalesced into the Wagner College we know today. By the College’s 75th anniversary in 1958, Wagner had far surpassed the expectations of even the most optimistic members of the College in 1918. Wagner continued to pride itself on its connections to New York City and in particular to Staten Island. Graduate programs were added to the curriculum in 1951, serving even greater needs in the immediate community. A Community Transformed While the 1950s saw unprecedented change at the College, the following decade was to bring even more dramatic change to the community of Staten Island. In 1964, the Verrazano Narrows Bridge opened, bringing with it unparalleled change to Staten Island. The building of the bridge mirrored the further expansion of Wagner’s facilities; the 1960s marked the most prolific building period in Wagner’s history. Our Unwavering Vision In 1976, Wagner College celebrated with the nation as it marked its 200th anniversary. A few years later in 1983, Wagner College commemorated its own founding 100 years earlier. From its small beginnings in Rochester, Wagner had become a campus of 86 acres, populated by 20 buildings, and sustaining an enrollment of 2,300 undergraduate and graduate students. Wagner had, by all standards, reason to celebrate the accomplishments of the past 100 years. Looking to the Future As Wagner’s location, campus, students, and enrollment have changed, our vision has remained unchanged. At no time during our history, perhaps, has this been more evident than during the past decade. The 1990s have brought tremendous changes for Wagner College. Once more, the size of the campus increased with the addition of the Augustinian property—20 acres across Campus Road from our main campus. Once again, Wagner has experienced a period of large enrollment growth. Wagner’s students are increasingly talented academically and bring diverse experiences and viewpoints to the College. —Beautiful Upon the Hill.
In 1926, the College culminated a stunningly successful capital campaign for the endowment which raised $525,522, about $25,000 more than the original goal for this fundraising drive. This campaign had led to Wagner’s wider recognition and the ability to grant degrees. Wagner granted its first degree in 1928 to Frederic Sutter—the honorary doctorate, a fitting tribute to the man who had played and was still to play such a vital part in the history of Wagner.
Wagner opened its doors to women in September 1933, a move which indicated the College’s commitment to growth— not only in terms of size, but a growth in vision. The role of the College was changing. No longer an institution dedicated to training young men for the ministry, Wagner had become a true liberal arts college, committed to educating all members of the Staten Island community and beyond.
Wagner’s expanded vision of its mission is reflected in its growing enrollment. While statewide enrollment decreased in 1932-1933, Wagner led all 50 colleges with the largest enrollment increase.
By 1946, enrollment had increased so rapidly that the College had difficulty housing its students; nearly 1,200 students were enrolled at Wagner. Administrators, in an attempt to solve the housing shortage, asked neighbors of the College to house their students—which they did, enthusiastically. In addition, a federal housing project provided residence for 100 male students. Twenty-eight full-time and part-time faculty joined the College, recruited by then-president, Walter Langsam. Wagner was growing, but determined to keep its identity as a small college. The permanent enrollment goal in 1946 was 800 students.
In 1940, a large addition to the library was willed to the College by Edwin Markham, a famous American poet best known for his poem "The Man with the Hoe," written after the poet saw Jean-Francois Millet’s painting of the same title. A scathing and revolutionary social commentary on the oppression of the poor, the poem gained Markham national prominence. He lived for many years in Staten Island and Brooklyn.
In 1949, Wagner added again to its campus in purchasing Oneata, the 18-acre estate of General William Green Ward. This area of campus was to become known as "West Campus "and today houses the football stadium. This was a major acquisition for Wagner and yet another commitment to the expansion of the College.
The 1950s were also a decade of expansion. By 1958, the campus comprised 72 acres with, by the end of this period, three new buildings. Guild Hall, the girls’ dormitory, and Sutter Gymnasium were completed by 1951. The new gymnasium, named in honor of Reverend Frederic Sutter, provided much-needed space to Wagner’s growing athletic programs, and served as an appropriate tribute to the man who had helped create Wagner’s strong commitment to a strong athletic program. This new building significantly relieved the strain on the Administration Building, which had been serving as a gymnasium, auditorium, and chapel at once.
Within the seven-year period between 1961 and 1968, five buildings arose on the Wagner campus, all of which were to form the heart of the campus to this day. The idea of a new library building arose out of an urgent need to not only expand the availability and size of the holdings of the library in the 1950s, but to increase the physical space of the library. At the time of the fund-raising drive for the new library, Main Hall, or the Administration Building, served as its home. In 1958, the August Horrmann Foundation provided the gift of $100,000 that made the dream of the library a reality, and provided it with the name it bears today.
With the realization of the building of the much-needed library, the College embarked
upon several other building projects, including the Towers residences, Harbor View Hall, and the science and communications buildings. It is during this time that the Wagner that we know today took shape.
But, with the expanded campus came an expanded vision of the College. Under the direction of President Davidson, Wagner began to realize its place in the world with the introduction of the study abroad program in Bregenz in 1962. President Davidson described Wagner best in 1963, saying, “Like the individual who is learning, the College itself is in a state of becoming, of growing, of maturing, of excelling. We are forever striving to attain the seemingly unattainable. The creation of a better world is always imbued with bright visions of realizing the impossible.”
Students and faculty had welcomed to campus over the years John Glenn, Norman Mailer, Jimmy Breslin, William F. Buckley, Harold Prince, and many other luminaries. Wagner had trained countless students for entry into the ministry. Alumni served as teachers, business leaders, artists and performers, nurses and doctors. The long list of successful alumni served as testament in themselves to the success of the College.
In 1987, Wagner received national attention as the Seahawks captured the national championship for Division III football. An article in Sports Illustrated spelled out the overwhelming success of their accomplishments on the field, and the team was forever memorialized in Wagner’s athletic history.
Once again, the College changed. And throughout, the College remained committed to its vision of excellence. More change was to follow as Wagner began, in the 1990s, to gain a national prominence it had always deserved. All the while, the dedicated faculty, talented students, and the vision promised by Frederic Sutter propelled the College forward.
But, change is not new to Wagner—the achievements of the College have emerged from a commitment to change. The largest change to have occurred during the past few years—the inception of our new academic program, The Wagner Plan for the Practical Liberal Arts—simply builds upon the mission and fundamental beliefs of the College: outstanding and committed faculty, talented students, and connection to the community. These were the foundations upon which Wagner was built in 1883, and they remain the reason why Wagner flourishes today.
The Wagner Plan has gained for Wagner an academic prominence the College has long deserved, for this academic program formalizes that which Wagner has been committed to throughout its history. The Wagner Plan connects learning across disciplines; it brings together faculty and students in small classes; it connects classroom learning specifically to real-world experiences. It seeks excellence for its students. Wagner asks its students to achieve and become leaders in their community in all fields.
This is indeed the vision that Pastors Richter and Gomph saw for Wagner College when they conceived of the school in Rochester, New York. This commitment to creating leaders who could go into the community and excel—this is Wagner’s purpose today. History has led Wagner to this moment, over 120 years in the making.
These are the Memories & Milestones of Wagner College...
