Founders Day convocation marks 125th anniversary, Oct. 15

An all-college convocation will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 15 at 3 p.m. in the Main Hall auditorium to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the founding of Wagner College on that day in 1883. (To see the entire program for the convocation, CLICK HERE.) Highlights of the convocation will include:

• Three short talks on the history of Wagner College from President Richard Guarasci, Professor Walter Kaelber and Lutheran synod archivist John Daggan;
• Performances by the full Wagner College Choir, and
• The posthumous awarding of an honorary doctor of divinity degree to George Wagner, for whom the college is named. (To read George Wagner's citation, CLICK HERE.)

Following the convocation we will plant the Founders Tree in the rose garden behind Main Hall, memorializing the tree under which our co-founders met over the summer of 1883 to plan the opening of Wagner College. A sister tree from the same nursery will be planted in the Rochester area in November on the site of the original tree.

The Founders Day convocation will conclude on-campus activities marking the 125th anniversary of the founding of Wagner College. If you are interested in learning more about the early history of the college:

• Visit "Founding Faces & Places: An Exhibition of Images from the Wagner College Archives," on display in the Spotlight Gallery of the Horrmann Library through Founders Day, Oct. 15.
• Read "Wagner College: Four Histories," a new book on the history of Wagner College. The book contains four essays on the early history of the college, including the Wagner College memoir of the Rev. Frederic Sutter, considered the college’s Staten Island founder. This is the first effort to present a comprehensive, thoroughly researched overview of the early history of Wagner College. Downloads of the book are free; print copies (paperback, hardcover) can be purchased at cost from the Wagner College STOREFRONT.