Colgate at 200 Years — The Intangibles of the University
Colgate’s Scale
A notable characteristic of Colgate is its size. The university has long had a larger student body and faculty than those institutions to which it is most often compared. Its cultural feel — based on this scale and the activities of the campus, including its athletics program — can often make Colgate seem less like Williams or Swarthmore colleges and more like Dartmouth College or Duke University.
We should recognize that, due to this scale and the array of activities on the campus, the university has the possibility, unavailable to smaller colleges, to be excellent in multiple ways, whether in the classroom, on the athletics fields, or in artistic production.
The quality of the campus shapes the experience of Colgate, and has been a central ingredient in the campus experience since the university’s founding. One arrives at Colgate’s campus. Driving from either the south or the north, the campus emerges strikingly in the valley, with large buildings set on a hill, arrayed above a small lake. The campus sets the stage for students, faculty, and staff and leaves its mark on Colgate graduates who speak emotionally of their experiences on a striking campus that has long had a sense of place.
There are, of course, many other college campuses that are beautiful and dramatic. Very few, however, engender the impact that Colgate’s does. This sense of place should be understood as a source of possibility, in that it can support a sense of community and serves as a powerful connection of alumni to their university.
