IV 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 423 

Honoring the 200th anniversary of the founding of Colgate University. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 4, 2019 

Mr. BRINDISI (for himself, Mr. DELGADO, and Ms. SCANLON) submitted the 

following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Education 

and Labor 

RESOLUTION 

Honoring the 200th anniversary of the founding of Colgate 

University. 

Whereas a Baptist pastor, Daniel Hascall, and Nathaniel 

Kendrick recruited ten local clergy and laymen, met all 

together on September 24, 1817, in the home of Jonathan Olmstead in Hamilton, New York, and approved the 

Constitution of the Baptist Education Society of the 

State of New York; 

Whereas the thirteen men approved the Constitution of the 

Baptist Education Society of the State of New York with 

thirteen articles, prayed thirteen times, and had thirteen 

dollars to pay their first annual membership fee, and 

elected the institution’s first board of trustees; 


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•HRES 423 IH 

Whereas, on March 5, 1819, a bill officially incorporating the 

Baptist Education Society of the State of New York 

cleared the New York State Legislature; 

Whereas, in 1833, the society expanded to include a collegiate 

course and the school came to be known as the Hamilton 

Literary and Theological Institution; 

Whereas, in 1846, the institution’s board successfully petitioned the State legislature to incorporate the collegiate 

department as Madison University; 

Whereas, in 1853, Henry Livingston Simpson became the 

first African-American student to graduate from the university; 

Whereas, in 1890, the New York State Supreme Court granted the petition of the board of trustees to change the 

name of the university to Colgate University in honor of 

university patron William Colgate and his family; 

Whereas, in 1919, the Colgate University Alumni Corporation 

was founded and celebrated Colgate’s Centennial, the 

largest reunion at the time, followed by the introduction 

of the standing special liberal arts model; 

Whereas, in 1935, the Washington Study Group was created, 

which was the first study group offered by any college or 

university in the Nation to send students to study in the 

District of Columbia; 

Whereas during World Wars I and II, Colgate contributed to 

the war effort by serving as a preparatory school for the 

Army and Navy; 

Whereas, in 1968, a 100-hour student civil rights sit-in on 

campus launched a wave of student activism; 


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•HRES 423 IH 

Whereas, in 1970, Colgate admitted its first class of women 

and became a coeducational institution; 

Whereas, in 1973, Colgate committed to National Collegiate 

Athletic Association Division I athletics, hosting the first 

women’s varsity sports teams in basketball, field hockey, 

lacrosse, volleyball, and tennis; 

Whereas, in 2009, Colgate signed the American College and 

University Presidents’ Climate Commitment and achieved 

a carbon-neutral campus by its Bicentennial Celebration 

in 2019; 

Whereas Colgate now educates more than 2,900 students in 

56 different majors; 

Whereas Colgate has produced many graduates of national 

acclaim, including several Members of Congress and 

other prominent elected officials; 

Whereas Colgate has assured its future growth with its Vision and Plan for Colgate University’s Third Century, 

which will ensure it remains a first-rate, world-renowned 

academic institution; and 

Whereas Colgate exemplifies all the best traditions of American higher education: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives honors 

2 Colgate University, as the university celebrates 200 years 

3 as a source of pride for New York State and for the people 

4 of the United States. 

Æ 


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