by Robert D. Loevy
Professor of Political Science
Loevy is the author of the forthcoming book, Colorado College:
A Place of Learning, 1874-1999
1. General Palmer founded Colorado College.
No one would ever want to minimize General Palmer's role in the history
of Colorado College, but the real founder of the institution was Thomas
Nelson Haskell. Haskell convinced the Colorado Congregational Church to
found the College and hired the first professors to teach at the College.
General Palmer is correctly described as the "locator" of Colorado College.
Land was provided in Colorado Springs for the College as part of General
Palmer's plan for developing the city.
2. Colorado College is the (Dartmouth ... Williams ... Carleton ... Middlebury) of the Rocky Mountain West.
People often make this statement about Colorado College, filling in
their favorite New England or Midwest college as the model for Colorado
College. In the first instance, Colorado College was designed to be similar
to Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio. Thomas Nelson Haskell told a meeting
in Colorado Springs that the proposed college was to be similar to Oberlin
College, a coeducational institution that Haskell attended his sophomore
and junior years in college.
3. In the mid-1960s and afterwards, Colorado College became concerned with fostering racial and ethnic diversity on the campus.
Racial and ethnic diversity were priorities at Colorado College from
virtually the moment of its founding in 1874. An early description of the
College said that it was "open to both sexes and all races." The first
graduating class included a student from Japan. In the late 1870s Edward
Payson Tenney, the second President of Colorado College, strongly advocated
that the College prepare leaders for the Hispanic, Mexican, Native American,
and Mormon peoples living in the Rocky Mountain West. Early in the 20th
Century there were two African-American students on the varsity football
team. The White members of the Colorado College football team refused to
stay in a hotel in Boulder, Colorado, when the hotel declined to accommodate
the Black members of the team.
4. President Tenney was a failure because his real estate schemes almost bankrupted Colorado College.
It was true that President Edward Payson Tenney sought to guarantee
the College's financial future by investing in land located north of the
College campus. If the Board of Trustees had shown more patience and held
on to these lands, the College would have made a great deal of money. Only
six years after Tenney left the College presidency, gold was discovered
at Cripple Creek in the mountains southwest of Colorado Springs. The economy
of Colorado Springs boomed, the population doubled, and land in Colorado
Springs went up rapidly in value. President Tenney is best remembered for
building Cutler Hall, the "signature" building of Colorado College.
5. There was never a plan for creating a dominant architectural design theme at Colorado College. That is why the appearance of the campus is so "eclectic."
Hagerman Hall was constructed in 1889 at the northwest corner of Cascade
Avenue and Cache La Poudre Street. It was built of pink "peachblow" sandstone
with Romanesque architecture. President Slocum really liked pink "peachblow"
sandstone with Romanesque architecture. He drew up plans to build all the
remaining buildings east of Cascade Avenue out of that material
and in that architectural style. That explains why Palmer Hall is built
of "pink rock" and has lots of "Roman arches." Unfortunately, when Shove
Chapel and Slocum Hall were constructed, pink "peachblow" sandstone was
thought to be too expensive and less costly building materials (stone from
Indiana for Shove Chapel and brick for Slocum Hall) were used.
6. Except for men's ice hockey, intercollegiate sports have been deemphasized at Colorado College.
By the beginning of the 20th Century, Colorado College had become a
significant power in men's sports in Colorado. By offering full-tuition,
room, and board scholarships to men athletes, the College fielded football,
basketball, and baseball teams that regularly won Colorado state championships.
Colorado College competed evenly in men's sports against larger institutions
such as the University of Colorado at Boulder and the Colorado School of
Mines at Golden. It was not until the 1950s that all men's sports (except
for ice hockey) were deemphasized at Colorado College.
7. Fraternities were an artificial, outside intrusion into the campus life of Colorado College.
Between 1889 and 1954 Colorado College built four major women's dormitories
and only one men's dormitory. As the College grew in size in the 1890s
and the early 20th Century, the men students were expected to find their
own housing and meals in the Colorado Springs community. Quite naturally
the men students banded together and formed lodging and eating groups that
evolved into fraternities. This process was not unique to Colorado College
-- it took place during the same time period at many other colleges and
universities. Colorado College in the early 20th Century came to rely
on the fraternities to help house and feed the men students.
8. Colorado College was a small regional college until the 1930s, when it began to attract a national student body and develop a national reputation.
Throughout the 1880s and the 1890s, Colorado College was already drawing
most of its student body from outside the state of Colorado. In
fact, there were so many students from New England at that time that there
was a New England Club at the College. One reason Colorado College had
to draw students from throughout the nation was that the state of Colorado
did not have a large enough population to support a liberal arts college
with only in-state students. After World War II, the construction of large
numbers of military and defense installations in Colorado led to rapid
population growth in the state. It was in the 1950s that Colorado
College began drawing a significant portion of its students (20 to 30 percent)
from the state of Colorado.
9. The Block Plan was the only innovative academic experiment in the history of Colorado College.
In 1931 the College faculty adopted the New Colorado College Plan.
This up-to-date academic program had been developed by two outside educational
consultants who studied the College and made recommendations for reform.
The faculty and the courses were divided into three separate divisions
-- Humanities, Social Science, and Natural Science -- and each academic
division was to be governed by an executive committee of its own members.
Students were to take courses in all three academic divisions during the
first and second years of College and then choose a major for the third
and fourth years. At the end of their college careers, students were to
take and pass written and oral comprehensive examinations. The New Colorado
College Plan differed from the Block Plan in that it was developed
by outside consultants and involved ideas in use at other colleges and
universities. The Block Plan was developed by Colorado College administrators
and faculty and implemented an academic calendar that was unique to Colorado
College.
10. President Thurston Davies was the "playboy" President of Colorado College during the 1930s.
It was true that Thurston Davies played a great deal of golf up at the
Broadmoor Hotel golf course, but he also was the President of Colorado
College who led the institution out of the financial difficulties of the
Great Depression and through the rigors of World War II. Davies was skilled
in public-relations and did an excellent job of building the College's
reputation. During his tenure in office (1934-1948) the College enrollment
exceeded 1,000 students for the first time in its history. President Davies
also helped to connect the College to the Penrose and Tutt families and
their various philanthropic activities (El Pomar Foundation) in behalf
of the College.
11. Colorado College did not expand its campus from 1931 (Shove Chapel) to 1954 (Slocum Hall).
During this 25-year period, the College accelerated its program of purchasing
homes and vacant lots and commercial establishments adjacent to the College
campus. Many of the buildings purchased during these years are still in
active use as small academic buildings, as language houses, and as apartments
for students, faculty, and administrators. Other buildings purchased were
torn down or moved and the site used for major academic buildings or dormitories.
Insiders at the College during the 1930s and 1940s referred to these building
and land purchases as "The Growth That Nobody Saw."