Assembly Resolution No. 612

BY: M. of A. Fahy

COMMEMORATING the 175th Anniversary of the
University at Albany

WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body to acknowledge
significant milestones and celebrate events of historical significance
which have a lasting impact within and beyond the communities of the
Empire State; and

WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern, and fully in accord with its
long-standing traditions, it is the intent of this Legislative Body to
commemorate the 175th Anniversary of the University at Albany to be
celebrated on May 7, 2019, recognizing its commitment to helping
generations of students in their pursuit of academic excellence and
empowering them through their education to make a difference in their
communities; and

WHEREAS, UAlbany began as the New York State Normal School in 1844;
on December 18, 1844, 29 young men and women reported for opening
classes at a former railway building located at 115-121 State Street in
Albany; and

WHEREAS, The Normal School moved to a new building at Lodge and
Howard Streets in 1849 where it resided until 1885 and enrollment soared
to 300 students by 1881; and

WHEREAS, During the 19th Century, the New York State Normal School
educated thousands, provided teachers and administrators for schools,
fostered new personae and life styles among students, and provided
opportunities for social and economic mobility for people from limited
circumstances; and

WHEREAS, Between 1890 and 1906, the school underwent a
transformation from a two-year teacher training school to a four-year
liberal arts college for teachers, granting its first bachelor's degree
in 1893; and

WHEREAS, The new curriculum required students to pursue academic
subjects deemed essential to becoming a virtuous, knowledgeable, and
articulate person; during this era, students emulated the best practices
at other colleges, which had student newspapers, Greek societies, and
athletic teams; in 1890, the school changed its name to the New York
Normal College; and

WHEREAS, After 1906, the school rapidly grew in stature; the burning
of the Willett Street Building on January 8, 1906, necessitated the
college to temporarily locate in a number of nearby buildings, including
Trinity Methodist Church, as the State constructed a new campus on
Western Avenue, which it occupied in 1909; and

WHEREAS, The new Campus, now referred to as Downtown Campus, boasted
greatly improved facilities -- three buildings named Science,
Administration, and Auditorium (renamed Husted, Draper, and Hawley in
1927); and


WHEREAS, For the first time, academic departments were created; in
1914, the school became the New York State College for Teachers
featuring an advanced curriculum consisting of 80% academic work and 20%
professional teaching studies; and

WHEREAS, From the 1920s through the 1950s, the New York State
College for Teachers provided the feel of a small liberal arts college
that also provided the opportunity to become certified to teach.; and

WHEREAS, During the 1950s, College President Evan R. Collins laid
the groundwork for the transition to a University when he successfully
guided through the plans for a Ph.D. program in education; and

WHEREAS, In the early 1960s, the University at Albany began to
transform into a university, and the school moved away from teacher
education as its sole organizing purpose; and

WHEREAS, In 1962, as part of SUNY's expansion plan, the school was
designated a doctoral-degree granting "University Center" and in
September of that year, the University at Albany enrolled its first
class of undergraduate students in liberal arts programs that did not
include any required study in teacher education; and

WHEREAS, The new university adopted the model of a broad-based
public research institution, charged with providing a liberal arts
education for large numbers of undergraduates; and

WHEREAS, Student enrollment increased from 3,800 in 1963 to more
than 13,000 in 1970; a new campus, the modern complex designed by Edward
Durrell Stone that is now the Uptown Campus, was built and formally
dedicated in 1969; and

WHEREAS, In the mid-1970s, leaders sought to focus the University's
strategic mission by emphasizing the institution's comparative advantage
in public policy; this approach built on the University's location in
New York's capital city and strong faculty and academic programs in the
professions and public affairs, particularly in those areas of critical
state need; and

WHEREAS, By 1989, external research and training support increased
to more than three times what it was at the beginning of the decade; it
had become a critical and integral element of the campus' financial
plan; and

WHEREAS, The University at Albany's evolution into a major research
university continued during the 1990s, initially under the leadership of
H. Patrick Swygert, 15th president, and then, under the leadership of
Karen R. Hitchcock, 16th president; and

WHEREAS, In 1996, a third campus, the East Campus, renamed in 2016
the Health Sciences Campus, was added 12 miles east of the Uptown
Campus, in Rensselaer County, when the university acquired former
Sterling-Winthrop laboratories and converted them into labs, classrooms,
and a business incubator concentrating on advances in biotechnology and
other health-related disciplines; and

WHEREAS, In the spring of 2005, the university created a College of
Computing and Information, with faculty on both the Uptown and Downtown
campuses; and

WHEREAS, In the fall of 2015, the college was replaced and its
programs incorporated into a totally new college, the College of
Engineering and Applied Sciences (CEAS); at the same time, the
university unveiled another new college, the College of Emergency
Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity; and

WHEREAS, On June 21, 2017, Dr. Havidan Rodriguez, founding provost
of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and former interim
president of the University of Texas-Pan American, was named the 20th
president of the university, a position he assumed in September of 2017;
Dr. Rodriguez became the first Hispanic/Latino president of any of the
four-year SUNY campuses; and

WHEREAS, Today, the University at Albany is a major public research
university where students and faculty collaborate to conduct
life-enhancing research and scholarship in a wide range of disciplines;
and

WHEREAS, With nationally respected programs, top-ranked professors,
and a strategic location, UAlbany offers a world-class education to
nearly 18,000 students at the graduate and undergraduate levels, and
prepares them for a world of opportunities; and

WHEREAS, In addition to its highly regarded academic programs, The
University at Albany is also proud of its thriving athletics programs,
competing at the NCAA Division I level; and

WHEREAS, The University at Albany will continue to grow and evolve
and carry on its mission to educate and transform lives for another 175
years and beyond, and continue to equip students to become individuals
of influence and agents of change in their communities; now, therefore,
be it

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
commemorate the 175th Anniversary of The University at Albany; and be it
further

RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted to Dr. Havidan Rodriguez, President, University at Albany.