State University of New York at Oneonta

History

SUNY Oneonta was established in 1889 as the Oneonta Normal School, as part of founding normal schools across the state to train teachers and expand public education. It was located in a building nicknamed "Old Main" at the top of Maple Street in the city of Oneonta. The school's first principal was James M. Milne, for whom the college's current library is named. For nearly 40 years, Old Main was the only building on campus, until 1933 when Bugbee School was built. Named after Percy I. Bugbee, the second principal of the Oneonta Normal School, Bugbee School provided an on-campus training facility for the student teachers attending the normal school.

In 1948, the college became a founding member of the State University of New York system, and the Oneonta Normal School was officially renamed the State University College of Education in 1951. Royal F. Netzer was the college's president from 1951–1970, presiding over a period of tremendous growth. The three joined buildings known as the Morris Conference Complex were the first ones erected on the current campus. The cornerstone of the current building was laid in 1950, with one wing being completed in February 1951 and the other in September 1951. The two wings, Bacon and Denison Halls, were originally used as dormitories, which were much needed on the rapidly expanding campus.

In 1952, the Faculty-Student Association Inc.(forerunner of today's Oneonta Auxiliary Services) purchased a 63-acre farm about four miles north of the college. This was the site for development of today's 272-acre College Camp, which provides educational, recreational and social opportunities for the college community.

Home economics programs were added to the college's teacher education programs. In 1954, a Home Economics building and heating plant were constructed on the upper campus. These were followed in 1958 with the construction of a women's dormitory, Wilber Hall, followed by Tobey Hall in 1959.

The 1960s were a period of rapid growth in the college's operating budget, student enrollment, number of staff members, and the campus buildings. To alleviate the shortage of classrooms, 10 mobile classrooms were brought in as a temporary solution. Additional property was acquired to the north and west of the campus, providing two entrances from West Street, one near a new service building.

The first library on the upper campus was built in what is today's Alumni Hall. Other new buildings on the upper campus included a dorm, Littell Hall; a cafeteria (Lee Hall) and the Chase Physical Fitness Center. A path connected the upper campus with Old Main, which was slowly being phased out as the main academic building.

In fall 1963, the college started accepting transfer students into 13 liberal arts programs, beginning the transition to a multi-purpose higher education institution.

In 1964, a men's dormitory (Golding Hall) and the first science building, known as Science I, were built. These were followed in 1966 with the construction of four administration and class buildings (Mills Dining Hall, Schumacher, Netzer and Hodgdon Instructional Resource Center), five dormitories (Ford, Grant, Hays, Huntington and Sherman halls) and the health center.

The late 1960s were a period of rapid faculty turnover. Between 1966 and 1970, there were 205 faculty resignations, retirements or contract terminations. With 35 or 40 new positions each year, the number of new faculty members increased from 35 in 1963 to 80 or more from 1966–1970. With the rapid growth in the number of faculty, the college's four major academic departments began to split into separate departments. The Department of English, Speech and Theater, which also included Foreign Languages, was the first to subdivide in 1969 into three departments: English, Speech and Theater, and Foreign Languages. In 1970, the Science Department split into separate departments of Biology, Chemistry, Earth Science, Physics and Science Education, and the Social Science Department split into six separate departments.

By the early 1970s, several more new buildings had been constructed, including academic facilities (Fitzelle Hall, Fine Arts, Science II and the current Milne Library), Wilsbach Dining Hall, five dormitories (Matteston, MacDuff, Curtis, Blodgett and Hulbert halls) and the Hunt College Union, named for Charles W. Hunt, who served as the school's principal/president from 1933–1951.

A field station on Otsego Lake in Cooperstown, New York was also completed, stimulated by a gift of 300–400 additional acres. The new building housed an environmental laboratory facility for the Biology Department. It also held the new graduate program in the Conservation of Historic and Artistic Objects, the forerunner to today's Cooperstown Graduate Program in museum studies.

Between 1972 and 1980, teacher education enrollments declined dramatically, while liberal arts enrollments increased. The 1970s were a decade of state budget problems and declining enrollments. Clifford Craven led the college as president from 1970 to 1987.

The historic Old Main building was torn down in 1977, and in 1981, two pillars from the building were installed on a hill overlooking the SUNY Oneonta campus as a reminder of the college's history. Today, they are part of a campus tradition for new and graduating students called "Pass Through the Pillars."

In 1982, the College at Oneonta Foundation was formed with the mission of raising and administering gifts and grants to enhance the academic status of the college through endowment, scholarships and institutional programs. Alan B. Donovan served as college president from 1988–2008. Accomplishments during his tenure included advancements in technology, including Internet access; a more competitive admissions process, expanded multicultural programs and increased financial stability. The college's endowment grew from $1.9 million when Donovan joined SUNY Oneonta in 1988, to $30 million when he left.

Challenges during Donovan's era included student violence in downtown Oneonta and racial tension on campus. The college made national news in fall 1992 during an incident known as the "Black List." On the morning of Sept. 4, 1992, a 77-year-old woman told police she was attacked at the home of a family she was visiting outside the town of Oneonta. She concluded her assailant was black, by seeing only his hand. Police officers believed that blood at the scene indicated the assailant suffered a cut on his hand from a knife he had wielded. College officials provided New York State Police a list of 78 black and Latino male students to aid in the investigation, provoking outrage and national attention. In the following days, police questioned hundreds of African Americans in the area, stopping them, and checking their hands for signs of wounds. Many members of the black community of Oneonta were stopped multiple times over several days. The perpetrator was never found. In 2012, SUNY Oneonta President Nancy Kleniewski announced the formation of the September 4 Commemoration Committee to develop programming to mark and remember what she termed a "low point" in the school's history.

In the 1990s SUNY Oneonta extended its commitment to community partnership, founding the Center for Economic and Community Development, and the Center for Social Responsibility and Community. Several construction projects were completed under Donovan, including the Alumni Field House in 1998 and the Robin Ross Higgins Hall in 2003. A $10 million renovation to the Human Ecology facilities was also completed in 2003.

In 2008, Nancy Kleniewski began her tenure as SUNY Oneonta's seventh president. In 2009, she convened the Strategic Planning and Resource Council, composed of faculty, staff, students, alumni and community members and charged with developing a strategic plan to help define the college's future. The resulting "Mission, Vision, and Strategic Plan 2010" was adopted by the College Senate in spring 2010 to guide the college through 2015.

In fall 2013, SUNY Oneonta reorganized, founding five new schools—Economics and Business, Arts and Humanities, Social Science, Natural and Mathematical Sciences, and Education and Human Biology—to give greater focus to disciplines and careers in those areas. In 2015, the college adopted "Strategic Plan 2015: Scholarship, Service, Strength" to guide progress through 2020.

Mission

The mission of the college is "to unite excellence in teaching, scholarship, civic engagement, and stewardship to create a student-centered learning community." SUNY Oneonta Mission, Vision & Strategic Plan 2010 SUNY Oneonta is dedicated to providing an exceptional educational experience at an affordable cost. The college is known for outstanding and accessible faculty, a campus community committed to academics and service, developing students into lifelong learners, and a beautiful campus that helps nurture connections between the upper Susquehanna Valley of rural central New York and our global society.

Pre-Professional Programs

Cooperative Professional Programs

Graduate programs

Other academic programs

Residential living

Over 3,000 students live in the 15 residence halls at SUNY Oneonta, which offer living arrangements ranging from doubles to apartments including several themed housing options such as the Quiet Section, Oneonta's Wilderness Living/Learning (OWLS), First Year Experience, and "Making a Difference" sections. The Residence Life staff members offer academic and social programs as well as individual attention and a comfortable living environment. Dining services at SUNY Oneonta are offered by Sodexo, and the college's residential dining halls were the first in the country designed specifically for Sodexo's Campus Crossroads program. Dining plans are unlimited and offer options for additional dollars for purchases at cafes and other retail facilities on campus.

Honor Societies

Active Chapters:

Inactive Chapters:

Greek Organizations

Active Fraternities:

Active Sororities:

SUNY Oneonta Undergraduate Political Science Conference

The SUNY Oneonta Undergraduate Political Science Conference is a tradition hosted by the Oneonta Political Science Club and the Political Science Department. The first conference was hosted March 20–21, 2009. The keynote speaker for that year was Alan Chartock, Professor Emeritus at SUNY Albany and host of The Capitol Connection.

SUNY Oneonta Undergraduate Philosophy Conference

The SUNY Oneonta Undergraduate Philosophy Conference is an annual conference in its 21st year. First conceived in 1996 under the supervision of the late Douglas Shrader, Distinguished Teaching Professor of Philosophy at SUNY Oneonta, the event has become one of the most prestigious and widely attended undergraduate philosophy conferences in the United States. It is sponsored by the college's Philosophy Club and organized by a student Conference Committee with support from faculty adviser Dr. Jean-Paul Ogeron.

SUNY Oneonta New Critics Undergraduate Literature and Composition Conference

The SUNY Oneonta New Critics Undergraduate Literature and Composition Conference is hosted each spring by the English Department.

John Burroughs Nature Writing Conference & Seminar

The John Burroughs Nature Writing Conference & Seminar is held every other year in the summer. The ninth conference in the series was held in June 2016. Papers are delivered to plenary sessions of students, faculty and visiting scholars. Conference field trips include a visit to John Burroughs's Woodchuck Lodge in Roxbury, NY, which is within walking distance of his burial site.

James & Susan Fenimore Cooper Conference & Seminar

The James & Susan Fenimore Cooper Conference & Seminar is held every other year in the summer. The 20th event in the series was held in June 2015.

SUNY Pride Conference

SUNY Oneonta hosts the SUNY Pride Conference each year to "unite SUNY campuses to create a more inclusive environment for the SUNY system as a whole." The third annual conference was held in October 2015 and featured keynote speaker Robin Ochs, SUNY alumna, educator, speaker, award-winning activist and editor of the Bi Women Quarterly, the 42-country anthology, Getting Bi: Voices of Bisexuals Around the World and the new anthology RECOGNIZE: The Voices of Bisexual Men.

Faith-based Organizations

B.A.S.I.C.

Poetry Slam Association

The Big O' Poetry Slam in the Hunt College Union is a widely attended campus event. It was founded by Alicia Francis, Jamie Manning, Robert Haggerty, George Castle and Robb Thibault on October 24, 2001. The Big O' Poetry Slam has featured more than a dozen national poetry slam champions, and several SUNY Oneonta teams have advanced to the final rounds of the Association of College Unions International's national collegiate poetry slam. Top performances include taking the silver medal in 2005, placing 4th in 2008 and finishing 10th in 2013.

WIRE TV

WIRE TV (Campus Channel 73, Time Warner Channel 23) is SUNY Oneonta's student-run television station. The station produces over 4 hours of original programming each week, in addition to Live Sporting events. To check out current and past programming, visit WIRE TV's Facebook page.

WONY

WONY 90.9 FM is SUNY Oneonta's student-run radio station. It was founded in 1962 and broadcasts both online and through physical radio, and is active 24/7.

Athletics

The Oneonta Red Dragons athletics program represent SUNY Oneonta, State University of New York. The school's team currently competes at the Division III level in the State University of New York Athletic Conference, and has been since the conference's inception in 1958. Oneonta's athletic teams also compete in the Eastern College Athletic Conference. The school facilities include Dewar Arena in the Alumni Field House, All College Field, Chase Athletic Building, and Red Dragon Soccer, Baseball and Softball fields.

Notable alumni

Notable faculty