Troy University (New York)
Encyclopedia
Troy, New York
Troy is a city in the US State of New York and the seat of Rensselaer County. Troy is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany and Schenectady, forming a region popularly called the Capital...
in 1858 under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church
Methodist Episcopal Church
The Methodist Episcopal Church, sometimes referred to as the M.E. Church, was a development of the first expression of Methodism in the United States. It officially began at the Baltimore Christmas Conference in 1784, with Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke as the first bishops. Through a series of...
. The school closed in 1861. The building that housed the university remained a prominent Troy landmark until 1969. On the site now is Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Stephen Van Rensselaer established the Rensselaer School on November 5, 1824 with a letter to the Rev. Dr. Samuel Blatchford, in which van Rensselaer asked Blatchford to serve as the first president. Within the letter he set down several orders of business. He appointed Amos Eaton as the school's...
's Folsom Library
Folsom Library
The Richard G. Folsom Library is a research library constructed in the brutalist style located on the campus of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. It is named after Richard Gilman Folsom, the President of the Institute from 1958–1971. The Folsom Library offers a variety of services to...
.
There were initial plans for the founding of a college in Troy in 1853, and the plan for organization was adopted in 1854. The New York State Regents issued a provisional charter on April 13, 1855 to the educational board of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The original plan was for a four-year college course and an additional university course of "Lectures upon the higher branches of Science and literature, extending through two years". There also were unrealized plans for a school of Theology. A 36 acres (145,687 m²) property was bought including most of Mount Ida in Troy, and a large building of Byzantine architecture was erected.
The university opened for students on September 9, 1858, and the institution remained opened for about three years. On representations made to the Board of Regents by the President of the Board of Trustees, and by the Acting President of the faculty, the charter of Troy University was made absolute on March 18, 1861. Troy University was considered firmly enough established to allow for the 1859 creation of the Kappa Phi chapter of Delta Kappa Epsilon
Delta Kappa Epsilon
Delta Kappa Epsilon is a fraternity founded at Yale College in 1844 by 15 men of the sophomore class who had not been invited to join the two existing societies...
chartered March 2, 1860.
The administration of the University raised funds by selling scholarships, which were a right to attend in the future based on a current dollar amount. Apparently the inflationary period of the early 1860s destroyed the financial stability of the university. Sometime in 1862, the property's mortgage was foreclosed upon, and the site was purchased by St. Mary's Church of Albany. The Catholic Church maintained a seminary on the grounds, known as "St. Joseph's Theological Seminary of the Province of New York." In 1896, it became a Scholasticate of the Christian Brothers.
The remaining thirteen students of Troy University were admitted to the degree of Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
at Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college founded in 1831 and located in Middletown, Connecticut. According to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Wesleyan is the only Baccalaureate College in the nation that emphasizes undergraduate instruction in the arts and...
in Middletown, Connecticut
Middletown, Connecticut
Middletown is a city located in Middlesex County, Connecticut, along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, 16 miles south of Hartford. In 1650, it was incorporated as a town under its original Indian name, Mattabeseck. It received its present name in 1653. In 1784, the central...
St. Joseph's Seminary trained hundreds of priests until it closed during the 1890s. The building was subsequently used for a variety of purposes including housing orphans for a time.
The huge four story building, with its four tall spires and Byzantine architecture was an imposing feature of the Troy skyline until it was razed in 1969. The building was purchased by RPI in 1958 and was renamed the "University Building". The School of Management, the Public Relations department and a portion of the Physics department occupied the first two floors. The upper floors were closed off due to concerns of structural instability. The building was demolished in 1969 and the Folsom Library
Folsom Library
The Richard G. Folsom Library is a research library constructed in the brutalist style located on the campus of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. It is named after Richard Gilman Folsom, the President of the Institute from 1958–1971. The Folsom Library offers a variety of services to...
was constructed on the site in 1976.