Alfred University

 

Alfred University is a small, comprehensive university in the Village of Alfred, Allegany County in Western New York, USA, south of Rochester and southeast of Buffalo. Alfred has an undergraduate population of around 2,000, and approximately 300 graduate students. The institution has five schools and colleges. Alfred was founded in 1836 as the Select School by Seventh Day Baptists as a non-sectarian institution.Unusual for the time, the school was co-educational. It was also racially integrated, and enrolled its first African-American student and two Native American students in the 1850s, becoming the second college in the nation after Berea College in Berea, Kentucky, to do so.

The origin of the name "Alfred" is uncertain. Residents of the town and students at the two schools believe that the town received its name in honor of Alfred the Great, king of the Saxons, although the first documented occurrence of this connection was in 1881, 73 years after the first record of the name being used to describe the geophysical area during assignments by the state legislature. State records which might have verified the connection between the Saxon king and the university were lost in a fire in 1911.Regardless of whether the connection is historically accurate, Alfred University has embraced King Alfred as a symbol of the school's values, and a statue of the king stands in the center of the campus quad.

Since its founding, Alfred University has hosted guest lecturers, artists and musicians from Ralph Waldo Emerson to Ghostface Killah.[8] In April 2000, Alfred University received national attention when freshman, Eric Zuckerman, orchestrated a campus visit from then First Lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton, during her campaign for the United States Senate.
Alfred University, together with Corning Incorporated and the State of New York created the Ceramic Corridor, a high-tech incubator project designed to take advantage of the emerging ceramics industry and to create new jobs. This unique industrial development program is the only one in the United States concentrating on one single aspect of technology – high-tech ceramics – and it is the only major industrial development project centered in a rural area in the U.S.
 

Alfred University is not to be confused with the Alfred State College. Although autonomous, both institutions have their origins in the Alfred Select School, and were heavily shaped by Boothe C. Davis. In 1908 Davis petitioned the New York State Legislature to fund the New York State College of Agriculture at Alfred University.
 

In 1941 Alfred State College became an autonomous junior college due to increased enrollment and increasing needs, which Alfred University could not accommodate, and in 1948 became a member of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. Students of both schools still share a few Alfred peculiarities including: a physical education requirement for most programs, a short break in October dubbed "minibreak", sharing of clubs and organizations (excluding Greek lettered organizations), and cross-registration of classes not offered at the other institution.
 

Alfred University's mascot is the Saxon, a knight in shining armor. Since the year 871 is when King Alfred the Great succeeded his brother, Ethelred I as King of Wessex and Mercia (see Alfred the Great's childhood), the phone exchange of Alfred University is 871 (i.e., all AU phone numbers take the form 1-607-871-xxxx).
 

Hot Dog Day is held in early April of each year since 1972 at Alfred to raise money for local charities and community-based civic organizations. It is a joint project with Alfred State College coordinated by students and staff from both schools. Typical events include a carnival, small amusement park rides, mud olympics, concerts, a parade, and the consumption of hot dogs. In recent years approximately $7,000 to $8,000 has been raised for charities including the local fire departments, public library, and day care centers.
 

Alfred's Davis Memorial Carillon, erected in 1937 as a tribute to longtime president Boothe C. Davis, can often be heard while on campus. The bells of the carillon, purchased from Antwerp, were thought to be the oldest bells in the western hemisphere. Research later (2004) showed that the bells were of a more recent vintage, and that Alfred had been the victim of a fraud. On the brighter side, the non-historic nature of the bells allows the university to replace those that have poor tonal quality. Concerts continue four times a week when school is in session (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 12:30 pm and Saturday at 4 pm), and during the summer months at least once a week. Besides the resident carilloneur, guest carilloneurs have in the past frequently visited and played during the summer.
 

The Black Knight-has been a part of Alfred University folklore for a long time. The relic was originally part of a parlor stove in a classroom in Kanakadea Hall. When the stove was discarded, the figure was claimed by the Class of 1908 as their mascot. They passed it on to the Class of 1910, thus causing a "war of possession" between the even and odd numbered classes. Many times over the years it disappeared and re-appeared on campus. After a particularly long time away it was returned in 1977 and placed in the University Archives. In 2005 it was transferred to a glass case in the Powell Campus Center along with a plaque describing its history. Many students had heard of the Black Knight during their freshmen orientation and were delighted to have him on display. However, after only a few months, the glass enclosure was destroyed in the middle of the night and the Black Knight stolen. Alfred University was mentioned on Saturday Night Live once in 1975 by host and Alfred University alumnus Robert Klein.When Klein hosted SNL again in 1977, he talked at length about Alfred University in his monologue.