Cazenovia College was a

private college Private universities and private colleges are higher education institutions not operated, owned, or institutionally funded by governments. However, they often receive tax breaks, public student loans, and government grants. Depending on the count ...

Cazenovia, New York Cazenovia is an incorporated Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Madison County, New York, United States. The population was 6,740 at the time of the 2020 census. The town is named after Theophilus Cazenove, Theophile Cazenove, th ...

. Founded as the Genesee Seminary in 1824 and sponsored by the

Methodist Church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

in 1894, the college adopted the name of "Cazenovia Seminary". It was reorganized in 1942 after church sponsorship was withdrawn and was Cazenovia College for Women from 1961 to 1982, when the college became co-educational again. It closed on June 30, 2023, due to poor finances and other economic issues.

History

Cazenovia College began in 1824 as the "Genesee Seminary" and was the second Methodist seminary to be established in the United States. Between 1904 and 1931, it functioned as a secondary school for local young people, an arrangement that ended when Cazenovia Central High School was built. It was sponsored by the

but was a non-sectarian institution. It was initially located in the old Madison County Courthouse. Cazenovia was co-educational from its foundation. The seminary was created at the instigation of George Peck and several other prominent clergymen in the area. In 1839, the seminary initiated a ''three year course'', as it was called, which was focused at the education of women. The seminary also had a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

course, and in 1843 Sophronia Farrington (class of 1828) went out as the first female missionary to Africa, under the auspices of the Young Men's Missionary Society of

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. This was the earliest foreign mission established by the Methodist Episcopal Church. Later the institution was known as Cazenovia Seminary. It was known as the "Oneida and Genesee Conference Seminary", the "Oneida Conference Seminary", and the "Central New York Conference Seminary" over the years. It did not officially adopt the name "Cazenovia Seminary" until 1894 but the name was at times used from its inception and is often used to refer to it at any time before it became a college. In 1942 church sponsorship of Cazenovia was withdrawn and it was reorganized to include a junior college program as well as the prep school with the name of "Cazenovia Junior College". It then became "Cazenovia College for Women" in 1961. In 1982 it returned to being co-educational and adopted its final name, "Cazenovia College", although it was not recognized as a bachelor's degree-granting institution until 1988. In 2019 it began its first graduate program, a Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. Hubbard Hall - panoramio

In September 2022, after a failed attempt to refinance debt, the college defaulted on a $25 million bond payment owed to the Madison County Capital Resource Corporation. On December 7, 2022, it was announced that the school would permanently close, citing poor finances as the main reason. In April 2023, the entire campus was put up for sale by A&G Real Estate Partners. The final commencement took place on May 13, 2023. In addition, there was an online-only session of summer classes ending June 25, 2023 with a final closure date of June 30, 2023. The final president of the college was David Bergh. The college's records are maintained by nearby

Le Moyne College Le Moyne College is a private Jesuit college mostly in DeWitt, New York. It was founded by the Society of Jesus in 1946, and named after Jesuit missionary Simon Le Moyne. Le Moyne was the first co-educational Jesuit college in the United Sta ...

. In fall 2023, the

New York State Police The New York State Police (NYSP) is the state police of the U.S. state of New York; it is part of the New York State Executive Department and employs over 5,000 sworn state troopers and 711 non-sworn members. The New York State Police are re ...

began to use the former campus as a state police training academy. The temporary police training academy is scheduled to close in August 2025.

Athletics

The Cazenovia athletic teams were called the Wildcats. The college was a member of the

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is the lowest division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that do not offer athletic scholarships to student- ...

ranks, primarily competing in the

North Atlantic Conference The North Atlantic Conference (NAC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference which competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III. Member schools are primarily small liberal arts colleges in the New England state ...

(NAC) from 2020–21 until its closure. The Wildcats previously competed in the

North Eastern Athletic Conference The United East Conference, formerly known as the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC), is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. Member institutions are located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the ...

(now known as the United East Conference) from 2004 to 2020. Cazenovia competed in 16 intercollegiate varsity sports. Men's sports included baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, lacrosse, soccer and swimming & diving, while women's sports included basketball, cross country, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming & diving, equestrian and volleyball. There was also a co-ed

eSports Esports (), short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, played individually or as teams. ...

team. At various times, Cazenovia also had men's crew, equestrian, tennis and volleyball, as well as women's cheerleading, crew and tennis teams, but they no longer existed at the time of the college's closure in 2023.

Notable alumni

* Lisle C. Carter – First president of the

University of the District of Columbia The University of the District of Columbia (UDC) is a public historically black land-grant university in Washington, D.C., United States. The only public university in the city, it traces its origins to 1851 and opened in its current form in 1 ...

(UDC) *

Carole Cole Carole Cole (October 17, 1944 – May 19, 2009) was an American actress, music producer, and the CEO of King Cole Productions. She was the daughter of singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole and jazz singer Maria Cole, and the older sister of si ...

– CEO of King Cole Productions *

Lucinda L. Combs Lucinda L. Combs-Stritmatter (October 10, 1849April 23, 1919) was an American physician who was the first female Medical missions, medical missionary to provide medical care in China. She is credited with establishing the first women's hospital i ...

– First female physician to serve in China for the Women's Foreign Ministry Society *

Sophronia Farrington Cone Sophronia Farrington Cone (1801-1880) was a teacher, artist, and one of the first single female missionaries from America to Africa when she helped found a mission in Liberia in 1834. Farrington was born in Concord, New Hampshire, in 1801 and grew ...

– First female missionary to Africa *

Nathan Smith Davis Nathan Smith Davis Sr., Doctor of Medicine, M.D., Legum Doctor, LLD (January 9, 1817 – June 16, 1904) was a physician who was instrumental in the establishment of the American Medical Association and was twice elected its president. He became ...

– First editor of the ''

Journal of the American Medical Association ''JAMA'' (''The Journal of the American Medical Association'') is a peer-reviewed medical journal published 48 times a year by the American Medical Association. It publishes original research, reviews, and editorials covering all aspects of ...

'' * Wallace B. Douglas – Minnesota lawyer, judge, and state representative * L. Fidelia Woolley Gillette – One of the first women to be ordained Universalist minister in the United States and the first woman ordained of any denomination in Canada * Joseph B. Hamilton – Wisconsin lawyer, judge, and state senator * Lewis Hartsough – Methodist minister and gospel song writer/composer *

Joseph E. Irish Joseph E. Irish (August 7, 1833 – May 2, 1899) was a member of the Wisconsin State Senate. Irish was born on August 7, 1833, in Paris, New York. He attended the Oneida Conference Seminary. In 1859, Irish became a preacher of the Methodist Epis ...

– Wisconsin clergyman and state senator * William C. McDonald –

governor of New Mexico The governor of New Mexico () is the head of government of New Mexico. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New Mexico's state government and the commander-in-chief of the New Mexico National Guard. As noted in the govern ...

* John Philip Newman –

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

of the

Methodist Episcopal Church The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself nationally. In 1939, th ...

; previously three times the

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

of the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

John W. North John Wesley North (January 4, 1815 – February 22, 1890) was an American Abolitionism, abolitionist, lawyer, and politician. A founder of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party of Minnesota, North also served in Minnesota's const ...

– Pioneer statesman and founder of

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. As of the 2020 census, the city has a population of 314,998. It is the most populous city in th ...

* Daniel D. Pratt –

United States Senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...

from Indiana * Rodney S. Rose – Pastor, father of Bayonne Whipple *

Leland Stanford Amasa Leland Stanford (March 9, 1824June 21, 1893) was an American attorney, industrialist, philanthropist, and Republican Party (United States), Republican Party politician from Watervliet, New York. He served as the eighth governor of Calif ...

– Industrialist,

governor of California The governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The Governor (United States), governor is the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Guard. Established in the Constit ...

and U.S. Senator; founder of

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

Thomas Condon Thomas Condon (1822–1907) was an Irish Congregational church, Congregational minister, geologist, and paleontology, paleontologist who gained recognition for his work in the U.S. state of Oregon. Life and career Condon arrived in New York Cit ...

- Geologist, Congregational minister * John E. Burton – Wisconsin businessman and mining financier * James Wilson Seaton – American lawyer and legislator * Harvey A. Truesdell – New York businessman and assemblyman *

Jimmy Van Heusen James Van Heusen (born Edward Chester Babcock; January 26, 1913 – February 6, 1990) was an American composer. He wrote songs for films, television, and theater, and won an Emmy and four Academy Award for Best Original Song, Academy Awards for ...

– American songwriter *

Daniel C. Van Norman Daniel C. Van Norman (August 17, 1815 - June 24, 1886) was a Canadian educator, clergyman, and school founder, who later moved to New York City. Early life and education Daniel Cummings Van Norman was born in Nelson, British Columbia, Nelson, P ...

– Canadian educator, clergyman, and school founder * David F. Wilber –

United States Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from New York * Barbara W. Woodlee – Former president of

Kennebec Valley Community College Kennebec Valley Community College is a Public college, public community college in Fairfield, Maine, Fairfield and Hinckley, Maine. It is one of the seven colleges in the Maine Community College System. Overview The college was organized in 1 ...

, the first female president in both the state technical college and community college systems

References

External links

*
Athletics website
(archived)
The Bonnie Monroe Fashion Illustration Collection from Cazenovia College on New York Heritage Digital Collections
{{authority control Universities and colleges in Madison County, New York Educational institutions established in 1824 1824 establishments in New York (state) Cazenovia, New York Educational institutions disestablished in 2023 Defunct private universities and colleges in New York (state) 2023 disestablishments in New York (state)

History

Athletics

Notable alumni

See also

References

External links