Education: Bucknell’s Ninth

In 1846, the Northumberland Baptist Association canvassed the hills and valleys of central Pennsylvania by stagecoach, canal boat and horseback, looking for money to start a new school. That fall, with donations given by thrifty churchmen ranging from 25¢ to $25,000,* the school that was to become Bucknell University held its first classes—22 students meeting with two professors in the Baptist Church basement in quiet Lewisburg, Pa.

For a long while Bucknell’s faculty and students had a hard struggle. At the first commencement in 1851, seven sheepish seniors took turns wearing the only gown in town, changed costumes behind a screen. But as central Pennsylvania grew, so did the school. Last week Bucknell held its summer commencement with full academic pomp. One hundred sixty-six of its 2,400 students received their diplomas, took a farewell glimpse at the spacious 300-acre campus overlooking the Susquehanna Valley. Among alumni who had preceded them: General Tasker Bliss, ex-’73, U.S. Army Chief of Staff in World War I, and Baseball Immortal Christy Mathewson, ex-’02, who was a football hero at Bucknell.

Dr. Herbert L. Spencer, president since 1945, had seen the university double in size, guided it through its centenary, launched a drive intended to bring the $2,000,000 endowment to $10,000,000 and add nine handsome new buildings to the campus. Last March, however, he resigned his post to head the Samuel H. Kress Foundation in New York, and the trustees had been combing a list of men to succeed him.

At last week’s ceremonies they announced their choice. Bucknell’s ninth president will be ex-Maine Governor Horace A. Hildreth (Bowdoin ’25), whose four years in office were distinguished for Yankee thrift in government and for a colorful State Council meeting held on a hunting trip in the Maine woods. Hildreth, who had abandoned politics when Margaret Chase Smith edged him out of the 1948 senatorial race, was pleased as punch with his new job, endowment drive & all. Said he: “Private institutions of learning today must be made self-supporting and operated within their budgets or face the necessity of appealing…for [government] funds.”

* Given by William Bucknell, a wealthy Philadelphia businessman who later increased his contributions to $140,000. The university was renamed for him in 1886.