X

More than 100 attend SUNY Potsdam bicentennial 200 years to the day after founding charter signed

Posted 3/25/16

POTSDAM -- The State University of New York at Potsdam marked its 200th anniversary with a Friday bicentennial bash. The celebration took place two centuries to the day since the charter founding the …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

More than 100 attend SUNY Potsdam bicentennial 200 years to the day after founding charter signed

Posted

POTSDAM -- The State University of New York at Potsdam marked its 200th anniversary with a Friday bicentennial bash. The celebration took place two centuries to the day since the charter founding the institution was signed.

"Today is certainly a momentous and exciting occasion -- the 200th anniversary of the signing of the St. Lawrence Academy charter, known today as SUNY Potsdam. We are the oldest institution in the SUNY system, and we are one of the 40 oldest colleges in the country," President Kristin G. Esterberg said. "I can't think of a better way to celebrate our 200th birthday."

Hundreds of students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members gathered in the Barrington Student Union to take part in the Charter Day Birthday Bash with live music, historic displays and craft tables.

SUNY Potsdam mascot Max C. Bear donned a birthday hat and roamed the room with guest mascots from other campuses, including SUNY Canton, SUNY Cortland, SUNY Brockport and Clarkson University.

Representatives from student clubs and organizations came to the stage to read out important events from each decade of the college's 200-year history, ceremonially placing placards on a timeline along a window.

Members of several SUNY Potsdam a cappella choirs, including the Potsdam Pointercounts, the A-Sharps and the Potsdam Pitches, led the crowd in singing the "Alma Mater" and finally, in a rendition of "Happy Birthday."

Following a countdown, Esterberg blew out the candles on the birthday cake and the crowd popped confetti canons, unleashing a shower of glittering maroon and silver confetti.

A fully stocked sweets station included all kinds of candy in college colors, as well as cupcakes. A 3D sculpted cake in the shape of Satterlee Hall, the school's landmark clocktower building, was at the center of the room. In addition, there were three special decorated cookies inspired by campus architecture commissioned and designed by Rebecca Wells, otherwise known as the “Cookie Architect.”

At the celebration, SUNY Potsdam officials also unveiled a newly created historic replica of the St. Lawrence Academy charter. The Potsdam Public Museum and the SUNY Potsdam College Archives and Special Collections recently partnered to have the original charter (a document too delicate for display) specially restored by a historic preservation firm, as well as creating exact reconstructions the public can view.

Live music was provided by the Caramelo Trio, featuring modern languages professor Oscar Sarmiento, alongside Beth Robinson and Stephen Farina. A video celebrating the 200th birthday produced by Doyle Dean and Deborah Dudley was also presented at the party.

On March 25, 1816, the New York State Board of Regents signed the document that established the St. Lawrence Academy in Potsdam.

“Two centuries later, the institution has traced a path through every system of higher education in New York State -- first joining the ranks of the Normal Schools and then the State Teachers Colleges, before finally joining the State University of New York upon its founding in 1948,” school officials said in a prepared statement.

The school has more information about the bicentennial and history at www.potsdam.edu/200.