Colleges vertical file

Collection — Drawer: RG 34

Identifier: 34-H-VF

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This vertical file is not comprehensive; it is comprised of ad hoc material collected over time by University Archives staff. Vertical files are often used by researchers as a "first stop" and serve as an orientation to the topic at hand.

The Colleges vertical file contains administrative histories of the Colleges at large, and of individual Colleges. Administrative histories are useful as they generally contain citations to other sources, such as minutes, articles, etc., that are held in University Archives.

Numerous newspaper article clippings are present, with strong coverage regarding the establishment of the Colleges and the various competing "prospectuses" of the late 1960s. Brochures describe the Colleges at large.

Several files delve into individual Colleges: College A, College B/Black Mountain College, College D/Clifford Furnas College, Cora P. Maloney College, College F/Tolstoy College, and Vico College, and many contain clippings, reports, and publications.

Additional material is stored in oversize.

Dates

circa 1966-2010

Terms of Access and Use

The Colleges vertical file is open for research.

Copyright

Copyright is held by The State University of New York at Buffalo, University Archives. Copyright in other papers in the collection may be held by their authors, or the authors' heirs or assigns. Researchers must obtain the written permission of the holder(s) of copyright and the University Archives before publishing quotations from materials in the collection. Most papers may be copied in accordance with the library's usual procedures unless otherwise specified.

Historical Note

In November 1966, coinciding with the planning of the Amherst campus, President Martin Meyerson proposed a major reorganization of the University which included the establishment of non-degree-granting residential “Colleges” which would serve as “centers of identification” for faculty and students.

College “Masters” were appointed in 1968 to head the first six Colleges (Colleges A, B, C, D, E, and F) and plan their development. On December 20, 1968, an article in the Gazette outlined the development of the first Colleges. The first courses were held in spring 1969.

In October 1969, a proposed “Prospectus” for the future operation of the Colleges was published. Supporters of the Colleges, A in particular, saw this document as a threat to the experimental nature of the Colleges. Between October 1969 and April 1970, the issue was debated in the pages of the Gazette and Spectrum. Several different proposals were put forward by the students and faculty. The end result of the debate was the adoption by the Faculty Senate of the “Stern Prospectus” in April 1970.

The Colleges persisted, with some expanding, and others dissolving, throughout the move to the Amherst Campus:

College A

College B/Black Mountain College

College C [never developed]

College D/Clifford Furnas College

Communication College/Contemporary Crafts College

Cora P. Maloney College

College E/Cassirer College

College F/Tolstoy College

College H/Health Studies College

International College

Law and Society College

College of Mathematical Science

Modern College

New College of Modern Education

Rachel Carson College/Program in Environmental Studies

Social Sciences College

Vico College

Women’s Studies College

College Z/C.P. Snow College/Urban Studies College

By the 1984-1985 academic year, remaining colleges were abolished and/or absorbed into existing academic and administrative units.

Extent

.5 Linear Feet (filing cabinet drawer)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Contains administrative histories, clippings, and miscellaneous printed material and publications from the Colleges (generally), and individual colleges.