纪念反射

露西的价值观仍然影响着火博体育文化

College centennials are opportunities for nostalgia and also useful chances to learn 从过去. 而幼儿女青年之间存在着明显的差异 1903年成立的工业俱乐部和2003年成立的火博体育学院，仔细看看 back to 1903 shows the roots of three important characteristics of today’s college—its 对多样性的承诺，它的服务伦理和承担风险的意愿 order to achieve its highest 目标s—that stem directly from the ideas of its founder, 露西·火博体育·斯克里布纳.

In 1903 in 萨拉托加温泉市—and indeed throughout America—women were disenfranchised, denied reproductive freedom and expected to focus primarily on domestic roles; they 能否合法地拒绝工作、公平薪酬和受教育的机会. 有色人种 were systematically denied civil rights, and religious discrimination was both legal 和普遍. 与此同时，也有一些进步主义者相信民权 和一个更公平的社会，其中包括露西·斯克里布纳.

Lucy and her board of directors boldly stated that the Young Women’s Industrial Club would be “open to all girls and women of good character, Protestant or Catholic, white, 黑人或印第安人.“他们不仅致力于向未婚女性传授技能 为了养活自己(也为了帮助已婚妇女改善生活)， but they also made a point of airing new ideas by bringing in progressive speakers 比如本·林赛法官，他在国内建立了第一个少年法庭， and Jane Addams, who was not only the founder of Hull House, a model settlement house 他也是全国有色人种协进会的创始人.

Yet in many respects the YWIC was a product of its time—for example, even while classes were open to all races, the Choral Union Club was allowed to reject an African-American 申请人因为她的肤色. 在20世纪30年代和40年代初，火博体育谨慎地 but firmly discouraged the enrollment of African-American students; it also considered imposing a quota on the admission of Jewish students, but (unlike a number of other 它从未明确遵守过这样的配额. 40年代以后的大学 returned to a policy closer to that of Lucy Scribner and in fact soon began to actively 招收有色人种学生.

今天，学生群体的多元化和多样性仍然是大学最重要的价值观. 学生 现在来自44个美国.S. 国家或地区和25个国家，约占40% 接受财政援助，更多来自公立学校而不是私立学校. In 1971, when students held a sit-in to demand stepped-up minority recruitment efforts, students of color accounted for less than 10 percent of the student body; in 2003, the figure 是14%. 每年，学生俱乐部和跨文化中心都会赞助校园 celebrations of black history, Hispanic heritage, Asian culture and various religious 传统. 大多数大学领导认为，仍然需要更多的多样性，包括学生 the faculty, and the 2002 strategic plan cites increasing campus diversity as a key 目标.

The founding of the YWIC reflected Lucy Scribner’s own commitment to community service, 这是她对巨大的个人损失的反应吗. 她年轻时就开始教书 sewing in her church’s mission school, and after she was widowed she also volunteered 在一个盲人和老年妇女之家. 对她来说，社会问题需要解决， 那些有能力改善社会的人有道德义务这样做.

Lucy and her fellow directors worked to pass on their organizational skills and charitable impulses to the girls of the YWIC, who were encouraged to form little clubs of their own, that they might learn parliamentary procedure, minute-taking and financial record-keeping, 成年女性领导自己的组织时，她们会发现哪些有用之处.

火博体育继续着社区服务的传统. 当美国进入 World War I, every Skidmore student, faculty member and administrator joined the school’s chapter of the Red Cross, to knit warm garments for soldiers, roll bandages for military 医院和援助军人家属. 在大萧条时期，社会学学生 调查了萨拉托加的失业者，并试图说服当地雇主雇佣更多的人 工人. 第二次世界大战期间，所有学生都被要求进行“社区服务”。 打扫宿舍和提供膳食，以取代那些找到工作的大学员工 in defense industries) and to support the war effort through everything from working 在胜利的花园里扫描天空寻找敌机. 火博体育的学生有 经常在当地学校、医院和社会服务机构做志愿者.

Today student service projects, often coordinated through the student club Benef-Action, 包括辅导有风险的孩子，帮助当地救济厨房的工作人员，建筑 与仁人家园合作，清理公园和墓地. 一些课程 现在在他们的学术内容中加入“服务学习”的成分. 露西需要她 学生用他们的才能和技能来改善他们的社区，她会 我为今天火博体育志愿者的努力鼓掌.

Diversity and community service—what thoughtful member of the Skidmore community would 反对这些? 但火博体育历史上的另一个中心主题充满了 一定程度的危险:这所大学倾向于冒险，其中一些似乎 一度危及到它的生存. 火博体育的这个特征也是可以追溯的 一直追溯到露西·斯克里布纳本人.

当露西搬到萨拉托加斯普林斯时，她的个人财产有些过剩 100万美元(相当于今天的1800万到2000万美元). 这在洛克菲勒几乎是不可能的 但她不仅仅是舒适——她很富有. 从一开始， she tapped her personal funds to purchase buildings and cover deficits in the budgets 以及后来的火博体育艺术学院. 例如，在1910年，当 扶轮社的预算约为$18,300，她的赤字贡献为$5,600.

在1916年到1922年之间，露西·斯克里布纳转移了她85%的个人财产 这所新生的大学获得了财富:价值40万美元的建筑和45万美元的股票 还有债券，这是该机构的第一笔捐赠. 1931年她去世时， her $1 million fortune had been reduced to only $156,000—not by the Depression, but 她送给火博体育的礼物，火博体育也是她财产的主要继承人. 在他的 就职典礼上，菲利普·格罗兹巴赫总统承诺要求捐助者不仅要捐款， 而是付出，直到受伤. 露西·斯克里布纳会知道的，她把她的全部 将一个羽翼未丰的女子俱乐部发展成为一所真正可行的大学. 如果火博体育 如果失败了，她所有的资源都将付诸东流.

Lucy’s embrace of risk on behalf of the college she loved was matched by other leaders 火博体育的. 查尔斯·亨利·凯斯总统承担了巨大的职业风险 to transform a small extension school of part-time students into a real college, in 不到10年. 他面临着巨大的困难——女子学院的市场不确定， minimal resources, an unresponsive state bureaucracy—but he successfully established 1922年在火博体育学院任教.

Skidmore’s third president, Val 威尔逊, along with visionary donor Erik Jonsson, took a momentous gamble in 1961: Skidmore would relocate from its downtown buildings to 一个新的校园将从零开始建造. 他还扩大了机构的规模， in the face of a shortage of qualified professors, a tiny endowment, and competition 来自其他也在扩大规模以容纳婴儿潮一代的大学. 这是 a considerable risk, but without it Skidmore might well have shared the fate of the 几十个U.S. 上世纪70年代close的大学.

Perhaps Joe Palamountain’s biggest risk was accepting the job of president at all—the 新校区正在顺利建设中，但建成它的资金却遥遥无期. 不过 1968年，他和他的教务长埃德温·莫斯利，以及一代 young faculty leaders, he took up the challenge of developing a whole new curriculum. Soon afterward,as interest in women’s colleges dwindled nationwide, Palamountain convinced Skidmore’s trustees and alumnae to accept a major change in the character of the college 实行男女同校.

Skidmore had some very tough times during the transitions of the 1970s, and some (including 学院的会计!)想知道帕拉蒙特的冒险是否值得，但是 in the end a staggering deficit was paid off, the budget balanced and the new campus 建. 越来越多的潜在学生开始申请火博体育大学.

帕拉蒙特的后继者们继续以自己大胆的步伐前进. 一次大型筹款活动 campaign led by President David 行李搬运工人 helped realize his vision for academic excellence, supporting endowed professorships, student-faculty collaborative research, an innovative 荣誉论坛和雄心勃勃的新唐博物馆. 坚定的财政承诺 aid, even under fierce budget pressures, has helped bring in an increasingly talented and diverse student body, making Skidmore a much richer and more vital learning environment.

If Lucy were to visit Skidmore today, her message would be something like this: “Please 爱护我的大学. 确保它为所有有价值的人敞开大门 students, encourage all members of the community to serve each other and the world, 永远不要仅仅因为某项行动可能带来令人生畏的风险而回避它. 携带 通过慷慨和进取来传承火博体育的遗产."

玛丽C. 林恩，美国研究教授，著有 不做小计划:火博体育学院的历史.