October 9, 1915
More than twenty trustees, faculty and student committees, planning over two years, prepared the four-day program for the 50th anniversary of Vassar’s opening. Over 1,500 alumnae and more than 2,000 other guests attended, including leaders and student delegates from dozens of colleges and universities in the United States and abroad. The celebration drew on prominent alumnae and on distinguished guests, and—reflecting the new president’s concerns—it included an intercollegiate student conference among its events, which concluded with Henry Noble MacCracken’s inauguration.
Inspired by the alumnae parade on the evening of Saturday, October 9th, sophomore Dorothy Danforth ’17 wrote to her family, “It’s almost midnight but I’m so thrilled I must tell you—I’ve had more college spirit tonight than ever before. The alumnae all paraded tonight. There were tons of them…. The students all joined hands and flew along at the sides. We serenaded old Prexy Taylor and the Pres. MacCracken. It made me proud to be one of such a splendid body of people.”