June 9, 1931

Although he had feared he might have to cancel his appearance to meet his ailing mother’s ship when it arrived in New York City, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Governor of New York State and a trustee of the college, spoke at the 1931 Commencement exercises. Hailing the 284 graduates as “fellow students” and admitting he wished he “might live another hundred years to study,” the Governor declared, “Study implies not what we are doing today, but what we are to do in days to come…. You, who are going out today, will find out why people need help. Many facts today have startled us out of our complacence. We are faced with the problems of planning for the future and preventing the recurrence of these same conditions. We must do our own study, arrive at our own opinions.”

The New York Times

Gifts to the college for the year totaled $399,290: $51,911 for various purposes; $149,077 subject to annuities, $125,580 for a new gymnasium; current gifts for scholarships and other purposes, $72,722.