Brief Timeline of the University

• 1817 - Baptist Education Society of the State of New York is founded
• 1819 - charter is granted by the state
• 1820 - school is opened
• 1823 - Baptists in New York City (including soapmaker William Colgate, who created Colgate-Palmolive) move their seminary to Hamilton, NY to form the Hamilton Literary and Theological Institution
• 1846 - name changes to Madison University (right to grant degrees established)
• 1856 - first fraternity established (membership has to be kept secret or risk expulsion)
• 1890 - name changes to Colgate University (after 7 decades of involvement by the Colgate family)
• 1928 - becomes non-denominational
• 1970 - begins accepting women as entering students
• 2003 - private ownership of fraternity and sorority houses strongly discouraged

• Team name - Raiders (formerly Red Raiders, 'Red' was dropped in 2003 vw)
• Number of Students - 2700 (51% women)
• Student-Faculty Ratio - 11:1
• Ranked in the top 20 best liberal-arts colleges in the USA by U.S. News and World Report
• President - Rebecca S. Chopp
• Tuition / Total Incl. Room and Board - $28,165/$35,130