The story
Founded by Samuel Kirkland in 1793.1
Hamilton College traces its origins back to 1793, when it was chartered as the Hamilton-Oneida Academy, a seminary founded by Rev. Samuel Kirkland. The academy, located in a three-story building near the Oneida Nation's home, admitted both white and Oneida boys and was named in honor of Alexander Hamilton, who collaborated with Kirkland in starting the school and served on its first Board of Trustees. None of the Oneida boys lasted more than one year, the reason being lack of funding, along with the Oneida boys' poor knowledge of English and their lack of interest in the curriculum. The new school applied for a charter from the New York Board of Regents in 1805, and received it in 1812, conditional on raising an endowment of $50,000 (equivalent to $948,529 in 2025). Originally its location on College Hill was in the town of Paris from 1793 to 1827, then in the town of Kirkland. Clinton was not incorporated until 1843.
In 1812, pursuant to its new charter, the academy expanded its curriculum, dropped the reference to the Oneidas, and became Hamilton College, making it the fourth-oldest college in the State of New York. As the Board of Regents wanted, Hamilton started its career as a college with an endowment of $100,000 (equivalent to $1,897,059 in 2025)—a very large sum at the time. The academy buildings, grounds, and other property were valued at $15,000. To this sum were added subscriptions and parcels of land amounting to another $50,000. The New York State Legislature granted $50,000 to the new institution, and then supported it with $3,000 per year until 1850.
According to the 1813 rules of the college, candidates for admission had to be "able to read, translate and parse Cicero's select orations, Virgil, and the Greek testament, and to write true Latin in prose, and shall also have learned the rules of vulgar arithmetic."
In 1836 Hamilton had 115 students, four buildings, four professors, and the President.
In fall 1846, Zeng Laishun entered the college, and became the first Chinese college student to study abroad.
Over time, the college evolved into a more secular institution under the leadership of President M. Woolsey Stryker, who sought to distance Hamilton from its Presbyterian Church roots.
The college has had one female president.
Kirkland College
In the second half of the 20th century, Hamilton established a women's college, Kirkland College, on college land on the other side of College Hill Road. Though it ultimately resulted in Hamilton becoming coeducational, it lasted only about 10 years. It was perceived as less rigorous than Hamilton, although this was disputed and much discussed. The merger of the two schools, or rather the takeover by Hamilton, took place along with feelings of betrayal and lack of support from Kirkland students. On the other hand, it has been noted that Hamilton's transition to coeducation took place "more equitably" than at other men's schools, as a result of Kirkland. In the same work, "women students' interests" were deemed well represented in the modern Hamilton, which the author found "quite remarkable."
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The campus today is divided into the "light side" or "north side" (former Hamilton campus) and the "dark side" or "south side" (former Kirkland campus), separated by College Hill Road. As late as 2004, the Hamilton side was called "historical" and "fraternity-dominated"; the Kirkland side was "more modern" and "politically progressive".
Curtailment of fraternities
In 1832, Alpha Delta Phi was founded at the college by Samuel Eells and four other students.
In 1995, the college announced that all students would be required to live and eat on campus and the college bought the existing fraternity houses. At that time about a third of Hamilton students were fraternity members. While fraternities were not abolished, they were no longer as central to student life. To some extent this change reflected the negative experiences that some Kirkland and then Hamilton women had with Hamilton's fraternities.
21st century
In 2002, President Eugene Tobin resigned after admitting improper attribution of quoted material in his speeches. The same year, Professor Robert L. Paquette raised objections when a student group invited Annie Sprinkle, an actress and former pornstar, as a speaker. Paquette later led an unsuccessful effort to establish the Alexander Hamilton Center on campus. The center, now known as the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization, is located off-campus in the village of Clinton.
From Wikipedia’s article on Hamilton College, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5