Eisenhower College was a small college named after U.S. President

Dwight Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

, located on

Cayuga Lake Cayuga Lake (,,) is the longest of central New York's glacial Finger Lakes, and is the second largest in surface area (marginally smaller than Seneca Lake) and second largest in volume. It is just under long. Its average width is , and it is a ...

Seneca Falls, New York Seneca Falls is a town in Seneca County, New York, United States. The population was 8,942 at the 2020 census. The Town of Seneca Falls contains the former village also called Seneca Falls. The town is east of Geneva, New York, in the nor ...

History

Ground was broken on September 21, 1965, in a ceremony that featured President Eisenhower and his friend,

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with 5 ...

. The college's first class entered in September 1968. It was a

liberal arts college A liberal arts college or liberal arts institution of higher education is a college with an emphasis on undergraduate study in liberal arts and sciences. Such colleges aim to impart a broad general knowledge and develop general intellectual capac ...

. Private funds and two federal grants totaling $14.5 million helped establish the college. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of each

Eisenhower Dollar The Eisenhower dollar was a one-dollar coin issued by the United States Mint from 1971 to 1978; it was the first coin of that denomination issued by the Mint since the Peace dollar series ended in 1935. The coin depicts President Dwight D. Eis ...

coin went to the college. This amounted to some $9 million between the coin's initial production in 1971 and 1978, when production ceased. Eisenhower curricula were centered on a core set of courses collectively known as "World Studies". These mandatory courses examined the history of civilization from the ascent of Man through modern times in music, art, history, science, philosophy, and literature. Foreign language and physical education courses were also mandatory. Until 1979, the campus housed the

National Women's Hall of Fame The National Women's Hall of Fame (NWHF) is an American institution incorporated in 1969 by a group of men and women in Seneca Falls, New York, although it did not induct its first enshrinees until 1973. As of 2021, it had 303 inductees. Induc ...

. In March 1979, the liberal arts college, which had a total enrollment of only 460 students and was experiencing financial difficulties, was acquired by

Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is a private university, private research university in the town of Henrietta, New York, Henrietta in the Rochester, New York, metropolitan area. The university offers undergraduate and graduate degree ...

(RIT). RIT operated the college for three academic years. Then on July 22, 1982, RIT announced the immediate closing of Eisenhower College due to "major operating deficits". Current students and faculty were given the opportunity to transfer to RIT's main campus for the 1982–83 school year. In 1979 when the merger had taken place, RIT had pledged to operate Eisenhower for at least five years. As a result, there were eventually unsuccessful lawsuits by the school's alumni and by the local organizations which had played a key role in the college's founding. RIT made several efforts to sell the campus, including a proposal to turn it into a state prison. Hundreds of local residents appeared at events opposing the prison plan, and New York State agreed not to go forward with the plan. RIT eventually deeded the campus to the U.S. Department of Education, which had provided construction loans. In 1989, the property was sold to the

New York Chiropractic College Northeast College of Health Sciences is a private alternative health college in Seneca Falls, New York. It has graduate programs in areas such as chiropractic, health sciences and education. It was previously named Columbia Institute of Chiroprac ...

which continues to operate on the campus. An archive of Eisenhower College material, donated by former professors and alumni, was stored at the campus library as of 2006.

External links

Eisenhower College Alumni AssociationRequest Form for Eisenhower College TranscriptsNew York Chiropractic College
Defunct private universities and colleges in New York (state) Schools in Seneca County, New York Liberal arts colleges in New York (state) Educational institutions established in 1965 Educational institutions disestablished in 1983 Rochester Institute of Technology 1965 establishments in New York (state) 1983 disestablishments in New York (state) Dwight D. Eisenhower {{NewYork-university-stub