Ralph Waldo Swetman
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Ralph Waldo Swetman (November 10, 1886 – 1957) was an American educator and president of several teachers colleges in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s.


Life

Swetman was born on November 10, 1886, at a farm near
Camden, New York Camden is a town in Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 4,934 at the 2010 census. The town of Camden contains a village also called Camden. The town is in the northwestern part of Oneida County and is northwest of the Ci ...
.Beulah Counts Rudolph, "Recollections of Dr. Ralph W. Swetman"
''Oswego County Historical Society Journal'' 1971
/ref> He attended Camden High School and spent a year at Colgate Academy before transferring to
Hamilton College Hamilton College is a private liberal arts college in Clinton, Oneida County, New York. It was founded as Hamilton-Oneida Academy in 1793 and was chartered as Hamilton College in 1812 in honor of inaugural trustee Alexander Hamilton, following ...
. He graduated from Hamilton College in 1907 with a
Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...
key. He had several principalships in New York, first in New York Mills and then in Groton, followed by a return to Camden"Dr. Ralph Swetman Developed School to College Rank", ''Oswego Palladium-Times'' November 12, 1957
/ref> and four years at
Palmyra Palmyra (; Palmyrene: () ''Tadmor''; ar, تَدْمُر ''Tadmur'') is an ancient city in present-day Homs Governorate, Syria. Archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first mention the city in the early second ...
. There, he met and married Alice Pierson. After Palmyra, he went to Teachers College at
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
to obtain his master's degree.


Washington

After completing his master's, Swetman became the director of training at the Washington State Normal School in
Ellensburg, Washington Ellensburg is a city in and the county seat of Kittitas County, Washington, United States. It is located just east of the Cascade Range near the junction of Interstate 90 and Interstate 82 Interstate 82 (I-82) is an Interstate Highway in th ...
. He then joined the US Army, and on his return, he headed up the school's extension service. In 1921, Swetman was elected president of the Washington State Education Association and took particular interest in the issue of school equalization. This embarrassed the Normal School, and Swetman felt he could not give up the cause, so he resigned. Later, he was hired by a campaign that successfully brought equalization to the state's schools.


California

After his success in Washington state, Swetman became a fellow at
Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
, during which time he produced a book on California school law that was used by many schools in the state. In 1924, he took up the presidency at Humboldt State Teachers College in
Arcata, California Arcata (; Wiyot language, Wiyot: ''Goudi’ni''; Yurok language, Yurok: ''Oket'oh'') is a city adjacent to the Arcata Bay (northern) portion of Humboldt Bay (United States), Humboldt Bay in Humboldt County, California, Humboldt County, Californ ...
. In his six years at Humboldt, he helped repair relations between Arcata and
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, which had been bypassed as the location of the normal school.William R. Tanner
''A View from the Hill: A History of Humboldt State University''
Humboldt State University, 1993
In academics, Swetman introduced a grade point average system, academic probation, and an honor roll and raised qualifications for full-time faculty members. Meanwhile, the school grew in other ways; a women's athletic association was created in 1925, and Humboldt staged its first intercollegiate football contest in 1927. At this time, he also accepted a summer assignment at the territorial normal school at
Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island o ...
, now part of the
University of Hawaii at Manoa A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
.


Tempe State

In January 1930, Swetman resigned at Humboldt State to succeed the retiring Arthur John Matthews and become the eighth president of Tempe State Teachers College. In his three years as president, the school doubled its enrollment to cross the 1,000-student threshold. He focused on the development of good teacher-training programs and attempted to build a student-centered institution. He also conceived of a self-supported summer session at the school.


Oswego State

In 1933, Swetman left Tempe to head the Oswego State Normal School in
Oswego, New York Oswego () is a city in Oswego County, New York, United States. The population was 16,921 at the 2020 census. Oswego is located on Lake Ontario in Upstate New York, about 35 miles (55km) northwest of Syracuse. It promotes itself as "The Port C ...
; he was its fourth principal. He was sought at this time by two normal schools in New York, and when asked which one was the greater challenge to lead, he replied, "Oswego"."The Emeriti Newsletter", SUNY Oswego, 2011
/ref> The Swetman administration, which lasted until 1947, confronted an institution that had lagged in adapting to higher educational standards. In 1926, the American Association of Teachers Colleges increased its standards and thus kept teachers colleges par with liberal arts schools in regards to faculty preparation. However, Oswego State had just one doctorate on faculty; more than half had no degrees. Swetman ordered that no faculty member who did not get a master's degree would stay beyond 1935, and he also made it clear that he wanted more men on staff. Many of the longtime faculty of the school resigned in response, but the effect of the decision was to catapult Oswego State into the top 20% of teachers colleges in the country. Other necessary improvements came in the school's physical plant; new buildings were added, such as Park Hall, and new athletic fields were also built. Swetman's time included new highs and new lows; under his guidance, Oswego State established its first extension service, and in 1940, the school granted its first industrial arts degree. Swetman also advocated for the conversion of New York's normal schools, including Oswego State, to teachers colleges, which occurred in 1942. However, he also had to confront a sharp drop in enrollment associated with
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. In order to meet this challenge, Swetman brought an Air Corps unit to Oswego in 1943. He did so by bypassing the state government and negotiating a contract directly in Washington; the state government was none too pleased until it realized that Swetman's gamble had saved his staff. Oswego State lost no positions, and it educated 808 cadets. On another occasion, he had to defend his school from a state proposal to consolidate the industrial arts department at Buffalo.


Retirement and death

In 1947, Swetman retired from Oswego, having suffered serious physical fatigue, including a severe heart attack on November 3, 1946. He would later make an excursion into politics in
Boca Raton, Florida Boca Raton ( ; es, Boca Ratón, link=no, ) is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It was first incorporated on August 2, 1924, as "Bocaratone," and then incorporated as "Boca Raton" in 1925. The population was 97,422 in the ...
, even running for mayor there, before moving again to
Coconut Grove, Florida Coconut Grove, also known colloquially as The Grove, is the oldest continuously inhabited neighborhood of Miami in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The neighborhood is roughly bound by North Prospect Drive to the south, LeJeune Road to the west, Sou ...
. He died in 1957 in Barbados, where he was on vacation with his wife. He was survived by a son and two daughters. Buildings were named for Swetman at Humboldt (the Swetman Child Development Lab) and SUNY Oswego (Swetman Hall, completed in 1963). The latter building no longer exists separately, having been folded into the larger Campus Center."Chu bequest to name Swetman atrium, academic commons", SUNY Oswego, Nov. 15, 2006
/ref>


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swetman, Ralph Waldo 1886 births 1957 deaths People from Camden, New York Hamilton College (New York) alumni Teachers College, Columbia University alumni Presidents of Arizona State University 20th-century American academics