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TABLE OF CONTENTS VOL. 16, NO. 1 75TH ANNIVERSARY YEAR JANUARY 2001 FEATURES 75 YEARS ON 75 ACRES Chairman of the Board William C. Sennett, Esq. The seed was sown in 1920; the property was purchased in 1922; construction began in 1925; the college opened in 1926. The student body numbered 25. It was President Dr. William P. Garvey the beginning of the college's First Spring. Editor Mary Daly '66 PRESERVING THE LEGACY Vice President of Public Affairs The college turned coeducational Feb. 3,1969, graduated its first male student in Editorial Assistants June 1969 and its first four-year class of men June 3,1973. The Second Spring left Margaret Closson M '00 its mark and prepared Mercyhurst for its Third Spring, the period of its greatest Sharon Sisco Gennifer Tyson prosperity. Oral Historian Larie Pintea '92 THE $20 MILLION WALK Mercyhurst will embark on a $20 million capital campaign Jan. 1,2001, to Feature Writers Gary Bukowski 73 construct a $6 million academic building, renovate Old Main and Zurn Hall and Mary Daly '66 enhance its endowment by another $10 million — a fitting benchmark in the 75th Don McQuaid Deborah W. Morton year anniversary plans. Larie Pintea '92 Paul Reichart Dr. Andrew Roth Gennifer Tyson 14 SUITING UP FOR MERCYHURST Photo Credits Laker sports began 30 years ago, shortly after Mercyhurst turned coeducational. In Associated Press 27 the beginning there was only one sport, tennis. Today there are 12 varsity sports for Mercyhurst College Archives Mercyhurst Archaeological Institute men and 11 for women. It's a fascinating story of humble yet spirited beginnings for Sisters of Mercy Archives the Lakers. Times Publishing Company Archives Ed Bernik 3,12 Mary Daly 8,10,11,29 Penny Hanes 23 Jim Judkis 31 17 TRUSTEE SPOTLIGHT: A LINK TO MERCYHURSTS PAST Paul M. Lorei 4,13,15,17,25,26,30,32 Three men, three friends, three pillars of the community look back on their years Design of service to Mercyhurst College as trustees during the Second and Third Springs. GraphicDesign The spotlight is on Albert F. Duval, Charles H. Bracken and F. William Hirt. Printing Printing Technologies 21 WHY DOES MERCYHURST COST $20,000? The Mercyhurst Magazine is published by the Office In 1926, tuition at Mercyhurst was $150 and with room and board the cost was of Public Affairs. This special edition was produced in commemoration of the 75th anniversary of $770. Today, the cost of a Mercyhurst education is $20,000. Economically, a Mercyhurst College, which will run the calendar year college education is still the best investment a young person can make. But why 2001. The opening day of the college was Sept. 20, 1926. does it cost so much? The Magazine's address is: 501 E. 38th St., Erie, Pa. 16546 ETC. Telephone 814.824.2285 • FAX 814.824.2470 6 Mystery of the Charter Oak E-mail address: <[email protected]> 7 Alums of the Thirties > Send change of address to: Tammy Roche Gandolfo '76 11 Mother Borgia Remembered MERCYHURST 19 The Gates: An Intriguing Part of Mercyhurst History About the cover: While fashion, culture and trends 20 Remember When: "The Cube" typed them as flappers from the 20s and 30s, boomers from the 60s, pioneer male students from the 70s, 27 Election 2000 yuppies from the 80s and members of Generation X or 30 Detective Work of a Different Kind Y, the Mercyhurst students on the cover of this 75th 75th Anniversary logo Anniversary issue share a bond with their alma mater Melissa McGraw '01 34 Classnotes that transcends the fleeting masks of time. MERCYHURST COLLEGE 1925 — Aug. 25, the laying of the cornerstone at Mercyhurst College draws 5,000 people. .he movies, which had been silent, were just beginning to talk. Although the aver­ age price of a new car was $310, a majority of Americans did not yet own an automo­ bile. A gallon of milk cost 56 cents, and "silent" Calvin Coolidge occupied the White House. The year was 1926, the year Mercyhurst was founded. In 2001, the college will celebrate its 75th Anniversary, still a youngster when measured against schools founded 200 or 300 years ago, but old enough to begin showing signs of maturity, strength, even complexity — and yet young enough that its peak years still lie ahead. In this 75th Anniversary issue of Mercyhurst Magazine, an effort has been made to capture a sense of the past, the present and the future of "the college on the hill," the seventh institution of higher learning founded in America by the Sisters of Mercy. This commemorative issue is dedicated to the thousands of persons, past and present, who through their dedication and sacrifice have helped to bring Mercyhurst to the dawn of a new century and the radiant unfolding of the dream of its founders. • H N N 1 R D I I O N "> 0 0 1 MERCYHURST PRESERVES ITS LEGACY cres 75 Years on SPRING I w/ M E RCYHU RST'S FIRST By Mary Daly X took a century and a quarter for Erie's It took the two Sisters a year to find the lines. Ground was broken Sept. 8,1924. classrooms to reach the ridge crowning the perfect site. Enlisting the help of TO. In their preliminary plans for city. In 1926, Mercyhurst College opened its Andrews of the Andrews Land Co., they Mercyhurst and in their later efforts to doors on a wind-swept hill overlooking viewed every available parcel in and around finance that work, the Sisters relied on Frank Lake Erie, just 12 blocks away from the Erie. Finally, the 75 acres on Cooper Road W. Wallace of the Second City Bank to help city's southern boundary. From its humble owned by the heirs of Judge Gunnison were bring about the financial negotiations for the yet inspired beginnings, the college has selected as the birthplace of Mercyhurst. construction of Mercyhurst. On his advice, emerged as a major force in the educational the Sisters sold $500,000 in low-interest landscape of the region. bonds door-to-door to finance the construc­ The seed from which Mercyhurst tion of the new college. sprang was sown in 1920 when the Sisters of Allotting two years for the construction, Mercy were celebrating their golden jubilee the H. J. Conrath Co. of Erie, general con­ in Titusville. Their religious community was tractors for the project, assured the Sisters growing rapidly and enrollment in their there would be plenty of time to build the boarding school had reached the point massive facility. Even though the schedule where larger facilities were needed. lagged months behind because of Erie The Sisters felt their needs had out­ weather, by late summer 1926, it looked as if grown what Titusville could offer and that if the college would be finished just in time to the order was to prosper, a new field of The first student body of Mercyhurst College started classes Sept. 20,1926. begin classes. action was needed. In 1921, the community Then, two weeks before classes were to looked to the episcopal city of Erie for their The Sisters used most of their $65,000 in begin, the workers went on strike over a future, making a request to Bishop John savings to purchase the land near the city's labor dispute at another construction site in Mark Gannon to allow them to build a high new Glenwood district on the southernmost Erie that had nothing to do with the Sisters school and college in the lakeside city. ridge of the city, 265 feet above the street or Mercyhurst. Bishop Gannon, who regularly lent his level at 10th and State streets. In their typical unconquerable spirit, enthusiastic support to educational projects From the beginning, Mother Borgia was the Sisters finished the work themselves. in the diocese, gave his blessing, knowing determined to make Mercyhurst the "beauty They worked round the clock, with help in that Mercyhurst would only add luster to spot in the diocese of Erie." Wanting the the last week from members of the Sacred his tenure as chief shepherd of the Diocese. institution to be a masterpiece of harmony, Heart Ushers Society and St. Mary's Ushers Fortified with the necessary permission, she directed that the exterior of the college Society who had volunteered their services. Mother M. Borgia Egan, superior of the be given as much attention as its interior. The date was Sept. 20,1926. It was a Titusville Sisters, and her assistant, Sister M. Under her direction, the Sisters hired rainy day, the windows leaked and a tractor Pierre Wilbert, set out to find the site on prominent architect F Ferdinand Durang of pulled cars from the muddy ground around which to build their dream. Philadelphia to design Mercyhurst, while the barely finished building. Despite the For more than 50 years, the Sisters had Walter J. Monahan was charged with creat­ problems, Mercyhurst College wrote the been hemmed in between hills and, beauti­ ing a plan to beautify the surrounding prop­ first page of its history by opening its doors ful as the valley was, a hilltop had a definite erty. to its first 25 students. charm for them. They were guided in their Durang, one of the leading architects of And thus began what has affectionately search by two absolutes: They would build educational buildings of the time, created a come to be known as the First of on a hill and their new home would include masterpiece of English Gothic design that Mercyhurst's "Three Springs." a view of Lake Erie.

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