{"id":461212,"date":"2020-11-12T11:08:24","date_gmt":"2020-11-12T16:08:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=461212"},"modified":"2024-12-30T13:58:53","modified_gmt":"2024-12-30T18:58:53","slug":"ask-the-archivist-was-that-a-us-president-on-the-quad-461212","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/ask-the-archivist-was-that-a-us-president-on-the-quad-461212\/","title":{"rendered":"Ask the archivist: Was that a US president on the Quad?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A question for Melissa Mead, the John M. and Barbara Keil University Archivist and Rochester Collections Librarian.<\/h2>\n

I was born at Strong Hospital in June 1944, in the shadow of the River Campus, and I saw Jimmy Carter on campus in the 1970s. Can you tell me how many presidents of the United States have visited the University? Who were they? When did they come? Why did they come? \u2014James Anderson, Rochester<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Thirty-two US presidents have held office since the Ä¢¹½´«Ã½<\/a>\u2019s founding in 1850. Although quite a number of them have passed through Rochester, as of the writing of this article, only seven future or former presidents actually visited the campuses. Presumptive President-Elect Biden would make eight.<\/p>\n

The earliest appears to have been future president Theodore Roosevelt in 1900. He was serving as New York State governor, and the occasion was the celebration of the University\u2019s semicentennial on June 13, 1900. With a speech entitled \u201cPromise and Performance,\u201d Roosevelt was the evening speaker at the Lyceum Theatre, where the event was held\u2014the Eastman Theatre would not open until 1922. A little over a week after his Rochester appearance, Roosevelt would be nominated at the Republican National Convention as President William McKinley\u2019s vice president.<\/p>\n

\"archival
JOHN F. KENNEDY, 1959.<\/strong> (Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ photo \/ University Archives)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Another 59 years would pass before another future president visited. On October 1, 1959, Senator John F. Kennedy spoke in Strong Auditorium to a standing-room-only crowd of students. While Kennedy was visiting, a future Rochester president, W. Allen Wallis, was working for President Dwight D. Eisenhower to formulate the report of the Cabinet on Price Stability for Economic Growth. When Wallis was inaugurated on May 17, 1963, Eisenhower was the keynote speaker for the ceremony in the Eastman Theatre.<\/p>\n

Richard M. Nixon was next: he made several appearances on campus, but most memorably as the 1966 commencement speaker. Initial reports that the former vice president would receive an honorary degree as part of the ceremony caused public protests by students and faculty.<\/p>\n

\"archival
RICHARD NIXON, 1966.<\/strong> (Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ photo \/ University Archives)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Professor of Philosophy Lewis White Beck stated: \u201cWe defend his right to express his opinions as he chooses, but maintain that by honoring him, this university will be grievously compromising one of its most basic ideals,\u201d that of academic freedom. The degree controversy was ended when Nixon claimed that he did not accept honorary degrees. His commencement speech was entitled \u201cAcademic Freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n

On November 11, 1983, George Herbert Walker Bush was guest of honor\u2014and honorary degree recipient\u2014at the installation of Paul W. MacAvoy as dean of the Graduate School of Management (renamed the Simon School in 1986). The vice president, whose Secret Service detail caused considerable consternation on campus, expounded on the theme \u201cThe Prospects for the Manufacturing Industries.\u201d A year later, the vice president was back, and took time out from campaigning to jog with students in Fauver Stadium.<\/p>\n