Does your college town suck? Colgate University

New to the line up this season: we will be examining the various college towns of Wisconsin’s opponents. We’ll be answering all of the important questions – Is it a state capital? What is the population? Does it have a Culver’s?

Facts:

City: Hamilton, New York

Size: 2.687 square miles

Location: 42°49′30″N 75°32′45″W

Population: 3,814 (2019)

State Capital? No

Time zone: Eastern

Landmarks: Hamilton Theater

About:

Hamilton, the hit musical created by Lin-Manuel Miranda, is the story of American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton. Miranda was inspired to write the play after he read a biography of Hamilton is 2004.

Wait…sorry…need to refine my Google search…

Hamilton, N.Y. is home to Colgate University and is made up of two villages – Hamilton and Earlville. In 1794, Colonel William Smith purchased the area, named after Alexander Hamilton, and sold a considerable portion of his holdings, which resulted in settlements along the Sangerfield River, which is near where Earlville is located.

Earlville was originally known as “The Forks,” where four towns join – Hamilton, Lebanon, Sherburne and Smyrna. The village was renamed Earlville in 1834, after Jonas Earl, who was a state Canal Commissioner. Around this time, construction of the Chenango Canal was being built.

The village of Hamilton was incorporated in 1816 after originally being named Payne’s Settlement, named after the village’s first settlers, the Payne family from Oneida County.

The town of Hamilton has been named one of America’s most friendly towns.

“The tiny historic New York Town – home to a village by the same name – was founded in 1795 as Payne’s Settlement. The Village Green offers local eateries and merchants as well as some of the area’s most historic homes.” – Forbes Magazine

An interesting quote to pull, as it doesn’t even talk about how or why Hamilton is one of America’s most friendly towns…

Makes you wonder if it’s REALLY that friendly. I’ve heard of small-town charm, but I have also seen plenty of movies and television shows where the small town turns out to be a creepy place.

Either that, or you run into a Stars Hollow-like situation where everyone talks so fast and the town is led by its Selectman, Taylor Doose, who is an absolute moron. Not to mention, the entire town gaslights a young girl, who is the absolute worst by the way, into thinking she is an amazing journalist, when we have all seen the reboot, where she writes about lines and falls asleep while waiting in one. I mean, it should surprise no one, as I stated earlier, she is the absolute worst.

So really, how great can Hamilton REALLY be?

Colgate University, which is the 66^th oldest US college was originally named Baptist Education Society of the state of New York in 1819, which is a mouthful. Then the school changed its name to Hamilton Literary and Theological Institution in 1833. The school then changed names again, 13 years later to Madison University – just pick a name already!

Finally, in 1890, they settled on Colgate University and YES, it is named after the same family that started the toothpaste company.

William Colgate, who started the Colgate Company, and his family were major financiers of the institutions for years and enabled the school to thrive. The trustees, faculty and students all suggested that the school be renamed to honor the family that helped the school so much over the years.

When the name was changed, the Colgate family was not consulted, nor did they favor it, but they “assented rather than embarrass its advocates.”

Surprise! You have a school named after you!

Bars:

A couple of well-rated establishments I have found are The Hour Glass Inc. and Rusch’s Bar & Grill.

Rusch’s has limited hours right now due to COVID, but it has an extensive menu, seating inside and out and boasts of a superior game-watching experience.

The Hour Glass Inc., or “The Glass” has been around for 37 years and is a popular location for Colgate students and features three separate areas in the bar - the bar/lounge area has three plasma TV’s to watch your favorite sports, The dance floor with the latest internet juke box, and the gaming area with dart boards, pool and foosball tables.

Oh and they live a Culver’s-less existence.

Arena:

Cotterell Court is the home of the Colgate Raiders and volleyball teams. The arena seats 1,750 fans was built in 1959, as the northern half of the William A. Reid Athletic Center, which also houses Starr Rink, where the Colgate Raiders hockey teams play.

Cotterell Court was named after Wesley M. Cotterell, who was a two-time letterwinner on the basketball team in in the early 1900s. He was also a school trustee.

Does your college town suck?

Yes, the tiny New York town is obviously up to no good, or they are gaslighting teens who are the absolute worst that can’t even get a job at a fictional website, whose leader has been hounding her for months about coming in for a job interview.

So you’re college town sucks, but does your mascot?

Oh my God! Yes. What the hell is that?

Raider is a….Raider?

According to the interwebs, a Raider is a person who attacks an enemy in the enemy’s territory, a marauder. Seems like a fun mascot and team nickname…

Originally the school adopted a Native American mascot, but decided it was best to make a change, out of sensitivity to Native Americans. The school kept the name of Red Raiders, but changed the mascot to a hand holding a torch.

A hand holding a torch...good things usually happen when people hold torches, right?

I guess the school even has a torchlight procession that graduates do, following commencement...

Seems like a fun tradition...

Later ‘Red’ was dropped from the name, as it still had a Native American implication, and the school became the Raiders during the 2001-02 school year and then introduced its current mascot in 2006.

So the same people who were woke enough to do away with Native American references in their mascot, were like, yeah, let’s keep doing the torch walk thing...?

Anyway, Raider is a fever dream of a mascot, who likely terrifies children and should be banished to the depths of hell, where he likely came from. But, I will say, he has got some white teeth! He must be using some Colgate Optic White toothpaste.