Whereas Alfred University was founded on December 5, 1836,
by a group of Seventh Day Baptists who moved to the foothills of the Allegheny
Mountains;
Whereas Alfred University is named for the ninth-century
ruler of southern England, Alfred the Great, whose devotion to learning and
literature is a legacy that the university upholds to this day;
Whereas Alfred University is currently the second oldest
coeducational college in the United States;
Whereas Alfred University was one of the first colleges in
the United States to allow women to attend classes in the same classrooms as
men;
Whereas Alfred University was also among the first
colleges in the country to accept students regardless of their religion,
ethnicity, or financial means;
Whereas in 1900, what is now the New York State College of
Ceramics was founded on Alfred University’s campus;
Whereas the New York State College of Ceramics is
consistently ranked first in the Nation for its Masters of Fine Arts in Ceramic
Art degree and its school of Art and Design is among the best in the Nation for
its program in glass art;
Whereas Alfred University was awarded the LEED Green
Building Rating System gold certification in the Fall of 2010 for its new
residence hall, Ann’s House;
Whereas 95 percent of Alfred University freshmen receive
some sort of financial assistance in order to provide a quality education to
anyone who seeks one, regardless of means;
Whereas Alfred University offers 40 undergraduate majors
to provide students with a breadth of diverse options in which they can study;
and
Whereas Alfred University currently educates approximately
2,000 students in its undergraduate program and over 300 students in its
graduate programs from 31 States and over 20 countries: Now, therefore, be
it
That the House of Representatives honors
Alfred University on the 175th anniversary of its founding.