University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Summer Session established

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Published: July 14, 2010

Offering classes during the summer months has been a UB tradition since 1915 when the fifth division of the university, the Summer Session, was established. The purpose of summer course offerings always has been to provide opportunities for students to enrich or accelerate their study.

As the Summer Session developed, it brought to the campus students and teachers from other colleges and universities, and gave the university an opportunity to refresh its academic offerings with special workshops, clinics, lectures and academic experimentation. Ninety-five summers later, UB offers courses in a wide range of disciplines, supplemented by concerts and lectures, all of which are part of UBThisSummer.

An ambitious weekly publication, The Newsmonger hailed the start of the Summer Session in 1932. Outlined in a lead article, student activities were designed to break down “any barriers of formality that may exist.” The recreational program included tennis, golf and horseback riding in Delaware Park. A beach party, steak dinner and trips to Niagara Falls and the Roycroft were planned.

Also featured in the same issue was an article on the celebration of Buffalo’s centennial. “At a time when many communities are stagnant in the face of discouraging economic conditions,” it was noted, “Buffalo, the second city of the Empire State and the 13th city of the United States, is carrying on a stupendous festival of civic rejoicing.” 

The several days of parades, sporting events and fireworks were highlighted by the dedication of Buffalo City Hall, the second-largest municipal building in the country, and the unveiling of the monuments of Millard Fillmore and Grover Cleveland.

“When Buffalo celebrates its bi-centennial in 2032, the men, women and children of the day will behold as memorials of the 1932 centennial not alone the Fillmore and Cleveland monuments at the sides of the towering City Hall, but also a beautiful waterfront park where a few months ago a city dump heap lay.” Originally called Centennial Park, today it is known as LaSalle Park. 

The Summer Session lives on, but, alas, The Newsmonger did not survive. It is believed that no more than two issues were published. The University Archive holds only the first issue, dated July 5, 1932.       

—John Edens, University Archives