Roberts Wesleyan College Roberts Wesleyan College Roberts Wesleyan College

History

 

Ralph Waldo Emerson’s assertion that “an institution is the lengthened shadow of one man” describes well the relationship between Roberts Wesleyan College and its distinguished founder, Benjamin Titus Roberts.

Here was a man who forsook a promising career in law to answer a call to Christian ministry, but also forsook the tempting path of comfortable ministry to contend for important but unpopular matters of principle. In short, Roberts Wesleyan College’s motto “Education for Character” reflects both her founder’s mission for the institution and his own essence as a man of character.

Born in 1823, from his youth B.T. Roberts was a champion of causes and reforms vital to his day, most of which have prevailed since his death in 1893. He was a firm believer in the rights of labor and argued fervently for the farmer; consistently advocated for the rights of women, even when such a position was unpopular in his own movement, promoted temperance, stood in opposition to slavery, and argued for free seats in the house of worship. He was a founder of schools and advocated universal education.

 
   
   

The Birth of an Institution


  
   
 
   
   
For his stands against what he perceived as unacceptable compromise with moral principle in a variety of issues, B.T. Roberts was expelled from the Methodist Episcopal Church. (This action was reversed 50 years later when the Genesee Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church vindicated his character by restoring his parchments to his son, Benson H. Roberts.) Unbowed in his commitment to the issues and values he had championed, Mr. Roberts was chosen to be the first bishop of a new denomination, the Free Methodist Church. Subsequently and independently, he founded Roberts Wesleyan College, originally Chili Seminary, in 1866 to prepare well-educated young people who could become the kind of servant-leaders of high character of which he believed America was in so great need.  
   

B.T. Roberts’ life and vision are honored in the ongoing life of Roberts Wesleyan College and its educational philosophy which says, in part:

 
   
Academic pursuit is strengthened by the College's historical Christian concern for the communication of human values and the development of the whole person. Its curriculum and co-curriculum are designed to foster awareness and development of one's potential, sensitivity to the rights and needs of others, and the integration of living, learning, and faith. Through membership in a community of learners, students are encouraged to cultivate the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that prepare them personally and professionally for life-long learning, creative leadership, and service to God and society.  
In 1869, three years after classes had actually begun, the original charter of this institution was issued by the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York. It stated merely that the application of Benjamin Titus Roberts and others to found a school for “public academic instruction” was approved. However, the following paragraph from the first catalog, issued the same year, contained a clear indication of purpose:  
   

While we cannot prize too highly the benefits of mental culture which lies at the foundation of correct principles and good character, education and religion should by no means be separated. Indeed, to divorce them is dangerous, as is proved by the history of the past. Ignorance is the mother of superstition and religious error; and a system of education that does not comprehend the great truths of revelation fosters skepticism and infidelity in the youthful mind.

  
   

In 1885, the name of the institution was changed to A.M. Chesbrough Seminary to honor an early benefactor. The school continued operating as a fully qualified and certified academy. In 1921 the so-called “Advanced Department,” offering liberal arts courses of junior college grade, was added, although the name “Roberts,” in honor of the founder, was not assumed until the charter was amended in 1945. At that time the College became Roberts Junior College.

 
   
   

Roberts Wesleyan College


  
   
 
   
   

In 1949, with the nationwide post-war surge of student interest in higher education, the Board of Trustees applied to the New York State Board of Regents for senior college status, with the result that the charter was again amended and the name “Wesleyan” added to designate the Free Methodist affiliation and at the same time to distinguish the College from Roberts College in Istanbul, Turkey, an institution also chartered by the Board of Regents. In 1952 the charter was made permanent; the courses of study were registered with the State Education Department, and the College was authorized to confer under its own seal the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science. The College attained regional accreditation from the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools in 1964. In recent years, the College has added nine graduate programs.

 
   

Anyone interested in learning more about the history of Roberts Wesleyan College is invited to talk to the College Archivist to see the collections and files of the Roberts Rare Books Room and the Chesbrough-Roberts Historical Center (both located in the B.Thomas Golisano Library on the campus), and/or to examine one or more of the following books that contain information on the history of Roberts Wesleyan College:

 
   

Carpenter, Ellen Lois Roberts: Life and Writings
Hogue, Adella P. Carpenter: In Memory of a Beautiful Life
Pfouts, A History of Roberts Wesleyan College
Roberts, B.H., B.T. Roberts: A Biography
Zahniser, Earnest Christian: Life and Works of B.T. Roberts