Page "Syracuse University" Paragraph 5

Meanwhile, there were several years of dispute between the Methodist ministers, Lima, and contending cities across the state, over proposals to move Genesee College to Syracuse.

At the time, the ministers wanted a share of the funds from the Morrill Land Grant Act for Genesee College.

Eventually, they agreed to a quid-pro quo donation of $ 25, 000 from Ezra Cornell in exchange for their support for his bill.

Cornell insisted the bargain be written into the bill and Cornell became New York State's Land Grant University in 1865.

In 1869, Genesee College obtained New York State approval to move to Syracuse, but Lima got a court injunction to block the move, and Genesee stayed in Lima until it was dissolved in 1875.

At its founding on March 24, 1870, the state of New York granted the University its charter independent of Genesee College.

The City of Syracuse offered $ 100, 000 to establish the school.

Bishop Jesse Truesdell Peck donated $ 25, 000 to the proposed school and was elected the first president of the Board of Trustees.

Rev.

Daniel Steele, a former Genesee College president, served as the first administrative leader of Syracuse until its Chancellor was appointed.

The university opened in September 1871 in rented space downtown.

George F. Comstock, a member of the new University's Board of Trustees, had offered the school of farmland on a hillside to the southeast of the city center.

Comstock intended Syracuse University and the hill to develop as an integrated whole ; a contemporary account described the latter as " a beautiful town ... springing up on the hillside and a community of refined and cultivated membership ... established near the spot which will soon be the center of a great and beneficent educational institution.