C.W. Post Campus Marks 50th Anniversary
Celebration Includes Alumni Reunions, Historical Exhibits and Lecture Series

The date was September 22, 1955 and 121 students decided to take the educational gamble of a lifetime. They started day classes at a brand new Long Island college that had no traditions, no academic reputation and no conventional classrooms.

Fifty years later, that college has blossomed into the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University in Brookville, which today boasts an enrollment of 13,000 full- and part-time students, 240 bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral programs, elite academic accreditations, 17 intercollegiate sports teams, and 59 academic and recreational buildings. The Campus was officially founded on October 29,1954 and was named for Charles William Post, the great American inventor and businessman who built his breakfast cereal empire with a spirit of ingenuity, determination and courage — all qualities that are part of the C.W. Post Campus tradition.

“Being part of a new college was a wonderful experience and great fun,” said John Capra, Class of 1959, who served as senior class president and as a member of the Campus’ first four-year graduating class. “Spirits and morale were high because we were starting everything from scratch. How many people can say they attended a college when it was just getting started?”

The Campus will celebrate its half-century mark with events that will run from September 2004 to August 2005. Community members, students, faculty, staff and alumni are invited to a variety of special activities that will pay tribute to the people, programs and services that have made C.W. Post such an extraordinary place of higher learning.

The 50th anniversary, titled “Celebrating 50 Years of Pioneer Spirit,” will include:

• Homecoming and Family Day on October 23 featuring alumni reunions for early classes from 1958 to 1962.
• A lecture series will explore the history of the Campus from its beginning as the estate of cereal heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post, daughter of Post Cereal Company founder Charles William Post, through its evolution into a campus of the nation’s seventh largest private university. Speakers include Dr. Stephanie Brown, archivist and historian of the Hillwood Museum and Gardens, Mrs. Post’s last home in Washington, D.C.
• A winter concert on November 21 will feature the performance of “Leaves of Grass,” a musical composition commissioned especially for C.W. Post’s golden anniversary.
• An exhibit will illustrate the early years of the campus, specifically the 1950s when students attended classes in converted horse stables and barns.
• Tours will feature information about campus buildings, including the historic 93-year-old Tudor mansion and the Community Arboretum.

For more information about the 50th anniversary, call C.W. Post Campus Historian Kenneth Mensing at (516) 299-4178 or visit the anniversary Web site at www.liu.edu/cwpost50.           

Editor’s Note: Vintage photos of the campus are available by calling (516) 299-2334.