Andrew Van Vranken Raymond, Class of 1875
Ninth president of Union College, May 5, 1894 - mid-1907
Andrew Van Vranken Raymond was born on August 8, 1854 just a few miles away from Union College in Vischer’s Ferry, N.Y. He father was a Dutch Reformed minister and the family lived in several upstate communities where his father served as pastor. He was educated at Troy High School and entered Union College in 1872 as a sophomore.
Raymond was an earnest student and a talented athlete. He played baseball, edited the College Spectator, joined the Union Navy (boating club) and was a member of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity.
Following graduation from Union in 1875, Raymond attended New Brunswick Theological Seminary, graduating in 1878. Raymond’s first pastorship was served at the Trinity Reformed Church in Plainfield, New Jersey, where he remained until 1886. He eventually left the Dutch Reformed Church of his father to become a Presbyterian, and accepted a call to the Fourth Presbyterian Church in Albany.
With this new proximity to Union, Webster became actively involved with the College. He became president of the General Alumni Association, a post that he maintained until he became president of the College. A former student of Harrison Webster and ardent Webster supporter during the Potter administration, Webster soon called on him to preach at the College.
When Webster’s poor health obliged him to step down from the presidency, the trustees acted quickly, unanimously offering Raymond the position. Raymond was not as quick to accept the offer. Raymond felt ministry was his true calling and struggled with the decision for several weeks. He finally accepted the offer on May 5, 1894.
Although Raymond had no previous experience as an educator or administer, his presidency is described as a success. He moved quickly to strengthen the administration, faculty and curriculum. He made several strong faculty appointments – Edward Everett Hale, Jr from the University of Iowa to head the English department and Charles Prosser from Washburn College in Kansas to head the College’s first geology department. He also introduced Union’s first system of sabbatical leaves.
At his first meeting with the trustees, he proposed an ambitious physical building program. The trustees were unresponsive to his plan, not on principle but rather financial fitness. Financially the College had suffered from mismanagement, neglect and ambivalence since the final decade of the Nott administration. Trustees countered Raymond’s plan with a plan of their own – retrenchment. Faculty salaries were cut and an offer on the College’s Long Island property was accepted. The sale of the property was finalized in June of 1897, but much of the money ($1,100,000) from the sale was used to retire existing debt.
The sale of the Long Island property relieved some of the College’s debt, but did not provide enough capital to make it solvent. In 1901, when the College Treasurer position became available, Raymond persuaded Frank Bailey to accept the position. Bailey would do so only under the condition that the College would meet all its expenses through tuition and endowment income. To meet this condition, Raymond had to reduce faculty salaries from $28,000 to $20,000, which resulted in the dismissal of several faculty members. These were difficult decisions, but Raymond, the trustees and Bailey were able to restore the College to a state of solvency.
Although spending was tightly regulated during Raymond’s administration, the College’s physical development progressed by dint of philanthropy. Generous donations from Horace Silliman, Andrew Carnegie and General Electric enabled the College to continue constructing new and needed academic buildings.
During his last year as president, Raymond published his only book, Union University, its history, influence, characteristics and equipment. Shortly after its release, Raymond’s wife passed away and he began yearning to return to the ministry. He resigned from the presidency on July 18, 1907 and accepted the pastorship at the First Presbyterian Church of Buffalo in December 1907.
Raymond died of a heart attack while on a visit to Tyron, South Carolina.
Following Raymond’s departure, George Alexander served as president ad interim from 1907-1909.
Condensed from Wayne Somers, compiler and editor, Encyclopedia of Union College History (Schenectady: Union College Press, 2003), page 654.
Image courtesy of Union College, Schaffer Library Special Collections and Archives, Photograph Collection