Brubacher Hall

Brubacher Hall was officially opened in the fall of 1951, although before the building was finished, men briefly occupied a completed wing of Brubacher Hall in the Spring of 1951. Designed as a dormitory for 300 women, it also housed the school’s first Student Union, and a lodging facility for overnight and weekend visitors. It was named for New York State College for Teachers President Abram Roy Brubacher (1915-1939). Brubacher Hall, the third dormitory constructed on Alumni Quadrangle, was the first New York State College for Teachers dormitory built with state funds by the State Dormitory Authority. Designed by Harold O. Fullerton, architect, the dormitory was built at a cost of $1,542,000. Since the mid-1990s, Brubacher Hall has been leased to the College of St. Rose.

Abram Roy Brubacher (1870-1939) is widely credited with developing the New York State College for Teachers into a first rate liberal arts college. Brubacher consistently worked to strengthen the student body and faculty. He instituted freshman week and the faculty advisor system, increased the number of students earning graduate degrees, introduced sabbatical leaves and encouraged faculty scholarship. He doubled the size of the campus by adding Milne, Page, and Richardson Halls to the Western Avenue (Downtown) Campus and encouraged the Alumni Association to raise money to build college dormitories when the State refused to do so. A dormitory for women, later known as Pierce Hall, was completed during his presidency.