Ruyter University

History

Establishment

President's Hall, later renamed "Camden Hall," is the oldest building at Ruyter University

In early 1772, following independence from Gaullica, local Amendist congregations in Anmore petitioned the Lothicania State Assembly for a college to be chartered in their town. Initially, the proposed college was to be named "Camden College" in honor of James Camden, a military hero from the war for independence who later became the first president of Rizealand. While Camden, who was born and raised in Anmore, supported the creating of a college in Anmore, he opposed naming the college after him, writing in a letter to the State Assembly that there were "far greater men who deserved such an honor" than him. Respecting Camden's wishes, the new college was named "Ruyter College" after Gerald Ruyter, Baron of Lothican, one of the founders of the original Colony of Lothicania.

After the State Assembly issued a charter for Ruyter College in summer of 1772, the college admitted its first students in the fall of 1772. The first class at Ruyter had only five students and they were taught by Richard Mears, the college's sole instructor and first president, who hosted class at his home in Anmore. As the college gained more students and hired more instructors, classes were held at multiple private residences throughout Anmore and Mears began raising funds for the construction of permanent facilities for their college. In 1776, James Camden gifted some of his Anmore estate's land to the college and construction began on President's Hall, which was finished in 1787. Upon his death in 1784, Camden bequeathed the rest of his Anmore estate and wealth to the college.

19th Century

In 1808, Lewis Trainor became the first alumnus of Ruyter College to serve as president. During his tenure, Ruyter College struggled financially as a result of bad financial decisions and the economic depression caused by the ongoing Beaver Wars between Rizealand and Cassier. After Trainor was ousted by the board of trustees, Amos Dinsmore was appointed in 1813. As president, Dinsmore helped the college regain its financial footing by renting some of its facilities to the Holyrod Seminary and working to increase enrollment by taking advantage of Ruyter College's strategic location between two growing population centers, Liberty City and Marymore.

After the end of Dinsmore's tenure in 1824, the college faced a period of stagnation with reduced enrollment and increased competition from the growing number of colleges in Liberty City. In 1831, a group of faculty members at the college published an essay in local and Liberty City newspapers that claimed a majority of the college's student body were "immoral" and that the college's administration failed to maintain proper discipline. Their essay gave specific instances of bad behavior among students that involved widespread drunkeness, licentious behavior, and academic dishonesty. Although then-President Miles Nickel dismissed the essay as "libelous" and inaccurate, the board of trustees promptly fired him and replaced him with Peter Aiken. Under President Aiken, the college enacted a serious of strict policies to promote moral behavior and imposed extreme punishments on students who did not comply, specifically targeting individual students who he believed were bad influences on the rest of the student body. Aiken's policies backfired however, leading the 1832 Ruyter College riots in which a large portion of the college's buildings were vandalized, burnt, or ransacked by angry students. While most of the physical damage was quickly repaired, the college's reputation took longer to mend and it continued to struggle with raising funds, hiring staff, and attracting students for the next two decades.