Wells College

History

Founding

Wells College was established by Henry Wells in 1868 as Wells Seminary, a women's college. Henry Wells was a co-founder of both Wells Fargo & Company and American Express Company, and he established the seminary in pursuit of promoting higher education for women, a goal which he called "the dream of my life". Wells, with support from benefactors including Edwin B. Morgan, founded the college on a plot of land adjacent to his villa, Glen Park, in Aurora, Cayuga County, New York; he also rejected an offer from Ezra Cornell to merge their two newly-established colleges. In 1875, Wells stated in an address that he founded the college with the hope it would "always be conducted on truly Christian principles". On March 28, 1868, the college was incorporated by the New York State Legislature for the purpose of "promoting the higher education of young women in literature, science and the arts". In 1870, the seminary's name was changed to Wells College. Over its first ten years, the college's enrollment grew from 34 to 170 students.

Growth

Frances Folsom, born in Buffalo before attending Wells, graduated in 1885 and married then–U.S. President Grover Cleveland the next year, becoming at the time the youngest woman to serve as First Lady. During her time as a student at Wells, social codes regarding correspondence were strictly enforced; nonetheless, Cleveland had received permission to write her and did so to propose their romantic relationship. In 1887, she joined the college's board of trustees, and served in her position for over 50 years.

In August 1888, the college's main building was destroyed in a fire. Its replacement was planned by architect William Henry Miller and rebuilt over the two years following the fire.

An 1890 volume by W. T. Harris named nine women's colleges that offered an educational quality on par with coeducational and men's colleges; Wells was listed among them, alongside Bryn Mawr College, Elmira College, Ingham University, Mount Holyoke College, Rutgers Female College, Smith College, Vassar College, and Wellesley College.

In the mid-1960s, Wells College was included in the Finger Lakes Colleges Computing Center, later the Finger Lakes Area Computing Center, a computing center born out of a National Science Foundation grant awarded to Cornell University. The project utilized time-sharing of an IBM 360/67 between colleges and high schools in upstate New York, and, although the 360/67 system did not meet its high expectations, access to the computing center allowed Wells and the other member institutions to make progress on installing their own computing infrastructure.

Financial issues and closure

In October 2004, the Wells College board of trustees convened to consider changing the college to a coeducational institution. When the college's 18 trustees arrived on campus to deliberate, over 100 people staged a protest to block the paths and urge the trustees to vote against the change. The college stated that they were considering becoming coeducational to attract more students and combat "enrollment challenges" that posed a risk to the college's finances. After the board president announced on October 2 that Wells would become coeducational the following fall, over 100 students organized a sit-in to protest the resolution and the lack of student, alumni, and parent involvement in the decision. Multiple alumni, as well as students from other women's colleges, joined the multi-day sit-in, inspired by prior protests at Mills College. Despite the sit-in and letters from over a dozen parents, a university spokesperson stated later in the month that the board would not reconsider its position on the matter.

After the board reaffirmed its decision to move ahead with coeducation, students filed a lawsuit against the college, which the courts rejected. A judge refusing to block the transition stated he chose not to "second-guess" the trustees' decision and did not want to be responsible for any "annihilation" of the college. According to the Associated Press, "several" students chose to transfer following the decision.

It was projected in May 2005 that the "inaugural coed class will include at least 21 males". In the fall of 2005, campus enrollment was made up of 383 women and 33 men, for a total of 416. The Post-Standard reported on the first day of classes that Wells opened "without problems". By 2007, Wells' total enrollment had grown to 574, of which approximately 75 percent were female.

In June 2019, Wells College's accreditor, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE), placed the college on probation for its "[inability] to demonstrate compliance with the Commission’s standards for accreditation and requirements of affiliation". The college's accreditation had last been reaffirmed in 2014, but in their 2019 report the MSCHE stated that Wells' accreditation was in jeopardy for providing "insufficient evidence" for their compliance with the "Planning, Resources, and Institutional Improvement" standard.

In May 2020, the president of Wells College, Jonathan Gibralter, sent a series of letters to the students, faculty, and staff members of the college, warning the community that financial issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic threatened the college's future. He wrote: "If New York State continues its mandate that our campus remain closed through all or part of the [2020] fall semester, Wells simply will not receive enough revenue to continue operations." Additionally, with about 15% of Wells' operating revenue coming from the study abroad program in Florence, Italy, that it administered, COVID-19 travel restrictions cut off a portion of the college's revenue. The college, at the time, enrolled 414 students.

Legacy

While it was originally announced alongside the closure itself that Manhattanville University in Purchase, New York, would maintain the college's transcripts, business records, and other important artifacts, in June 2025 the Wells College Board of Trustees entered into a legacy agreement with Hobart and William Smith Colleges in nearby Geneva, New York. As part of that agreement, books, records and other items from Wells College would be held at Hobart and William Smith, artworks would be transferred, and greenspace would be named in honor of the former college.

In January 2026, the Wells College Board of Trustees accepted a bid from the Hiawatha Institute for Indigenous Knowledge to purchase the college's campus for 12.5 million dollars. The Hiawatha Institute intends to establish a two-year tribal college using approximately 20% of the campus and to lease the remainder as apartments or commercial space to generate revenue.

Academics

Wells College students had the option to cross-register for classes at other institutions as part of an inter-college exchange program. Wells' partners in the program were Cornell University, Ithaca College, and Cayuga Community College. In its 2024 rankings, U.S. News & World Report ranked Wells at 146th among national liberal arts colleges.

Wells College had several study abroad programs, most notably in Florence, Italy. It had also created centers in sustainability, business and entrepreneurship, and book arts.

Wells had an honor code to which all students subscribed. By signing the Honor Code, Wells students pledged "not to lie, cheat, steal, deceive, or conceal in the conduct of their collegiate life". Wells allowed students to have take-home exams and to work in their residence hall rooms, at the library, or on the dock by the lake, rather than only in classrooms.

Athletics

Wells College, nicknamed The Express, competed as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the Division III level. Their school colors were red, white, and black. Historically, cardinal and scarlet were used as specific shades of red for Wells' academic costume.

As a member of the Private College Athletic Conference throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Express sports teams of the college captured four consecutive conference championships in women's tennis (1977–78, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1980–81). They also won titles in women's bowling (1978–79, 1979–80). Wells, which officially became an NCAA Division III institution prior to the 1986–87 athletic season, joined the Atlantic Women's Colleges Conference (AWCC) prior to the 1996–97 athletic season. In 1996, the Wells women's soccer team captured the school's only AWCC championship title. At the time, Wells offered six intercollegiate athletic sports: field hockey, softball, women's lacrosse, women's soccer, women's swimming and women's tennis.

In 2005, as part of the Board of Trustees' decision to accept men to the traditionally all-women's college, Wells incorporated men's soccer, men's swimming, and men's and women's cross country into their athletic cadre.

Prior to the 2007–08 academic year, the Express teams were invited to join the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) and compete against 14 other schools in the East Region. In joining the NEAC, Wells competed for conference championships and the opportunity to receive an automatic qualifier to participate in the NCAA tournament in select sports. Ultimately, Wells captured six conference championships in the NEAC. Men's swimming won the first league title in 2009–10, and earned a second title in 2012–13. Women's swimming have won three consecutive conference championships, during the 2011–12, 2012–13, and 2013–14 seasons. Men's basketball won the NEAC championship in 2010–11 and was the first team from Wells to participate in the NCAA Tournament.

In the 2018–19 season, the Wells men's volleyball team made it to the Elite 8 (Quarterfinals) in the NCAA Division III Men's Volleyball Tournament before falling to Stevens Institute of Technology. In the 2019–20 season, the Wells College women's swim team won first place in the NEAC swimming championships. In 2021, the NEAC rebranded and became the United East Conference. For the next two athletic seasons, Wells was a member of the United East. In 2022, the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference and Wells announced the Express would become full-time members at the start of the 2023–24 school year.

Campus

The campus of Wells College spanned 127 acres in the rural setting of Aurora, a village in Cayuga County, New York, on the eastern shore of Cayuga Lake, one of the Finger Lakes.

The Louis Jefferson Long Library on the Wells College campus was completed in 1968 and had been designed by Walter Netsch, an example of a building employing his architectural Field Theory. Netsch was a member of the architecture firm SOM, which also designed the Barler Music Hall and Campbell Art Building.

Leadership

Deans

Helen Fairchild Smith (1894–1905)

Presidents

Thomas J. Preston, Jr. (1912; pro temp) – married Frances Folsom Cleveland, widow of Grover Cleveland

John Delane Wilson (1968–1975)

Frances "Sissy" Farenthold (1976–1980)

Patti McGill Peterson (1980–1987)

Irene W.D. Hecht (-1991)

Robert A. Plane (1991–1995)

Lisa Marsh Ryerson (1995–2013)

Thomas E. J. de Witt (2013–2015; interim)

Jonathan Gibralter (2015–2024)

Susan Henking (2024–present)