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A University For The City

New York University is a school that is widely respected and known for its reputation. This reputation is based on the innovative academic life of students and the alumni who represent the school. There are few people in the world who haven't heard of the University's good reputation. Today, the college rivals "ivy league" Universities, offering a different kind of academic experience that is well sought after. The University's progress can be seen through its history. It is through this progress and the overcoming of many obstacles that New York University has a good reputation.
The founding fathers of the University sought to create a different college than those that were already established. They desired to make a school "'which corresponded with the spirit and wants of the age and country,' a nondenominational institution that would enlarge the opportunities of education for those qualified and inclined"(Frusciano 4). The colleges of the time focused on classical education, but the founding fathers who created The University of the City of New-York (New York University's original name) insisted that the education provided be rooted in practical knowledge (Frusciano 4). This advancement in ideals set the University aside from the beginning. They wanted to educate not only the children of the wealthy, but also the children of the common man; an idea that would not reach other Universities for years.
The University of the City of New-York's first president was Albert Gallatin. Today the University recognizes Gallatin as the foremost founder, because he was one that rose out of a group of men that truly wanted a different University. Gallatin saw, however, even before the first day of class, the college would begin differently than he hoped, so in 1831 he resigned his position (Frusciano 15). Regardless of his nearly non-existent span in office the University still hails him the innovator of the New York University known today. The ideas of Gallatin and...