On September 23, 1935, in the middle of the Great Depression and at a time of great turmoil, Hofstra College first opened its doors to 19 faculty members and about 800 students (many of whom were part-time students attending evening classes). Under the direction of Truesdel Peck Calkins, Howard Brower and the trustees of the Hofstra estate, they bravely began a new and hopeful journey in higher education, by starting a small, commuter college, in what had been until only a few years earlier Kate and William Hofstra’s Hempstead Plains home.
75 years later, Hofstra University, much like its Long Island home, has changed and grown, perhaps even more than Mr. Calkins and his colleagues would have ever dreamed. As you know, Hofstra is now an internationally renowned university, welcoming thousands of students from around the world and across the country, with hundreds of faculty
scholars on a beautiful residential campus.
