Huntingdon Normal School, a normal school, was established by a young Huntingdon physician, Dr. Andrew B. Brumbaugh, and his two cousins, Henry and John Brumbaugh. Henry provided a second-story room over his local print shop for classes, while John lodged and fed the college's first teacher, Jacob M. Zuck. Andrew was to "provide students and furniture".[6][7] Juniata's first classes were held on April 17, 1876, with professor Zuck teaching Rebecca Cornelius, Maggie D. Miller, and Gaius M. Brumbaugh, (the only son of physician Andrew Brumbaugh).[citation needed]
In 1877, the school changed its name to the Brethren Normal School. At this time Zuck also discussed adding a "Scientific Course" and issuing "Certificates of Graduation". In 1879, classes were moved into Founder's Hall, the school's first permanent building on the present-day campus then only known as "The Building". On May 11 of same year, Jacob Zuck died from pneumonia at age 32, which he probably caught from sleeping in the then unfinished Founders Hall without a heater. James Quinter was then chosen to lead the school as the school's first president.[7]
In 1894, due to a ruling at the Brethren Church's Annual Meeting against using the term "Brethren" in naming a school, the college was then renamed Juniata College for the nearby Juniata River, one of the principal tributaries from the west of the central Susquehanna River, which empties further south into the Chesapeake Bay. The name of Juniata College was made the school's legal name two decades later in 1896.[7]
Shortly after assuming the governorship in Harrisburg in January 1915, Dr. Brumbaugh also was recruited as a potential Republican Party presidential candidate in the following year's 1916 United States presidential election. He receiving more cast votes than any other in the several states party primary elections that spring and early summer of 1916. However the party's nomination went to Judge Charles Evans Hughes (1862-1941), then the associate justice of the United States Supreme Court at the 1916 Republican National Convention, meeting later that year in Chicago, Illinois. Unfortunately, Republican candidate and Justice Hughes lost the 1916 election to his opponent, the Democratic Party candidate and incumbent 28th PresidentWoodrow Wilson (1856-1924, served 1913-1921), who was the victor and reelected to a second term. However, now former Associate Justice Hughes was later appointed by subsequent 31st President Herbert Hoover to later become the 11th Chief Justice of the United States serving again and heading the U.S. Supreme Court from 1930 to his death in 1941.[citation needed]
Governor Brumbaugh returned to Huntingdon and Juanita College after his 1915-1919 governorship five years later in 1924 to again assume the office of college president until his death while on vacation in North Carolina later in March 1930, after a second tenure of six years at his beloved Juanita.[citation needed]
20th century
During and after his tenure, Brumbaugh remained intimately connected to the college and reacquired the college's presidency in 1924, after having served as Governor of Pennsylvania from 1915 to 1919 and as commissioner of education in 1900 in the newly-acquired American possession of the former Kingdom of Spain/ Spanish Empire's island of Puerto Rico, after the Spanish-American War of 1898.[8] M. G. Brumbaugh died unexpectedly in 1930 while on vacation in Pinehurst, North Carolina, and was succeeded in his presidency by a former pupil at Juniata, Dr. Charles Calvert Ellis.[citation needed]
Founders Hall, the first building on campusNathan Hall
The main campus area is 110 acres (0.45 km2), and the college manages a 315-acre (1.27 km2) Baker-Henry Nature Preserve. Two new buildings since 2000 include the von Liebig Center for Science and the Suzanne von Liebig Theatre. Founders Hall, the first building on campus, has also been renovated recently. Construction was finished in the summer of 2009 and uses underground geothermal energy to heat and cool the building. This building is recognized as a LEED Gold building.[citation needed]
Other off-campus sites include the Baker Peace Chapel, designed by Maya Lin, and the cliffs, which have views of the Juniata River. The college also owns the Raystown Field Station, a 365-acre (1.48 km2) reserve on Raystown Lake, which includes a LEED Gold building and two lodges for semester-long residential programs, often focused on environmental topics.[10]
Athletics
Memorial Gymnasium inside the Kennedy Sports and Recreation Center
The Juniata College football program is a member of the Landmark Conference. The Goal Post Trophy goes to the winner of the annual football game with rival Susquehanna University. It is a section of the goal post that was torn down after the 1952 Juniata-Susquehanna game. The visiting Indians (now Eagles) upset the Crusaders in Selinsgrove, and Juniata fans tore down the goal post after the game.[11]
Volleyball
Juniata College is known for both its men's and women's volleyball program. The men's volleyball team competes in the Continental Volleyball Conference; it previously competed in the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association, where it won several titles, even while under Division I and Division III sanctions.
In 2023, the Juniata women's volleyball team won the NCAA D-III national championship. The Eagles completed a perfect season, going 35-0, earning the No. 2 seed in the D-III tournament and sweeping No. 4 Hope in straight sets, 25-22, 25-20, 25-21.[citation needed]
Wayne M. Meyers, former president, International Leprosy Association, physician, researcher, medical missionary, author of medical articles, book chapters, and books
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