Gulick Hall
Springfield College students continued to grow in numbers, and by the mid 1960s a need for a new dormitory emerged. Construction on Gulick Hall began the summer of 1968 and was completed in September of 1969.
The dedication was held at the conclusion of the school year on May 29th, 1970. Dr Charles F. Weckwerth, class of 1931, spoke about the man to whom the building bears its name, Dr. Luther Halsey Gulick. Dr. Gulick was often referred to by Dr. Laurence L. Dogget, former President of Springfield College, as “the third founder of the college.” In 1887 he was appointed an instructor and he is generally credited with the development and application of the philosophy of the college: “we’re working for the whole man in body, mind, and spirit.” In 1989, Dr. Gulick wrote: “while we recognize that the intellectual is far more valuable than the physical and that the spiritual is of infinitely more value than both, still we see the fundamental necessity of all three, and work for the development of men as a whole.” Based on his philosophy, Gulick developed the inverted, equilateral triangle which is now the basis of the college’s official seal.
Weckwerth described Gulick as an “individualist who attracted a following of people of free and untrammeled minds…a tireless doer who initially provided a perspective for the early developing philosophy of humanics at Springfield College.” Weckwerth related the saga of Dr. Gulick’s life to a phoenix bird and said that “one can visualize the architect’s artistry as he has captured a symbolic essence in the design motif of Gulick Hall. Weckwerth went on to say, “Surely one sees in this building a 1970s version of a dormitory like phoenix bird lifting upward from the earth its coed students to make Gulick Hall a home during their study and preparation for lives of human service upon graduation.”
Perhaps it is no mistake that Gulick now houses only freshmen students. Today, many first-year students make Gulick Hall their new home, within which they are lifted up within these walls to learn the humanics philosophies of the college.
* Gulick Hall was the first dorm to break the tradition of males and females having completely separate dorm buildings. Though Massasoit was the first dormitory to change from a single-sex dorm to a co-ed dorm in 1969, Gulick was the first dormitory built with the intention to house both men and women. Gulick had sections designated for males and females, explaining the complicated interior structure in which there are different letter/floor names, and different areas which are often surprisingly hard to get to.
Scope and Contents of the Collection
This collection documents the planning and construction of Gulick Hall, the first dormitory to be designed with the intent to house both men and woman. The collection includes general information about the dormitory, including a fact sheet which lists the dorms features, number of rooms, floors, space, cost, design, architect information etc.; dedication materials, including memos with the Gulick family; floor plans; construction photographs, and general photograph and slides after the dormitory’s completion. The dedication materials also include the dedication speech given by Dr. Charles F. Weckwerth ’31, dedication invitations, and dedication program.
