Capen, Crofts, and Emily Webster

by Christopher Densmore

The first thing you do when you've got an endowment of $5 million is get a treasurer. So the first university-wide officer at the University was George Crofts. Then the next person needed is Samuel Capen who comes in 1922 to be the chancellor (which was the title of the position until we merged with the state and then it became the president.) So that's why today payroll and personnel are in Crofts and academic administration is in Capen.

Crofts was a holdover from the WWI Liberty Loan Campaign, who then continued on with the university. Capen and Crofts had this deal going that Capen wasn't going to deal with money and Crofts wasn't going to deal with academic policy. That's the way they ran the university.

There's a story about that. Emily Webster ran the University. She was Croft's assistant. When you had a proposal to make, you made it to Capen and if it cost money Capen sent you - Capen's office was in the old Hayes Hall - downtown, to Crofts in Townsend Hall on Niagara Square. And you would stand in front of George Crofts and say, "We've got this project, Capen says it's OK, it's gonna cost X number of dollars." And Crofts would sit there lighting his pipe and after you explained it to him he would turn and say, "Emily?" Emily's desk was over in the corner. And Emily would either nod her head or shake her head. And George Crofts would answer you. So actually it seems Emily Webster ran the University.