Russell Sage College
Russell Sage is located in Troy and was founded in 1918 by Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage as a school of practical arts. It is one of the three colleges that make up The Sage Colleges. The college was originally named after her husband who was a Congressman in New York. Mrs. Sage was very active in the women’s suffrage movement and founded the college in an effort to offer women the means of independence through education in the liberal arts and preperation for a career. The college operated under the charter of the Emma Willard School.
Russell Sage had it’s first graduating class in 1920 and in 1927 the New York State Board of Regents granted a separate charter reaffirming the Emma willard as a secondary school.
In 1949, an Albany Division was opened, offering two-year, four-year and graduate degrees under the charter of Russell Sage College and also making a strong effor to include men in their education. In 2001, the Sage Junior College of Albany and Sage Evening College were replaced by a single entity, Sage College of Albany.
Traditions of Russell Sage:
Big Sisters/Little Sisters: When a first-year student starts , she is assigned a big sister in the junior class.
Banner Night: Before the first-year class arrives on campus, their big sister class will create a banner in the color of their class with their class year on it. This is all presented on Banner Night.
Color Night: First-year class officers are announced on color night. The title of the night is changed every year.
Class Sweaters: First-year students order sweaters in the fall, which are delivered to them at the beginning of Rally.
Class Dinners: Each class holds a formal dinner once per academic year.
Ring Dinner: The junior class dinner, held in the fall semester, is the time when students receive their class rings.
Rally: During this two-to-three-week event, the three lower classes paint banners, write songs, perform skits, collect bottles and cans, conduct raffles or build items and raise money for community charities in a friendly competition, with the winning class getting their class year added to a sheepskin hung on campus. Rally is supervised by the senior class.
Rally Day: The last day of Rally.
Sweater Night: On the eve of Rally Day, students form a chain and parade around campus
Room Trashing: Big sisters try to sneak into their little sisters’ rooms during Rally, and if they manage to gain entry, they are entitled to search for their sister’s sweater, hidden somewhere in the room — and trashing the room is all part of the fun. If they find their sister’s sweater, they steal it — the big sister will hold onto it and wear it around her waist at Rally events, finally giving it back at Sweater Night.
Class Day: At the annual spring moving-up ceremony held at the end of the school year before finals start, all classes “graduate” to their next year of college. Seniors wear their graduation caps and gowns, symbolizing their movement to alumnae status, and the flag of the new senior class is raised in McKinstry Courtyard.
