PRINCETON, N.J. – Tusculum University’s past connected nicely with its present recently at a historic estate in the Northeast that shares the same name with Tennessee’s first higher education institution.
Dr. James Hurley stands outside at the Tusculum Estate during a visit Tuesday, April 30.
Dr. James Hurley, the university’s president, visited the Tusculum Estate in Princeton Tuesday, April 30, during a trip to New Jersey for visits with alumni. Tusculum staff members photographed him as he stood outside at the country estate and thought about its association with the university he now leads.
“As Tusculum University celebrates its 225th anniversary, it’s appropriate to take time to visit this estate and reflect on its relationship to the earliest days of our institution,” Dr. Hurley said. “It was inspiring for me to see this magnificent estate firsthand because of the impact it had on the name of our university. I was in awe and reminded of the wisdom the Rev. Samuel Doak, one of our founders, displayed when he chose the word ‘Tusculum’ for what is now our university.”
The Tusculum Estate, which was sold in 2013 at auction for $5.5 million, was built in 1773 for John Witherspoon, Princeton University’s sixth president and one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. He served as the university’s president from 1768-1794. Concierge Auctions, which handled the estate’s sale, described Witherspoon as a close friend of Benjamin Franklin and George Washington.
When Doak, a Princeton alumnus, co-founded Tusculum Academy with his son in Northeast Tennessee in 1818, he chose the name of the local educational institution in honor of Witherspoon. The book “A Heritage of Two Centuries of Memories,” written by Don Sexton, a Tusculum professor emeritus, said the Tusculum school colors came from Princeton.
Tusculum Academy subsequently became Tusculum College, which merged with Greeneville College in 1868 to become Greeneville and Tusculum College, a predecessor name to today’s Tusculum University.
Tusculum Estate was named after the former Roman town of Tusculum, which was near a country villa belonging to Cicero, a Roman statesman, lawyer, teacher and orator. Cicero established an academy at Tusculum, where he outlined principles of civic virtue in a republic to vote, volunteer, serve the community above oneself and work to achieve excellence. His principles serve as the inspiration for Tusculum University’s focus on civic engagement.