Hall of Fame
Burleigh Cruikshank ’15 was recognized as one of college football’s top players in the early 1900’s.
A two-time All-America center, Cruikshank helped guide the Presidents to one of the top two-year runs in school history in 1913 and 1914. The 1913 Presidents finished the year with a 10-0-1 record and the top-ranked scoring offense in the country (32.9 ppg). W&J set a school record for points during a 100-0 victory over Grove City and tied Yale (0-0) for the only non-win of the year. A 17-0 victory over Penn State snapped the Nittany Lions' 17-game win streak.
During his final season in 1914, W&J posted a 10-1 record with the only blemish being a 10-9 loss to Harvard in the "mythical national championship game". During that season, Washington & Jefferson defeated Yale 13-7 to become only the seventh team in history to beat the storied Yale program. Theodore Roosevelt sent the W&J team a congratulatory note after that victory.
During his first college season in 1912, W&J won eight games and also played Jim Thorpe's Carlisle Indians to a 0-0 tie.
After graduating from Washington & Jefferson, Cruikshank enrolled at the Princeton Theological Seminary. He then began his ministry as the pastor of a small church in Chatham, New Jersey. In 1920, he was hired as the assistant pastor at the First Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh.
From 1928-1946, Cruikshank served as the pastor at St. Paul's Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, the largest Presbyterian church in Philadelphia and one of the largest in the United States.
The 1928 W&J Commencement speaker was awarded an honorary doctorate from Washington & Jefferson College in 1926. Cruikshank passed away at the age of 92 in 1982.
