Manhattanville College

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Manhattanville College
Manhattanville College Logo
Motto In Exultatione Metens
Established 1841
Type Private coeducational
President Richard Berman
Faculty 250
Undergraduates 1,700
Postgraduates 1,000
Location Purchase, NY, USA
Campus Suburban; 100 acres
Athletics 18 NCAA Division III sports teams
Mascot Valiant
Website www.manhattanville.edu
The architectural and administrative centerpiece of the Manhattanville campus, Reid Hall (1864), is named after Whitelaw Reid owner of the New York Tribune.
Enlarge
The architectural and administrative centerpiece of the Manhattanville campus, Reid Hall (1864), is named after Whitelaw Reid owner of the New York Tribune.

Manhattanville College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in Purchase, New York.

Current president Richard Berman has served for nearly 11 years. Under his administration Manhattanville has undergone a renaissance[1] which has gained the college much acclaim.

Today roughly one thousand seven hundred students attend Manhattanville. Renowned for its commitment to diversity, Manhattanville boasts an impressive academic body made up of students from 59 countries and 40 states. There are three student run publications on campus The Touchstone[2], which has been produced by the college for nearly 65 years, The Right World View which is a new conservative publication and The Link which is a progressive publication created with the help of the Connie Hogarth Center for Social Action. Guidebooks have called the Manhattanville student body, smart, sociable, athletic and easy-going[3]. Currently the three most popular majors at the college are, business, psychology and history. Admission to Manhattanville is considered difficult with a 50% admissions rate[4] with much emphasis in the admissions process being placed on character development. In accordance with the college's Portfolio System, which is the oldest such system in the nation, graduate candidates must present a freshman year assessment essay; a study plan outlining all course work counted toward the degree; a program evaluation essay, which gives a rationale for the student's choice of courses, as well as a personal evaluation of the course; and specific examples of work in writing and research.

Contents

[edit] Campus

Manhattanville is located on a 100 acre wooded campus in Purchase, New York, on the former estate of Whitelaw Reid. The centerpiece of the campus is a quadrangle designed by Frederick Law Olmstead which is flanked on its north end by a massive stone castle.

[edit] History

In 1841 in a three-story house on Houston Street on Manhattan's Lower East Side, the Academy of the Sacred Heart, a Catholic boarding school for girls, was founded. The Academy relocated in 1847 to an area in the north western part of Manhattan Island on a hill overlooking the village of Manhattanville. Destroyed by a fire in 1888, the Academy was rebuilt on the same foundation and continued to grow, both in curriculum and physical environment.

An aerial photo of the former campus of the Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart in the Manhattanville section of New York City, taken from the south looking northeast.
Enlarge
An aerial photo of the former campus of the Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart in the Manhattanville section of New York City, taken from the south looking northeast.

In March of 1917, 76 years after its founding as an academy, Manhattanville was chartered as a college by the New York State Board of Regents, empowering it to grant both undergraduate and graduate degrees. In 1952, the college moved to Purchase to the former estate of Whitelaw Reid, editor of the New York Herald Tribune and Ambassador to the United Kingdom before World War II. Long heralded as the most prestigious Catholic women's college, after becoming co-educational and non denominational Manhattanville began to experience difficult financial problems. In the past decade however, the college has been successfully raising its capital funds which has enabled it to build new facilities and increase its endowment[5]. Today, Manhattanville's "Castle" looks out over the green of the quadrangle to the renovated residence halls, academic buildings and the housing complex for faculty and staff from around the globe.

Co-educational since 1969 and non-denominational in its governance since 1971, Manhattanville's original vision lives on in the tradition of service begun by the Society of the Sacred Heart, extending from the students to the global community. During the Depression and World War II, President Grace Cowardin Dammann, RSCJ, instilled in Manhattanville's students a keen awareness of social problems by encouraging them to spend one day a week working with children at the Barat Settlement in the Bowery and at Casita Maria in East Harlem. Mother Dammann's widely published speech, "Principles vs. Prejudice," inspired other colleges to break down racial barriers. The long tradition of the school, which preceded the college charter, determined the character Manhattanville would have, and which is stated in the Manhattanville mission statement: a belief in the liberalizing effect of the liberal arts, a sense of tradition, an interest in the most humane manifestations of the human spirit, and a continuing effort to enhance the local community. Students' commitment to "community" is evidenced by the thousands of hours they devote to develop and participate in community service projects.

The Quadrangle at Manhattanville, designed by Fredrick Law Olmstead.
Enlarge
The Quadrangle at Manhattanville, designed by Fredrick Law Olmstead.

[edit] Traditions

  • 200 Nights Halloween Party,100 Nights Theme party,50 Nights Toga Party in honor of remaining nights until graduation.
  • Fall Jam "Fall Fest" Music Festival
  • Quad Jam
  • West Point Football Saturday
  • Saturday Night at Dooley Mac's Bar (informally Manhattanville's official bar)
  • International Bazaar
  • Homecoming Weekend
  • History Alumni BBQ Manhattanville History Department

[edit] Trivia

  • Reid Hall was a potential site for the United Nations.
  • The Biology Park was designed by renowned achitect Maya Lin who designed the Vietnam Memorial in Washington D.C.
  • The campus was designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, the designer of Central Park in New York City.
  • Manhattanville throws a party in celebration of seniors 200,100 and 50 remaining nights.
  • There is a graveyard on campus which holds the remains of nearly 50 nuns.
  • In 2003 Toni Smith, a member of the women's basketball team, stood in protest against war, this action received international media attention
  • During the Vietnam War, the main academic building was overtaken by students in protest.
  • Juan Salas '06 began My Soldier, a program to support American soldiers, the program to date has nearly 500,000 members.
  • The interior of Reid Hall was used in the recent film The Thomas Crown Affair
  • Valiants Ice Hockey plays their home game at Playland Park.
  • Manhattanville boasts the oldest nation-wide portfolio system
  • Senator Edward Kennedy (D) Mass. met his former wife, Joan Bennett Kennedy while delivering a speech dedicating the gymnasium in his sister's honor.

[edit] Manhattanville Library Rare Book and Manuscripts Room

The Rare Book and Manuscripts Room preserves both manuscripts and printed materials from the Manhattanville College Library. The book collection consists of approximately 2,400 titles that span the history of the book in the United States and Europe. Subject fields represented include history, religion, literature, biography, and philosophy. The collection also includes other formats such as periodicals, pamphlets, government documents, maps, and manuscripts. Particularly noteworthy are five incunabula (books printed before 1500) and several bound manuscript volumes, also from the fifteenth century. The latter include individual collections of psalms and prayers intended as an aid to private devotion, known as Books of Hours. The most notable of these is the Horae Beatae Mariae Virginis, Cum Calendario -- also known as the Manhattanville Book of Hours.[6]

Creative Arts Center.
Enlarge
Creative Arts Center.

[edit] In Film, Television and the Arts

Film, television and art productions that feature Manhattanville:

  • Thomas Crown Affair which utilized the interior of Reid Hall.
  • Law and Order SVU which used the interior of the President's Cottage
  • The Funeral(1996) in which a main character says she graduated from Manhattanville.
  • Richard Rodgers visited Manhattanville in 1959 to research liturgical music for The Sound of Music and according to college documents Rodgers was inspired to write the song, The Hills are Alive With the Sound of Music while on campus.

[edit] Current Projects

  • Manhattanville Creative Arts and Student Center (2006)
  • Rebuilding of "Old Chapel" with biology "living" classroom

[edit] Notable alumni

[edit] External links


Skyline Conference
Centenary • Farmingdale State • Manhattanville • Mount Saint Mary • Mount Saint Vincent • Saint Joseph's • SUNY Maritime • SUNY Old Westbury • Stevens Institute of Technology • U.S. Merchant Marine Academy • Yeshiva
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../m/a/n/Manhattanville_College_b2dd.html"