State University of New York at Purchase

Purchase College was originally a 500-acre estate and working farm in the 18th century.

The land that would become Purchase College was first settled by the Thomas family in 1734.[10] John Thomas served as an assemblyman in colonial New York from 1743 to 1776. He served as a judge for the Court of Common Pleas in Westchester and a Muster-Master. Judge Thomas was an early supporter of American independence. Robert Bolton wrote in History of Westchester County that Thomas was "a warm Whig" who gave the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence in New York at the White Plains courthouse on July 11, 1776.[10] On March 22, 1777, Thomas was imprisoned by the British and died on May 2, 1777.[10]

John Thomas' sons, John Thomas, Jr. and Thomas Thomas, also fought for American independence.[10] Thomas Thomas was later appointed a General. He is buried at the Thomas family graveyard, which is located behind the Neuberger Museum of Art on the campus of Purchase College.[10] A tall, white stone obelisk commemorates General Thomas and his family.[10]

In 2019, Thomas J. Schwarz announced that he was stepping down from his role as President after 18 years of service.[11] State University of New York Board of Trustees has appointed Dennis Craig as interim president of Purchase College effective on August 1, 2019.[12]

Summer orientation 2013

As of 2017, Purchase College had 4,121 undergraduate students with freshman enrollment of 763.[6][13][5] 57% of Purchase's student body is female. 15% of the college's students come from outside of New York state and 2.4% of its students are international.[13] Purchase has an acceptance rate of 44% and a student-teacher ratio of 14:1.[14] 62% of Purchase students receive need-based financial aid and the college has an endowment of $61.1 million.[6]

Purchase College offers majors from three schools: the School for Liberal Arts and Sciences, the School of the Arts, and the School of Liberal Studies & Continuing Education.[15] According to U.S. News & World Report, the five most popular majors for 2016 graduates at Purchase College were Visual and Performing Arts (48%); General Studies and Humanities (16%); Social Sciences (8%); Psychology (6%); and Communication, Journalism and related programs (5%).[16]

Purchase College was ranked the 10th best public national liberal arts college and, including private liberal arts colleges, tied for 155th overall in U.S. News & World Report's 2021 college rankings.[20] Kiplinger ranked the school as the 86th "Best Value in Public Colleges" in 2018.[21] It was also listed as one of the 100 Best Value Public Colleges for the years 2013 and 2014 by the Princeton Review.[13] The Princeton Review rated the school's theatre as the second best.[13] Purchase was also listed as one of the Princeton Review's top 382 colleges for 2018.[22] Newsweek ranked the school's student body as the thirteenth most liberal in 2012.[23]

Public art on campus

Purchase College's School of the Arts houses the college's schools of Art+Design and Art Management.[24] It also oversees Purchase's conservatories of Dance, Music and Theatre Arts.[24] Most courses offered by BA programs housed in the School of the Arts are open to all Purchase students.[25] Many BFA and MusB classes are open to all students as well.[25] Approximately 40% of Purchase College's student body is enrolled in the School of the Arts.[26]

The Jandon Business of the Arts Distinguished Lecture Series, endowed by the Donald Cecil family, is designed to enhance the arts management program at the college. Past lecturers include Joseph Volpe, former general manager of the Metropolitan Opera, and Ben Cameron, program director at the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.[27]

Conservatory of Dance

Inside the dance building

The Conservatory of Dance houses both bachelor's and master's programs.[35] It is one of the most highly regarded conservatories of dance in the United States.[36] Undergraduates may major in modern or performance ballet, and dance composition and dance production.[35] The conservatory confers master's degrees in dance choreography and performance teaching.[35] The Conservatory of Dance is housed in the Purchase College Dance Building, which was the first facility constructed in the United States solely for the study and performance of dance.[37]

It is also home to the Purchase Dance Company, the college's student dance company.[38] The Purchase Dance company presents The Nutcracker every December and a balanced repertory during the spring semester.[39] The dance company also tours throughout the United States and internationally during the college's summer break.[38] Purchase College students must audition for inclusion in the dance company, and the cast for individual shows is based on the technical competencies of members of the company.[39] Students may earn college credit for their participation in the company.[39]

Conservatory of Music

Purchase Jazz Orchestra performs at Lincoln Center in New York City.

Purchase College's Conservatory of Music houses the college's bachelor's and master's programs in music.[40] Undergraduates may study classical music instrumentation with a concentration in one of several types of instruments; voice and opera; classical composition; jazz; studio composition; or studio production.[40] The Conservatory of Music also offers master's programs in all of these areas, except studio production.[41] The enrollment in the conservatory is limited to 400 undergraduate and graduate students.[40] It is one of the few conservatories in the United States that produces full opera productions predominately for undergraduates.[42] The conservatory's Music Building has two recital halls, 75 practice rooms, 80 Steinway & Sons pianos, and professional recording studios.

The Purchase Opera, the school's student opera company, was founded in 1998 and has won nine first-place honors from the National Opera Association.[43] During the 2012–13 season, the opera won first place in the National Opera Association's Division II for its production of Die Fledermaus and second place in Division III for its production of Hansel and Gretel.[44]

The Purchase Jazz Orchestra is a 17-piece big band composed of students from the conservatory's jazz studies program. Each year the orchestra performs at jazz venues such as Blue Note Jazz Club and Dizzy's in New York City.[45][46]

Purchase College's School of Liberal Arts and Sciences houses the college's School of Film and Media Studies; School of Humanities; School of Natural and Social Sciences and interdisciplinary studies.[53] Students can choose from 23 separate majors or they can design an interdisciplinary major from several courses of study.[53]

The annual Durst Lecture Series, supported by an endowment from the Durst family, brings in celebrated writers to the campus. Past lecturers include authors Tim O'Brien, Hettie Jones, Claudia Rankine and Manohla Dargis.[54][55]

School of Humanities

The School of Humanities houses the college's undergraduate programs in art history; creative writing; history; journalism; language and culture; literature; and philosophy.[57] It also offers a master's in art history.[57]

Poet Claudia Rankine, whose work has been featured in Harper's and The Kenyon Review, speaks to audience members after a lecture.

In addition to its curriculum, the School of Humanities frequently features renowned authors and scholars who provide lectures, known as the Durst Lecture Series. These lectures are supported by the Roy and Shirley Durst Distinguished Chair in Literature.[58] Past lecturers include Rachel Kushner, Claudia Rankine, Kirstin Valdez Quade, and Alexander Chee. Lectures are open to the public and provide an open forum for student feedback and interaction.

School of Natural and Social Sciences

Purchase College Student in lab facility of the Natural Sciences Building.

Purchase's School of Natural and Social Sciences houses the college's undergraduate programs in anthropology; biochemistry; biology; chemistry; economics; environmental studies; mathematics/computer science; political science; psychology; and sociology.[59] The school also presents an annual Natural and Social Sciences Symposium, which exhibits original research conducted by students; and a lecture series funded by Con Edison.[60]

The School of Liberal Studies & Continuing Education at Purchase College allows community residents and students to complete their bachelor's degree and to take both credit and noncredit courses at the college.[62] The school confers the bachelor's degree in liberal studies, which is designed for students with some undergraduate credit who want complete their degree within a tight time-frame and are looking for a flexible schedule. Up to 90 transfer credits are accepted in this program.[62] It also offers continuing education and certificate programs; an online winter session; and the college's summer session.[62]

Students at Purchase must successfully complete a senior project prior to graduation.[66] The senior project requires that students devote two semesters to original and creative study.[66]

SUNY Purchase teams, the Purchase Panthers, participate as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division III. The Panthers are a member of the Skyline Conference. Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis and volleyball. Women's sports include basketball, cross country, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming & diving, tennis and volleyball.

The Purchase College Athletic Department also houses non-varsity and intramural teams and clubs. Intramural teams include basketball, flag football, floor hockey, indoor soccer, racquet sports, co-ed softball, Water Polo, Quidditch and volleyball.[68] Intramural clubs include Men's Lacrosse, fencing club, stage combat, Tae Kwan Do, Ultimate Frisbee club, Nerf club, Outdoors Adventure, field hockey, Chung Do Kwan, equestrian, Zumba and PiYo.[69]

In 2014, SUNY Purchase Men's Soccer Program won its first Skyline Conference Championship, defeating St. Joe's (LI) in overtime by the score of 2–1.

A side view of residence halls Outback and Fort Awesome (far left) from the parking lot of Purchase College.

Photograph of Student Services at Purchase College

Purchase College is located on approximately 500 acres (2.0 km²) in Westchester County, New York on the former Strathglass farm.[70] The property was originally owned by Thomas Thomas, an American Revolutionary war soldier, whose family-and-servant cemetery remains on the campus between the south end of the Humanities and Visual Arts buildings.[71] The college is adjacent to the Westchester County Airport, and is across the street from PepsiCo's corporate headquarters.

A common room in the Crossroads residence hall at Purchase College

Purchase college consists of six dormitory halls, Crossroads, Big Haus, Farside, Outback, Fort Awesome, and Wayback; along with three apartment complexes, The Olde, The Commons (The Neu), and Alumni Village. Crossroads, Farside, and parts of Big Haus house first year students and the staff in the building, one professional Residence Coordinator (RC) and two Residence Assistants (RA's) per floor, are accommodated towards offering first year students help.[72][73][74] The other parts of Big Haus along with Outback, Fort Awesome, Wayback, and the apartment complexes are upperclassmen housing and the selection process of these buildings are determined by the amount of credits one has.[75][76][77][78][79][80] Outback residence hall is also a part of the wellness program housing the school provides which according to its page on the Purchase website "houses students committed to holistic health and wellness. Staff and residents develop programs that focus specifically on areas of Wellness including Physical, Intellectual, Vocational/Occupational, Emotional, Social (Cultural, Societal, Family, Community), Environmental and Spiritual."[81]

In the fall of 2016, some apartments in the Commons K street apartment block caught fire during cooking activities. No students were hurt and most were able to return to their apartments, but others were housed at the neighboring Manhattanville College until replacement housing was available for them on campus.

The college's master architectural plan was created by architect Edward Larrabee Barnes and reflected the belief that "modern architecture might be able to reshape the world."[82] It has been described as a "period piece of the 1960s" and the architects who designed and built the campus include Philip Johnson and John Burgee, Paul Rudolph, Venturi & Rauch, Gwathmey Siegel & Henderson, The Architects Collaborative, Giovanni Pasanella, and Gunnar Birkerts.[82] The campus' original buildings were placed close together to allow the surrounding fields to remain open.[82] The college grounds are also home to many sculptures.[7]

The college consistently ranks as one of the top sustainable colleges in the nation having ranked 72nd by the Sierra Club's America's greenest colleges. This ranking factors in the college's energy use, waste, water, food, and purchasing policies.[83] The college is also included in the 2014 Princeton Review Guide to Green Colleges.[84]

In 2014, the college unveiled the "Rocket" composting system, which has the capacity to handle 460 gallons of food waste every week.[85]

Situated on the campus is the college's Performing Arts Center. It is a four-theatre complex that is the largest performing arts center in the SUNY system.[86] The center's performance spaces include the 1400-seat, three-tiered Concert Hall with hydraulic lifts for orchestra; the 600-seat Recital Hall with rear-screen projection bay; the 700-seat PepsiCo Theatre designed by Ming Cho Lee; and the Repertory Theatre, a "black box" with flexible stage and seating configurations.[87] Each theatre is specifically designed for the presentation of a different type of performance and many types of events.

The Performing Arts Center presents a broad range of performances – offering music, dance, theatre, comedy, and cinema. The Performing Arts center is also home to Conservatory of Theatre Arts' Purchase Repertory Theatre. The Center's ongoing initiatives include artist partnerships, residency activities, and commissions.

A look inside Purchase College's Neuberger Museum, revamped in 2012.

The college also houses the Neuberger Museum of Art, which is among the ten largest museums in New York and the eighth-largest university museum in the nation.[7] The museum opened in 1972.[70] It holds a permanent collection of more than 7,000 works of art[88] and features a full schedule of exhibitions, lectures, films, and multimedia events. The museum presents more than a dozen exhibitions each year in addition to ongoing exhibitions from its permanent collections. The Neuberger Museum of Art has works from 20th-century masters, midcareer and emerging artists, and is well known for its permanent exhibition of African art.[89]

Notable faculty members include harpsichordist Bradley Brookshire; jazz bassist Todd Coolman; composer Laura Kaminsky; pianist Steven Lubin; and bassist Tim Cobb. Other faculty members include Iris Cahn, a film editor; dance choreographer Rosalind Newman; writer Melissa Febos; and artists Liz Phillips, Antonio Frasconi, Steve Lambert, Kate Gilmore, and Hakan Topal.

Purchase College alumni are well represented throughout the arts. Actors who attended the college include Rochelle Aytes, Susie Essman, Edie Falco, Zoë Kravitz, Amanda Seales, Orlagh Cassidy, Melissa Leo, James McDaniel, Francie Swift, Janel Moloney, Parker Posey, Ving Rhames, Jay O. Sanders, Wesley Snipes, Sherry Stringfield, Stanley Tucci, Shea Whigham, and Constance Wu. Other film professionals who attended Purchase College include directors Ilya Chaiken, Abel Ferrara, Hal Hartley, Bob Gosse, Jeffrey Schwarz, Michael Spiller, James Spione, and Chris Wedge. Theatrical designers David Gallo, Brian MacDevitt, and Kenneth Posner also attended the school. Playwright Donald Margulies is a Purchase College alumni. Dancers Kyle Abraham, Terese Capucilli, and Doug Varone attended Purchase.

Other artists who attended Purchase include Katherine Bradford, Gregory Crewdson, Luis Croquer, Thomas E. Franklin, Jimmy Joe Roche, Jon Kessler, Ron Rocco, Chris Dorland, Fred Wilson, and recording engineer Chris Conway. Musicians who are alumni include Edward W. Hardy, Quentin Angus, Chris Ballew, Imani Coppola, Dan Deacon, Jack Dishel, Dan Romer, the band Kiss Kiss, Jeffrey Lewis, Mase, the band O'Death, Daryl Palumbo, Bess Rogers, Joel Rubin, Langhorne Slim, Regina Spektor, Stephanie Winters and Jenny Owen Youngs, and Mitski. Record producer Elite is alumni. Writer and artist Laura Vaccaro Seeger is an alumna.

Alumni from the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences include New York Assemblywoman Latrice Walker; curator Luis Croquer; and authors Nora Raleigh Baskin, Garth Greenwell, David Graeber, and Jeanne Darst. Also, scientists Jill Bargonetti and Carl Safina attended the college along with journalists Manohla Dargis and Adam Nagourney as well as film director Danny Leiner.[90]

Actor/comedian Stephen Rannazzisi falsely claimed for years to have attended Purchase College.[91]

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