Niagara University

Niagara University
Motto	Ut Omnes Te Cognoscant ("That All May Know You")
Established	1856
Type	Private
Religious affiliation	Catholic
Endowment	$52.8 million
President	Joseph L. Levesque, C.M.
Academic staff	130
Students	4,200
Undergraduates	3,300
Location	Lewiston, NY, USA
Campus	Suburban
Athletics	18 NCAA Division I varsity teams, MAAC except ice hockey men-Atlantic Hockey women-(CHA)
Colors	Purple and White
Nickname	Purple Eagles
Mascot	Monte
Website	www.niagara.edu

Niagara University is a Catholic university in the Vincentian tradition, located in the Town of Lewiston in Niagara County, New York. Originally founded by the Congregation of the Mission in 1856 as Our Lady of Angels Seminary, it became Niagara University in 1883. The University is still run by the Vincentian Fathers. All of Niagara's 25 presidents, including its current president, Father Joseph L. Levesque, C.M., have been Vincentian priests.

Niagara has 3,300 undergraduate students in 50 academic programs. Approximately half of the students are residents, while the other half commutes from the surrounding area. The college is known as a liberal arts school, but offers programs in technical and pre-professional disciplines as well.

Academics

College of Arts and Sciences

The College of Arts and Sciences forms the foundation of the Niagara University's curriculum and serves as the basis for its designation as a liberal arts college. All Niagara students complete a portion of their coursework in the College of Arts and Sciences, as numerous general education courses are housed within this unit.

A majority of Niagara's academic departments and faculty are housed within Arts and Sciences, including: Biochemistry/Chemistry, Biology/Life Sciences, Communications, Computer Science, Criminal Justice, English, History, International Studies, Liberal Arts, Mathematics, Modern Languages, Nursing, Political Science, Philosophy, Psychology, Religious Studies, Sociology, Social Sciences, Social Work, and Theater Studies.

The College of Arts and Sciences also offers Master's degrees in both Criminal Justice Administration and Interdisciplinary Studies.

In 2008, Niagara University announced that a $10 million gift, the largest gift in the university's history, had been made to the College of Arts and Sciences by B. Thomas Golisano, the CEO of Paychex and the former owner of the Buffalo Sabres. The gift will fund a new science building, to be known as the B. Thomas Golisano Center for Science. The groundbreaking for the project is scheduled for May 2011.

College of Business

With programs in Accounting, Business Administration, and Commerce, the College of Business continues to enhance its academic standing at the local, regional, and national levels. Each year, students in the College of Business conduct tax return processing as a community service for area residents.

On January 23, 2006, the University announced a gift of $5 million from College of Business alumnus Gerald Bisgrove, Class of 1968. At the time, it was the largest single gift in Niagara's 150-year history. $4.5 million of this gift has been appropriated to expand the College of Business facilities. Groundbreaking occurred on this project in May 2006, and Bisgrove Hall was opened to the public in August 2007. The remainder of Mr. Bisgrove's gift will be allocated to academic scholarships in the College of Business.

College of Education

Niagara has a long-standing commitment to training teachers for K-12 schools. Education students major in the College of Education and can often specialize in a wide variety of concentrations. Student teaching takes place in area schools, many of which are located in local districts. Niagara offers programs in elementary education, middle childhood, and adolescent education, as well as programs in special education and TESOL or Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.

College of Hospitality and Tourism Management

The College of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Niagara's newest, is an offshoot of earlier tourism programs at the university. The College includes course offerings on tourism, hotel, restaurant, recreation, and sports management. Many students supplement their classroom experience with internships in local hotels as well as luxury hotels around the world. In addition, the College boasts popular study abroad programs in Lake Como, Italy; Cusco, Peru and Bad Honef, Germany.

The College of Hospitality and Tourism Management is ranked 6th in the nation among hospitality programs. In recent years, graduates have a near-100% job placement rate. Faculty members come from around the world and most hold the terminal degree in their field. The College is located on the top floors of the newly-renovated St. Vincent's Hall, which features a modern hotel atrium and spectacular views of the Niagara River Gorge and Canada.

The College is also a founding member of The Leading Hotel Schools of the World, a partnership between 9 hotel schools around the world with The Leading Hotels of the World. This partnership allows Niagara Students the privilege of interning at one of Leadings 450 five star hotels around the world.

College of Nursing / Department of Nursing

The College of Nursing, long a Niagara institution, graduated its last class in 2003. Many remain active members of the alumni community and Niagara University Nursing Alumni Council(NUNAC).

In response to the chronic shortage of nurses, Niagara University created the Department of Nursing in the College of Arts and Sciences to offer an RN to BS in Nursing Completion Program.

The program offers a flexible degree-completion format for the working nurse, which builds upon the foundation gained in their associate and diploma programs. The program also works closely with the nursing alumni community.

Graduate Education

Niagara has an expanding graduate education program. Currently, master's degrees are offered in Business Administration, Criminal Justice Administration, Interdisciplinary Studies, and Education.

Continuing Education

In the past five years, Niagara's renewed emphasis on community enrichment and regional development has produced a substantial increase in its continuing education offerings. Currently, over 1000 students register annually for online courses and certificate programs. In addition to biannual brochures distributed throughout the Niagara Frontier, the Continuing Education website (www.niagara.edu/ce) provides access to registration information online. The Continuing Education division also coordinates the Niagara County Law Enforcement Academy for the county. This academy trains police officers as well as civilians who want to enter the law enforcement area.

Student life

ROTC

The Reserve Officers Training Corps of the Army has an award-winning unit at Niagara. ROTC students participate in regular university classes and majors, as well as military science instruction throughout their college careers. Each Tuesday and Thursday, cadets participate in military lab exercises and, by tradition, wear their army combat uniforms (ACU) to classes for the remainder of the day (completely optional). On Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings, ROTC students wake up early to participate in physical training exercises.

Community service

The Niagara University Community Action Program (NUCAP) and Learn & Serve Niagara are the lead offices for the university's renowned community service program. All Niagara students are encouraged to give back to their community by participating in the numerous NUCAP and Learn & Serve opportunities offered throughout the academic year. Many courses at Niagara include a service learning component as a part of the class curriculum. Generations of Niagara students have served as volunteers for area nursing homes, hospitals, and schools, the American Red Cross, the American Heart Association, and the Upper Mountain Volunteer Fire Company, among others.

Residence Life

Niagara University features 5 traditional residence halls as wells as 6 community houses called the Varsity Village as well as on campus student apartments. Traditional buildings include Seton, O’Shea, O’Donoughue, Lynch and Clet Halls.

Lynch Hall (coeducational by floor); a five floor building with one straight hallway on each floor accommodating rooms and common area facilities. Rooms are mostly single occupancy with a limited number of non-singles. The extra basement area of Lynch is a large lounge and game room.

O’Donoughue Hall (coeducational by floor with one coed floor); a four floor building with one straight hallway on each floor accommodating rooms and common area facilities. Rooms are mostly single occupancy with a few doubles.

Clet Hall (coeducational by floor); a four floor building with straight hallways making up three wings in a “U” shape. Common area facilities are located at the ends of the wings. Rooms are fashioned for single, double and triple occupancy. Location of Dining Commons and Theatre.

Varsity Village (male/female); consists of six separate houses (three for male students and three for female students) of two floors each. Common area facilities are located in each house and rooms are fashioned for single, double and triple occupancy. The majority of the spaces in "the village" are generally chosen by upperclassmen.

O'Shea Hall (coeducational by floor); a high rise building with seven floors set up in a rectangular fashion with common area facilities in the center of each floor. Rooms are fashioned for double occupancy. Location of some International and some athlete housing, as well as the Housing Office.

Seton Hall (coeducational by floor); a high rise building with seven floors set up in a rectangular fashion with common area facilities in the center of each floor. Rooms are fashioned for double and triple occupancy. Location of some athlete housing. With the nicest bathrooms in campus dormitories.

Apartments (coeducational building/single gender apartments); consists of six separate buildings of two floors each with eight 4-person apartments. Each apartment is fully furnished and contains all the amenities of an off campus apartment. Each individual bedroom contains a vanity with mirror, sink and cupboards. Apartments are available to juniors, seniors and graduate students only.

Campus Activities

The Campus Activities office, along with the Niagara University Student Government Association, sponsors numerous opportunities to get involved in campus life, including Greek life. Currently, Delta Chi Epsilon and TKE are the two active fraternities on campus. There are also two active national sororities, Alpha Sigma Alpha and Phi Sigma Sigma. There is a Hispanic culture club on campus as well called Bienvenidos.

The Niagara Index

The Niagara Index, originally called the Niagara Tribute, is the school's newspaper. The first issue of the Tribute was published on January 1, 1870, making it the third oldest sporadically-published college newspaper in the United States. The next year, the Tribute was renamed the Index Niagarensis, Latin for its current title, which was adopted on December 15, 1874. The Index's founder and original editor was Fr. John W. Hickey, C.M.

WNIA

Currently, Niagara's radio station is going through a major change. Its name has changed from WRNU to WNIA. It is currently streaming online at www.wniaradio.com as well as on campus channel twenty. It will have a mix music format and will also have sports and other shows available for listening.

CURRENT MANAGEMENT TEAM
General Manager & News Director: Geoff Redick
Programming Manager: Jessica Garfinkel
Production Manager: Kristen McAuley
Sports Director: EJ Giacomini
Promotions Manager: Cathryn Mason
Web Manager: Dan Chesebro
Faculty Advisor: Fred Heuer

Athletics

Main article: Niagara Purple Eagles

The Niagara University Athletics Department sponsors 18 Division I sports. The Purple Eagles compete in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) in all sports except ice hockey. The men's ice hockey team competes in Atlantic Hockey while the women's team competes in College Hockey America. The athletics director is Ed McLaughlin.

Niagara's athletic teams have fared well in the 21st Century.

The men's basketball team won the MAAC Championship in 2005 and in 2007, earning automatic bids to the 2005 and 2007's NCAA tournaments, known colloquially as the "Big Dance". Niagara's first appearance in the Dance came in 1970, when All-American Calvin Murphy led the Purple Eagles to the Sweet Sixteen. On March 13, 2007, Niagara defeated Florida A&M 77-69 in the so-called "Play-In Game".

Further information: Niagara Purple Eagles men's basketball

The men's hockey team won the College Hockey America Championship in 2000, 2004 and 2008, appearing in the NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship those years. In 2000, the "Purps" upset the University of New Hampshire to advance to the Elite Eight.

Further information: Niagara Purple Eagles men's ice hockey

Two years later, the women's hockey team shocked the college hockey world by advancing to the Frozen Four, eventually tying the University of Minnesota in the third-place game.

Further information: Niagara Purple Eagles women's ice hockey

Four other Niagara teams have advanced to the NCAA Tournament in their respective sports: softball (1998); women's soccer (2006); women's tennis (2003 & 2005); and women's volleyball (2009 & 2010).

Further information: Niagara Purple Eagles men's soccer

The Athletics Department also operates the Kiernan Center—Niagara's on-campus fitness facility—and sponsors a comprehensive slate of intramural sports, including basketball, broomball, flag football, indoor soccer, softball, street hockey, and rugby union.

Notable alumni

Main article: List of Niagara University people

Niagara has approximately 40,000 living alumni worldwide. Niagara alumni are distinguishing themselves in the fields of academics, government, law, religion, and sports

• In the field of academics, Niagara alumni include: Teresa J. Domzal, former Dean of the George Mason University School of Management; Dennis Holtschneider, President of DePaul University; David M. O'Connell, Bishop of the Diocese of Trenton, NJ; and David Sylvester, Principal of King's University College
• In the field of government, Niagara alumni include: Alfred F. Beiter, former U.S. Representative from New York; Thomas F. Burchill, former U.S. Representative from New York; Joseph L. Carrigg, former U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania; Leo W. O'Brien, former U.S. Representative from New York; Gilbert Parent, former Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons; and Dan Schaefer, U.S. Representative from Colorado
• In the field of law, Niagara alumni include: Jerome C. Gorski, Judge on the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division; Frank D. O'Connor, former Judge on the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division; Hugh B. Scott, Magistrate Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of New York and the first African American to become an Assistant United States Attorney; and Frederick J. Scullin, Senior Judge on the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York.
• In the field of religion, Niagara alumni include: Nelson Baker, Founder of the "City of Charity" and candidate for canonization; Anthony Raymond Ceresko, Old Testament scholar; and several American prelates of the Roman Catholic Church including Octavio Cisneros, Edmund Michael Dunne, Joseph Lennox Federal, Edmund Gibbons, Thomas Francis Lillis, James Johnston Navagh, and Donald Walter Trautman.
• In the field of sports, Niagara alumni include: Hubie Brown, two-time NBA Coach of the Year and Basketball Hall of Fame member; Larry Costello, six-time NBA All-Star and NBA coach; Frank Layden, NBA Coach of the Year and Executive of the Year; Sal Maglie, two-time MLB National League All-Star; Joe McCarthy, seven-time MLB World Series Champion and National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum member; and Calvin Murphy, three-time All-American, NBA All-Star and Basketball Hall of Fame member
• Other notable Niagara alumni include: Bill Press, host of nationally syndicated radio talk show and former co-host of CNN's Crossfire; John O'Hara, best-selling novelist and National Book Award winner; Michael Scheuer, former CIA Chief of the Bin Laden Issue Station and author of Imperial Hubris; and Robert Wegman, founder of Wegmans Food Markets.

• 

  Gilbert Parent,
  Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons

• 

  Hubie Brown,
  Basketball Hall of Fame Member

• 

  Joe McCarthy,
  National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum Member

External links

• Niagara University webpage
• Entrance to Niagara University
• Delta Chi Epsilon webpage
• Alpha Sigma Alpha Website