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Manhattanville College
Manhattanville College Logo
MottoIn Exultatione Metens
Type Selective Private coeducational
Established1841
PresidentRichard Berman
Academic staff
250
Undergraduates1,700
Postgraduates1,000
Location
Purchase
,
NY
,
USA
CampusSuburban; 100 acres
Athletics18 NCAA Division III sports teams
MascotValiant
Websitewww.manhattanville.edu
File:ManhattanvilleCollegeCastleSpringtime.jpg.jpg
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, USA. Manhattanville's mission is to "educate students to become ethically and socially responsible leaders for the global community."[2]

Today approximately 1700 undergraduate students attend Manhattanville. Renowned for its commitment to diversity, Manhattanville students come from 70 countries and 40 states.[1] In accordance with the college's Portfolio System, which is the nation's oldest such system, 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.[2]

Current president Richard Berman has served for nearly 14 years.[3] During his tenure as president, Manhattanville has undergone a renaissance that has gained the college much acclaim. [4]

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.

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. The City College of New York purchased Manhattanville's New York City campus, and expanded onto the site. Long heralded as the most prestigious Catholic women's college, after becoming co-educational and nondenominational 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.

Statue of Jesus Christ on campus in the campus graveyard

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.

Campus

Manhattanville is located on a 100 acre wooded campus in Purchase, New York, on the former estate of Ben Holladay. The centerpiece of the campus is a quadrangle designed by Frederick Law Olmstead which is flanked on its north end by Reid Hall, a massive granite crenellated mansion, built in 1895 to designs by McKim, Mead & White and now fondly known simply as "the castle." Reid Hall which was a potential site for the United Nations, and its grounds were listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. The Manhattanville library is a 24 hour facility with full time cafe and computer use. There is also a graveyard on campus which contains the remains of nearly 50 nuns, a relic of the days of when it was a Catholic school known as Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart. Additionally, the Lady Chapel and biology classroom in the Ohnell Environmental Park were designed by Maya Lin who designed the Vietnam War Memorial. During the 1964 World's Fair the Japan Pavilion was given as a gift from the Japanese government to the college, but proved impossible to reconstruct; the lava stones were instead used to form a sculpture garden on campus.

Newspaper

Now in its 61st year, the Touchstone remains the only newspaper serving the Manhattanville community. Two other student-run publications also exist: The Right World View a conservative publication funded by The Leadership Institute; and The Link, a progressive publication created with the help of the Connie Hogarth Center for Social Action.

Traditions

File:3-1.jpg
The nineteenth-century "Lady Chapel" in the Ohnell Environmental Park converted into a 24 hour student center
  • 200 Nights Halloween Party,100 Nights Theme party, 25 Nights Toga Party in honor of remaining nights until graduation.[6]
  • Fall and Spring Formals in the Castle
  • "Fall Fest" Music Festival
  • United Nations Ambassador Lecture Series[3]
  • Quad Jam [4]
  • West Point Football Saturday[5]
  • International Bazaar [6]
  • Annual Holiday Concert (formerly the Christmas Concert)Manhattanville Music Department
  • Shakespeare in the Castle [7]
  • Homecoming Weekend [8]
  • History Department Annual BBQ Manhattanville History Department

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, Jewish pamphlets, government documents, maps, and manuscripts. Particularly noteworthy are five incunabula (books printed before 1500) and several bound manuscript volumes, also from the like a hundred years ago. 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.[9]

Sport

Manhattanville teams compete in the ECAC West, ECAC East, Freedom, and Middle Atlantic conference. Recently, the college has received much media attention through the success of the men's ice hockey team coached by Keith Levinthal. The team spent most of the 2006-07 season ranked #1 in the nation.[7]

The Quadrangle at Manhattanville, designed by Fredrick Law Olmstead.

In Film, Television and the Arts

Film, television and art productions that feature Manhattanville:

  • Thomas Crown Affair(1999) which utilized the interior of Reid Hall and featured a character who is from Manhattanville
  • 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's Pius X School of Liturgical Music (1918-1969) in 1959 to conduct research 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.

Current Projects

  • Manhattanville Creative Arts and Student Center (Opened April 2008)
  • The Ohnell Environmental Park, featuring the restored "Lady Chapel" and "Living Classroom" designed by Maya Lin (dedicated Fall 2006)

Presidents

File:Mvillecommencement.jpg
President Richard Berman and Ted Turner at commncement 2007

List of Manhattanville College presidents since 1917.[10]

  • 1917-1918 Mary Moran, RSCJ
  • 1918-1924 Ruth Burnett, RSCJ
  • 1924-1930 Charlotte Lewis, RSCJ
  • 1930-1945 Grace Dammann, RSCJ
  • 1945-1965 Eleanor O'Byrne, RSCJ
  • 1965-1974 Elizabeth McCormack
  • 1974-1975 Harold Delaney
  • 1975-1985 Barbara Knowles Debs
  • [1981-1982] [Jane C. Maggin, acting]
  • 1985-1995 Marcia Savage
  • 1995-present Richard Berman

Notable alumni

File:Manhattanvillekennedygymdedication.jpg
The Kennedy family dedicate Kennedy Gym 1957

References

  1. ^ http://www.mville.edu/AdmissionsandFinancialAid/UndergraduateAdmissions/Default.aspx
  2. ^ http://www.mville.edu/AcademicsandResearch/UndergraduateStudies/DegreeRequirements/PortfolioSystem.aspx
  3. ^ http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F04E2DA1238F931A35751C0A9659C8B63&scp=41&sq=manhattanville+college&st=nyt
  4. ^ https://alumni.mckinsey.com/alumni/default/public/content/jsp/alumni_news/News873.jsp
  5. ^ [1]
  6. ^ http://calendar.mville.edu/cgi-bin/calweb/
  7. ^ http://govaliants.com/mens_teams/ice_hockey/
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