Marist College

This article is about Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York. For other schools with the same name, see Marist College (disambiguation). For other Marist Brothers schools, see List of Marist Brothers schools.

Marist College

Shield of Marist College
Motto	Orare et Laborare (To Pray and To Work)
Type	Private College, formerly Marist Brothers
Established	1929
Endowment	$124.4 million2010
President	Dennis J. Murray
Academic staff	204 full-time, 406 adjuncts
Undergraduates	5,000
Postgraduates	854
Address	3399 North Road, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601 , Poughkeepsie (town) (next to Poughkeepsie (city)) , NY , United States
Campus	Suburban, 240 acres (0.97 km2)
Colors	red and white
Nickname	The Red Foxes
Mascot	Shooter
Website	www.marist.edu

Marist College is a private liberal arts college on the east bank of the Hudson River in Poughkeepsie, New York. The site was established in 1905 by the Marist Brothers, and the college was chartered in 1929. The college offers over 60 bachelors and masters degree programs and 20 certificates across the traditional undergraduate, graduate, adult education, and distance learning environments including online.

Approximately 5,000 undergraduate students attend the Poughkeepsie campus (41°43′22″N 73°56′0″W). Marist College study sites also exist in 26 countries abroad including Egypt, China, England, Italy, and Australia. In 2006, Marist opened a branch campus in Florence, Italy, by partnering with the Lorenzo de' Medici School. In 2009, the school was bequeathed a mansion with an estimated value of $65 million in Esopus, New York, which will be used as a leadership institute.

In 1969, ownership of the College was transferred from the Marist Brothers to the Marist College Educational Corporation with an independent, predominantly lay board of trustees.

Although Marist is no longer religiously affiliated, religion continues as a field of study and a part of many students' and administrators' lives; as does the continued presence of several Marist Brothers who reside and work on campus. The College maintains a chapel on campus, Our Lady Seat of Wisdom, to offer services for an array of faiths.

Timeline

Foundation as a training institution for Marist Brothers

The Marist Brothers are a Catholic society founded in France by Saint Marcellin Champagnat in 1816, focused on educational work throughout the world. In 1905, members of the order arrived in the Mid-Hudson Valley to establish the first Marist house of studies in the United States. On the east bank of the Hudson River, just north of Poughkeepsie, they purchased property and a house from Thomas McPherson. They named the building and property "Saint Ann's Hermitage", in memory of Champagnat's Hermitage in France, and began training young men for a life of "study, work, prayer and service" (from which the school motto is derived).

St. Ann's Hermitage 1905

In 1908, the Brothers purchased the Edward Bech estate to enable the Hermitage to expand, increasing the size of their property to 150 acres (0.61 km²).

By 1929, the training center at the Hermitage had evolved into the Marist Normal Training School, offering college-level courses under the auspices of Fordham University. The charter for the Marist Normal Training School was obtained by Brother Leo Brouilette. In 1946, the State of New York granted the institution an official four-year college charter under the name "Marian College", led by Brother Paul Ambrose Fontaine, FMS. Marian College continued the mission of training Marist Brothers as teachers of the congregation's schools.

From 1947 to 1957, the Brothers began working on the weekends, during summers, and in their spare time to build a gymnasium (the original Marian Hall), Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Chapel, Adrian Hall (which was demolished in 2001), and a residence for the student Brothers (the original Fontaine Hall).

The Marist College Library was originally housed on the top floor of Greystone in 1928. In 1945, reference, periodical and work areas took over the second floor as well, and then in 1949, the library also claimed Greystone's lowest level. The library remained in Greystone for 35 years.

In 1958, Marist Brother Linus Richard Foy took charge of the college. At 28, he was the youngest college president in the United States. Two years later, Marian College became Marist College and the mission of the college broadened to include the wider community; lay male students were admitted to pursue degree study. An evening division was also introduced to serve the educational needs of the surrounding communities.

File:Donnelly hall.jpg

Donnelly Hall

Sheahan Hall, the first residence hall, opened in 1962. It was named for Monsignor J. F. Sheahan (pastor of St. Peter's Church, Poughkeepsie) without whom the Marist Brothers might not have been able to purchase the Bech Estate that now comprises the entire south campus area. It was quickly followed by Leo Hall in 1963 and Champagnat Hall in 1965. They were named for Brother Leo Brouiletter (Provincial of the Marist Brothers, 1921–1930) and Saint Marcellin Champagnat respectively. Donnelly Hall (named for Brother Nilus Donnelly, who supervised construction of the 12 major campus facilities built by the Brothers), a dormitory at the time, was built in 1962 by the brothers themselves.

Women were admitted to the evening division classes in 1966, then to the day classes in 1968. Marist's president, Brother Linus Foy, resigned from the Marist Brothers around this time but continued serving as president. Benoit House and Gregory House were erected in 1968 as a residence for the Marist Brothers living on campus. Benoit House honored the memory of Brother Francis Xavier Benoit who taught at Marist for nineteen years, while serving also as Director of Construction for the Marist Brothers. Gregory House was named in memory of Brother Joseph Gregory Marchessault who was chairman of the Physics Department at Marist at the time of his death in 1969. Benoit and Gregory Houses became African American and Free University centers, respectively, during the sixties and seventies. They functioned as residences before being removed to make way for the Hancock Technology Center in 2009.

In 1969, due to the institution's rapid expansion and laws regulating federal aid to religiously affiliated educational institutions in New York State, ownership of the College was transferred from the Marist Brothers to the Marist College Educational Corporation with an independent, predominantly lay board of trustees.

In the 1970s, programs for the educationally disadvantaged were expanded, a computer center was added, graduate programs in business administration and community psychology were instituted, and the James J. McCann Recreation Center was completed.

In 1973, President Foy began a cooperative program with area secondary schools, in which selected high school seniors take freshman courses and "bridge" into college. In fall 1974, the college expanded its commitment to continuing education by increasing course offerings in the evening division and summer session and in 1984, opened an off-campus extension center in Fishkill. (A second extension center was opened in the Orange County town of Goshen in fall 1993.)

The burgeoning library moved from Greystone to Donnelly Hall in 1963. In the space now occupied by the Computer Center and DN256, Donnelly Hall housed what was known as the Spellman Library for the next 12 years. The library moved from Donnelly to Fontaine Hall in 1975. It remained there until 1998, when the library moved temporarily across Route 9 to the former Poughkeepsie Steel Plant, purchased by Marist College to house the library while the new James A. Cannavino Library was constructed.

On February 18, 1975, freshman Shelley Sperling was shot and killed in the dining hall by her ex-boyfriend.

Modern day

In 1979, Dennis J. Murray became president. During Murray's tenure as president, enrollment doubled, the campus grew to 180 acres (0.73 km²), every building on campus was either renovated or newly constructed, and numerous strategic partnerships were formed.

Lowell Thomas Communications Center

One of the first strategic partnerships was formed with IBM, a major employer in the Mid-Hudson Valley. In 1984, Marist received $2.5 million in equipment and almost $2 million in software from the IBM Corporation to expand academic and administrative uses of computers on campus.

The Foy Townhouses, named after Linus Richard Foy, were built in 1982. Marian Hall was built in 1983 within and around the college's first gymnasium. It incorporates the first building to be constructed through the manual labor of the Brothers (1947). Because it is located adjacent to the spot where the Marian building (the college's principal classroom building) once stood, it carries on the name of that building as well as the original of the four year college.

To expand student housing, Gartland Commons was built on the north end of the campus in 1985. It is a townhouse community, housing approximately 300 students.

In 1987, the Lowell Thomas Communications Center opened, providing space for communications, math, and computer science studies. The building was built over the site of an outdoor swimming pool from the early days of Marist that was fed by a natural spring.

Dyson Center

Fontaine Hall

In 1990, the Margaret M and Charles H Dyson Center opened, providing a home for the School of Management, School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, and School of Graduate and Continuing Education.

Construction continued in 1994 with a $27 million Student Center, bookstore, dining facilities, art gallery, and a new adjoining dormitory (Midrise Hall). In 1996, Talmadge Court was purchased by the college as an official student residence. In 1998, across neighboring Route 9, the Lower West Cedar townhouses were built.

Fontaine Hall, an academic and office building was constructed on the north end, followed by The James A. Cannavino Library right in the center of the main campus. Built out of fieldstone with a concentrated focus on technology, the library is considered by campus planners to be the jewel and the heart of campus. Architecturally, the Library unifies the College's historic district of Greystone, St. Peter's, and the Kieran Gatehouse, three 1860s-era buildings that are listed on the New York State and National Register of Historic Places, which are also made of fieldstone. The Library is named for James A. Cannavino, a long-time member of the Marist Board of Trustees.

James A. Cannavino Library

With student enrollment increasing and a lack of housing for upperclassmen, the school purchased additional land across Route 9 for expansion. Upper West Cedar, built in 2000, was constructed in a similar style to the Lower West Cedar Townhouses. The Upper Fulton Townhouses followed in 2004 and then the Lower Fulton Townhouses in 2008. These housing areas are connected by a central walkway that leads to the main campus. Also, the Upper Fulton Townhouses were featured on Good Morning America in 2007 for a report on how some colleges and universities were building nicer dormitories to attract more students.

The housing expansion was a sore point with the Poughkeepsie residents, who blamed the college for excessive traffic on the Route 9 corridor. The New York State Department of Transportation and Marist College both blame massively increasing population in the Mid-Hudson Valley, a result of the migration of the residents of nearby New York City starting in late 2001. In May 2007, Marist was granted a variance allowing them to build despite a moratorium on new construction in the area.

Marist's independence was emphasized in 2003, when Marist invited New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer to deliver the commencement address for the graduating class, incurring protests aimed at the college for Spitzer's public support of abortion rights. In response to complaints, Cardinal Archbishop of New York Edward Egan stated that Marist "is no longer a Catholic institution" and therefore not under the Church's jurisdiction. Although Marist had become independent in 1969 and "does not identify itself as a Catholic college in any way", under Pope John Paul II's decree Ex Corde Ecclesiae, all colleges that claimed to be Catholic prior to 1991 are considered Catholic until declared otherwise by a bishop.

During the fall 2005 semester, approximately one third of the total classes (just over 500) utilized Ucompass Educator. Of those 500 courses, between 30 and 35 (5-6%) were offered fully online.

The college's Longview Park was completed in 2007 with a bike/walk path along the Hudson's shore, a fishing pier, the renovation of the historic Cornell boathouse, and better access to scenic vistas, particularly from the gazebo built on a promontory in the center of the park.

In September 2009, it was announced that Marist was bequeathed $75 million by the industrialist Raymond A. Rich. The donation consists of a 60-acre (240,000 m²) estate, known as the Payne Mansion, located in the Ulster County town of Esopus and is estimated to be worth $65 million. The rest of the money, approximately $10 million, is to be used to establish the Raymond A. Rich Institute. The 42,000 square feet (3,900 m²) mansion was designed by Carrère and Hastings, who also designed the New York Public Library. The school plans to use the house as part of the institute. The Raymond A. Rich Institute will focus on developing the communication, interpersonal, and social skills necessary to lead complex organizations in a global setting. The gift was the ninth largest donation in world in 2009.

In spring 2011, Marist completed construction of a new technology building, the Hancock Center, which is on the main campus where the Benoit and Gregory (residence houses) used to stand. The 57,000-square-foot (5,300 m²) building is designed in a Gothic architectural style by the architect firm of Robert A. M. Stern. It comprises three computer labs, Marist Institute for Public Opinion, nine classrooms, six seminar rooms and a trading room for the business school.

The New York State Department of Transportation completed a pedestrian underpass under US 9 to facilitate safer movement between the sections of campus, which the boulevard separates. Its construction eliminated a pedestrian-only traffic signal. In addition, one entrance near the Lowell Thomas Communcation Center was closed to vehicular traffic. All three entrances of the college were renovated and the main gate closed to vehicular traffic.

Campus

File:Marist Main Campus from West side of Hudson.jpg

Marist College's main campus is on the east bank of the Hudson River

The main campus, with an area of 240 acres (0.97 km²), is on the east bank of the Hudson River in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, on US 9 in the historic Hudson Valley. The part of the main campus east of US 9 is called the east campus. In 2004, Marist announced its Campus Master Plan, which called for the development of a pedestrian-friendly campus heart, with plenty of open and inviting green spaces for interaction. The creation of this campus heart involved the connection of the east and west campuses, the continued improvement of academic and recreational spaces, the addition of green space, and the relocation of parking to the periphery. The master plan is still being implemented, but the progress to date has created what many consider one of the most beautiful campuses in the Northeast.

Residential life

Marist has standard dormitory buildings for all freshman students and townhouse and apartment facilities for upperclassmen. Freshman housing consists of four hall-style dormitories: Marian Hall, housing 100 students; Sheahan Hall, housing 140 students; Leo Hall, housing 300 students; and Champagnat Hall, housing over 400 students. Housing is guaranteed for sophomores as well as freshmen, but is not guaranteed for juniors and seniors. Enough housing consists to hold a large portion of the upperclassmen population. Townhouses make up all of the housing available for upperclassmen, mostly built within the last fifteen years. Additionally, the Upper Fulton townhouses were featured on Good Morning America for a story on how some colleges and universities are constructing nicer student housing to attract more students. All underclassmen live on the west side of Route 9, which is the main part of campus. Upperclassmen reside on the east side of Route 9, which is also considered the "wet side" of campus because the consumption of alcohol is allowed because all students are over the age of 21. While all incoming freshman are assigned to a dorm, sophomores and above partake in a points system to choose housing. The priority points system, as it is known, dictates that students must accumulate a certain amount of points from clubs, sports, and GPA and then are ranked. The students with the highest points are allowed to choose housing first, thus filling the nicer housing first. The students with the lower points choose last, and are not always guaranteed housing. If students are entering as a group, the students' points are averaged together. According to Marist, this system promotes student activity in clubs and sports and offers an incentive to keep a high GPA.

Branch campus in Florence, Italy

The Florence campus consists of ten campus buildings totaling 4,800 square meters (52,000 sq ft), mainly in the lively San Lorenzo district of the historic city center. The main building, situated in Via Faenza, dates back to the 13th century and originated as a convent connected to a medieval church, San Jacopo in Campo Corbolini. This church, now deconsecrated, was founded in 1206 and for its first hundred years belonged to the Knights Templar. The facilities include studio space, lecture classrooms, and design workshops. Marist offers two housing options to its students a dedicated Marist residence and apartments that are located through the city.

Payne Mansion

Main article: Payne Mansion

Fishkill extension

The center features four classrooms with multimedia capabilities, two computer labs, a conference room, student computer workstations, and a lounge area with ports for laptop use. This center is primarily used for adult education.

Academics

Profile

Marist College offers over 50 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees, 12 Masters degrees, and 12 Certificate programs. These programs are divided between the six undergraduate schools and the School of Global and Professional Programs. The undergraduate schools are The School of Communication and the Arts, The School of Computer Science and Mathematics, The School of Liberal Arts, The School of Management, The School of Science and The School of Social and Behavioral Sciences.

All Marist students must take what is known as "core" classes during their four years in order to graduate. There are a number of different 3-credit core classes students can take, usually consisting of writing, history, cultural diversity, and a philosophy class. The requirements are the same for all majors and emphasize Marist's tradition of a liberal arts education while ensuring that students are introduced to a broad range of disciplines. The student-faculty ratio at Marist is 15:1, and the school has over 50 percent of its classes with fewer than 20 students. The average freshman retention rate is 88.8 percent.

Marist has become very selective. The incoming 2015 freshman class had only 30% of the applicants accepted. 11,000 applications were received for 950 spots.

Marist is partnered with the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, located in Hyde Park.

IBM partnership

Marist also has had a longstanding partnership with IBM. IBM tests concepts and applications in education, business and communication. The joint study began in 1988 with the installation of a $10 million IBM 3090 mainframe computer on campus. In the fall 2002 semester, the College installed a new zSeries 900 mainframe that provides a level of computing power ordinarily associated with large research universities and Fortune 500 companies. The College collaborated with IBM to plan and equip the James A. Cannavino Library with state-of-the-art technology. The partnership also collaborated on the development and implementation of a comprehensive Ethernet-based campus-computing network that reaches into every student room on campus and supports every faculty and administrative office and every academic building. Campus-wide connectivity means 24/7 access to the Internet, email, voice-mail, the mainframe computer and numerous database services. In 2009, Marist and IBM began three research projects involving grid computing, e-learning applications and computing on demand. In December 2011 it was announced that Marist and IBM are also working towards developing a "cloud computing" center to be housed at Marist's Hancock Center. In early 2012 the School of Computer Science and Mathematics installed two IBM z114 mainframes with a zEnterprise BladeCenter Extension (zBX) making Marist the first college or university in the world to have this combination.

Rankings

Since the 1990s, Marist has consistently risen in many college rankings. In the 2010 issue of U.S. News and World Report's "America's best colleges", Marist was ranked 10th out of 172 universities in the category Regional Universities (North). Marist's acceptance rate of 33 percent made it the most selective school in this category. For the eighth year in a row, The Princeton Review named Marist as one of the nations best schools in its publication "The Best 373 Colleges". Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine named Marist one of its "50 Best Buys" in private education for the fifth consecutive year. Marist was the only New York college to make the list. In 2006, Forbes and The Princeton Review named Marist among the 25 "most connected campuses" in the United States. The August 2006 edition of Campus Technology magazine named Marist a "Campus Technology Innovator" for the college's "iDentity Quest" podcasting program, which provides iPods to students to record reflections on life in other countries and to share this information with classmates and professors. In 2012 Marist's online MBA was one of only 14 graduate business programs in the nation named to U.S. News & World Report's honor roll.

International links

Marist College offers students semester and academic year programs in: Africa (Egypt, Morocco, Uganda, South Africa, and Tanzania), Asia and the Pacific (Australia, China, India, Japan, and New Zealand), Europe (Czech Republic, England, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Scotland, and Spain), Latin America (Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, and Ecuador), and the Middle East (Jordan).

In 2006, Marist partnered with Lorenzo de' Medici School to form a branch campus in Florence, Italy. There, students can study for a semester or academic year and choose from over 400 different classes. Additionally, there is Bachelor's Degree program for those who wish to pursue a four-year degree. Degrees are offered in Art History, Conservation Studies/Restoration, Digital Media, Interior Design, Fashion Design, Studio Art (B.A.) and Studio Art (B.S.).

There are also several short-term programs that consist of a 2-3 week trip to a country that is based around a 3-4-credit class. Examples of previous classes have been Hong Kong, China and Taiwan for the class Technology Management; Ireland for the class Dubliners and the Literature of Ireland; Ghana: Politics, Community Development, and Entrepreneurship.

Among the many interesting programs that Marist students have access is the Hansard Scholars Programme in London, England. Student scholars live in London and study at the London School of Economics while interning at the British Parliament or another politically-based organization.

The study abroad programs are very popular with students; The 2011 Princeton Review noted Marist as having the #5 Most Popular Study abroad program in the US.

MIPO and CCODC

Marist is home to the Marist Institute of Public Opinion (MIPO), a polling organization active in the political arena, The Hudson River Valley Institute (HRVI), the educational arm of the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area, and the Center for Applied Research in Collaborative and On-Demand Computing (CCODC) are also at Marist. HRVI oversees the publication of the Hudson River Valley Review, a journal of regional studies. The CCODC exists to help New York State business and industry benefit from the application of cutting-edge collaborative and on-demand computing technologies.

Local involvement

Marist College maintains a partnership with the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute (FERI) in Hyde Park, which exists primarily to serve as the educational arm of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum. Furthermore, the library, under the control of the National Archives and Records Administration, serves as the primary resource for student history majors completing capping papers. Marist also administers the library web site (www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu) and has co-sponsored several major conferences in conjunction with the presidential library and FERI. The FDR Library website, which is based on the latest digital asset management technology, has been recognized by Britannica.com as one of the best Presidential Library sites in the country.

Other major projects include the Hudson River Valley Institute (the educational arm of the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area).

Marist also participates in the Institute of Ecosystem Studies, and many other projects.

Accreditations

• The institution as a whole is accredited by The Middle States Commission on Higher Education. It was most recently reaccredited in 2003.
• The School of Management is accredited for its Business program by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International).
• The Athletic Training program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE).
• The Medical Technology program is accredited by the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences (NAACLS).
• The Social Work bachelors completion program is accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE).

Student organizations and events

Marist Student Center

Marist College has 93 registered clubs and organizations that cover a variety of interests: performing arts, sports, religion, politics, and student government. All of the organizations are managed by the Office of College Activities. A sampling of these are described below.

Campus Ministry

Although Marist no longer has any religious affiliation, several Marist Brothers still reside on campus. They were allowed to continue living on campus after the school broke away from the church. The brothers operate a student organization known as the Campus Ministry, that serves the spiritual needs of the campus as well as serving the Poughkeepsie community.

Student government (MCSGA)

The Marist College Student Government Association is made up of three branches: the Executive Board, the Student Senate, and the Student Judicial Board.

The Executive Board is comprised of two parts. The first, Operations, is made up of the Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Chief Information Officer (CIO), Public Relations Director, Parilmentarian, and Executive Vice-President. TGhese members deal with the operations of the Marist College SGA. The second portion of the Executive Board acts as a mirror of the various departments of the college. A Vice-President is assigned to laise with various administrators in their respective departments. There are Vice-Presidents of Student Programming, Residential Life, Academic Affairs, Clubs & Organizations, and Athletics. All members of the Executive Board are appointed by the Student Body President at the beginning of his or her term, which is typically the second week of April. The President is elected in a general election every February, and his or her term begins in April and then runs until the following April. This is to allow for senior members to be present during the beginning of an incoming administration to help with the transition.

The Student Senate is elected by the student body and serves as the main legislative body for the MCSGA. They oversee the allocation of the Student Activities budget, which supplies funding to all student organizations and clubs, including the Student Programming Council and the rest of the Student Government. The Student Senate also legislates all policy pretaining to clubs and organizations on campus, including charting new clubs and disbanding defunct ones. They also act as chief reprensenatives of the students with the college administration and faculty in all matters pretaining to students' interests. To this end they create various ad-hoc committees to research and facilitate new campus policy and areas of general interest to the students. The senate is comprised of the four Class Presidents, five Resident Senators, and two Commuter Senators. The Body is led by the Senate Speaker, who is elected by a popular vote of the Senate.

The Judicial Board ensures that all endeavors of the Marist College SGA are compliant with the SGA Constitution and bylaws, as well as Marist College Policy. The Judicial Board is composed of a Chief Justice, appointed by the Student Body President (Chief Justice serves until graduation or resignation) and a group of appointed Resident and Commuter Justices.

Community work

Marist student groups are actively involved with several local and national charities. Habitat for Humanity has a very active Marist College Chapter in which students volunteer for local and national fundraising, building and education projects. Other charitable causes sponsored by MCSGA are St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Relay for Life and Fox P.A.W. (People for Animal Welfare), which is dedicated to raising awareness about the mistreatment of animals in the surrounding community in conjunction with the Dutchess ASPCA.

A Marist tradition is the Giving Tree Program. At the beginning of each holiday season Christmas trees in campus buildings are decorated with color-coded ornaments designating different gift categories needed by local families. Each ornament is tagged with an item corresponding to its category. Marist community members remove a tag from an ornament then purchase and wrap the present while attaching the corresponding ornament tag. The presents will be brought to Marist's Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Chapel for the students' annual Christmas liturgy. Run by the colleges Campus Ministry, the Giving Tree has sponsored 515 families and donated 16,000 gifts since its inception in 1991, providing presents ranging from winter clothing and household necessities to toys, games and more.

Marist College has also donated computing time on its computers to assist World Community Grid. To date they have donated over 7500 years of computing time.

Literary organizations

There are three student-run literary organizations: The Circle, Generator Magazine and the Literary Arts Society. The Circle, the school newspaper, has been in publication since 1965, and is published weekly. Generator Magazine features student written poetry and short-stories. The Literary Arts Society produces two students publications; The MOSAIC, a literary magazine printed once a semester, publishes creative works by students as well as the winners of the annual Fiction and Poetry contest. The FoxForum, a new publication, prints academic papers and opinion pieces written by students; it is published every month.

Theatre

The Marist Theatre Program includes the Academic Theatre, MCCTA and a relationship with River Valley Rep Theatre. The primary performing venue of the theatre program is the Nelly Goletti Theatre which is located in the Marist Student Center.

Academic Theatre includes the English Department's Concentration in Theatre, Theatre Minor, mainstage productions, professional workshops, Theatre Alumni Hall of Fame, theatre scholarships, theatre work-study, theatre internships, Pre-College Summer Theatre Institute, Alpha Psi Omega and the Annual Anderson Memorial Playwriting Contest. A host of theatre courses are offered each year, including Acting, Directing and Playwriting.

MCCTA (Marist College Council on Theatre Arts) is the college's student-run theatre organization. MCCTA is the college's oldest theatre club and one of its largest and most active. MCCTA produces several productions a year.

River Valley Rep is a professional theatre company in summer residence at Marist. They organize a season of contemporary musicals and comedies. River Valley Rep works in agreement with Actors' Equity Association and has an intern program available to Marist students.

MCTV & WMAR

Marist has a student run TV channel and radio station, MCTV & WMAR. MCTV broadcasts its own shows, including original programming, sporting events and news. WMAR Broadcasts on 88.1 FM and via the internet (http://icecast.marist.edu/) 24/7 365 days a year. Each day, 16 of those hours are filled with content provided by Marist students live, in two hour show formats. There is also a program dedicated to Marist sports teams that broadcasts news and live home and away sporting events.

PRSSA

The Marist College Red Foxes Chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America was established on December 7, 2006, becoming one of only 17 colleges and universities in New York State to earn this recognition. During the spring 2007 semester, the chapter recruited more than 70 members from Marist's 4,000-member student body – making them one of the fastest-growing chapters in the country. Student members of this chapter can become associate members of PRSA, attend PRSA conferences at a reduced rate, affiliate with a vast network of public relations professionals, compete for scholarships and awards, and receive information about the public relations profession. Membership in PRSSA often leads students to become members of PRSA upon graduation and enjoy the full benefits of this professional organization – including job placement and career services.

PRSSA at Marist also promotes national awareness of the high quality of education within the college’s School of Communication and the Arts. Opportunities like PRSSA's annual Bateman competition allow students to compete against other chapters at a national level by demonstrating the kinds of analytical skills and judgment required for public relations problem solving. Students are also able to submit and present research papers at annual PRSA conferences. Furthermore, PRSSA provides students with valuable opportunities to assume leadership positions at local, regional, and national levels – an important step in professional development within the public relations field.

In March 2010 The Red Foxes PRSSA Chapter was recognized for establishing an annual leadership forum that is expected to contribute to the College’s new Raymond A. Rich Institute for Leadership Development.

Marist Student Booster Club

The Marist Student Booster Club is an organization that is dedicated to supporting all Marist Athletic teams. The Student Booster Club looks to host events throughout the year in conjunction with many different athletic competitions. Some of the club's goals are to host pre-game events, coordinate bus trips to high-profile away games and raise the student attendance for all Marist Athletics events.

Marist Band

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Marist Band performing during halftime of a home football game

The Marist College Band involves approximately 160 students performing in a variety of twelve ensembles. They tour nationally, do half-time shows at home football games, and perform at home Marist basketball games, Marist basketball games at Madison Square Garden and at the MAAC Championship Basketball Tournament that occurs the first weekend in March. Membership in the band entitles the students to also participate as members of the Brass Ensemble, Low-Brass Choir, Flute Choir, Woodwind Ensemble, Woodwind Quintet, Musical Theater Pit Orchestra, and the Jazz Band known as the "Jazz Foxes". Other ensembles that flourish under the umbrella of the Marist College Band include the Handbell Choir, Guitar Ensemble and a variety of rock bands.

Marist Singers

The Marist College Singers consists of approximately 180 students, performing in 7 enseumbles. The Marist Singers main choir performs a variety of religious, popular, Broadway and classical compositions, and has performed at Disney World, in Hawaii, Rome, and with Kenny Rogers' Christmas show. Membership in Marist Singers entitles the students to also participate in Chamber Singers (by audition), Gospel Choir, Freshman Women's Choir, Time Check (a male a cappella group), and Sirens (the female a cappella group), and Chapel Choir (performing at masses).

Silver Needle Fashion Show

The Silver Needle Fashion Show is an event held every spring to showcase the talents of student designers. The show is wholly produced by students and faculty of the Fashion Program. Members of the Fashion Show Production class organize committees dealing with every facet of the show from invitations to choreography and marketing. The Silver Needle Fashion Show is the highlight of the year for the Fashion Program. The shows routinely have attendance of over 2000 people. In 2011 the show was held at the Mid-Hudson Civic Center and marked its 25th anniversary. The evening show was proceeded by a cocktail reception and followed by a presentation of awards and scholarships. Scholarships were provided by Liz Claiborne, Cutty Sark, Young Menswear Association, Dominque Pino-Santiago, Mary Abdoo Fund, Alecia Hicks Forster Fund, Dutchess County Home Bureau, Alyssa Martino Scholarship Fund and the Marist College Fashion Program Scholarship Fund.

Fraternities and sororities

While several fraternities operate off-campus, Greek life is not very popular among students, many of whom choose to live on campus. Six fraternal organizations operate through Marist, and primarily focus on philanthropic and community programs.

Reserve Officers' Training Corps

Marist has an active Army ROTC program on campus. The program is based out of the original St. Ann's Hermitage building. It is a satellite program of Ram battalion in Fordham University. Cadets also come from nearby Vassar College, SUNY New Paltz, Mount Saint Mary College, Orange County Community College and Dutchess Community College.

Athletics

Main article: Marist Red Foxes

File:Marist Red Foxes logo.png

Official team logo and mascot, the red fox.

The Marist department of athletics sponsors 23 NCAA Division I sports. Most of the programs compete in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC); with the only exception being football, a member of the Pioneer Football League (PFL). Separate mens's and women's teams are sponsored for basketball, tennis, crew, lacrosse, soccer, cross country, track, swimming and diving. Sponsored women's teams are volleyball, and water polo. While sponsored men's teams are baseball and football. These varsity programs involve more than 550 Marist student-athletes. The crew programs are among the few in the nation that claim on-campus facilities. Marist has been recognized by Sports Illustrated as having one of the top 200 college athletic programs in the U.S. Student athletes at Marist routinely excel in the classroom. In 2011 for the 10th straight year Marist led the MAAC with 165 selections to the conference's Academic Honor Roll. Marist also had 27 student athletes selected to the PFL's Academic Honor Roll.

In addition to Division I programs, the Department of Athletics also offers many other sports on the club and intramural levels. Club sports give Marist students the opportunity to compete against other colleges and universities without the strict requirements of the NCAA. Club sports offered at Marist include men's ice hockey, men's and women's rugby, men's volleyball, equestrian, fencing and bowling. There are 24 intramural programs, of which many are very popular among students, these include ski and ultimate among others.

Notable alumni

Main article: List of Marist College people

Marist College has approximately 30,000 living alumni worldwide. Notable Marist graduates include Timothy G. Brier, '69, co-Founder of Priceline.com; Christopher McCann '83, President of 1-800FLOWERS.com; Ian O'Connor '86, a New York Times best-selling author and national sports columnist; Bill O'Reilly '71, political commentator and host of The O'Reilly Factor on the Fox News Channel; and Rik Smits '88, NBA All-Star and 2nd pick in the 1988 NBA Draft.

External links

• Official college website
• Marist Circle – Student newspaper
• Go Red Foxes – Marist athletics