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Marist College

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Marist College is a mid-sized, private liberal arts college located on the east bank of the Hudson river in Poughkeepsie, New York. Founded in 1929, Marist College has been recognized for its excellence by U.S. News & World Report, TIME Magazine, and the Princeton Review. The school has about 4,000 undergraduate students enrolled. Among the college's alumni is Bill O'Reilly, host of the FOX News show The O'Reilly Factor, who graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in History in 1971, and James J. McCann, founder and President of 1-800FLOWERS.com .

Contents

History

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The history of Marist College begins in 1905 when the Marist Brothers, members of the religious teaching order founded in France 90 years earlier by Saint Marcellin Champagnat, 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, just north of Poughkeepsie, they opened their novitiate, Saint Ann's Hermitage, and began their work of training young men for a life of study, work, prayer and service. By 1929, the training center at the Hermitage had evolved into the Marist Normal Training School and, by 1946, into a chartered four-year college, Marian College, whose mission remained the training of Marist Brothers as teachers of the congregation's schools.

Under the leadership of its founding President, Brother Paul Ambrose Fontaine, Marian College and the Marist Brothers embarked on an extensive building program. This continued under Dr. Linus Richard Foy, who in 1958 became, at age 28, the youngest college president in the United States. In that same year, 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.

In 1960, Marian College became Marist College. The years which followed were marked by dynamic growth, both in academic programs and in facilities. Between 1949 and 1965, twelve major buildings were constructed. The manual labor was provided by the Brothers themselves for the original gymnasium, Donnelly Hall, Fontaine Hall, Adrian Hall, and Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Chapel. Throughout this period, the Brothers continued to teach at the College and elsewhere, and volunteered their labor on weekends and holidays to supplement the work of student Brothers. It was an inspiring example of dedication to common goals.

Women were invited to enter the evening division in 1966 for the first time. In 1968, they entered the day division and the college became fully coeducational. Ownership of the college was transferred in 1969 to the Marist College Educational Corporation with an independent Board of Trustees. Nonetheless, the legacy of the Marist Brothers, a legacy of service and striving for excellence, continued to inspire and enrich the academic life of the College. Under President Foy's continuing leadership 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, the college began a cooperative program with area secondary schools, in which selected high school seniors take freshman courses and "bridge" into college. In Fall of 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.

In 1978, Marist College became the recipient of a $1 million Title III award from the U.S. Department of Education for institutional development, one of only twenty-eight such awards across the nation, and the fourth such award granted to a New York State college.

In 1979, President Richard Foy was succeeded by a young native of California Dr. Dennis J. Murray. Foy had started to build a great legacy at Marist however opportunities arose that he could not refuse. Dr. Murray hit the ground running while sticking with traditions of the Marist Brothers; he sought out innovation and technology and was determined to grown the student body. Dr. Murray thought that technology would play an integral in the progression of colleges and universities in the future. Murray immediately doubled the size of the student body, the acreage of the campus and forged numerous strategic partnerships. During Murray’s early tenure at Marist, he forged a strategic partnership with International Business Machine, Corporation (IBM). This partnership has proven to be very beneficial to Marist and the IBM community. 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. Marist and IBM initiated a joint study in 1988 that has placed Marist among the most technologically advanced liberal arts colleges in the country. The study has given IBM an opportunity to test concepts and applications that IBM believes will be of value in business, education, and other fields (www.marist.edu/welcome/history.htm). This study also allows students, faculty and staff to collaborate with IBM on a variety of projects which enhances the teaching and learning experience at Marist.

Marist College is a nationally recognized, comprehensive, independent, liberal arts institution known for its excellence in teaching and use of information technology. It is located in Poughkeepsie, New York on the banks of the historic Hudson River. The College enrolls 4300 full-time traditional undergraduates, 530 part-time undergraduates and 850 graduate students. The College offers over 30 bachelor degree programs, 10 master’s degrees, several certificate programs and 100% online degrees. During the fall 2005 semester, approximately 1/3 of the total classes (just over 500) utilized Ucompass Educator, the College’s current course management system Of those 500 courses between 30 and 35 (5-6%) were offered fully online. Marist has received many accolades from external organizations for its use of information technology to support learning and teaching. The U.S. News and World Report, Princeton Review and other external organizations consistently place Marist among the top 8% of institutions of higher education. In 2006 Forbes and the Princeton Review named Marist among the top 25 connected campuses in the United States. The Princeton Review’s Vice President and Publisher Rob Franek stated “The schools on our list have demonstrated leadership in preparing and supporting students for life in the digital age. Students who understand the value of technology to both their career prospects and overall quality of life will want to pay special attention to the schools on our list.” This distinction and recognition of the Marist College community is a tribute to the overall strategic goals/mission of the institution.

Schools

Bachelor Degrees

Undergraduate Life

Marist Online([

Marist Online is an unofficial student maintained and operated website for the Marist College community. In addition to message boards, it contains helpful advice from students about the school, campus, and surrounding Poughkeepsie area.

Marist College Student Government Association([

Organizational Structure

The Marist College Student Government Association is made up of three branches: the Executive Board, the Student Senate, and the Student Judicial Board (not to be confused with the Student Life Judicial Board).

Executive 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.

Student Senate

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.

Student Judicial Board

This body 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.

Charitable Causes Sponsored by MCSGA

The SGA supports several active charitable causes: Habitat for Humanity, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital: Up 'til Dawn, and Relay for Life.

Marist College Clubs

Marist College clubs are student run, working closely with the College Activities Office and reporting to the VP of Club Affairs of the Student Government Association. Each club is broken in to one of six categories: Co-curricular, Social Service, Greek, Production/Performance, Sports/Intermural or Honorary/Professional.

Greek Organzations (Recognized by Marist College):

Sororities- Alpha Sigma Tau, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Kappa Lambda Psi, Sigma Sigma Sigma

Fraternities- Alpha Phi Delta, Phi Kappa Sigma, Zeta Psi

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Athletics

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Marist College plays NCAA Division I athletics, in the MAAC Conference. Other schools in this conference include Siena College (Marist's archrival), Iona College, Niagara University, Manhattan College, Fairfield University, Loyola College in Maryland, Canisius College, Rider University, and Saint Peter's College.

Facilities

The men's and women's basketball teams play home games in the James M. McCann Recreation Center. A 20,000-square-foot addition to the James J. McCann Recreation Center was completed in early 1997 with major support from the McCann Foundation, which provided the leadership to build the original structure. It contains a new gymnasium for intramural and recreational athletics, new men's and women's intercollegiate locker areas, a new weight room and cardiovascular fitness center, and an electronic Hall-of-Fame room. The remainder of the McCann Center was renovated to include a coaches office complex, and a new sound system for the main gym. The exterior of the building was also redesigned, and the entrance opens onto an attractive, new Plaza of Champions. Widely recognized as one of the most state-of-the-art facilities in the East, the McCann Annex is a 22-thousand-square-foot addition to the McCann Center, which was again made possible through the generosity of the McCann Foundation. Solely for use by Marist College Students, the McCann addition houses a multi-purpose recreational gymnasium, a dual-level strength and conditioning fitness center with a cardiovascular center and aerobics area as well as additional men's and women's locker room facilities. A spacious student lounge graces the entrance of the new facility while the Athletic Digital Hall of Fame provides some of the most technologically advanced computer networking systems on the market today.

Also at the south end of the campus is the McCann Baseball Field, developed in 1992 with financial support from the James J. McCann Foundation. The field, regarded as one of the finest baseball facilities in the Northeast, is used for Division I intercollegiate competition. Leonidoff Field is used for Marist Football, Lacrosse, and Soccer games. It was on that field during the Spring of 2005, the Marist lacrosse team earned its first ever MAAC title against St. Mary's College.

Athletic Accomplishments

Marist, which captured seven Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference titles during the 2004-05 academic year, has taken home the conference's highest honors, earning all three JetBlue Airways MAAC Commissioner's Cups. This season marks the fifth time in seven years that the Red Foxes have claimed the overall competition and now makes Marist the only school to win the overall title five times. La Salle and Loyola have each won four overall titles.

Mission

The Athletics Program strives to offer Marist students the opportunity to participate in athletics activity at their level of ability and interest - intercollegiate, club, intramural, or recreational. The Athletics Program aims to complement academic and social experiences with the development of organizational skills, leadership qualities, and an appreciation for sportsmanship and team effort through athletics opportunities and community service.

Donnelly Hall
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Donnelly Hall

Dyson Center
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Dyson Center

Fontaine Hall
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Fontaine Hall

Lowell Thomas Communications Center
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Lowell Thomas Communications Center

Alumni

Administration

External links

 

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