State University of New York at Purchase
Encyclopedia
Purchase College, State University of New York, is a public four-year college located in Purchase, New York
, United States. It is one of 13 comprehensive colleges in the State University of New York (SUNY) system. Founded by Governor Nelson Rockefeller in 1967 as the cultural gem of the SUNY system, Purchase College offers a unique education that combines programs in the liberal arts with conservatory programs in the arts in ways that emphasize inquiry, mastery of skills, and creativity. It is dedicated to creating opportunities for transformative learning and training in a community where disciplines connect, intersect, and enhance one another. Purchase College is included in the Princeton Review's Best 371 Colleges (2010) and Top 100: Best Value Colleges (2009).
Purchase College confers the following degrees: Bachelor of Arts (BA), Bachelor of Science (BS), Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA), Bachelor of Music (MusB), Master of Arts (MA), Master of Fine Arts (MFA), and Master of Music (MM). As a requirement for the BA and BS degree, students undertake a senior project in which they devote two semesters to an in-depth, original, and creative study under the close supervision of a faculty mentor. Similarly, the BFA and MusB studies culminate in a senior exhibition, film, or recital. The graduate degree programs culminate in a master's thesis and, for the MFA and MM, an exhibition, recital, or related presentation.
Purchase College also emphasizes the importance of studying abroad. Students can choose from the college's summer programs in France, Italy, Spain, and Turkey, as well as hundreds of programs offered through the SUNY system. Other high-impact educational opportunities offered by Purchase College include learning communities, service learning, and internships, which provide a practical connection between academic studies and potential career paths.
and the variety of arts programs offered to its students, has a large amount of cultural and counter-cultural activities. The Purchase Student Government Association is the college's student-elected board of executives whom, with their coordination with the student body, contribute many facets of campus life.
Purchase College is home to many other services, clubs and organizations for its students, including but not limited to:
The Performing Arts Center presents a broad range of performances that engage, challenge, and educate as well as entertain - offering music, dance, theatre, comedy and cinema to audiences from Westchester and the surrounding communities. Music presenting features world-class orchestras and leading artists of our time as well as emerging artists. As the major regional presenter of dance, programs have included only-area appearances of several important traditional, contemporary, and folkloric companies. The Center has been the scene in recent years of performances by artists such as Lang Lang, Patti LuPone, Pilobolus, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance, Elvis Costello, Mark Morris Dance Group, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and comedian George Carlin. The Performing Arts center is also home to the Westchester Philharmonic and the Conservatory of Theatre Arts’ Purchase Repertory Theatre.
The Center’s on-going initiatives also encompass artist partnerships, residency activities, and commissions; creating opportunities for students to participate in the artistic process; increasing educational opportunities in the arts for k-12 students and multigenerational learners; and revitalizing efforts in the community to make the arts more accessible to broad and diverse audiences.
The Neuberger Museum of Art, the tenth largest university museum in the nation, houses a permanent collection of more than 7,000 works of art and features a full schedule of exhibitions, lectures, films, and intermedia events. The museum presents more than a dozen exhibitions each year in addition to ongoing exhibitions from the permanent collections. The Neuberger Museum of Art offers insights into 20th-century masters, midcareer and emerging artists, as well as exposure to the country's only permanent exhibition of African art
.
by car and about an hour by public transportation. It was originally the property of Thomas Thomas, an American Revolutionary war
soldier, whose family and slave cemetery remains on the campus between the south ends of the Humanities and Visual Arts buildings. To transform the former farm into a college for thousands of students, SUNY engaged some of the most prominent American architects to design the campus (Paul Rudolph, Charles Gwathmey, Phillip Johnson, John Burgee, and Robert Venturi.) Edward Larrabee Barnes
created the master plan, and nine distinguished architectural firms designed specific buildings. Buildings on the campus are located in the center of the property, and are isolated from the surrounding community by wooded areas around the perimeter of the property. The college is adjacent to the Westchester County Airport
, and is across the street from PepsiCo
's world headquarters. The campus is not within walking distance to any commercial area, but maintains an hourly shuttle bus system to and from White Plains, New York
.
The buildings and open spaces of the campus are visually distinctive models of late modernist architecture. The Visual Arts Building has 160000 square feet (14,864.5 m²) of studios, exhibition spaces, workshops and labs. The Dance Building was the first in America created specifically for the training of dancers. The Music Building has two recital halls, 75 practice rooms, 80 Steinway & Sons
pianos, and professional recording studios. The Studio Composition program was one of the first in the country, and the faculty and student showcase Purchase Records
has earned 3 Grammy
nominations for its 5 releases. The Film Conservatory is housed within the lower level of the Music Building.
Various parts of the Campus are currently undergoing renovation. The new Student Services building opened in 2006, providing one-stop-shopping for most administrative services. The 'mall', or main campus plaza, is currently undergoing renovations to improve its aesthetics, create communal spaces, and to reduce flooding when it rains.
41.047285°N 73.702126°W
Purchase, New York
Purchase, New York is a hamlet of the town of Harrison, in Westchester County. Its ZIP code is 10577. Its name is derived from Harrison's purchase, for Harrison could have as much land as he could ride in one day...
, United States. It is one of 13 comprehensive colleges in the State University of New York (SUNY) system. Founded by Governor Nelson Rockefeller in 1967 as the cultural gem of the SUNY system, Purchase College offers a unique education that combines programs in the liberal arts with conservatory programs in the arts in ways that emphasize inquiry, mastery of skills, and creativity. It is dedicated to creating opportunities for transformative learning and training in a community where disciplines connect, intersect, and enhance one another. Purchase College is included in the Princeton Review's Best 371 Colleges (2010) and Top 100: Best Value Colleges (2009).
Purchase College confers the following degrees: Bachelor of Arts (BA), Bachelor of Science (BS), Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA), Bachelor of Music (MusB), Master of Arts (MA), Master of Fine Arts (MFA), and Master of Music (MM). As a requirement for the BA and BS degree, students undertake a senior project in which they devote two semesters to an in-depth, original, and creative study under the close supervision of a faculty mentor. Similarly, the BFA and MusB studies culminate in a senior exhibition, film, or recital. The graduate degree programs culminate in a master's thesis and, for the MFA and MM, an exhibition, recital, or related presentation.
Purchase College also emphasizes the importance of studying abroad. Students can choose from the college's summer programs in France, Italy, Spain, and Turkey, as well as hundreds of programs offered through the SUNY system. Other high-impact educational opportunities offered by Purchase College include learning communities, service learning, and internships, which provide a practical connection between academic studies and potential career paths.
Services and organizations
Purchase College, with its proximity to New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and the variety of arts programs offered to its students, has a large amount of cultural and counter-cultural activities. The Purchase Student Government Association is the college's student-elected board of executives whom, with their coordination with the student body, contribute many facets of campus life.
Purchase College is home to many other services, clubs and organizations for its students, including but not limited to:
- The Student Center, a student funded and operated facility that was opened in 2003 by the Purchase Student Government Association. Since its opening, the Student Center has featured free-use billiards tables, ping pong tables, a growing videogame arcade, air hockey, foosball, board games, two concert venues (the main Student Center stage, and Whitson's Memorial Greeting Hall), and a film screening area. In later updates to the center, computers with wireless internet access and a student art gallery were added. Another addition in 2010 includes the Art Co-Op, an art store that aims to provide fine arts, craft, and misc materials to students through recycling. The school's devotion to the Student Center project was solidified by a major recent renovation done on the exterior of the building. It is referred to commonly among students as "The Stood"('st(y)oōd).
- PTV, is the college's own television station which is cablecast on channel 69 on campus. The station is entirely funded and run by students. In addition to the TV station, the school also has a student-run radio station, WPSR, which broadcasts on 1610 am, and is simulcast on the internet.
- The Brick is a PSGA funded online newspaper source for Purchase College. They are updated almost daily and have been up and running since 2007. In addition to written articles there are videos and photos from all around campus. The Brick also features voxpops, which entails interviewing students on campus about current issues. The Brick also features a Weekly TV adaptation called Brick TV. It airs live every Wednesday at 11:30 PM on PTV.
- The Purchase IndependentThe Purchase IndependentThe Purchase Independent was established in 2001. Commonly referred to as "The Indy," is a student newspaper at SUNY Purchase . It is funded by the Purchase Student Government Association through mandatory student activity fees...
, a student-run weekly news publicationPublicationTo publish is to make content available to the public. While specific use of the term may vary among countries, it is usually applied to text, images, or other audio-visual content on any medium, including paper or electronic publishing forms such as websites, e-books, Compact Discs and MP3s...
. - The Submission, a student-run interdisciplinary journal of creativity, started in 2005 by Katie Reilly, Salina Sanchez, Steve Sajdak, and Miguel Jimenez.
- The Alternative Clinic is a student run women's health clinic providing a confidential safe space for female bodied patients as well as dental dams, condoms, lube and educational materials for all students. The Alternative Clinic hosts its event "Women Out Loud" once a semester featuring music, poetry, food, and sex toy raffles. The Alternative Clinic was founded in 1978 as a student's senior project and is the longest running service on campus.
- WPSR 1610, the college's radio stationRadio stationRadio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
. - The Co-op, a student-run space for lounging and programming that serves a selection vegan foods and fair-trade coffees and teas.
- LGBTQU (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer Union), Purchase College's oldest and largest student organization is noted for running many popular events on campus (Such as Fall Ball) and holding informative discussions each week.
Events
The College holds several key events:- The Culture Shock festivalCulture Shock festivalThe Culture Shock festival is held annually at SUNY Purchase College in Purchase, NY. The outdoor festival usually takes place in mid-April and consistently hosts a vast array of musical artists from many different genres, as well as carnival rides and food vendors in a county fair-type setting...
, a two-day music festivalMusic festivalA music festival is a festival oriented towards music that is sometimes presented with a theme such as musical genre, nationality or locality of musicians, or holiday. They are commonly held outdoors, and are often inclusive of other attractions such as food and merchandise vending machines,...
sponsored by the Purchase Student Government Association (PSGA) is a popular annual event. The weekend festival, typically held in April, showcases the talents of musical acts and performance artists. Some notable performers include: WeenWeenWeen is an American alternative rock group. They formed in 1984 in New Hope, Pennsylvania when central members Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo met in an eighth grade typing class. Ween has a large cult underground fanbase despite being generally unknown in American pop music...
, Dan DeaconDan DeaconDan Deacon is an American composer and electronic musician based out of Baltimore, Maryland. Since 2003, Deacon has released eight albums under several different labels...
, Regina SpektorRegina SpektorRegina Ilyinichna Spektor is a Russian American singer-songwriter and pianist. Her music is associated with the anti-folk scene centered in New York City's East Village.-Early life:...
, DeerhoofDeerhoofDeerhoof is a musical group consisting of Satomi Matsuzaki, John Dieterich, Ed Rodriguez and Greg Saunier.-Origins:In 1992, Greg Saunier, having recently graduated with a degree in music composition from Oberlin Conservatory of Music, joined a short-lived San Francisco quartet called Nitre Pit, on...
, Animal CollectiveAnimal CollectiveAnimal Collective is an experimental psychedelic band originally from Baltimore, Maryland, currently based in New York City. Animal Collective consists of Avey Tare , Panda Bear , Deakin , and Geologist...
, GZAGZAGary Grice , better known by his stage names GZA and The Genius, is an American hip hop artist and founding member of the seminal hip hop group the Wu-Tang Clan. He has also appeared on his fellow clan members' solo projects and has maintained a successful solo career...
, Cat PowerCat PowerCharlyn Marie Marshall , also known as Chan Marshall or by her stage name Cat Power, is an American singer/songwriter and occasional actress and model. Cat Power was originally the name of Marshall's first band, but has come to refer to her musical projects with various backing bands...
, Blonde RedheadBlonde RedheadBlonde Redhead is an American alternative rock band composed of vocalist/rhythm guitarist Kazu Makino and twin brothers Simone and Amedeo Pace , which formed in New York City in 1993....
, Bouncing Souls, Ghostface KillahGhostface KillahDennis Coles , better known by his stage name Ghostface Killah, is an American rapper and prominent member of the Wu-Tang Clan. After the group achieved breakthrough success in the aftermath of Enter the Wu-Tang , the members went on to pursue solo careers to varying levels of success...
, Ted LeoTed LeoTheodore F. Leo , called "Ted," as a short form of "Theodore," is an American punk rock/indie rock songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, though he is most known for his singing and guitar playing...
, Biz MarkieBiz MarkieMarcel Theo Hall better known by his stage name, Biz Markie, is an American rapper, beatboxer, DJ, comedian, singer, reality television personality, and commercial spokesperson. He is best known for his single "Just a Friend", an American Top 10 hit in 1989...
, Kool KeithKool KeithKeith Matthew Thornton, better known by his stage name Kool Keith, is an American rapper from The Bronx, New York. A founding member of Ultramagnetic MCs, Kool Keith has recorded prolifically both as a solo artist and in group collaborations. Kool Keith is the self-proclaimed inventor of...
, Slick RickSlick RickRichard Walters , better known by his stage name Slick Rick is a Grammy-nominated English-American rapper...
, Destiny's ChildDestiny's ChildDestiny's Child was an American R&B girl group whose final line-up comprised lead singer Beyoncé Knowles alongside Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams. Formed in 1997 in Houston, Texas, Destiny's Child members began their musical endeavors in their pre-teens under the name Girl's Tyme...
, Drake (entertainer)Drake (entertainer)Aubrey Drake Graham , who records under the mononym Drake, is a Canadian recording artist and actor. He originally became known for playing Jimmy Brooks on the television series Degrassi: The Next Generation....
and Dead PrezDead PrezDead Prez stylized as dead prez is a hip hop duo from the United States, composed of stic.man and M-1, formed in 1996 in New York City, New York. They are known for their confrontational style, combined with socialist lyrics focused on both militant social justice and Pan-Africanism...
. Culture Shock is funded by the student body's mandatory activity fee and is organized by the Purchase Student Government Association. - Zombie Prom, A Prom type event held in the student center where students dress up as Zombies.
- Fall Fest, a musical event held every fall in the college's student center.
- Fall Ball, an event that celebrates Purchase College's strong LGBTLGBTLGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
culture, where drag queens and drag kings compete on stage for the year's crown. - Purchase Wide Open, usually occurring in April is a combination of Alumni Homecoming and Family Day. A series of Visual and Performing Arts, Sciences and Humanities events that enables both the on and off campus community to share in what Purchase College has to offer. Most events are free; shows held at the Performing Arts Center (PAC) usually require advance ticket purchase.
- Women Out Loud, A body and sex positive event held every semester by the Alternative Clinic. This event celebrates the Clinic's patients and the women on campus, encouraging them to be "women out loud". This event is the largest, free, sex toy raffle on campus.
Other aspects of campus life
The Performing Arts Center, a four-theatre complex at Purchase College, is the major professional, nonprofit arts presenter in the Southeastern New York-Southwestern Connecticut region, and the largest program in the SUNY system. The Center's performance spaces include the 1400-seat Concert Hall with hydraulic lifts for orchestra; the 600-seat Recital Hall with rear-screen projection bay; the 700-seat PepsiCo Theatre with Hanamichi wraparound platforms along both sides of the house; and the Repertory Theatre, a "black box" with completely flexible stage and seating configurations. Each theatre is specifically designed for the optimum presentation of a different type of performance, enabling the presentation of any kind of event at The Center.The Performing Arts Center presents a broad range of performances that engage, challenge, and educate as well as entertain - offering music, dance, theatre, comedy and cinema to audiences from Westchester and the surrounding communities. Music presenting features world-class orchestras and leading artists of our time as well as emerging artists. As the major regional presenter of dance, programs have included only-area appearances of several important traditional, contemporary, and folkloric companies. The Center has been the scene in recent years of performances by artists such as Lang Lang, Patti LuPone, Pilobolus, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance, Elvis Costello, Mark Morris Dance Group, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and comedian George Carlin. The Performing Arts center is also home to the Westchester Philharmonic and the Conservatory of Theatre Arts’ Purchase Repertory Theatre.
The Center’s on-going initiatives also encompass artist partnerships, residency activities, and commissions; creating opportunities for students to participate in the artistic process; increasing educational opportunities in the arts for k-12 students and multigenerational learners; and revitalizing efforts in the community to make the arts more accessible to broad and diverse audiences.
The Neuberger Museum of Art, the tenth largest university museum in the nation, houses a permanent collection of more than 7,000 works of art and features a full schedule of exhibitions, lectures, films, and intermedia events. The museum presents more than a dozen exhibitions each year in addition to ongoing exhibitions from the permanent collections. The Neuberger Museum of Art offers insights into 20th-century masters, midcareer and emerging artists, as well as exposure to the country's only permanent exhibition of African art
African art
African art constitutes one of the most diverse legacies on earth. Though many casual observers tend to generalize "traditional" African art, the continent is full of people, societies, and civilizations, each with a unique visual special culture. The definition also includes the art of the African...
.
Campus
The site chosen for the campus was a 500 acre (2 km²) estate, Strathglass Farm, in the middle of Westchester County, 40 minutes from ManhattanManhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
by car and about an hour by public transportation. It was originally the property of Thomas Thomas, an American Revolutionary war
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
soldier, whose family and slave cemetery remains on the campus between the south ends of the Humanities and Visual Arts buildings. To transform the former farm into a college for thousands of students, SUNY engaged some of the most prominent American architects to design the campus (Paul Rudolph, Charles Gwathmey, Phillip Johnson, John Burgee, and Robert Venturi.) Edward Larrabee Barnes
Edward Larrabee Barnes
Edward Larrabee Barnes was a American architect.Barnes was born in Chicago, Illinois into a family he described as "incense-swinging High Episcopalians", consisting of Cecil Barnes, a lawyer, and Margaret Helen Ayer, recipient of a Pulitzer Prize for the novel Year of Grace...
created the master plan, and nine distinguished architectural firms designed specific buildings. Buildings on the campus are located in the center of the property, and are isolated from the surrounding community by wooded areas around the perimeter of the property. The college is adjacent to the Westchester County Airport
Westchester County Airport
Westchester County Airport is a county-owned public-use airport in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is located three nautical miles northeast of the central business district of White Plains, in the towns of Harrison, North Castle and Rye Brook.It serves the areas of...
, and is across the street from PepsiCo
PepsiCo
PepsiCo Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Purchase, New York, United States, with interests in the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of grain-based snack foods, beverages, and other products. PepsiCo was formed in 1965 with the merger of the Pepsi-Cola Company...
's world headquarters. The campus is not within walking distance to any commercial area, but maintains an hourly shuttle bus system to and from White Plains, New York
White Plains, New York
White Plains is a city and the county seat of Westchester County, New York, United States. It is located in south-central Westchester, about east of the Hudson River and northwest of Long Island Sound...
.
The buildings and open spaces of the campus are visually distinctive models of late modernist architecture. The Visual Arts Building has 160000 square feet (14,864.5 m²) of studios, exhibition spaces, workshops and labs. The Dance Building was the first in America created specifically for the training of dancers. The Music Building has two recital halls, 75 practice rooms, 80 Steinway & Sons
Steinway & Sons
Steinway & Sons, also known as Steinway , is an American and German manufacturer of handmade pianos, founded 1853 in Manhattan in New York City by German immigrant Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg...
pianos, and professional recording studios. The Studio Composition program was one of the first in the country, and the faculty and student showcase Purchase Records
Purchase Records
Purchase Records is a small record label started in 2000 by Joe Ferry, Jim McElwaine, and Karl Kramer, to showcase the talents of the students and faculty at the Purchase College Conservatory of Music...
has earned 3 Grammy
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
nominations for its 5 releases. The Film Conservatory is housed within the lower level of the Music Building.
Various parts of the Campus are currently undergoing renovation. The new Student Services building opened in 2006, providing one-stop-shopping for most administrative services. The 'mall', or main campus plaza, is currently undergoing renovations to improve its aesthetics, create communal spaces, and to reduce flooding when it rains.
External links
41.047285°N 73.702126°W