The State University of New York at Purchase (commonly Purchase College or SUNY Purchase) is a
public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...
liberal arts college
A liberal arts college or liberal arts institution of higher education is a college with an emphasis on undergraduate study in liberal arts and sciences. Such colleges aim to impart a broad general knowledge and develop general intellectual ca ...
in
Purchase, New York
Purchase is a hamlet in the town and village of Harrison, in Westchester County, New York, United States. One myth explains that its name is derived from Harrison's purchase, where John Harrison was to be granted as much land as he could ride i ...
. It is one of 13 comprehensive colleges in the
State University of New York
The State University of New York (SUNY, , ) is a system of public colleges and universities in the State of New York. It is one of the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States. Led by ...
(SUNY) system. It was founded by Governor
Nelson Rockefeller
Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979), sometimes referred to by his nickname Rocky, was an American businessman and politician who served as the 41st vice president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. A member of t ...
in 1967 as "the cultural gem of the SUNY system."
Purchase College confers the following degrees:
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...
(BA),
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...
(BS),
Bachelor of Fine Arts
A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students for pursuing a professional education in the visual, fine or performing arts. It is also called Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA) in some cases.
Background
The Bachel ...
(BFA),
Bachelor of Music
Bachelor of Music (BM or BMus) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. In the United States, it is a professional degree, and the majority of work consists of pre ...
(MusB),
Master of Arts
A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...
(MA),
Master of Fine Arts
A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.)
is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts ...
(MFA), and the
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. Master's degree programs culminate in a thesis and the MFA and MM culminate in an exhibition, recital, or related presentation.
History
The land that would become Purchase College was first settled by the Thomas family in 1734.
John Thomas served as an assemblyman in
colonial New York
The Province of New York (1664–1776) was a British proprietary colony and later royal colony on the northeast coast of North America. As one of the Middle Colonies, New York achieved independence and worked with the others to found the Unit ...
from 1743 to 1776. He served as a judge for the Court of Common Pleas in Westchester and a Muster-Master. Judge Thomas was an early supporter of American independence. Robert Bolton wrote in ''History of Westchester County'' that Thomas was "a warm Whig" who gave the first public reading of the
Declaration of Independence
A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of th ...
in New York at the White Plains courthouse on July 11, 1776.
On March 22, 1777, Thomas was imprisoned by the British and died on May 2, 1777.
John Thomas' sons, John Thomas, Jr. and Thomas Thomas, also fought for American independence.
Thomas Thomas was later appointed a General. He is buried at the Thomas family graveyard, which is located behind the
Neuberger Museum of Art
Neuberger Museum of Art is located in Purchase, New York, United States. It is affiliated with Purchase College, part of the State University of New York system. It is the nation's tenth-largest university museum. The museum is one of 14 sites ...
on the campus of Purchase College.
A tall, white stone obelisk commemorates General Thomas and his family.
In 2019, Thomas J. Schwarz announced that he was stepping down from his role as president after 18 years of service. State University of New York Board of Trustees has appointed Dennis Craig as interim president of Purchase College effective on August 1, 2019.
Dr. Milagros Peña was named the next President of Purchase College in May 2020.
Academics
As of 2021, Purchase College had 3,695 undergraduate students with freshman enrollment of 647.
[ 59.9% of Purchase's student body is female. 17% of the college's students come from outside of New York state.] Purchase has an acceptance rate of 52% and a student-teacher ratio of 12:1. 62% of Purchase students receive need-based financial aid and the college has an endowment of $61.1 million.
Purchase College offers majors from three schools: the School for Liberal Arts and Sciences, the School of the Arts, and the School of Liberal Studies & Continuing Education. According to U.S. News & World Report, the five most popular majors for 2016 graduates at Purchase College were Visual and Performing Arts (48%); General Studies and Humanities (16%); Social Sciences (8%); Psychology (6%); and Communication, Journalism and related programs (5%).
Purchase College was ranked the 10th best public national liberal arts college and, including private liberal arts colleges, tied for 155th overall in '' U.S. News & World Report's 2021 college rankings. Kiplinger ranked the school as the 86th "Best Value in Public Colleges" in 2018. It was also listed as one of the 100 Best Value Public Colleges for the years 2013 and 2014 by the Princeton Review. The Princeton Review rated the school's theatre as the second best. Purchase was also listed as one of the Princeton Review's top 382 colleges for 2018. ''Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...
'' ranked the school's student body as the thirteenth most liberal in 2012.
School of the Arts
Purchase College's School of the Arts houses the college's schools of Art+Design and Art Management. It also oversees Purchase's conservatories of Dance, Music and Theatre Arts. Most courses offered by BA programs housed in the School of the Arts are open to all Purchase students. Many BFA and MusB classes are open to all students as well. Approximately 40% of Purchase College's student body is enrolled in the School of the Arts.
The Jandon Business of the Arts Distinguished Lecture Series, endowed by the Donald Cecil family, is designed to enhance the arts management program at the college. Past lecturers include Joseph Volpe, former general manager of the Metropolitan Opera, and Ben Cameron, program director at the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.
School of Art+Design
Purchase College's School of Art+Design houses the college's programs in graphic design
Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdiscip ...
, painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and a ...
/drawing
Drawing is a form of visual art in which an artist uses instruments to mark paper or other two-dimensional surface. Drawing instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, various kinds of paints, inked brushes, colored pencils, crayo ...
, photography
Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is emplo ...
, printmaking
Printmaking is the process of creating artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand processed techniqu ...
, and sculpture
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...
. It also houses the Richard and Dolly Maas Gallery, which exhibits work from emerging artists, students, faculty, and alumni. The School of Art+Design hosts an annual Visiting Artist Lecture Series that brings artists, art historians, curators, and critics to campus for lectures and discussions with students and the broader Purchase community. Previous guest lecturers include Jules de Balincourt, Justine Kurland
Justine Kurland (born 1969) is an American fine art photographer, based in New York City.
Early life and education
Kurland was born in Warsaw, New York. She earned her B.F.A. from the School of Visual Arts in 1996. She went on to study with Greg ...
, Amanda Ross-Ho, and Barnaby Furnas
Barnaby Furnas, (born Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1973), is an American painter and former graffiti artist who lives and works in New York City. He studied at the School of Visual Arts in New York and received a BFA in 1995 before going on to s ...
.
Conservatory of Dance
The Conservatory of Dance houses both bachelor's and master's programs. It is one of the most highly regarded conservatories of dance in the United States. Undergraduates may major in modern
Modern may refer to:
History
*Modern history
** Early Modern period
** Late Modern period
*** 18th century
*** 19th century
*** 20th century
** Contemporary history
* Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century
Philosophy ...
or performance ballet
Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form ...
, and dance composition and dance production. The conservatory confers master's degrees in dance choreography and performance teaching. The Conservatory of Dance is housed in the Purchase College Dance Building, which was the first facility constructed in the United States solely for the study and performance of dance.
It is also home to the Purchase Dance Company, the college's student dance company. The Purchase Dance company presents ''The Nutcracker
''The Nutcracker'' ( rus, Щелкунчик, Shchelkunchik, links=no ) is an 1892 two-act ballet (""; russian: балет-феерия, link=no, ), originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaik ...
'' every December and a balanced repertory during the spring semester. The dance company also tours throughout the United States and internationally during the college's summer break. Purchase College students must audition for inclusion in the dance company, and the cast for individual shows is based on the technical competencies of members of the company. Students may earn college credit for their participation in the company.
Conservatory of Music
Purchase College's Conservatory of Music houses the college's bachelor's and master's programs in music. Undergraduates may study classical music
Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" al ...
instrumentation with a concentration in one of several types of instruments; voice and opera; classical composition; jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
; studio composition; or studio production. The Conservatory of Music also offers master's programs in all of these areas, except studio production. The enrollment in the conservatory is limited to 400 undergraduate and graduate students. It is one of the few conservatories in the United States that produces full opera productions predominately for undergraduates. The conservatory's Music Building has two recital halls, 75 practice rooms, 80 Steinway & Sons
Steinway & Sons, also known as Steinway (), is a German-American piano company, founded in 1853 in Manhattan by German piano builder Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg (later known as Henry E. Steinway). The company's growth led to the opening of a ...
pianos, and professional recording studios
A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enou ...
.
The Purchase Opera, the school's student opera company, was founded in 1998 and has won nine first-place honors from the National Opera Association. During the 2012–13 season, the opera won first place in the National Opera Association
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, ...
's Division II for its production of Die Fledermaus
' (, ''The Flittermouse'' or ''The Bat'', sometimes called ''The Revenge of the Bat'') is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée, which premiered in 1874.
Background
The original li ...
and second place in Division III for its production of ''Hansel and Gretel
"Hansel and Gretel" (; german: Hänsel und Gretel ) is a German fairy tale collected by the German Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 in ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'' (KHM 15). It is also known as Little Step Brother and Little Step Sister.
Hansel ...
''.
The Purchase Jazz Orchestra is a 17-piece big band composed of students from the conservatory's jazz studies program. Each year the orchestra performs at jazz venues such as Blue Note Jazz Club
Blue Note Jazz Club is a jazz club and restaurant located at 131 West 3rd Street in Greenwich Village, New York City. The club was opened on September 30, 1981, by owner and founder Danny Bensusan, with the Nat Adderley Quintet being the featur ...
and Dizzy's in New York City.
Conservatory of Theatre Arts
The Conservatory of Theatre Arts confers three undergraduate degrees: acting; theatre design/technology; and theatre and performance. The conservatory is among the top theatre schools in the nation, according to the Princeton Review
The Princeton Review is an education services company providing tutoring, test preparation and admission resources for students. It was founded in 1981. and since that time has worked with over 400 million students. Services are delivered by 4,0 ...
. The conservatory was ranked 10 in Hollywood Reporter's list of World’s Best Drama Schools in 2014. It has a total enrollment of around 400 students.
The conservatory's training focuses on the needs and strengths of individual students, instead of a one-size-fits-all training approach. Students participate in showcases and exhibitions in New York City, Los Angeles, and on-campus at the school's blackbox theater. Conservatory students can also work on Purchase Repertory Theatre productions. The theatre's productions are held at the Purchase Arts Center and are student-led shows that feature both acting and design/technology students. Notable acting faculty include Christopher McCann
Christopher McCann (born September 29, 1952) is an American theater, film and television actor. He was nominated for a Drama Desk Award and won an Obie Award for his performance in the 1993 play ''The Lights'', written by Howard Korder.
Care ...
and Trazana Beverley.
The Broadway Technical Theatre History Project at Purchase College presents the annual "Backstage Legends and Masters Award" to distinguished professionals who represent a variety of Broadway production specialties.
School of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Purchase College's School of Liberal Arts and Sciences houses the college's School of Film and Media Studies; School of Humanities; School of Natural and Social Sciences and interdisciplinary studies. Students can choose from 23 separate majors or they can design an interdisciplinary major from several courses of study.
The annual Durst Lecture Series, supported by an endowment from the Durst family, brings in celebrated writers to the campus. Past lecturers include authors Tim O'Brien, Hettie Jones, Claudia Rankine and Manohla Dargis.
School of Film and Media Studies
The college's School of Film and Media Studies houses undergraduate programs in Cinema Studies
Film theory is a set of scholarly approaches within the academic discipline of film or cinema studies that began in the 1920s by questioning the formal essential attributes of motion pictures; and that now provides conceptual frameworks for un ...
; Film
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...
; Media Studies
Media studies is a discipline and field of study that deals with the content, history, and effects of various media; in particular, the mass media. Media Studies may draw on traditions from both the social sciences and the humanities, but mostl ...
; New Media
New media describes communication technologies that enable or enhance interaction between users as well as interaction between users and content. In the middle of the 1990s, the phrase "new media" became widely used as part of a sales pitch for ...
, Playwriting and Screenwriting.
School of Humanities
The School of Humanities houses the college's undergraduate programs in art history
Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today, ...
; creative writing
Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary ...
; history; journalism
Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the " news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (p ...
; language and culture; literature
Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to ...
; and philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. ...
. It also offers a master's in art history.
In addition to its curriculum, the School of Humanities frequently features renowned authors and scholars who provide lectures, known as the Durst Lecture Series. These lectures are supported by the Roy and Shirley Durst Distinguished Chair in Literature. Past lecturers include Rachel Kushner, Claudia Rankine, Kirstin Valdez Quade, and Alexander Chee. Lectures are open to the public and provide an open forum for student feedback and interaction.
School of Natural and Social Sciences
Purchase's School of Natural and Social Sciences houses the college's undergraduate programs in anthropology
Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...
; biochemistry
Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology and ...
; biology
Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary ...
; chemistry
Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the elements that make up matter to the compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions: their composition, structure, proper ...
; economics
Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics anal ...
; environmental studies
Environmental studies is a multidisciplinary academic field which systematically studies human interaction with the environment. Environmental studies connects principles from the physical sciences, commerce/economics, the humanities, and socia ...
; mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
/computer science
Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...
; political science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and ...
; psychology
Psychology is the science, scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immens ...
; and sociology
Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...
. The school also presents an annual Natural and Social Sciences Symposium, which exhibits original research conducted by students; and a lecture series funded by Con Edison.
Interdisciplinary Studies
The School of Liberal Arts and Sciences offers the Liberal Arts Individualized Program of Study (informally called the Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts), which is open to students who want to pursue an individualized course of study that is not accommodated by an existing major. Students work with two faculty members representing their study disciplines to create an individualized curriculum. It also encompasses undergraduate programs in gender studies
Gender studies is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to analysing gender identity and gendered representation. Gender studies originated in the field of women's studies, concerning women, feminism, gender, and politics. The field n ...
, Asian studies
Asian studies is the term used usually in North America and Australia for what in Europe is known as Oriental studies. The field is concerned with the Asian people, their cultures, languages, history and politics. Within the Asian sphere, Asia ...
, and Latin American studies
Latin American studies (LAS) is an academic and research field associated with the study of Latin America. The interdisciplinary study is a subfield of area studies, and can be composed of numerous disciplines such as economics, sociology, history ...
.
School of Liberal Studies & Continuing Education
The School of Liberal Studies & Continuing Education at Purchase College allows community residents and students to complete their bachelor's degree and to take both credit and noncredit courses at the college. The school confers the bachelor's degree in liberal studies
Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term '' art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically th ...
, which is designed for students with some undergraduate credit who want complete their degree within a tight time-frame and are looking for a flexible schedule. Up to 90 transfer credits are accepted in this program. It also offers continuing education
Continuing education (similar to further education in the United Kingdom and Ireland) is an all-encompassing term within a broad list of post-secondary learning activities and programs. The term is used mainly in the United States and Canada.
...
and certificate programs; an online winter session; and the college's summer session.
Noncredit Professional Certificate Programs
The School of Liberal Studies & Continuing Education (LSCE) offers noncredit professional certificate courses in appraisal studies (summer only), arts management
The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both hi ...
, drawing
Drawing is a form of visual art in which an artist uses instruments to mark paper or other two-dimensional surface. Drawing instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, various kinds of paints, inked brushes, colored pencils, crayo ...
and painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and a ...
, geographic information system
A geographic information system (GIS) is a type of database containing geographic data (that is, descriptions of phenomena for which location is relevant), combined with software tools for managing, analyzing, and visualizing those data. In a ...
s (GIS) (fall and spring only), home staging Home staging is the preparation of a private residence for sale in the real estate marketplace. The goal of staging is to make a home appealing to the highest number of potential buyers, thereby selling a property more swiftly and for more money. St ...
, interior design
Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. An interior designer is someone who plans, researches, coordin ...
(fall and spring only), museum studies
Museology or museum studies is the study of museums. It explores the history of museums and their role in society, as well as the activities they engage in, including curating, preservation, public programming, and education.
Terminology
The w ...
(fall and spring only), and social media marketing
Social media marketing is the use of social media platforms and websites to promote a product or service. Although the terms e-marketing and digital marketing are still dominant in academia, social media marketing is becoming more popular for ...
(fall and spring only). Students may take individual courses without commitment to an entire program, or complete the program requirements and earn a certificate.
The School of Liberal Studies & Continuing Education also partners with specific online providers to increase the flexibility and breadth of certificate offerings. Students can take online courses in nonprofit management, paralegal studies, and receive a CEU certificate upon completion of the health coach training program at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition (IIN).
Noncredit Personal Enrichment Courses
The School of Liberal Studies & Continuing Education offers noncredit personal enrichment courses that are open to the general public and allow participants to explore personal interests. Students may take courses in woodworking
Woodworking is the skill of making items from wood, and includes cabinet making (cabinetry and furniture), wood carving, joinery, carpentry, and woodturning.
History
Along with stone, clay and animal parts, wood was one of the first mate ...
, woodturning
Woodturning is the craft of using a wood lathe with hand-held tools to cut a shape that is symmetrical around the axis of rotation. Like the potter's wheel, the wood lathe is a simple mechanism that can generate a variety of forms. The operator ...
, tattoo illustration, photography
Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is emplo ...
, creative writing
Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary ...
, and filmmaking
Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, cast ...
, with courses in other programs offered throughout the year. The personal enrichment program also offers students who are not enrolled in a degree program at Purchase College the opportunity to take selected undergraduate credit courses on a noncredit basis at a lower noncredit tuition rate. Additionally, students may take individual courses in any of the noncredit professional certificate programs without making a commitment to the entire program.
Youth and Precollege Programs
For more than 38 years, the School of Liberal Arts & Continuing Education has offered the Summer Youth and Precollege Program in the Arts to provide precollege students a forum to experience enriching learning opportunities. Courses are offered in areas such as songwriting
A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...
, acting
Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor or actress who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode.
Acting involves a broad r ...
, architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...
, visual arts
The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile art ...
, creative writing
Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary ...
, filmmaking
Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, cast ...
, video game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedba ...
and app creation, voice, fashion
Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fash ...
, musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...
, and more. Programs are offered in two- and four-week sessions over a six-week period, with full-day and commuter options.
Senior project
Students at Purchase must successfully complete a senior project prior to graduation. The senior project requires that students devote two semesters to original and creative study.
Student life
Purchase Student Government Association
The Purchase Student Government Association (PSGA) is a nonprofit corporation
A nonprofit corporation is any legal entity which has been incorporated under the law of its jurisdiction for purposes other than making profits for its owners or shareholders. Depending on the laws of the jurisdiction, a nonprofit corporation may ...
responsible for managing the money collected from Purchase College
Purchasing is the process a business or organization uses to acquire goods or services to accomplish its goals. Although there are several organizations that attempt to set standards in the purchasing process, processes can vary greatly betwee ...
students' Mandatory Student Activity Fee. The PSGA is divided into three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. These three branches are subdivided into six bodies: the executive board, the Senate, the Judicial Board, the Council of Clubs & Organizations, the Student Activities Board, and Services Board. In addition to advocating on the student body's behalf, the PSGA runs the college's Student Center
A student center (or student centre) is a type of building found on university and some high school campuses. In the United States, such a building may also be called a student union, student commons, or union. The term "student union" refers mos ...
, (known to the student body as "The Stood"), and most non-academic activities on campus, including numerous student-run services, and all clubs and organizations.
Clubs
Purchase College hosts a variety of clubs, organizations and services for its students to engage in their hobbies and interests with one another. As of spring 2018, Purchase boasts over 50 of these organizations, reflecting its on-campus diversity.
Some of these clubs and organizations:
* Complexuality
* Gamers United
* Cheese Club
* Psychology Club
* F.O.R.T.H., or Feminists Organizing Real Transformation Here
Events
In addition to its clubs, Purchase College holds several events throughout the year, accommodating the diverse musical and artistic interests of its student body. Most notably, these events include:
* Culture Shock: Culture Shock is an annual two-day music and carnival festival sponsored by the PSGA. Typically held in April, the weekend festival has featured dozens of renowned performers, including alumni students who have recently graduated from Purchase's Music Conservatory. Some notable performers include: Iggy Azalea
Amethyst Amelia Kelly (born 7 June 1990), known professionally as Iggy Azalea (), is an Australian rapper. At the age of 16, Azalea moved from Australia to the United States in order to pursue a career in music. Azalea earned public recognitio ...
, Flatbush Zombies
Flatbush Zombies (stylized as Flatbush ZOMBiES) is an American hip hop group from the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York City, formed in 2010. The group is composed of rappers Meechy Darko, Zombie Juice and Erick Arc Elliott, with Elliott ...
, MF Doom
Daniel Dumile ( ; July 13, 1971October 31, 2020), best known by his stage name MF Doom or simply Doom (both stylized in all caps), was a British-American rapper and record producer. Noted for his intricate wordplay, signature metal mask, and ...
, Lil B
Brandon Christopher McCartney (born August 17, 1989), professionally known as Lil B and as his alter ego The BasedGod, is an American rapper. Lil B has recorded both solo and with Bay Area group The Pack. His solo work spans several genres, i ...
, Ween
Ween is an American Rock music, rock band from New Hope, Pennsylvania, formed in 1984 by Gene Ween, Aaron Freeman and Dean Ween, Mickey Melchiondo, better known by their respective stage names, Gene and Dean Ween. Generally categorized as an al ...
, Jay Electronica
Elpadaro F. Electronica Allah (born Timothy Elpadaro Thedford; September 19, 1976), known professionally as Jay Electronica (stylized as J A Y E L E C T R O N I C A), is an American rapper and record producer. Born and raised in New Orleans, he ...
, SZA, Dan Deacon
Daniel Deacon (born August 28, 1981) is an American composer and electronic musician based in Baltimore, Maryland.
Deacon is renowned for his live shows, where large-scale audience participation and interaction is often a major element of the pe ...
, Regina Spektor
Regina Ilyinichna Spektor (russian: Регинa Ильинична Спектор, ; born February 18, 1980) is a Russian–born American singer, songwriter, and pianist.
After self-releasing her first three records and gaining popularity in ...
, Deerhoof
Deerhoof are an American musical group formed in San Francisco in 1994. They currently consist of founding drummer Greg Saunier, bassist and singer Satomi Matsuzaki, and guitarists John Dieterich and Ed Rodriguez. Beginning as an improvised no ...
, Pissed Jeans
Pissed Jeans is an American hardcore punk band from Allentown, Pennsylvania. The band claims to play "loud, heavy, noisy, punk rock" and is influenced by 1980s hardcore punk and post-hardcore bands. The band has released several seven singles ...
, Animal Collective
Animal Collective is an American experimental pop band formed in Baltimore, Maryland. Its members consist of Avey Tare (David Portner), Panda Bear (musician), Panda Bear (Noah Lennox), Geologist (musician), Geologist (Brian Weitz), and Deakin ( ...
, GZA, Cat Power
Charlyn Marie "Chan" Marshall ( ; born January 21, 1972), better known by her stage name Cat Power, is an American singer-songwriter, musician and model. Cat Power was originally the name of her first band, but has become her stage name as a ...
, Blonde Redhead
Blonde Redhead is an American alternative rock band composed of Kazu Makino (vocals, keys/rhythm guitar) and twin brothers Simone and Amedeo Pace (drums/keys and lead guitar/bass/keys/vocals, respectively) that formed in New York City in 1993. ...
, Bouncing Souls
The Bouncing Souls are an American punk band from New Brunswick, New Jersey, formed in 1989. By the time of their acknowledgment by the national punk rock scene, they had reignited a "pogo" element to New Jersey punk rock by playing fast light-h ...
, Ghostface Killah
Dennis Coles (born May 9, 1970), better known by his stage name Ghostface Killah, is an American rapper and a member of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan. After the group achieved breakthrough success in the aftermath of '' Enter the Wu-Tang (36 ...
, Ted Leo
Theodore Francis Leo is an American singer and musician. He is the frontman and lead guitarist of the rock group Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, and in 2013, he and Aimee Mann formed the indie rock duo The Both.
Early life
Born in South Bend, ...
, Biz Markie
Marcel Theo Hall (April 8, 1964 – July 16, 2021), known professionally as Biz Markie, was an American rapper, singer, songwriter, DJ, and record producer. Markie was best known for his 1989 single "Just a Friend", which became a Top 40 hit in ...
, Kool Keith
Keith Matthew Thornton (born October 7, 1963), better known by his stage name Kool Keith, is an American rapper and record producer from The Bronx, New York City, known for his surreal, abstract and often profane or incomprehensible lyrics. Koo ...
, Slick Rick
Richard Martin Lloyd Walters (born January 14, 1965), better known as Slick Rick, is an English-American rapper and record producer.
He rose to prominence with Doug E. Fresh & the Get Fresh Crew in the mid-1980s. Their songs " The Show" and " ...
, Destiny's Child
Destiny's Child was an American girl group whose final line-up comprised Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams. The group began their musical career as Girl's Tyme, formed in 1990 in Houston, Texas. After years of limited ...
, Solange, Drake
Drake may refer to:
Animals
* A male duck
People and fictional characters
* Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name
* Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name ...
, Tycho, Beach Fossils
Beach Fossils is an American indie rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2009. They are currently signed to Bayonet Records, having previously been signed to indie label Captured Tracks. The group's live band currently includes founder Du ...
, Dead Prez
Dead Prez, often stylized as dead prez, is an American hip hop duo composed of stic.man and M-1, formed in 1996 in New York City. They are known for their confrontational style, combined with lyrics focused on both militant social justice, self ...
, The Front Bottoms, and Big Freedia
Freddie Ross Jr. (born January 28, 1978), better known by his stage name Big Freedia ( ), is an American rapper and performer known for his work in the New Orleans genre of hip hop called bounce music. Freedia has been credited with helping popu ...
.
* Fall Fest: An "appetizer" for Culture Shock, Fall Fest is the first of the two major music festivals at Purchase College, typically held in October. Like Culture Shock, Fall Fest features of number of bands and Purchase Music Conservatory Alumni.
* Zombie Prom: Zombie Prom is a prom
A promenade dance, commonly called a prom, is a dance party for high school students. It may be offered in semi-formal black tie or informal suit for boys, and evening gowns for girls. This event is typically held near the end of the school y ...
-type event held annually in the spring that features live music, a DJ, and of course - students dressed up as zombies.
* Student-run shows that take place in one of the two stages at The Stood: Whitson's or Mainstage.
The Stood
The SUNY Purchase Student Center, which is known to the student body as simply "The Stood" was created on January 26, 2003 by Offer Ben-Arie as a recreation hall for students. Before its inception, the building which houses The Stood was a warehouse called the Butler Building. The Stood serves as a space on campus for students to express themselves outside of a school setting. The Stood is a fully equipped music venue, hosting many of the college's larger events such as: Fall Fest, Zombie Prom, SK80s, Afrodisiac, Stood-o-ween, and sometimes Culture Shock. These events usually take place on the larger of the two stages inside of The Stood, typically known as Mainstage, which has a capacity of 900. Smaller, more underground shows happen in The Stood's other performance room, Whitson's Memorial Greeting Hall, which is more commonly known as just "Whitson's" and has a capacity of 250. Students can book this room to play their own shows. Curated events sometimes happen in Whitson's, featuring larger, non-student acts. Some notable people and artists who have played in Whitson's are: Mitski
Mitski Miyawaki (born Mitsuki Laycock; September 27, 1990), known professionally by the mononym Mitski, is a Japanese-born American singer-songwriter. Mitski self-released her first two albums, '' Lush'' (2012) and '' Retired from Sad, New Caree ...
, Princess Nokia, and Crumb. These events are typical to what you would see at a smaller venue in New York City, and are always free. The building is student-run and student-funded by the Mandatory Student Activity Fee.
Greek Life
Purchase College does not officially recognize fraternities or sororities on its campus, and the student body has a traditional disdain for such organizations. However, upon request, the college will allow such organizations to use space on campus, as available, to the same extent it provides space to other student organizations.
Athletics
SUNY Purchase teams, the Purchase Panthers, participate as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...
's Division III. The Panthers are a member of the Skyline Conference
The Skyline Conference is a college athletic conference based in the New York City area that competes in the NCAA's Division III.
The league was originally chartered on May 16, 1989, as a men's basketball conference and now sponsors 17 sports ...
. Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis and volleyball. Women's sports include basketball, cross country, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming & diving, tennis and volleyball.
The Purchase College Athletic Department also houses non-varsity and intramural teams and clubs. Intramural teams include basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
, flag football
Flag football is a variant of American football where, instead of tackling players to the ground, the defensive team must remove a flag or flag belt from the ball carrier ("deflagging") to end a down. The sport has a strong amateur following ...
, floor hockey
Floor hockey is a broad term for several indoor floor game codes which involve two teams using a stick and type of ball or disk. Disks are either open or closed but both designs are usually referred to as "pucks". These games are played either o ...
, indoor soccer
Indoor soccer or arena soccer (known internationally as indoor football, fast football, or showball) is five-a-side version of minifootball, derived from association football and adapted to be played in walled hardcourt indoor arena. Indoor s ...
, racquet sports, co-ed softball
Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...
, Water Polo, Quidditch and volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...
. Intramural clubs include Men's Lacrosse, fencing
Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, ...
club, stage combat
Stage combat, fight craft or fight choreography is a specialised technique in theatre designed to create the illusion of physical combat without causing harm to the performers. It is employed in live stage plays as well as operatic and ballet p ...
, Tae Kwan Do
''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean martial arts, Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast k ...
, Ultimate Frisbee
Ultimate, originally known as ultimate Frisbee, is a non-contact team sport played with a frisbee Flying disc sports, flung by hand. Ultimate was developed in 1968 by AJ Gator in Maplewood, New Jersey. Although ultimate resembles many traditiona ...
club, Nerf
Nerf is a toy brand formed by Parker Brothers and currently owned by Hasbro. Most of the toys are a variety of foam-based weaponry, with other Nerf products including balls for sports such as American football, basketball, and baseball. T ...
club, Outdoors Adventure, field hockey
Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ...
, Chung Do Kwan
Chung Do Kwan, created by Won Kuk Lee in 1944, is one of the first of nine schools or '' kwan'' teaching Tang Soo Do. Later, the school began to teach what came to be known as taekwondo. This style of Tang Soo Do is known for its overall pow ...
, equestrian
The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse".
Horseback riding (or Riding in British English)
Examples of this are:
*Equestrian sports
*Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...
, Zumba
Zumba is a fitness program that involves cardio and Latin-inspired dance. It was founded by Colombian dancer and choreographer Beto Pérez in 2001, and by 2012, it had 110,000 locations and 12 million people taking classes weekly. Zumba is a ...
and PiYo.
In 2014, SUNY Purchase Men's Soccer Program won its first Skyline Conference Championship, defeating St. Joe's (LI) in overtime by the score of 2–1.
Campus
Purchase College is located on approximately in Westchester County, New York
Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population ...
on the former Strathglass farm. The property was originally owned by Thomas Thomas, an American Revolutionary war
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
soldier, whose family-and-servant cemetery remains on the campus between the south end of the Humanities and Visual Arts buildings. The college is adjacent to the Westchester County Airport, and is across the street from PepsiCo
PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the food and beverage market. It oversees the manufa ...
's corporate headquarters.
Dormitories and housing
Purchase college consists of six dormitory halls, Crossroads, Central (formerly Big Haus), Farside, Outback, Fort Awesome, and Wayback; along with three apartment complexes, The Olde, The Commons (The Neu), and Alumni Village. Crossroads, Farside, and parts of Central house first year students and the staff in the building, one professional Residence Coordinator (RC) and two Residence Assistants (RA's) per floor, are accommodated towards offering first year students help. The other parts of Central along with Outback, Fort Awesome, Wayback, and the apartment complexes are upperclassmen housing and the selection process of these buildings are determined by the amount of credits one has. Outback residence hall is also a part of the wellness program housing the school provides which according to its page on the Purchase website "houses students committed to holistic health and wellness. Staff and residents develop programs that focus specifically on areas of Wellness including Physical, Intellectual, Vocational/Occupational, Emotional, Social (Cultural, Societal, Family, Community), Environmental and Spiritual."
In the fall of 2016, some apartments in the Commons K street apartment block caught fire during cooking activities. No students were hurt and most were able to return to their apartments, but others were housed at the neighboring Manhattanville College
Manhattanville College is a private university in Purchase, New York. Founded in 1841 at 412 Houston Street in lower Manhattan, it was initially known as Academy of the Sacred Heart, then after 1847 as Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart ...
until replacement housing was available for them on campus.
Architecture
The college's master architectural plan was created by architect Edward Larrabee Barnes
Edward Larrabee Barnes (April 22, 1915 – September 22, 2004) was an American architect. His work was characterized by the "fusing fModernism with vernacular architecture and understated design." Barnes was best known for his adherence to st ...
and reflected the belief that "modern architecture
Modern architecture, or modernist architecture, was an architectural movement or architectural style based upon new and innovative technologies of construction, particularly the use of glass, steel, and reinforced concrete; the idea that for ...
might be able to reshape the world." It has been described as a "period piece of the 1960s" and the architects who designed and built the campus include Philip Johnson and John Burgee, Paul Rudolph, Venturi & Rauch, Gwathmey Siegel & Henderson, The Architects Collaborative, Giovanni Pasanella, and Gunnar Birkerts. The campus' original buildings were placed close together to allow the surrounding fields to remain open. The college grounds are also home to many sculptures.[
]
Campus sustainability
The college consistently ranks as one of the top sustainable colleges in the nation having ranked 72nd by the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is an environmental organization with chapters in all 50 United States, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by Scottish-American preservationist John Muir, who b ...
's America's greenest colleges. This ranking factors in the college's energy use, waste, water, food, and purchasing policies. The college is also included in the 2014 Princeton Review Guide to Green Colleges.
In 2014, the college unveiled the "Rocket" composting system, which has the capacity to handle 460 gallons of food waste
Food loss and waste is food that is not eaten. The causes of food waste or loss are numerous and occur throughout the food system, during production, processing, distribution, retail and food service sales, and consumption. Overall, about o ...
every week.
Performing Arts Center
Situated on the campus is the college's Performing Arts Center. It is a four-theatre complex that is the largest performing arts center in the SUNY system. The center's performance spaces include the 1400-seat, three-tiered Concert Hall with hydraulic lifts for orchestra; the 600-seat Recital Hall with rear-screen projection bay; the 700-seat PepsiCo Theatre designed by Ming Cho Lee; and the Repertory Theatre, a "black box" with flexible stage and seating configurations. Each theatre is specifically designed for the presentation of a different type of performance and many types of events.
The Performing Arts Center presents a broad range of performances – offering music, dance, theatre, comedy, and cinema. The Performing Arts center is also home to Conservatory of Theatre Arts' Purchase Repertory Theatre. The center's ongoing initiatives include artist partnerships, residency activities, and commissions.
Neuberger Museum of Art
The college also houses the Neuberger Museum of Art
Neuberger Museum of Art is located in Purchase, New York, United States. It is affiliated with Purchase College, part of the State University of New York system. It is the nation's tenth-largest university museum. The museum is one of 14 sites ...
, which is among the ten largest museums in New York and the eighth-largest university museum in the nation.[ The museum opened in 1972.][ It holds a permanent collection of more than 7,000 works of art] and features a full schedule of exhibitions, lectures, films, and multimedia events. The museum presents more than a dozen exhibitions each year in addition to ongoing exhibitions from its permanent collections. The Neuberger Museum of Art has works from 20th-century masters, midcareer and emerging artists, and is well known for its permanent exhibition of African art
African art describes the modern and historical paintings, sculptures, installations, and other visual culture from native or indigenous Africans and the African continent. The definition may also include the art of the African diasporas, such ...
.
Notable faculty and alumni
Notable faculty members include harpsichordist Bradley Brookshire; jazz bassist Todd Coolman
Todd Coolman (born July 14, 1954) is a jazz bassist and a retired tenured Professor of Music at the Jazz Studies Program in the Conservatory of Music at Purchase College in Westchester County, New York. He is also the former Artistic Director of t ...
; composer Laura Kaminsky
Laura Kaminsky (born September 28, 1956) is an American composer, producer of musical and multi-disciplinary cultural events, and educator. She was born in New York City, graduated from the High School of Music and Art, and studied with Joseph ...
; pianist Steven Lubin; and bassist Tim Cobb. Other faculty members include Iris Cahn, a film editor; dance choreographer
Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who c ...
Rosalind Newman; writer Melissa Febos
Melissa Febos is an American writer and professor. She is the author of the critically acclaimed memoir, ''Whip Smart'' (2010)'','' and the essay collections, ''Abandon Me'' (2017) and ''Girlhood'' (2021)''.''
Early life and education
Febos grew u ...
; and artists Liz Phillips, Antonio Frasconi
Antonio Frasconi (28 April 1919 in Montevideo, Uruguay – 8 January 2013 in Norwalk, CT, USA) was an Uruguayan - American visual artist, best known for his woodcuts. He was raised in Montevideo, Uruguay, and lived in the United States since ...
, Steve Lambert
Steve Lambert is an American artist (born 1976) who works with issues of advertising and the use of public space. He is a founder of the Anti-Advertising Agency, an artist-run initiative which critiques advertising through artistic intervent ...
, Kate Gilmore, and Hakan Topal
Hakan Topal is an artist living and working in Brooklyn, New York. He was the co-founder with Guven Incirlioglu of xurban collective (2000–12), and is known for his research-based conceptual art practice. He is an Associate Professor of New Me ...
.
Purchase College alumni are well represented throughout the arts. Actors who attended the college include Rochelle Aytes
Rochelle Aytes is an American actress and model. She is best known for her role as April Malloy on ABC drama series ''Mistresses'' (2013–16) and as the voice of Rochelle in the critically acclaimed video game ''Left 4 Dead 2'' (2009). Aytes al ...
, Susie Essman
Susan Essman is an American stand-up comedian, actress, writer and television producer, best known for her role as Susie Greene on ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'', Bobbi Wexler on ''Broad City'', and the voice of Mittens in '' Bolt''.
Early life
Essm ...
, Edie Falco
Edith Falco (born July 5, 1963) is an American actress. She is best known for portraying Carmela Soprano on the HBO series ''The Sopranos'' (1999–2007), and Nurse Jackie Peyton on the Showtime series ''Nurse Jackie'' (2009–2015). She also ...
, Zoë Kravitz
Zoë Isabella Kravitz (born December 1, 1988) is an American actress, singer, and model. She made her acting debut in the romantic comedy film '' No Reservations'' (2007). Her breakthrough came with portraying Angel Salvadore in the superhero fi ...
, Amanda Seales
Amanda Ingrid Seales (born July 1, 1981), formerly known by the stage name Amanda Diva, is an American comedian and actress. Since 2017, she has starred in the HBO comedy series '' Insecure''. In 2019, HBO released her first stand-up comedy speci ...
, Orlagh Cassidy, Melissa Leo
Melissa Chessington Leo (born September 14, 1960) is an American actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and two Critics' Choice A ...
, James McDaniel
James McDaniel Jr. (born March 25, 1958) is an American stage, film and television actor. He is best known for playing Lt. Arthur Fancy on the television show ''NYPD Blue''. He created the role of Paul in the hit Lincoln Center play '' Six Degr ...
, Francie Swift
Francie Swift is an American actress best known for her role as Cynthia in ''Thoroughbreds'' and her recurring roles as Haylie Grimes on '' Outsiders'' and Anne Vanderbilt Archibald on ''Gossip Girl''.
Life and career
Swift was born in Amarill ...
, Janel Moloney
Janel Moloney is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Donna Moss on the television series ''The West Wing'', a role for which she received nominations for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series ...
, Parker Posey
Parker Christian Posey (born November 8, 1968) is an American actress and musician. Posey is the recipient of a Golden Globe Award nomination, a Satellite Award nomination and two Independent Spirit Award nominations.
Posey made her film debu ...
, Ving Rhames
Irving Rameses Rhames (born May 12, 1959) is an American actor. He is best known for his supporting roles as IMF Agent Luther Stickell in the ''Mission: Impossible'' film series and gang kingpin Marsellus Wallace in ''Pulp Fiction''. He also a ...
, Jay O. Sanders
Jay Olcutt Sanders (born April 16, 1953) is an American film, theatre and television actor and playwright. He frequently appears in plays off-Broadway at The Public Theatre.
Early life and education
Sanders was born on April 16, 1953 in Austin, ...
, Wesley Snipes
Wesley Trent Snipes (born July 31, 1962) is an American actor, film producer, and martial artist. His prominent film roles include '' Major League'' (1989), ''New Jack City'' (1991), '' White Men Can't Jump'' (1992), '' Passenger 57'' (1992), '' ...
, Sherry Stringfield
Sherry Lea Stringfield (born June 24, 1967) is an American actress. She is best known for playing the role of Dr. Susan Lewis on the NBC medical drama '' ER'', a role for which she received three Emmy Award nominations. Stringfield was a member ...
, Stanley Tucci
Stanley Tucci Jr. ( ; born November 11, 1960) is an American actor and filmmaker. Involved in acting from a young age, he made his film debut in John Huston's '' Prizzi's Honor'' (1985), and continued to play a variety of supporting roles in fil ...
, Shea Whigham, and Constance Wu
Constance Wu (born March 22, 1982) is an American actress. Wu was included on ''Time'' magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2017. She has earned several accolades, including nominations for a Golden Globe Award, fo ...
. Other film professionals who attended Purchase College include directors Ilya Chaiken
Ilya Chaiken (born February 10, 1973) is an American film director and screenwriter. She is best known for her debut feature '' Margarita Happy Hour'', a film about motherhood, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2001 and went on to t ...
, Abel Ferrara
Abel Ferrara (born July 19, 1951) is an American filmmaker, known for the provocative and often controversial content in his movies and his use of neo-noir imagery and gritty urban settings. A long-time independent filmmaker, some of his best kn ...
, Hal Hartley
Hal Hartley (born November 3, 1959) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and composer who became a key figure in the American independent film movement of the 1980s and '90s. He is best known for his films '' The Unbelievable Tr ...
, Bob Gosse
Bob Gosse (born January 9, 1963) is an American film producer, film director and actor.
Background
Gosse was born on Long Island, New York (state), New York. Gosse attended State University of New York at Purchase, SUNY Purchase where he woul ...
, Jeffrey Schwarz, Michael Spiller
Michael Alan Spiller (born August 1, 1961) is an American cinematographer and television director.[James Spione
James Michael Spione is an American director, producer, writer and editor of both documentary and fiction films. Early on in his career, he developed a reputation for suspenseful dramatic shorts; his later career, however, has been marked by a ...](_blank)
, A. Dean Bell, and Chris Wedge
John Christian Wedge (born March 20, 1957) is an American animator, designer, film director, voice actor, film producer, screenwriter, and cartoonist. He is known for directing the films '' Ice Age'' (2002), ''Robots'' (2005), '' Epic'' (2013), ...
. Theatrical designers David Gallo
David Gallo (born January 10, 1966) is an American production/scenic designer, media/ projection designer, and creative director for Broadway, international productions, television, and arena shows.
Gallo won the Tony Award for Best Scenic Design ...
, Brian MacDevitt
Brian MacDevitt is a lighting designer and educator. He has worked extensively on Broadway and Off Broadway, as well as touring, Regional theatre, and Industrial productions. He won the Tony Award for Best Lighting Design for his work on the ...
, and Kenneth Posner
Kenneth Posner is an American lighting designer, working on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and in American regional theatre. His most notable designs include the musicals '' Wicked'' and '' Hairspray'', two highly regarded musicals of the early 21st cen ...
also attended the school. Playwright Donald Margulies
Donald Margulies (born September 2, 1954) is an American playwright and academic. In 2000, he won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play ''Dinner with Friends''.
Background and education
Margulies attended John Dewey High School in Broo ...
is a Purchase College alumni. Dancers Kyle Abraham
Kyle Abraham (born August 14, 1977) is an American choreographer and dancer. He founded his own company A.I.M by Kyle Abraham (formerly Abraham.In.Motion) in 2006 in New York City and has produced many original works for A.I.M such as ''The Radio ...
, Terese Capucilli
Terese Capucilli is an American modern dancer, interpreter of the roles originally performed by Martha Graham. She is one of the last generation of dancers to be coached and directed by Graham herself. A principal dancer with the Martha Graham D ...
, and Doug Varone
Doug Varone is an American choreographer and director. He works in dance, theater, opera, film and fashion. He is an educator and advocate for dance. His company, Doug Varone and Dancers, has been performing for over three decades.
Education
Var ...
attended Purchase.
Other artists who attended Purchase include Katherine Bradford
Katherine Bradford (born 1942), née Houston, is an American artist based in New York City, known for figurative paintings, particularly of swimmers, that critics describe as simultaneously Representation (arts), representational, Abstract art, ab ...
, Allen Cohen, Gregory Crewdson
Gregory Crewdson (born September 26, 1962) is an American photographer. He photographs tableaux of American homes and neighborhoods.
Life and career
Crewdson was born in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. He attended John Dew ...
, Luis Croquer, Thomas E. Franklin
Thomas E. Franklin (born 1966) is an American photographer for ''The Bergen Record'', best known for his photograph ''Raising the Flag at Ground Zero'', which depicts firefighters raising the American flag at the World Trade Center after the Sep ...
, Jimmy Joe Roche
Jimmy Joe Roche is an American visual artist and underground filmmaker, based in Baltimore, Maryland. He is a long-time collaborator with Baltimore-based musician Dan Deacon.
Career
Roche's works have been screened in venues and museums all ove ...
, Jon Kessler
Jon Kessler (born 1957, Yonkers, New York, Yonkers) is an Visual arts of the United States, American artist. He began college at State University of New York at Purchase, SUNY Purchase from 1974—78 but left after two years to travel in Africa, E ...
, Ron Rocco
Ron Rocco (born 1953, Texas, U.S) is an American artist who has worked in New York City, Rotterdam in the Netherlands, Berlin, Germany and China. His work entails performance, mixed media installations and sculptural constructions employing a mix ...
, Chris Dorland, Fred Wilson, performers The Dragon Sisters and recording engineer Chris Conway. Musicians who are alumni include Edward W. Hardy, Quentin Angus, Chris Ballew
Christopher Ballew (born May 28, 1965) is an American musician best known as the lead singer and bassist of the alternative rock group the Presidents of the United States of America. He also performs and records as a children's artist under th ...
, , Dan Deacon
Daniel Deacon (born August 28, 1981) is an American composer and electronic musician based in Baltimore, Maryland.
Deacon is renowned for his live shows, where large-scale audience participation and interaction is often a major element of the pe ...
, Jack Dishel
Jack Dishel (born Yevgeny Leonidovich Dishel, russian: Евгений Леонидович Дишель; 24 September 1976) is a Russian-American musician, actor, writer, director, comic and producer. Born in the Soviet Union, he grew up in the ...
, Dan Romer, the band Kiss Kiss Kiss Kiss may refer to: Books
* ''Kiss Kiss'' (book), a collection of short stories by Roald Dahl Music
* Kiss Kiss (band), an American indie rock band
* "Kiss Kiss" (Chris Brown song)
* "Kiss Kiss" (Kim Hyun-joong song)
* "Kiss Kiss" (Ladies' ...
, Jeffrey Lewis, Mase
Mason Durell Betha (born August 27, 1975), better known by his mononym Mase (formerly Murda Mase and stylized as Ma$e), is an American rapper and minister. In the late 1990s, he recorded on the Bad Boy Records label alongside its founder Sean ...
, the band O'Death, Daryl Palumbo
Daryl Palumbo (born February 10, 1979) is an American musician, originally from Bellmore, New York. He is the frontman of the bands Glassjaw, Head Automatica and Color Film. As a youth he was a member of the Long Island straight edge band ''Xbust ...
, Bess Rogers
Bess Rogers is an American indie rock musician from New York City.
Early life and education
Rogers was born into a musical family on Long Island, New York, and attended the Conservatory of Music at the State University of New York at Purchase for ...
, Joel Rubin, Langhorne Slim
Langhorne Slim is an American singer-songwriter, (born Sean Scolnick on August 20, 1980 in Langhorne, Pennsylvania). He attended high school at Solebury School in New Hope, Pennsylvania, and graduated from the Conservatory of Music at Purchase ...
, Regina Spektor
Regina Ilyinichna Spektor (russian: Регинa Ильинична Спектор, ; born February 18, 1980) is a Russian–born American singer, songwriter, and pianist.
After self-releasing her first three records and gaining popularity in ...
, Katherine Teck Katherine Weintz Teck (born December 31, 1939) is an American author, composer, and founding member of the International Guild of Musicians in Dance.
Life and career
Teck was born in Mineola, New York, to Helen Elliot Bennett and Walter Henry We ...
, Ice Spice
Isis Gaston (born January1, 2000), known professionally as Ice Spice, is an American rapper. She grew up in the Bronx, New York City, and began her career in 2021 after meeting record producer RiotUSA while attending State University of New Y ...
, Stephanie Winters and Jenny Owen Youngs, and Mitski
Mitski Miyawaki (born Mitsuki Laycock; September 27, 1990), known professionally by the mononym Mitski, is a Japanese-born American singer-songwriter. Mitski self-released her first two albums, '' Lush'' (2012) and '' Retired from Sad, New Caree ...
. Record producer Elite
In political and sociological theory, the elite (french: élite, from la, eligere, to select or to sort out) are a small group of powerful people who hold a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, political power, or skill in a group. ...
is alumni. Writer and artist Laura Vaccaro Seeger
Laura Vaccaro Seeger is an American author and artist of children's books, for which she has often appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List and won the Caldecott Honor twice, the New York Times Best Illustrated Book Award, the Boston Globe- ...
is an alumna.
Alumni from the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences include New York Assemblywoman Latrice Walker
Latrice Monique Walker is the Assembly member for the 55th District of the New York State Assembly. She is a Democrat. The district includes portions of Brownsville in Brooklyn.
Life and career
Walker was born and raised in Brownsville, Brook ...
; curator Luis Croquer; and authors Nora Raleigh Baskin, Garth Greenwell
Garth Greenwell (born March 19, 1978) is an American novelist, poet, literary critic, and educator. He has published the novella ''Mitko'' (2011) and the novels ''What Belongs to You'' (2016) and ''Cleanness'' (2020). He has also published stories ...
, David Graeber
David Rolfe Graeber (; February 12, 1961September 2, 2020) was an American anthropologist and anarchist activist. His influential work in economic anthropology, particularly his books '' Debt: The First 5,000 Years'' (2011) and ''Bullshit Job ...
, and Jeanne Darst. Also, scientists Jill Bargonetti
Jill Bargonetti is an American professor at the City University of New York with dual appointments at Hunter College and The Graduate Center. Her research is focused on tumor suppressor protein p53 and its role as an oncogene when it is mutated ...
and Carl Safina
Carl Safina (born May 23, 1955) is an American ecologist and author of books and other writings about the human relationship with the natural world. His books include ''Becoming Wild: How Animal Cultures Raise Families, Create Beauty, and Achiev ...
attended the college along with journalists Manohla Dargis
Manohla June Dargis () is an American film critic. She is one of the chief film critics for ''The New York Times''. She is a five-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.
Career
Before being a film critic for ''The New York Times'', ...
and Adam Nagourney
Adam Nagourney (born October 10, 1954) is an American journalist who covered the 2020 presidential race for ''The New York Times''.
Life and career
Nagourney was born in New York City and graduated from the State University of New York at Purcha ...
as well as film director Danny Leiner
Daniel Leiner (May 13, 1961 – October 18, 2018) was an American film and former television director. He was best known for directing the stoner comedy films '' Dude, Where's My Car?'' and ''Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle''.
He was born i ...
.
Actor/comedian Stephen Rannazzisi falsely claimed for years to have attended Purchase College.
References
External links
Official website
Official athletics website
{{authority control
Purchase
Purchasing is the process a business or organization uses to acquire goods or services to accomplish its goals. Although there are several organizations that attempt to set standards in the purchasing process, processes can vary greatly between ...
State University of New York at Purchase
Harrison, New York
Universities and colleges in Westchester County, New York
Art schools in New York (state)
Liberal arts colleges in New York (state)
Public liberal arts colleges in the United States
Educational institutions established in 1967
1967 establishments in New York (state)
Dance in New York (state)
Dance schools in the United States