Hofstra University
Hofstra University is a private insitution of higher learning located in
Hempstead,
Long Island,
New York (USA) founded in 1935 on the basis of the estate of wealthy businessman and heiress William and Kate Hofstra. The school began as a branch of
New York University and became an independent school, Hofstra College, several years later. It became Hofstra University in 1963.
In addition to its core
Liberal Arts offerings, Hofstra University includes schools of business and law and an emerging School of Communication. It is also hosts a renowned annual festival of
William Shakespeare plays, which have been held for more than half a century. The regular Shakespeare productions are performed in Hofstra's own
Globe Theatre replica in the John Cranford Adams Playhouse (named for the educator who served as Hofstra University president during its first period of major growth.) The Joan and Donald E. Axinn and the Hofstra Law Libraries have over 1.2 million volumes and are accessible through an automated on-line catalog. Axinn Library is housed in a ten-floor tower and twin three-story pavilions. Students have free access to the circulating and reference book collections, which are in open stacks.
Hofstra University campus also comprises an
arboretum, one of only 430 in the
United States. The grounds host over 635 different species and varieties of trees. The campus also features a two acre (8,000 m²)
bird sanctuary. Hofstra's campus has become a registered member of the
American Association of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta.
In the 1960s, the onetime commuter school acquired land on the north side of Fulton Avenue in Hempstead, part of
Mitchel Field, a former Air Force base. The new north campus became the home of both the school's new student center and six high-rise residence halls -- Alliance, Bill of Rights, Constitution, Declaration of Independence (now Estabrook) Hall, Enterprise, and Freedom (now Vander Poel) Hall The original towers were simply named "Tower A", "Tower B", etc. They were officially renamed in 1982 with their patriotic titles but referred to by the initials by some veteran Hofstra staffers. Other Hofstra residence halls include the Netherlands, Liberty/Republic (for honors students), Nassau/Suffolk, Colonial Square, the New Complex and Twin Oaks Apartments (located a half-mile west on Fulton Avenue).
The
New York Jets football team has its corporate headquarters at Hofstra and holds its summer camp there. It uses privately-owned fields at Hofstra to practice and train. In 2005, the Jets announced a preliminary deal to move its offices and training facilities to New Jersey.
The university operates Long Island's oldest public radio station,
WRHU-FM (88.7). The noncommercial broadcaster was founded in 1950 as WHCH, a campus-limited station, and received its broadcast license on
June 9,
1959, using the call letters WVHC. The station became WRHU (for Radio Hofstra University) in 1983.
Hofstra University long had the unofficial
nickname of the
Flying Dutchmen (or
Dutchmen or just
Dutch); the school's official team name is now "The Pride", which started out referring to the school's booster organization, but has become linked to the collective term for
lions, starting when a pair of lions became the school's athletic
mascots in the late 1980s. The official change of the name came in the summer of 2005 as a way to keep pride in the school's roots and its steps toward the future.
The Pride nickname evolved from the Hofstra Pride on-and off-campus imaging campaign that began in 1987, during the university's dramatic recovery and growth. That had followed a major financial crisis in the 1970s that forced the layoff of more than 100 employees. The school's revival was credited in huge part to the man who led the University from 1976 to 2001 -- educator, government official and former Hofstra football star Dr. James M. Shuart. Hofstra Stadium, the school's main outdoor athletic facility, has been named James M. Shuart Stadium since 2002.
The school has featured a pair of lions on its heraldic logo since at least the 1940s -- first two male lions, then (since 1987) a male and female, informally known as Kate and Willy. The school's marketing logo (unveiled in 2004) for its advertising campaigns subs out a shield and an H for the lions, but retains the school colors of blue and gold.
The
New York Jets hold summer training camp at their on-campus headquarters, but the team will be leaving for a new complex in New Jersey in the future.
About five percent of the male student population of the university, are members of a fraternity and about six percent of the female students are members of a sorority. Greek lettered organizations were established early in the university's history in the 1930's. Several local and regional fraternal organizations were formed at the university including: Crown & Lance, Epsilon Sigma, and Manchester House fraternities, along with Alpha Theta Beta, Delta Chi Delta, Phi Epsilon and Wreath & Foil (nationally Phi Sigma Sigma in 1989) sororities. The first chapter of national, historically African American, Greek lettered were charted in the mid-1970's and they included Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. Latino Greek lettered organizations established chapters at the university in the 1990's, starting with Phi Iota Alpha Fraternity.
Panhellenic CouncilAlpha Epsilon Phi, Alpha Theta Beta, Alpha Phi,Delta Gamma, Delta Phi Epsilon, Delta Chi Delta, Delta Gamma,Phi Epsilon, Phi Sigma Sigma, Sigma Delta Tau,Sigma Sigma Sigma (inactive).
Inter-Fraternity CouncilAlpha Epsilon Pi, Alpha Kappa Psi, Delta Chi, Delta Sigma Phi,Kappa Sigma, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Sigma Alpha Mu, Sigma Pi, Tau Epsilon Phi, Tau Kappa Epsilon, Theta Tau,Zeta Beta Tau (inactive).
African-Latino Fraternal Sororal AllianceAlpha Kappa Alpha, Alpha Phi Alpha, Delta Sigma Theta, Malik, Phi Beta Sigma, Phi Iota Alpha, Sigma Iota Alpha, Sigma Lamda Beta,
1.
Truesdel Peck Calkins 1937-1942
2.
Howard S. Brower 1942-1944
3.
John Cranford Adams 1944-1964
4.
Clifford Lee Lord 1964-1972
5.
James H. Marshall 1972-1973
6.
Robert L. Payton 1973-1976
7.
James M. Shuart 1976-2001
8.
Stuart Rabinowitz 2001-Present
Alumni
*
Chris Albrecht, Chairman of HBO
*
Maryanne Trump Barry, U.S. Court of Appeals Judge
*
Matthew Barry, On-Air Talent, Pixy 103
WPXC*
Wayne Chrebet,
New York Jets wide receiver *
Speedy Claxton,
Atlanta Hawks point guard *
Norm Coleman, U.S. Senator (R-Minnesota)
*
Marques Colston, Picked in the
2006 NFL Draft by the
New Orleans Saints*
Francis Ford Coppola, Oscar-winning filmmaker
*
Butch D'Ambrosio, writer for
Mad Magazine*
Nelson DeMille, best selling author
*
John Discepolo, Sports Director WNYW Fox 5,
*
Steven Epstein, Sony Classical music producer
*
Jared Fine, Director of Project Development, PLUS Entertainment, New York
*
Joe Frank, radio
monologuist and
playwright*
Marilyn French, noted author and feminist
*Dr.
Lenora Fulani, first woman and the first African American to ever appear on the ballot in all 50 states for U.S. President
*
Joseph M. Gregory, President and Chief Operating Officer of
Lehman Brothers*
Madeline Kahn, Oscar-nominated actress
*
Peter Kalikow,
Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman
*
Lainie Kazan, actress
*
Ron Kovic, Activist, author of
Born on the Fourth of July*
Norman F. Lent, former U.S. Congressman, New York (R)
*
David A. Levy, former U.S. Congressman, New York (R)
*
Joe Morton, award winning actor
*
Robert O. Muller, Co-Founder of
International Campaign to Ban Landmines, the
Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1997
*
David Paterson, minority leader of the
New York State Senate,
Democratic Party nominee for
Lieutenant Governor of New York in the
New York gubernatorial election, 2006.
*
Phil Rosenthal, Creator, producer and writer for hit comedy show
Everybody Loves Raymond*
Bob Rozakis, Writer for DC Comics
*
Billy Scafuri, member of
Harvard Sailing Team sketch comedy team.
*Morton Schapiro, economics professor and president of
Williams College*Lance Schulters,
Miami Dolphins, Free Safety
*
Ken Singleton, former
MLB player and current
YES Network commentator (never graduated)
*
Susan Sullivan, actress
*
Robert Swirsky, author, lecturer, and computer scientist
*
Thomas C. Wales, assassinated federal prosecutor
*
Christopher Walken, Oscar-winning actor (never graduated)
*
George Vescey, Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times sportswriter
*
Frank G. Zarb, former Chairman of NASD, Inc. and the Nasdaq Stock Market
Notable Faculty, Past & Present
*
Robert Sobel, noted professor and prolific author
*
Arvind-pal Singh Mandair, holder of the Sardarni Kuljit Kaur Bindra Chair in Sikh Studies
*Herbert A. Deutsch, composer, inventor of the Moog synthesizer (Hofstra Alum)
*Oscar Hijuelos, best selling author, Pulitzer Prize winner
*Dr. James A. Berger, National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow for American Literature
*Dr. Sharryn Kasmir, National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow for Anthropology
*Dr. Lisa Merrill, National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow for Theater History and Criticism
* Dr.
Frank Bowe, Schloss Distinguished Professor
*Dr. Laurie Johnson, Fulbright Scholar (Hofstra Alum)
*E.R. Shipp, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist
* John Louis Kern, Fulbright Scholar
*Rustin Carey McIntosh, Fulbright Scholar
* Dr. Robert A. Leonard, Ph.D, Linguistics. Noted linguist of Swahili; one of four main translators in the United States.
*
Dr. Steven Shatz, noted Long Island psychologist (Hofstra Alum)
*
Hofstra University Arboretum*
Hofstra University School of Law*
Twentieth-Century Literature*
Hofstra Museum*
Dutch Treats*
Hofstra University*
WRHU-FM
