Manhattan College
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The main entrance to Manhattan College |
Manhattan College is a
Catholic college in the
Lasallian tradition in
New York City. In spite of the college's name, it is no longer located in
Manhattan but in the the
Riverdale section of
the Bronx; while many scoff at this irony, the college is actually less than a mile from the northernmost point of Manhattan, which is at 228th Street and
Broadway, 14 blocks (about 3/4 mile) south of the college which is located at 242nd Street and Broadway.
The college was founded in 1853 by five French
Lasallian Brothers in a small building on
Canal Street. When the need to expand forced them from
Lower Manhattan, the College moved to 131st Street and Broadway, in the Manhattanville section of
Harlem.
It became known as Manhattan College in 1863 and moved to its present location in Riverdale in 1922 as it outgrew its facilities in Manhattanville.
Originally exclusive to men, Manhattan College established a cooperative program with the
College of Mount Saint Vincent with which it still shares some facilities and programs after the pair became
coeducational in 1973 and 1974, respectively.
It also houses a public high school, the Jonas Bronck Academy, on the bottom floor of Hayden Hall, the primary residence of the Biochemistry, Chemistry and Physics departments, named after the notable philanthropist
Charles Hayden.
Manhattan College offers undergraduate programs in the ,
business,
education,
engineering, and
science. Graduate programs are offered for
education and
engineering.
The school's men's and women's sports teams are called the
Jaspers. All teams participate in the
NCAA's Division I and in the
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Manhattan College has no
football program. Manhattan College lays claim to the origin of Baseball's
Seventh-inning stretch, though this has been largely debunked.
The mission of Manhattan College is to provide a contemporary, person-centered educational experience characterized by high academic standards, reflection on values and
principles, and preparation for a life-long career. This is achieved in two ways: by offering students programs which integrate a broad liberal education with concentration in specific disciplines in the
arts and
sciences or with professional preparation in
business,
education and
engineering; and by nurturing a caring,
pluralistic campus community.
The learning experience at Manhattan College is enriched by cooperative programs with other institutions, by postgraduate professional programs and by capitalizing on its location on the edge of the cultural center and global marketplace that is New York City.
For 118 years, there existed on the Manhattan College campus a boys' secondary school, Manhattan College High School, familiarly known to students, parents, and rivals as
Manhattan Prep. Founded in 1854, the school educated its young men in a Catholic college preparatory curriculum geared toward eventual university matriculation. It was, indeed, a "prep" school in the classic sense: coats and ties were mandatory for class attendance; strict standards of behavior were enforced; and daily newspaper reading was required. The curriculum included a mandatory 3 years of Latin (with an optional 4th year); foreign language study, including Greek, French, and Spanish; 4 years of laboratory science, and 4 years each of mathematics, English rhetoric and literary forms, and theology.
Throughout its existence, Manhattan Prep was very much the "kid brother" of its host institution. Students shared the college cafeteria, auditorium, and athletic facilities, and its sports teams bore the nickname, "the Jasperites" in homage to the Manhattan College Jaspers. The school newspaper, published monthly, was called
The Prepster.
Manhattan Prep closed its doors in 1972 due to rising costs and a decline in religious vocations.
*
Joseph Campanella - TV, stage, and motion picture actor,
Mannix*
Alexandra Chando - actress, Maddie on
As The World Turns*
James W. Cooley - mathematician, co-author of the FFT (
Fast Fourier Transform) algorithm used in digital processing
*
Thomas R. Donahue - former Secretary-Treasurer,
AFL-CIO*
Rudy Giuliani -
Mayor of New York City (1994-2001)
*
Raymond W. Kelly - New York City Police Commissioner
*Melvin Lasky - MTV Superstar "Rockstars Have Kidnapped My Son" March 2003
*
Larry Lembo - basketball star in 1964 who was drafted by the Knicks; NCAA basketball referee
*
Arthur Lichte - USAF General
*
Eugene R. McGrath - former Chairman and CEO,
Con Edison*
James Patterson - novelist, author of
Kiss the Girls*
Frederic Salerno - President,
Verizon*
Official school site *
Official Manhattan Jaspers athletics site *
Official Student Newspaper - Manhattan College Quadrangle 
