Binghamton University
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{{Infobox_University |name = Binghamton University |image = Image:Binghamton Seal.gif |motto = |established = 1946 |type = Public |faculty = 504 |president = Lois B. DeFleur |students = |undergrad = 11,034 |postgrad = 2,822 |doctoral = |city = Vestal |state = NY |country = USA |campus = Suburban, 887 acres (3.6 km²) |colors = |mascot = Bearcat |nickname = |affiliations = State University of New York |website = Binghamton.edu }}
| Image:Binghamton University Logo.png |
Binghamton University, also known as the State University of New York at Binghamton, is a public university located in the Binghamton, New York, USA area. It is one of the four university centers of the State University of New York system. Binghamton University offers a wide variety of programs to its 11,000 undergraduate and 2,800 graduate students and is the highest-ranked public university in New York Template:Ref.
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History
Binghamton University (BU) was established in 1946 as the Triple Cities College to serve the needs of local veterans returning from World War II. Established in Endicott, New York, the college was a branch of Syracuse University. When the college was incorporated into the State University of New York (SUNY) in 1950, it was renamed as Harpur College, in honor of Robert Harpur, a Colonial teacher and pioneer who settled in the Binghamton area. In 1961, the college was moved to its current location in Vestal, New York. After Harpur was selected as one of the four university centers of SUNY in 1965, it was renamed as the State University of New York at Binghamton. As other schools were added, Harpur College remained the liberal arts college of the university. In 1992, the university began using Binghamton University as its popular name, and BU replaced the commonly used nicknames of SUNY Binghamton and SUNY-B. Harpur College is still the largest of Binghamton University's five schools with more than 7,000 students.
Today
Image:BinghamtonUniversity.jpg Image:NaturePreserve.jpg Image:MountainviewDiningHall.jpg Image:Bartlelibrarytower.jpg Lois B. Defleur is the fifth and current president of Binghamton University and has held the position since 1990.
The campus is spread over 887 acres (3.6 km²) along the Susquehanna River. It features a 190 acre (0.8 km²) Nature Preserve, a forest and wetland area that includes a six acre (24,000 m²) pond that adjoins the campus.
The school's sports teams are called the Bearcats (formerly the Colonials). They participate in NCAA Division I athletics through the America East Conference.
Residences
The school features five traditional residential communities based on the Oxford college models and two apartment style residential communities. The residence hall communities, in order of completion, are:
- Dickinson Community (Named for Daniel Dickinson, one of the first settlers in Greater Binghamton)
- Opened in 1959, originally as Dickinson College, but changed in 1975 by student demand to Dickinson Community.
- Individual halls: Champlain, Digman, Johnson, O'Connor, Rafuse, Whitney and for a brief period Holiday Hall (Holiday Inn University, located in Vestal, NY)
- Halls named for local residents of importance when the community was constructed
- Halls are made up of double-occupancy rooms
- Newing College
- Opened in 1962
- Individual halls: Bingham, Broome, Chenango, Delaware, Endicott
- Broome, Chenango, and Delaware are named for surrounding counties. Bingham is named for the founder of Binghamton. Endicott is named for the nearby town.
- Halls are made up of double-occupancy rooms
- Hinman College (named for Senator Harvey D. Hinman)
- Opened in 1968
- Individual halls: Cleveland, Hughes, Lehman, Roosevelt, Smith
- Halls named for New York State governors
- Halls are a mix of singles, doubles, and suites
- College-in-the-Woods (or "CIW")
- Opened in 1972
- Individual halls: Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca
- Dorms are named for the five regional Native American tribes that made up the Iroquois nation.
- Halls are a mix of doubles, triples, quads, and five- or six-person suites
- Mohawk is the newest member of the CIW family, opening in 2000.
- Mountainview College
- Opened in 2003, Completed in 2004
- Individual halls: Marcy, Hunter (both opened 2003), Cascade, Windham (both 2004)
- Halls are named for important mountains in New York State.
- Halls are mostly suites, with one triple on each floor.
The apartment communities are:
- Susquehanna Community
- Opened in 1984 originally as "Graduate Community"
- Individual buildings: Brandywine, Choconut, Nanticoke, and Glenwood
- Buildings named for Estuaries of the Susquhanna river
- Hillside Community
- Opened in 1990, Completed later
- Individual buildings: Adirondack, Belmont, Catskill, Darien, Evangola, Fillmore, Glimmerglass, Hempstead, Jones, Keuka, Lakeside, Minnewaska, Nyack, Palisades, Rockland and Saratoga (The last two were built a decade after the main buildings)
- Buildings named for State Parks.
- Each building consists of a set of apartments, each of which house four to eight students
Student activities
The school also boasts one of the few remaining free-format college and community FM radio stations a left in the United States, WHRW. Apart from the radio station, the college also is home to the student-run college television station, BTV.
There are several student journals and newspapers on the Binghamton University campus. Notable publications include Pipe Dream(also known as the Crackpipe), the Binghamton Review, the Binghamton Prospect, The Spark, Asian Outlook, Han Perspective, The Vanguard, La Voz Latina, OFF!, She's Aloud, and Earth Tones.
Also, the University is protected by Harpur's Ferry Student Volunteer Ambulance Service, [1], which has served the University since 1973. This organization is staffed and run by approximately 100 students who also volunteer their time as Emergency Medical Technicians and paramedics. In 2005 this agency was named New York State EMS Agency of the Year. Harpur's Ferry is also one of the top collegiate ambulance services in the country and one of the few fully Advanced Life Support certified collegiate agencies. They respond to calls on and off campus and cover surrounding agencies with two NYS certified ALS ambulances utilizing 12-lead technology, and two fly cars.
The University provides students with very convenient bus transportation. OCCT is the nation's only student-run bus company. It provides a campus shuttle as well as service to off-campus areas. Escape provides students with transporation to New York City and Long Island for the weekends and holidays. Getaway is another organization that provides special charter bus service to various desinations.
Colleges and schools
Binghamton University is comprised of the following colleges and schools:
- Harpur College of Arts & Sciences
- Decker School of Nursing
- School of Education & Human Development
- School of Management
- Thomas J. Watson School of Engineering & Applied Science
- Graduate School
Alumni
- William Baldwin, actor
- Andrew Bergman, screenwriter and film director
- Bruce Benderson, novelist and essayist
- Ronald Brownstein, journalist
- Steve Koren, screenwriter
- Tony Kornheiser, sportswriter
- Matt Ouimet, president of the Disneyland Resort
- Camille Paglia, famous feminist and social critic
- Lee Ranaldo, musician
- Paul Reiser, actor and writer
- Dava Sobel, writer
- Art Spiegelman, graphic novelist
References
- Template:Note Ranked 74 nationally in the 2006 U.S. News & World Report National University Rankings, higher than any other SUNY university (a ranking which includes all national universities, public and private).