Niagara University

Founded by the Congregation of the Mission in 1856 as Our Lady of Angels Seminary, the school moved from Buffalo to its current location on May 1, 1857. After 26 years on its new campus, The College and Seminary of Our Lady of Angels officially changed its name to Niagara University on August 7, 1883. The University is still run by the Vincentian Fathers. All of Niagara's 26 presidents, including its current president, Rev. James J. Maher, C.M., have been Vincentian priests.

In 2017, Niagara University was ranked #44 by U.S. News & World Report in the "Regional Universities North" category.[7] The magazine also ranked Niagara University 9th as the best value schools in the same category.[8] Taking into account educational quality, affordability, and alumni success, Money Magazine ranked Niagara University as the best college or university in the Buffalo-Niagara region in 2017 when it comes to delivering the most value for a student's educational dollar.[9][10] Kiplinger's Personal Finance ranked Niagara University #82 in the magazine's list of the 100 best values among private universities ahead of every other private institution in Western New York.[11][12]

U.S. News & World Report also has Niagara University as tied for 25th as the best colleges for veterans.[13]

Undergraduate students are able to choose an area of study in any of Niagara's four academic colleges. In addition to the College of Arts and Sciences, College of Business, College of Education, and the College of Hospitality and Tourism Management, NU's Academic Exploration Program allows first and second year students take courses in various departments before deciding on a major.

A statue of St. Vincent de Paul talking to students, which is common to all Vincentian universities in the United States.

Niagara University features five traditional residence halls, as well as six community houses called the Varsity Village and on-campus student apartments. Traditional buildings include Clet, Lynch, O’Donoughue, O'Shea, and Seton Halls.

• Lynch Hall (coeducational by floor); a five floor building with one straight hallway on each floor accommodating rooms and common area facilities. Rooms are mostly single occupancy with a limited number of non-singles. The dorm's basement features a large lounge and game room.
• O’Donoughue Hall (coeducational by floor with one coed floor); a four floor building with one straight hallway on each floor accommodating rooms and common area facilities. Rooms are mostly single occupancy with a few doubles.
• Clet Hall (coeducational by floor); a four floor building with straight hallways making up three wings in a “U” shape. Common area facilities are located at the ends of the wings. Rooms are fashioned for single, double and triple occupancy. The campus's Dining Commons and Theatre are located on the north side of the building.
• Varsity Village (male/female); consists of six separate houses (three for male students and three for female students) of two floors each. Common area facilities are located in each house and rooms are fashioned for single, double and triple occupancy. The majority of the spaces in "the village" are generally chosen by upperclassmen.
• O'Shea Hall (coeducational by floor); a high rise building with eight floors set up in a rectangular fashion with common area facilities in the center of each floor. Rooms are fashioned for double occupancy. Location of some International and some athlete housing, as well as the Housing Office.
• Seton Hall (coeducational by floor); a high rise building with eight floors set up in a rectangular fashion with common area facilities in the center of each floor. Rooms are fashioned for double and triple occupancy. The dorm houses a number of student-athletes as well as the Academic Support and Career Services offices.
• Apartments (coeducational building/single gender apartments); consists of six separate buildings of two floors each with eight 4-person apartments. Each apartment is fully furnished and contains all the amenities of an off campus apartment. Each individual bedroom contains a vanity with mirror, sink and cupboards. Apartments are available to juniors, seniors and graduate students only.

The Reserve Officers Training Corps of the Army has a unit at Niagara. ROTC students participate in regular university classes and majors, as well as military science instruction throughout their college careers. Each Tuesday and Thursday, cadets participate in military lab exercises and, by tradition, wear their army combat uniforms (ACU) to classes for the remainder of the day (completely optional). During the week, ROTC students wake up early every day to participate in grueling physical training exercises.

The Campus Activities Office, along with the Niagara University Student Government Association, sponsors numerous opportunities to get involved in campus life, including concerts, comedians, and weekly late-night events. Currently Tau Kappa Epsilon is the only fraternity active on Niagara University's campus. There are also two active national sororities, Alpha Sigma Alpha and Phi Sigma Sigma. In addition to these, there are many clubs which celebrate and support cultural diversity, under the auspices of the Office of Multicultural Affairs.[18]

The Niagara Index, originally called the Niagara Tribute, was the school's newspaper, which ceased publication in 2012.[19] The first issue of the Tribute was published on January 1, 1870, making it the third oldest sporadically-published college newspaper in the United States at the time of its closure. The next year, the Tribute was renamed the Index Niagarensis, Latin for its current title, which was adopted on December 15, 1874. The Index's founder and original editor was Fr. John W. Hickey, C.M.

In the mid-2000s, Niagara's radio station became an internet-only broadcast, changing its name from WRNU to WNIA. The station, whose programming and staff is composed entirely of student DJs, features multiple genres of music as well as sports and talk shows.

The Castellani Art Museum of Niagara University is centrally located on the main campus and is Niagara County's only collecting museum. The museum features exhibitions of contemporary artists and traditional folk arts. The museum owns a permanent collection of over 5,700 art works, most of which are from the 19th-century, modern and contemporary art movements.

The Niagara University Fine Arts Program has studio and classroom space in the Museum for students. Docent and volunteer programs are offered to any interested member of the community. The bachelor's degree in Art History with Museum Studies has been offered since the fall of 2013, and is now one of the very few places in the country that offer Museum Studies at an undergraduate level.

The Niagara University Athletics Department sponsors 18 Division I sports. The Purple Eagles compete in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) in all sports except ice hockey. The men's ice hockey team competes in Atlantic Hockey. Niagara named Simon Gray as its athletics director on May 16, 2014.

The men's basketball team won the MAAC Championship in 2005 and in 2007, earning automatic bids to the 2005 and 2007's NCAA tournaments, known colloquially as the "Big Dance". Niagara's first appearance in the Dance came in 1970, when All-American Calvin Murphy led the Purple Eagles to the Sweet Sixteen. On March 13, 2007, Niagara defeated Florida A&M 77-69 in the so-called "Play-In Game". NU was crowned the 2012-2013 MAAC regular season champions. This title earned them an automatic bid into the NIT where they faced the University of Maryland in the first round.

The men's hockey team won the College Hockey America Championship in 2000, 2004 and 2008, appearing in the NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship those years. In 2000, the "Purps" pulled an upset against University of New Hampshire to advance to the Elite Eight.

Two years later, the women's hockey team, under head coach Margot Page, shocked the college hockey world by advancing to the Frozen Four, eventually tying the University of Minnesota in the third-place game.

Five other Niagara teams have advanced to the NCAA Tournament in their respective sports: softball (1998); women's soccer (2006); women's tennis (2003 & 2005); Men's soccer (2012); women's volleyball (2009, 2010 & 2011).

The Niagara University Community Action Program (NUCAP) and Learn & Serve Niagara are the lead offices for the university's renowned community service program. All Niagara students are encouraged to give back to their community by participating in the numerous NUCAP and Learn & Serve opportunities offered throughout the academic year. Many courses at Niagara include a service learning component as a part of the class curriculum. Generations of Niagara students have served as volunteers for area nursing homes, hospitals, and schools, the American Red Cross, the American Heart Association, and the Upper Mountain Volunteer Fire Company, among others.

Niagara has approximately 40,000 living alumni worldwide. Niagara alumni are distinguishing themselves in the fields of academics, government, law, religion, and sports

• In the field of academics, Niagara alumni include: Teresa J. Domzal, former Dean of the George Mason University School of Management; Dennis Holtschneider, President of DePaul University; David M. O'Connell, Bishop of the Diocese of Trenton, NJ; and David Sylvester, Principal of King's University College
• In the field of government, Niagara alumni include: William J. Donovan, Former Ambassador to Thailand and Father of Military Intelligence; Alfred F. Beiter, former U.S. Representative from New York; Thomas F. Burchill, former U.S. Representative from New York; Joseph L. Carrigg, former U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania; Leo W. O'Brien, former U.S. Representative from New York; Gilbert Parent, former Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada; and Dan Schaefer, U.S. Representative from Colorado
• In the field of law, Niagara alumni include: Jerome C. Gorski, Judge on the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division; Frank D. O'Connor, former Judge on the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division; Hugh B. Scott, Magistrate Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of New York and the first African American to become an Assistant United States Attorney; Frederick J. Scullin, Senior Judge on the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York; and John J. Coughlin, Professor of Law and Concurrent Professor of Theology at Notre Dame University.
• In the field of religion, Niagara alumni include: Venerable Nelson Baker, Founder of the "City of Charity" and candidate for canonization; Michael J. McGivney, Founder of the Knights of Columbus; Anthony Raymond Ceresko, Old Testament scholar; and several American prelates of the Roman Catholic Church including Octavio Cisneros, Edmund Michael Dunne, Joseph Lennox Federal, Edmund Gibbons, Thomas Francis Lillis, James Johnston Navagh, and Donald Walter Trautman.
• In the field of sports, Niagara alumni include: Hubie Brown, two-time NBA Coach of the Year and Basketball Hall of Fame member; Larry Costello, six-time NBA All-Star and NBA coach; Frank Layden, NBA Coach of the Year and Executive of the Year; Sal Maglie, two-time MLB National League All-Star; Joe McCarthy, seven-time MLB World Series Champion and National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum member; and Calvin Murphy, three-time All-American, NBA All-Star and Basketball Hall of Fame member
• Other notable Niagara alumni include: Bill Press, host of nationally syndicated radio talk show and former co-host of CNN's Crossfire; John O'Hara, best-selling novelist and National Book Award winner; Michael Scheuer, former CIA Chief of the Bin Laden Issue Station and author of Imperial Hubris; Robert Wegman, founder of Wegmans Food Markets; and John Katko, Congressional Representative for the 24th District of New York State.

Media related to Niagara University at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website
• Niagara Athletics website