Nyack College

AB Simpson, founder of Nyack College and the Christian and Missionary Alliance

Originally known as the Missionary Training Institute,[6] the school was founded in 1882 in New York City by Dr. A.B. Simpson. Simpson resigned from a prestigious New York City pastorate to develop an interdenominational fellowship devoted to serving unreached people. Simpson's view was shared by many of his contemporaries, including mainline church leaders, laborers, and theological scholars.[7]

The Missionary Training Institute was later granted a charter by the New York Board of Regents[8] and the school's curriculum was registered by the State Education Department in 1944. In 1953, the school was authorized to confer the Bachelor of Science degree and, in 1961, the Bachelor of Arts degree. In 1960, the corporation was authorized to conduct a post-baccalaureate program as the forerunner of the Alliance Theological Seminary. Nyack first received school accreditation in 1962 from the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. In 1963, the school became a member of the American Council on Education.[8]

After more than a decade of nomadic address changes for the Institute—including Eighth Avenue and 44th Street in Manhattan (now John's Pizzeria)—28 acres of land were purchased in Rockland County, New York. In 1897, the school relocated to the village of South Nyack and became widely known as a Bible college and institute for ministry preparation.

The seminary was established in 1960 as the Jaffray School of Missions, a graduate program of the college. The Jaffray School of Missions emphasized the interdisciplinary encounter between theology and the social sciences. In 1974, the Jaffray program was redesigned to include the preparation of students for ministry in North America and abroad.[9] The name of the seminary was subsequently changed to the Alliance School of Theology and Missions. In September 1979, the Alliance School of Theology and Missions became Alliance Theological Seminary, which is recognized by the Christian and Missionary Alliance as the denomination's official seminary in the United States.

The students of 1894–95 (when Nyack College was called the Missionary Training Institute)

The school changed its name to Nyack College in 1972 and began offering professional degree programs like education and business in the early 1970s.

In 1997 the school returned to Manhattan with a branch campus. Steady growth in enrollment at the leased space in Lower Manhattan at 361 Broadway prompted a search in 2008 for a new permanent home for the New York City campus, an initiative that became known as The Miracle in Manhattan.[10] In 2012, Nyack College and Alliance Theological Seminary signed a 20-year lease[11] with a two-year option to purchase the 166,385 sq ft (15,457.7 m²) on eight floors of the structure at 2 Washington Street in historic Battery Park.[12] Classes began in the new facility in fall 2013.

On November 7, 2018 the college announced plans to close its Nyack campus and consolidate its New York operations in its Manhattan-based campus by fall 2019.[5] The Nyack campus was scheduled to close at the end of the 2018-19 academic year, however delays in housing have pushed that out to September 2020.[13]

The college has multiple debts totaling in excess of $70 million, mainly stemming from the purchase of the Manhattan campus. The closure of the Rockland campus is an attempt to curb the school's operation costs.[14]

Dr. Michael Scales, President of Nyack College (2015)

The college is led by an executive team with the top three officers — President, Provost, and Executive Vice President — who collectively have 84 years of service with the institution.[15]

As of fall 2018, 267 faculty members teach in Nyack's schools and divisions, and they are supported by administrators and staff. At Nyack, 53% of the instructional faculty members are Asian, black or Hispanic; the college has an even divide between male and female staff.[16]

The Chronicle of Higher Education has named Nyack College a “Great College to Work For” for five consecutive years.[17] The college has also received high marks in the areas of work/life balance, respect and appreciation, compensation and benefits, and diversity. In addition, U.S. News and World Report designated the college "Best Ethnic Diversity for North Regional Universities."[18]

Nyack offers undergraduate, graduate, and seminary programs and is divided into seven individual schools:

• The School of Business and Leadership
• The School of Education
• The School of Human Services
• The School of Music
• The College of Arts and Sciences
• The College of Bible and Christian Ministry
• Alliance Theological Seminary

Undergraduate degrees in 41 majors include Associate in Arts, Associate in Science, Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Music, and Bachelor of Sacred Music. Graduate degrees include Master of Business Administration, Master of Arts, Master of Science, Master of Divinity, Master of Professional Studies, and Doctor of Ministry.[19]

In spring 2013, Nyack College graduated its first baccalaureates awarded with a degree in nursing. Offered on the residential campus in Nyack, the nursing program includes traditional four-year coursework and prepares students to work in hospitals around the world.[20]

Nyack College, through a collaboration with Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison, provides a bachelor of science degree in organizational management to incarcerated individuals at Fishkill Correctional Facility in Beacon, New York and at Sing Sing Correctional Facility in Ossining, New York.[21]

The Alliance Theological Seminary Library, Bailey Library (in Nyack, New York) and the Robert Eastman Library[31] (in Manhattan) support the academic research needs of Nyack's undergraduate, graduate, and seminary students and faculty.

Nyack College's library has been located in three separate buildings on campus during the history of the college: Simpson Hall, Shuman Hall, and (since 1994) its present location.

• U.S. News & World Report ranked Nyack College as one of the 10 most diverse colleges in the northern region of the United States. The report focuses on total student body from the 2015–2016 school year and excludes international students.[32]
• The Chronicle of Higher Education has named Nyack College a "Great College to Work For"[33] for the fifth consecutive year as of 2015. The college received high marks in the areas of work/life balance, respect and appreciation, compensation and benefits, and diversity.
• The inaugural Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education College Rankings named Nyack College among the top 20 schools in the nation assessed for campus environment. According to the October 28, 2016 article, the campus environment category evaluates "the racial and ethnic diversity of students and faculty, the number of international students enrolled and the inclusion of students from lower-income and first-generation college families." In addition, Nyack was recognized for being among "the top multicultural schools in the Northeast" region of the United States.[34]

Nyack's student body consists of 1,028 undergraduates and 401 graduate and professional students (as of fall 2019).[2]

Student organizations

Nyack College has two campuses in New York; pictured is the Manhattan Campus at 2 Washington Street

The Office of Student Development hosts activities and events throughout the school year, including field trips, luncheons, and games. Chapel services are also held once a week.[36]

Two active clubs on campus include Acts Prayer Ministry and Students Against Hunger. Students Against Hunger was featured on Trinity Broadcasting Network in July 2015[37] in a segment on homelessness and hunger in New York City. Other clubs include the Business Club, the Men of Letters, and the Social Work Organization.[38]

Residence halls

The view of the Rockland Campus which overlooks the Hudson River in New York

All first-year students on the Rockland campus are required to live in one of three residence halls: Moseley Hall, Simpson Hall, and Christie Hall.[39]

Formerly the Purple Pride, and before that, the Fighting Parsons, Nyack's athletes are now known as Warriors. The Warriors participate in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference of the NCAA's Division II. In 2011, the men's soccer team earned their first bid to the Division II NCAA tournament.

List of sports

Nyack Men's Basketball squaring off against Bloomfield in Bowman Gym

Nyack College has several athletic teams competing through the academic year.[41]

• Kurtis Blow, rapper
• Cynthia Davis, politician
• Mark Putnam, American college president
• Donald J. Harlin, United States air force general
• Karl Hood, Grenadian politician
• James Knaggs, American Salvation Army officer
• Seth Galloway, American soccer player
• Rashida Jolley, harpist
• Josh Tillman, also known as Father John Misty, musician.[44] (Did not graduate.)

• Official website