Historical Background
SUNY Geneseo opened on September 12, 1871, as the Geneseo Normal and Training School with academic offerings focused on teacher training. Normal schools played a crucial role in establishing a formal two-year program for teacher training, which eventually grew to four-year courses of study.
Geneseo continued to expand its offerings, including training for teacher-librarians, teachers of children with special needs, and speech pathologists. The College awarded its first baccalaureate degree in 1940, and in 1948, it joined other normal schools and colleges to form the State University of New York (SUNY) system. During the next three decades, the College developed liberal arts and sciences programs and added several professional curricula. The first master’s degrees were awarded in 1951.
Today, SUNY Geneseo is New York State’s Public Honors College. The College, consisting of three schools-the School of Education, the School of Business, and the School of Arts and Sciences-boasts a student body of nearly 4,000 students who have the ability to choose from more than 90 programs of study, including undergraduate majors, interdisciplinary minors, graduate degrees, and partnership programs with local and national schools.
For a timeline of SUNY Geneseo’s history, visit 150 Years of Geneseo
Location
Geneseo is in the heart of the Genesee Valley and is noted for its scenic beauty. The College is located on 220 acres within the village of Geneseo-one of just 24 communities nationwide to be recognized as a National Historic Landmark. SUNY Geneseo is just a few minutes off Interstate Route 390, which is accessible via the New York State Thruway (Exit 46). Rochester, 30 miles to the north, provides the region with air, train, and bus service.
Buildings and Facilities
Residence Halls
Residence halls are grouped into the South Village, the Central Village, and the North Village. The South Village consists of Nassau, Niagara, Onondaga, Suffolk, and Wayne Halls, as well as Red Jacket Dining Hall. Many of these halls are corridor-style, popular with first-year students. The Central Village comprises Jones, Livingston, Monroe, and Steuben Halls and is close to Mary Jemison Dining Hall. The North Village includes Allegany, Erie, Genesee, Ontario, Putnam, Seneca, and Wyoming Halls and Letchworth Dining Hall. The suite-style halls in the North Village provide flexible group living spaces, popular with upper-level students. Residence halls include student lounges and study spaces, laundry facilities, and kitchenettes. Exterior doors are locked 24 hours a day; residential students enter their halls with their Geneseo ID cards. Saratoga Terrace, townhouse-style housing for 200 upper-level students, links the South Village with the central campus. The complex includes a commons building with laundry facilities and group meeting spaces.
Campus Dining
The campus meal plans offer many dining options, including unlimited swipe dining, and retail dining locations, including Starbucks and The Halal Shack. Dining facilities are maintained and managed by Campus Auxiliary Services.
Milne Library
Milne Library recently underwent a $40 million renovation that includes15 flexible study rooms and team collaboration spaces, four classrooms and seminar rooms, two multipurpose rooms for campus and community events, and increased seating throughout. The renovation includes the Books & Bites Café, near the library’s entrance.
Student Health Services
Student Health and Counseling Services are located in the Lauderdale Health Center. This building houses medical equipment and supplies necessary for the health and counseling needs of students and is staffed by full-time college medical personnel. An auxiliary center is located in South Village.
Athletic Facilities
The Myrtle A. Merritt Athletic Center contains the Louise Kuhl Gymnasium, Ira S. Wilson Ice Arena, Alumni Pool, a workout center, squash courts, and coaches’ offices. Carl Schrader Hall has a gymnasium, racquetball courts, a dance studio, exercise areas, and other facilities for instructional and extracurricular programs. The College Stadium is a 2,000-seat facility with two turf fields that accommodate soccer, field hockey, lacrosse, and intramural and casual recreation. Amenities include individual work rooms, team rooms, an athletic training facility, press boxes, and a concession area. Other outdoor facilities accommodate softball, tennis, track and field, and an equestrian program.
Student Union
The Robert W. MacVittie College Union is the hub of campus recreational and cultural student activities. It includes student organizations and staff offices; lounges, meeting rooms, recreation, and study areas; a Starbucks; the Barnes and Noble bookstore; and a ticket office for all campus performing arts events.
State University Of New York
The State University of New York’s 64 geographically dispersed campuses bring educational opportunities within commuting distance of virtually all New Yorkers and comprise the nation’s most extensive comprehensive public higher education system.
For more information about the State University of New York, visit SUNY.edu
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