Summary
Coordinates: 40°49′8″N 73°35′38″W / 40.81889°N 73.59389°W / 40.81889; -73.59389
Long Island University (LIU) is a private, coeducational, nonsectarian institution of higher education in the U.S. state of New York.
History
LIU was chartered in 1926 in Brooklyn by the New York State Education Department to provide “effective and moderately priced education” to people from “all walks of life”.[4]
In 1951, recognizing the educational needs of the growing number of families moving to the suburbs, LIU purchased a 123-acre (50 ha) estate, Hillwood, the Marjorie Merriweather Post and Edward F. Hutton House.[5] Located in Brookville, the original home, Warburton Hall, had been built by William A. Prime and was extensively renovated by the Huttons. Three years later, the campus was renamed C. W. Post, in honor of Mrs. Hutton's father. It has a wide variety of undergraduate and graduate programs, including library science, business and many other specialties.
In 1963 LIU established a third campus in Southampton, where it had writing and environmental programs. As the management of this campus became too costly, the university sold it in 2006 to the State University of New York (SUNY) at Stony Brook. LIU's master's degree programs at this campus were transferred to Riverhead. Ownership of LIU's bachelor’s degree programs located at Southampton was transferred to SUNY Stony Brook.
On March 7, 2013, LIU named Kimberly R. Cline, the current president of Mercy College, as its 10th president. She will succeed David J. Steinberg, who is retiring in the summer of 2013, and be the first woman to lead the private, six-campus institution.[6]
Organization
LIU is administered by a president and board of trustees who elects the president. The two main campuses are governed by a chancellor, chosen by the chairperson of the board of trustees. The two main campuses each have a provost.
Campuses
LIU has two main campuses: LIU Brooklyn, in Brooklyn, and LIU Post (formerly C. W. Post), in Brookville. LIU also offers educational programs at locations in Brentwood and Riverhead and at its LIU Hudson sites, located in Rockland and Westchester.
LIU Brooklyn is the University's first permanent site, established in 1926. The campus, located at the intersection of Flatbush and DeKalb Avenues (across the street from Junior's restaurant), includes the former Brooklyn Paramount Theater, the world’s first theater built specifically for talking pictures.[7] The theater, which abuts the original core campus, was bought in 1960 by LIU and converted into a gymnasium in 1963. Parts of the theater's balcony were used as lecture rooms. The theater, containing its original Wurlitzer organ, was used as a basketball court[clarification needed] for the Brooklyn campus' Blackbirds' home basketball games until the Athletic, Recreation & Wellness Center (designed by Arquitectonica) was built. The New York Times recognized it as one of the most diverse campuses in the United States.[8] and is home to the prestigious George Polk Awards in journalism.
LIU Brooklyn comprises:
Founded in 1954, LIU Post is situated in Brookville, on Long Island's north shore. It is the University's largest campus and houses the University's main administrative offices.
LIU Post comprises:
LIU Post is home to the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts, which presents world-renowned artists in 70 music, dance, and theater performances each season.[9] The campus also is the location of a lifetime learning program in Continuing Education & Professional Studies that offers classes in the fall, spring and summer semesters. Subjects include paralegal studies, financial planning, interior decorating, corporate training, project management, entrepreneurship, real estate, and insurance.
The Brentwood and Riverhead locations, and LIU Hudson, with its two locations in Rockland and Westchester counties, offer graduate degree and advanced certificate programs; the Brentwood location also offers a bachelor's degree program. LIU Riverhead is home to the Homeland Security Management Institute, recognized as one of the leading institutions in the United States in homeland security training. The institute has been designated a "Homeland Security Center of Excellence" by the United States Congress.[10]
Academics
All campuses offering undergraduate education utilize what is called the "Long Island University Plan".[11] The main components of the plan consists of (1) expanded academic and personal counseling from the students' first year to graduation; (2) enhanced academic and career opportunities that gives students decisive advantages in career fields of their choice by providing an option for professional employment and "special" semesters that build professional connections, credentials, and experience; and (3) essential literacies that develop the students' analytic and writing skills that familiarizes them with the fundamental languages of culture and science.
Athletics
The two major LIU campuses have distinct athletic programs and thus names: the Blackbirds at LIU Brooklyn, who compete in NCAA Division I; and the Pioneers at LIU Post, who compete in NCAA Division II. LIU Brooklyn has 14 varsity teams, and LIU Post has 15 varsity teams, each representing sports from baseball to volleyball.
The Blackbirds basketball team has been the most successful of both campuses’ programs. The basketball team won the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) in 1939 and 1941 under the guidance of Coach Clair Bee. The 1935-36 team went 25‑0 and was the overwhelming favorite to represent the United States at the 1936 Summer Olympic Games in Berlin, with basketball a medal sport for the first time. However, the Blackbirds decided as a team to boycott the Games as a protest of Nazi Germany and its anti-Jewish policies. This principled position taken by the players was based on a secret ballot among them in Coach Bee's office in early March 1936.[12] In 1951, however, the Blackbirds basketball players were involved in the CCNY Point Shaving Scandal that resulted in five players receiving a suspended sentence and one player a one-year prison sentence.[13] The school suspended its athletic program from 1951 to 1957 due to the scandal.[14] Games were played at the Brooklyn Paramount Theater until recently.[14]
In 1997 the Blackbirds were seeded 13th in the East Region of the NCAA Men's Basketball tournament. They lost in the first round to Villanova, 101‑91. In 2011 the Brooklyn Campus won both the Northeast Conference regular season and tournament championship, winning 13 games in a row at the end of the season. The Blackbirds were seeded 15th in the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament but lost 102‑87 to North Carolina in the first round, and so finished with a 27‑6 record for 2010-11. In 2012 the Blackbirds repeated as NEC regular-season and tournament champions and were seeded 16th in the 2012 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament but lost 89‑67 to Michigan State in the first round, thus finishing with a 25‑9 recond for 2011-12. On March 12, 2013, the Blackbirds won their third straight NEC title by defeating Mount St. Mary's 91-70 in the championship game but lost to James Madison 68-55 in a 16-seed play-in game during the 2013 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament.
The Blackbirds' women's soccer team, which plays at Long Island University Field, has also been extremely successful.
Media
The LIU Public Radio Network broadcasts on 88.3 FM (WPPB) and 88.1 FM (WCWP). The LIU television broadcasts on channels 36 and 37 on campus only (LIUTV).
The journal Confrontation is based on the LIU Post Campus.