Syracuse University is a prestigious American private university. The main campus is located in Syracuse, New York, and shares space with the nearby SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. The school also owns a Sheraton Hotel and golf course near the campus, as well as properties in New York City and Washington, D.C. It had a total 2003 enrollment of 18,604 students: 12,645 undergraduates, 5,176 graduates, and 783 law students.
SU was chartered in 1870 as a Methodist-Episcopal institution, but opened one year later as a non-denominational school. Its motto is "Suos Cultores Scientia Coronat," which is Latin for "Knowledge crowns those who seek her." The school's official color is orange, which was adopted in 1890.
The school's independent student newspaper is The Daily Orange, which was founded in 1903 and indepedent since 1971. It also has two radio stations: WAER-FM, a NPR affiliate, and WERW-AM, a student-run station, as well as its own closed-circuit TV station, HillTV.
In 1988, thirty-five SU students were killed in the terrorist bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. The students were returning from a study-abroad program in Europe. The school later dedicated a memorial to the students in the center of the campus.
After the retirement of Chancellor Kenneth "Buzz" Shaw at the end of the 2003 school year, the university named Nancy Cantor as its 11th Chancellor and President. Cantor was also named as Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Women's Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences, and is the university's first female chancellor. Prior to coming to Syracuse, she was the chancellor of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Schools and colleges
- School of Architecture
- College of Arts and Sciences
- School of Education
- L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science
- College of Human Services and Health Professions
- School of Information Studies
- College of Law
- Martin J. Whitman School of Management
- Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
- S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications
- College of Visual and Performing Arts
- University College
- The Graduate School
Athletics
Syracuse University's sports teams are officially known as the Orange, although the informal names of Orangemen and Orangewomen are still used. The school's mascot is Otto the Orange. The teams all participate in NCAA Division I in the Big East Conference. The men's basketball, football, and men's lacrosse teams play in the Carrier Dome. Other sports facilities are located at the nearby Manley Field House.
Athletic championships
- 1959 - Football
- 1983 - Men's Lacrosse
- 1988 - Men's Lacrosse
- 1989 - Men's Lacrosse
- 1990 - Men's Lacrosse
- 1993 - Men's Lacrosse
- 1995 - Men's Lacrosse
- 2000 - Men's Lacrosse
- 2002 - Men's Lacrosse
- 2003 - Men's Basketball
- 2004 - Men's Lacrosse
Notable Commencement Speakers
- 2002 - Rudolph Giulianni
- 2003 - William Jefferson Clinton
Notable alumni
- William Safire - journalist
- Richard Danzig - former Secretary of the Navy
- Story Musgrave - astronaut
- Dick Clark - entertainer
- Jerry Stiller - actor
- Ted Koppel - journalist
- Donovan McNabb - football player
- Carmelo Anthony - basketball player (never graduated)
- Bob Costas - sportscaster (never graduated)
- Sean O'Keefe - NASA administrator
- Lou Reed - musician
- Aaron Sorkin - television writer/producer
- Joseph R. Biden - U.S. senator
- Taye Diggs - actor
- Eileen Collins - astronaut
- Bob Dotson - journalist
- Steve Kroft - journalist
- Craig Benson - businessman and New Hampshire governor
- George Warrington - NJ Transit president and former Amtrak president
- Arun Shourie - journalist
- Amartya Sen - economist and Nobel laureate
- Pete Yorn -- Musician