State University of New York at Oswego (SUNY Oswego or Oswego State) is a

public university A public university, state university, or public college is a university or college that is State ownership, owned by the state or receives significant funding from a government. Whether a national university is considered public varies from o ...

Oswego, New York Oswego () is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Oswego County, New York, United States. The population was 16,921 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Oswego is situated at the mouth of the Oswego River (New York), Osw ...

. It has a total student population of 6,756 and the campus size is 700 acres. SUNY Oswego offers more than 120 undergraduate, graduate and professional based programs in four colleges: School of Business, School of Communication, Media and the Arts, School of Education, and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

History

SUNY Oswego was founded in 1861 as the "Oswego Primary Teachers Training School" by

Edward Austin Sheldon Edward Austin Sheldon (October 4, 1823 – August 26, 1897) was an American educator, and the founding president of the State University of New York at Oswego (then Oswego Primary Teachers' Training School). He also served as superintendent o ...

, who introduced a revolutionary teaching methodology Oswego Movement in American education. In 1942 the

New York Legislature The New York State Legislature consists of the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York: the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly. The Constitution of New York does not designate an offici ...

elevated it from a normal school to a degree-granting teachers' college, Oswego State Teachers College, which was a founding and charter member of the

State University of New York The State University of New York (SUNY ) is a system of Public education, public colleges and universities in the New York (state), State of New York. It is one of the List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, larges ...

system A system is a group of interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. A system, surrounded and influenced by its open system (systems theory), environment, is described by its boundaries, str ...

in 1948. In 1962 the college broadened its scope to become a

liberal arts college A liberal arts college or liberal arts institution of higher education is a college with an emphasis on Undergraduate education, undergraduate study in the Liberal arts education, liberal arts of humanities and science. Such colleges aim to impart ...

Campus

Most of the campus is in the Town of Oswego, including the

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

. Portions of the campus are in Oswego City. Founded in the city of Oswego, the university was created to train teachers to meet pressing educational needs. SUNY Oswego moved to its current location on the shore of Lake Ontario in 1913 after

Sheldon Hall Sheldon Hall is an early 16th-century Grade II* listed manor house located on Gressel Lane in the Tile Cross area of Birmingham, England, consisting of a main block of two stories and attics built of red and black bricks with stone dressings. T ...

was constructed. The current campus is located on along Lake Ontario. Development of the campus was planned by the

architectural firm In the United States, an architectural firm or architecture firm is a business that employs one or more licensed architects and practices the profession of architecture; while in South Africa, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark and other countr ...

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill SOM, an initialism of its original name Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, is a Chicago-based architectural, urban planning, and engineering firm. It was founded in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings. In 1939, they were joined by engineer ...

, who designed the major buildings. The campus today consists of 46 buildings with classrooms, laboratories, residential and athletic facilities. Recent years have witnessed the launch of a $700 million campus-wide renovation and renewal program, with the new Campus Center acting as the social hub of campus. The university's social hub, known as the Marano Campus Center Complex, opened in the fall of 2007, and includes new construction and renovation of the existing Swetman/Poucher complex. The $25.5 million Marano Campus Center portion, the new construction, includes the Deborah. F. Stanley Arena and Convocation Hall and several academic departments.

The Tyler Art Gallery

Tyler Art Gallery is located within the Tyler Hall. The gallery showcases local and traveling exhibitions, exhibitions of faculty work and student exhibitions. Students curate and have sole responsibility for the annual exhibition of student work. The gallery's permanent collection comprises European, African, and American drawings, prints, paintings, ceramics and sculpture that date from the 18th century to the present, including several works by artist

Sacha Kolin Sacha Kolin (9 May 1911 (Paris, France) – 14 February 1981 (New York City, United States)) was a French-born painter. She lived in Austria and other countries for several years before settling in the United States. Life and work Kolin was born ...

. One subsection of the permanent collection, the Grant Arnold Collection of Fine Prints, contains over 500 prints by American printmakers from the first half of the twentieth century. Tyler Hall is in the process of significant renovations, with the first phase completed for a fall 2016 reopening.

Other buildings

Physically separate from the main campus, on the other side of

New York State Route 104 New York State Route 104 (NY 104) is a east–west state highway in Upstate New York in the United States. It spans six counties and enters the vicinity of four cities—Niagara Falls, Lockport, Rochester, and Oswego—as it foll ...

, is the south campus, consisting of Laker Hall (indoor sports, coaching classrooms, and athletic training rooms), Romney Fieldhouse (a

Quonset hut A Quonset hut is a lightweight prefabricated structure of corrugated galvanized steel with a semi-circular cross-section. The design was developed in the United States based on the Nissen hut introduced by the British during World War I. Hund ...

that hosted the Laker hockey program until fall 2006) and several athletic fields. In addition, more than of Rice Creek Field Station (for biological research and public programs) are on the South Campus. West Campus, along with Laker Hall, Hewitt Hall (which hosted most of the student organizations until the Campus Center's opening in 2006), Tyler Hall, Culkin Hall (the administrative building), Penfield Library, Lanigan Hall (consisting of large lecture halls) and Mahar Hall are all built in the

Brutalist style Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by minimalist constructions that showcase the ba ...

and date to the early 1970s. File:New York - Sheldon Hall - 20240227141145.jpg, Sheldon Hall was constructed in 1913 file:Oswego State Downtown - fmr First National Bank of Oswego, Marine Midland Bank West Side Branch - Oswego, New York - 20210221.jpg, Building at Bridge Street File:SUNYOswegoFromGlimmerglass.jpg, Campus as viewed from Glimmerglass Lagoon File:Shineman.jpg, Shineman Center File:Lake Ontario Sunset .jpg, Approaching sunset over Lake Ontario File:Oswego Fall 2016.jpg, The SUNY Oswego campus

Accreditations

Middle States accredited with additional accreditations. The institution's

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

program has been internationally accredited by

AACSB The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) is an American professional and accreditation organization. It was founded as the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business in 1916 to provide accreditation to business ...

. SUNY Oswego's School of Education is accredited by the

Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation The Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) is a professional accreditor focused on accrediting teacher education programs in U.S. colleges and universities. It was founded in 2013 as a result of the merger of two predecesso ...

. Oswego's School of Business has international accreditation by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business
SUNY Oswego programs
in Electrical and Computing Engineering as well as Software Engineering are accredited b
ABET
SUNY Oswego is one of the few universities in New York state whose art, music, and theater departments are all nationally accredited.

Schools and colleges

* College of Liberal Arts and Sciences houses the departments of Anthropology, Atmospheric and Geological Sciences, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Economics, Electrical and Computer Engineering, English and Creative Writing, History, Human Development, Mathematics, Modern Languages and Literatures, Philosophy, Physics, Political Science, Psychology, Criminal Justice, Sociology * School of Business offers programs in Accounting, Business Administration, Finance, Human Resource Management, Marketing, Operations Management and Information Systems, Risk Management and Insurance. * School of Communication, Media and the Arts houses the departments of Art, Communication Studies, Film Studies, Music, Theatre. * School of Education offers courses in Counseling and Psychological Services, Curriculum and Instruction, Education Administration, Health Promotion and Wellness, Technology, Vocational Teacher Preparation.

Library

Penfield Library is the only academic library on campus. It is named after Lida S. Penfield (1873–1956), once chair of the English department. The current facility opened in 1968, replacing a library of the same name in what is now Rich Hall. The library is home to the

Millard Fillmore Millard Fillmore (January 7, 1800 – March 8, 1874) was the 13th president of the United States, serving from 1850 to 1853. He was the last president to be a member of the Whig Party while in the White House, and the last to be neither a De ...

and Marshall Family Papers and numerous digitized collections including the

Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter The Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter, also known as "Safe Haven", located in Oswego, New York was the first and only refugee center established in the United States during World War II. From 1944 to 1945, the shelter housed 982 refugees from ...

(Safe Haven) papers.

Athletics

left, 170px, Oswego athletics wordmark The university offers 14 intercollegiate varsity sports. SUNY Oswego's athletic teams are known officially as the Great

Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

but often referred to simply as the Lakers. Oswego is a member of

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is the lowest division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that do not offer athletic scholarships to student- ...

and teams compete in the

State University of New York Athletic Conference The State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference that competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III, consisting of schools in the State University of New York ...

for most sports. Oswego is traditionally a rival of

Plattsburgh State The State University of New York at Plattsburgh (SUNY Plattsburgh) is a public university in Plattsburgh, New York, United States. The university was founded in 1889 and officially opened in 1890. The university is part of the State University ...

. The rivalry currently manifests mostly in ice hockey; in the 1990s and early 2000s, Oswego fans would regularly throw

bagel A bagel (; ; also spelled beigel) is a bread roll originating in the Jewish communities of Poland. Bagels are traditionally made from yeasted wheat dough that is shaped by hand into a torus or ring, briefly boiled in water, and then baked. ...

s onto the ice when the Lakers scored against Plattsburgh, responding to a tradition where Plattsburgh fans threw tennis balls on the rink after goals versus Oswego. The tradition ended in 2006, after Oswego was assessed a delay of game penalty for the bagel throw: Plattsburgh scored on the ensuing power-play to win the game, which cost the Lakers a national tournament berth. In addition, the Campus Center arena was opened that year which allowed the university to more closely monitor and shut down fans who brought in bagels. The "Puck Flattsburgh"

spoonerism A spoonerism is an occurrence of speech in which corresponding consonants, vowels, or morphemes are switched (see metathesis) between two words of a phrase. These are named after the Oxford don and priest William Archibald Spooner, who report ...

is a common rallying cry. Oswego and Plattsburgh also had a rivalry in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

, but Oswego ceased sponsoring the sport in 1976, with Plattsburgh following in 1978.

National championships

On March 18, 2007, the Oswego State men's ice hockey team won the 2006–07

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

National Championship, the first NCAA championship ever for the school.

Clubs and student organizations

Oswego has over 180 clubs and organizations. These include the Division I Men's Rugby team, the student-run television station WTOP, the student-run newspaper ''

The Oswegonian ''The Oswegonian'' is the student-run newspaper of the State University of New York at Oswego. It was established in 1935, and currently distributes 1,000 copies around the campus and to selected locations off-campus on a weekly basis. The Os ...

'', the first-ever student-run volunteer ambulance corps (SAVAC), and the Oswego State

Esports Esports (), short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, played individually or as teams. ...

Association.

Greek organizations

Oswego has an array of Greek organizations (fraternities, sororities, or mixed) from both national and locally recognized chapters.

Traditions

* Bridge Street Run – The Bridge Street Run is a

pub crawl A pub crawl (sometimes called a bar tour, bar crawl or bar-hopping) is the act of visiting multiple pubs or bars in a single session. Background Many European cities have public pub crawls that serve as social gatherings for local expatriates ...

that now takes place during the spring semester on the last Friday before finals week. Students put on white T-shirts, start at the Front Door Tavern on East 10th and Utica Streets, and make their way down Bridge Street (

) in Oswego. They stop at all participating bars along the way on or within a block of Bridge Street to have their shirts signed. The event has been a tradition in various forms at SUNY Oswego for over 30 years. The college officially discourages the practice. It was finally banned by the city in 2014 following a students death caused by a heroin overdose on campus; the following year, the college set up OzFest, a campus festival, to deter partiers from participating in the Bridge Street Run. However, students still continue the tradition each spring.

Presidents

(1st), 1861–1897 * Isaac B. Poucher (2nd), 1897–1913 * James C. Riggs (3rd), 1913–1933 * Ralph Waldo Swetman (4th), 1933–1947 * Harvey M. Rice (5th), 1947–1952 * Foster S. Brown (6th), 1952–1963 * James E. Perdue (7th), 1965–1977 * Virginia Radley (8th), 1977–1988 * Stephen L. Weber (9th), 1988–1995 * Deborah F. Stanley (10th) 1995–2021 * Mary C. Toale, Officer in Charge (interim), 2022–2023 * Peter O. Nwosu (11th), 2023–present

Notable staff and faculty

* Soma Mei Sheng Frazier, author, editor *

Kenneth O. Hall Sir Kenneth Octavius Hall (born 24 April 1941) served as the governor-general of Jamaica from 16 February 2006 to 26 February 2009. He was Jamaica's fifth governor-general since independence in 1962. Early life and education Hall was born ...

Governor-General Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

(Feb 2006 – Feb 2009); served as Assistant

Provost Provost may refer to: Officials Ecclesiastic * Provost (religion), a high-ranking church official * Prince-provost, a high-ranking church official Government * Provost (civil), an officer of local government, including the equivalent ...

and Professor of History at Oswego *

Doug Lea Douglas S. Lea is a professor of computer science and (as of 2025) head of the computer science department at State University of New York at Oswego, where he specializes in concurrent programming and the design of concurrent data structures. He ...

, computer scientist *

Roy Lichtenstein Roy Fox Lichtenstein ( ; October27, 1923September29, 1997) was an American pop artist. He rose to prominence in the 1960s through pieces which were inspired by popular advertising and the comic book style. Much of his work explores the relations ...

, pop artist; taught in the Art Department 1958–1960 * Robert O'Connor, Associate Professor in Creative Writing Department; author of ''Buffalo Soldiers'' * Leigh Allison Wilson, author and creative writing professor

Notable alumni

*Actor

Al Lewis Al Lewis (born Abraham Meister; April 30, 1923 – February 3, 2006) was an American actor and activist, best known for his role as Grandpa on the television series ''The Munsters'' from 1964 to 1966 and its film versions. He previously also co- ...

claimed that he attended the school from 1927 to 1931. Most of Lewis's claims about his early life are widely considered to be untrue.

Campus demographics

SUNY Oswego CDP is a

(CDP) covering much of the campus. The CDP is within the Oswego City School District.
Text list
/ref> ''Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.''

References

External links

*
Athletics website
{{DEFAULTSORT:State University Of New York At Oswego 1861 establishments in New York (state) Education in Oswego County, New York Oswego, New York Oswego Oswego Tourist attractions in Oswego County, New York Universities and colleges in Syracuse, New York Rugby union teams in New York (state)