Sitting on Grymes Hill, in the
borough of
Staten Island, Wagner College, as they say, has come a long way, baby. From it's humble beginnings in 1883, as a
Lutheran Proseminary in
Rochester, New York to it's current status as a university in the
Top Tier of
northern universities, it's view over New York harbor is as inspiring as it's classrooms. With help along the way, from people as diverse as the namesake, John G. Wagner, to the poet
Edwin Markham, Wagner College now encompasses a 105-acre campus, much of it sitting on what once was the
Cornelius Vanderbilt estate. An area of wealthy families and extravagant homes, Wagner College retains the character of an earlier New York City with historic buildings that "blend seamlessly " into the surrounding area.
When, in 1918, Wagner relocated to it's current location in the city, it's focus evolved from a "seminarial" one to one of liberal arts and subsequently it's enrollment grew in leaps and bounds. In 1933, another growth spurt was attributed to the fact that women were finally admitted for the first time. In the '40's, Edwin Markham willed his library, consisting of over 10,000 volumnes, to the college, adding not only to it's academic resources but to it's increasingly deserved and well-established reputation.
Today over 20,000 students from over thirty different states and ten different countries enjoy the curriculum and the college.
A new communications center houses science and computer labs and a planetarium which is open to the public. Participation in Division I athletics is proudly showcased by the new Spiro Sports Center and Football Stadium , a 90,000 square foot facility. Wagner also offers graduate programs in business, education, microbiology, nursing and physician assistance which hopefully fulfills their goal of preparing students for "leadership and excellence in the real world".
http://www.wagner.edu/prosstud/location/history.htmlhttp://www.wagner.edu/