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The main entrance to Manhattan College

Manhattan College is a Catholic college in the Lasallian tradition in New York City. Despite the college's name, it is no longer located in Manhattan but in the Riverdale section of the Bronx. ^{Location[›]} Manhattan College offers undergraduate programs in the arts, business, education, engineering, and science. Graduate programs are offered for education and engineering.

It also houses a public middle school, Jonas Bronck Academy, on the botttom floor of Hayden Hall, the primary residence of the Biochemistry, Chemistry and Physics departments, named after the notable philanthropist Charles Hayden.

The quality of the undergraduate programs has been demonstrated by its record as one of the nation’s leading undergraduate sources of doctorates in the arts, sciences, engineering and education, and it is recognized by the establishment of chapters of such prestigious honor societies as Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Xi, and Tau Beta Pi. Manhattan participates in the Consortium of Liberal Arts Colleges, an organization of the nation’s leading research colleges, and in the New York Cluster of seven colleges and universities supported by the Pew Charitable Trusts for undergraduate science education (Barnard, Colgate, Cornell, Hamilton, Manhattan, St. Lawrence and Union).

The stated mission of Manhattan College is to provide a contemporary, person-centered educational experience characterized by high academic standards, reflection on values and principles, and preparation for a life-long career. This is achieved in two ways: by offering students programs which integrate a broad liberal education with concentration in specific disciplines in the arts and sciences or with professional preparation in business, education and engineering; and by nurturing a caring, pluralistic campus community. The learning experience at Manhattan College is enriched by cooperative programs with other institutions, by postgraduate professional programs and by capitalizing on its location on the edge of the cultural center and global marketplace that is New York City.

Aerial view of the main campus

The college was founded as the Academy of the Holy Infancy in 1853 by five French Lasallian Brothers in a small building on Canal Street. When the need to expand forced them from Lower Manhattan, the College moved to 131st Street and Broadway, in the Manhattanville section of Harlem. Passengers on the uptown 1 line of the New York City Subway will find that there is a short-section of above-ground track located near the college's orignal location. The school's name was changed to Manhattan College 1863, and moved to its present location in the Riverdale section of The Bronx in 1922 as it outgrew its facilities in Manhattanville. This is often the cause of some confusion as the college is located outside of Manhattan but still within the city limits of New York City.

Originally exclusive to men, Manhattan College established a cooperative program with the College of Mount Saint Vincent with which it still shares some facilities and programs after the pair became coeducational in 1973 and 1974, respectively. As of 2006, however, Manhattan College and the College of Mount Saint Vincent have decided to separate completely, including academically. This separation is set for the end of the 2007-2008 academic year.

For 118 years, there existed on the Manhattan College campus a boys' secondary school, Manhattan College High School, familiarly known to students, parents, and rivals as Manhattan Prep. Founded in 1854, the school educated its young men in a Catholic college preparatory curriculum geared toward eventual university matriculation. It was, indeed, a "prep" school in the classic sense: coats and ties were mandatory for class attendance; strict standards of behavior were enforced; and daily newspaper reading was required. The curriculum included a mandatory 3 years of Latin (with an optional 4th year); foreign language study, including Greek, French, and Spanish; 4 years of laboratory science, and 4 years each of mathematics, English rhetoric and literary forms, and theology.

Throughout its existence, Manhattan Prep was very much the "kid brother" of its host institution. Students shared the college cafeteria, auditorium, and athletic facilities, and its sports teams bore the nickname, "the Jasperites" in homage to the Manhattan College Jaspers. The school newspaper, published monthly, was called The Prepster.

Manhattan Prep closed its doors in 1972 due to rising costs and a decline in religious vocations.

The school's men's sports teams are called the Jaspers; women are known as Lady Jaspers. It is written in the Baseball Hall of Fame that "During one particularly warm and humid day when Manhattan College was playing a semi-pro baseball team called the Metropolitans, Brother Jasper noticed the Manhattan students were becoming restless and edgy as Manhattan came to bat in the seventh inning of a close game. To relieve the tension, Brother Jasper called time-out and told the students to stand up and stretch for a few minutes until the game resumed." On the college's 150th anniversary in 2003 at a New York Yankees game, Brother Jasper was credited with the Seventh-inning stretch.

Since the College annually played the New York Giants in the late 1880's and into the 1890's at the Polo Grounds, the Manhattan College practice of the “seventh inning stretch" spread into the major leagues, where it has now become a time-honored custom practiced by trillions of fans annually.

2004 NCAA Tournament win over Florida

Men's basketball is likely the best known, having started play in 1904. Although considered a small, mid-major school, they have had some success in post-season play, defeating larger, more well known schools. Manhattan has become something of a proving ground for several head coaches including eventual St. John's coaches Steve Lappas and Fran Fraschilla and current Seton Hall University head coach Bobby Gonzalez, the Jaspers are currently headed up by former Pittsburgh assistant Barry Rohrssen. One of the most notable athletes in the school's history is former star basketball center Junius Kellogg. Kellogg, a 6'10 center out of Virginia, enrolled at Manhattan in 1949 by way of the G.I. Bill and became the first black student to ever play for the Jaspers. Kellogg would soon establish himself as one of the premiere college players in New York City. During the 1951 season Kellogg was approached by teammate Henry Poppe (at the time the leading scorer in school history) and offered $1,000 to "shave points" in a game against DePaul University, Kellogg refused the offer. He promptly reported the offer from Poppe to his coach Ken Norton, who informed Brother Bonventure Thomas, Manhattan College's president, who endorsed the idea of going to the police. The police instructed Kellogg to pretend he was going along with Poppe's offer. Kellogg told Poppe he accepted and asked what he should do to fix the DePaul game on Tuesday, Jan. 16. He was instructed in errors to commit, and reminded to be discreet in his cheating. Poppe spoke to Kellogg at courtside at the Garden before the game, telling him Manhattan was favored by 10 points, and to make sure the margin of victory was less. Manhattan won by three, 62-59, as Kellogg's substitute, Charles Jennerich, scored on all eight of his shot attempts. Poppe was arrested at his home in Queens later that evening. Kellogg was praised as a hero for his role in exposing the mob-tied point shaving scheme that would eventually unearth massive improprieties on the part of the National Champion City College of New York basketball team. Kellogg graduated Manhattan in 1953 and went onto play for the Harlem Globetrotters before being paralyzed in a 1954 automobile accident, he died in 1998. A scholarship in his name is given out by the college annually.

All teams participate in the NCAA's Division I and in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Manhattan College no longer has a football program although the school played in the First Palm Festival in 1933 which would become the Orange Bowl in 1935.

Basketball team's biggest wins*:

• 1953 over Louisville (NIT Quarterfinals)
• 1958 over #1 West Virginia (NCAA)
• 1965 over Texas Western (NIT)
• 1970 over North Carolina (NIT)
• 1995 over Oklahoma (NCAA)
• 2004 over Florida (NCAA)
• 2006 over Maryland (NIT)

* - All games in 1st Round unless indicated

• Joseph Campanella - TV, stage, and motion picture actor, Mannix
• Alexandra Chando - actress, Maddie on As The World Turns
• James W. Cooley - mathematician, co-author of the FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) algorithm used in digital processing
• Thomas R. Donahue - former Secretary-Treasurer, AFL-CIO
• Don Dunphy - Boxing announcer, Radio Hall of Fame inductee
• Luis Flores - former NBA point guard
• Rudy Giuliani - Mayor of New York City (1994-2001)
• Ron Herzman - Noted Professor and Medievalist
• Barnard Hughes - Emmy and Tony Award winning actor
• Raymond W. Kelly - New York City Police Commissioner
• Melvin Lasky - MTV Superstar "Rockstars Have Kidnapped My Son" March 2003
• Larry Lembo - basketball star in 1964 who was drafted by the Knicks; NCAA basketball referee
• Arthur Lichte - USAF General
• Eugene R. McGrath - former Chairman and CEO, Con Edison
• James Patterson - novelist, author of Kiss the Girls
• Lindy Remigino -Olympic gold medalist in 100-meter dash and 4x100 relay, Helsinki 1952
• Jim Ryan - news anchor for WNBC-TV, WNYW and WCBS-TV
• Frederic Salerno - Corporate director, Viacom
• Al Sarrantonio - author
• Tom Waddell (baseball) - former Major League Baseball pitcher

• Official school site
• Official Manhattan Jaspers athletics site
• Official Student Newspaper - Manhattan College Quadrangle
• Official Student Government site

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