Marist College history

By 1929, the training center at the Hermitage had evolved into the Marist Normal Training School, offering college-level courses under the auspices of Fordham University.

In 1946, the State of New York granted the institution an official four-year college charter under the name "Marian College", led by Brother Paul Ambrose Fontaine, FMS. Marian College continued the mission of training Marist Brothers as teachers of the congregation's schools.

In 1947, the first graduating class of modern-day Marist College consisted of four Marist Brothers.

In 1958, Marist Brother Linus Richard Foy took charge of the college.

Sheahan Hall, the first residence hall, opened in 1962.

The burgeoning library, then known as The Spellman Library, was moved from Greystone to Donnelly Hall, in the area now occupied by the Computer Center and DN256, in 1963.

Benoit House and Gregory House were erected in 1968 as a residence for the Marist Brothers living on campus.

Gregory House was named in memory of Brother Joseph Gregory Marchessault who was chairman of the Physics Department at Marist at the time of his death in 1969.

In 1973, President Foy began a cooperative program with area secondary schools, in which selected high school seniors would take freshman courses and "bridge" into college.

Space constraints required moving the library again to Fontaine Hall in 1975.

One of the first construction projects was the Foy Townhouses, named after Linus Richard Foy, completed in 1982.

Marian Hall was built in 1983 within and around the college's first gymnasium.

In 1984, Marist received $2.5 million in equipment and almost $2 million in software from IBM to expand academic and administrative uses of computers on campus.

To expand student housing, Gartland Commons was built on the north end of the campus in 1985.

In 1987, the Lowell Thomas Communications Center opened, providing space for communications, math, and computer science studies.

In 1990, the Margaret M and Charles H Dyson Center opened, providing a home for the School of Management, School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, and School of Graduate and Continuing Education.

In 1997 the college purchased a private residence, St Ann's, which part of the area now known as Fern Tor, located on the college's northern boundary.

In 1998, across neighboring Route 9, the Lower West Cedar townhouses were built and the former Poughkeepsie Steel Plant was purchased to temporarily house the library while the original Fontaine Hall was razed and a new library constructed in its place.

Completed in 1999 and built out of fieldstone with a concentrated focus on technology, the 83,000-square-foot (7,700 m) James A. Cannavino Library is considered to be the jewel and the heart of the main campus.

Upper West Cedar, built in 2000, was constructed in a similar style to the Lower West Cedar Townhouses.

The New York State Department of Transportation and Marist College both blame massively increasing population in the Mid-Hudson Valley, a result of the migration of the residents of nearby New York City starting in late 2001.

In May 2007, Marist was granted a variance allowing them to build despite a moratorium on new construction in the area.

In September 2009 Marist was bequeathed $75 million by the industrialist Raymond A. Rich.

In spring 2011, Marist completed construction of a new technology building, the Hancock Center, which is on the main campus where the Benoit and Gregory (residence houses) used to stand.

In the fall of 2013 construction of a new academic building to house the Music Department and renovations to the Lowell Thomas Communications Center, the student center and the dining hall were completed.

During the winter of 2015 a new science building was completed on the east campus.

In September 2018 Marist announced that it will partner with Nuvance Health (formerly Health Quest) to create a medical school.

Marist's online MBA program was ranked in United States News & World Report’s “Best Online Education Program” rankings for 2019.