Harpur College of Arts and Sciences is the historical and intellectual heart of Binghamton
University, which began as Triple Cities College in 1946. When Harpur College joined
the newly created State University of New York system in 1950, it was one of only
two liberal arts colleges. For more than 70 years, Harpur has striven to live up to
its motto “From breadth through depth to perspective.”
Founded in 1946 in Endicott, N.Y., as Triple Cities College of Syracuse University,
Harpur College became the liberal arts college of the newly-established State University
of New York in 1950.
Named for the Colonial teacher, patriot and pioneer Robert Harpur, Harpur's founders
envisioned creating a public liberal arts college that competed with the very best
private schools in the Northeast — a vision that Harpur maintains to this day.
In 1954, ground was broken for a new campus in Vestal, N.Y., on 600 acres of land
overlooking the Susquehanna River. The task of moving from Endicott, where the college
had been housed in Colonial Hall and tin Quonset huts, proceeded slowly and students
commuted between Vestal and Endicott to attend classes for several years. The move
from Endicott to Vestal was finally completed in 1961.
Pictured above: 1950 - Colonial Hall, Endicott: Triple Cities College is incorporated
into the State University of New York, and changes its name to Harpur College.
1954 - Groundbreaking for the Vestal Campus of Harpur College (left to right): Charles
F. Johnson (governor), Thomas E. Dewey, and William S. Carlson (president of SUNY).
1961 - The campus moved across the Susquehanna River to Vestal. Growing enrollment
and a reputation for excellence led to the selection of Harpur College as one of four
doctorate-granting University Centers in the state system.
In 1965, Harpur College officially became the State University of New York at Binghamton,
now known as Binghamton University, and the campus was named one of the four SUNY
University Centers. Since then, Harpur College of Arts and Sciences has continued
as the backbone of the University as its liberal arts and sciences college and largest
academic unit.
In addition to strong and innovative undergraduate programs offered by nearly 26 departments
and more than a dozen interdisciplinary programs, Harpur College boasts nationally
and internationally recognized master's and doctoral programs in over 22 different
areas.
Undergraduate and graduate students benefit from the opportunity to study with an
outstanding faculty that includes a member of the National Academy of Sciences, a
number of Guggenheim Fellows and recipients of many important scientific, literary
and scholarly recognitions.
Harpur College offers students access to state-of-the-art science and computer laboratories,
language technology classrooms, broad-spectrum humanities, multicultural studies,
cutting-edge theater arts, nationally recognized voice and instrument instruction,
distance learning and more. Harpur also serves as a bridge to multidisciplinary courses
in the College of Community and Public Affairs, Decker College of Nursing and Health
Sciences, the School of Management and the Thomas J. Watson College of Engineering
and Applied Science and the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
Harpur College has always been academically challenging. By the 1960s, it could boast
a majority of students admitted from the upper 25 percent of their high school graduating
classes — a fact that continues today with competition for admission to Harpur College
remaining strong. While students are attracted to Harpur College because of it's strong
academic standing, there remains a sense of community that lasts long after graduation.
