page_title: Marist College
section_title: Modern day
hierarchical_section_title: Marist College / History / Modern day
caption_attribution_description: English: Lowell Thomas at Marist College
context_page_description: Marist College is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York. Founded in 1905, Marist was formed by the Marist Brothers, a Catholic religious institute of Brothers, to prepare brothers for their vocations as educators. In 1929, Marist became accredited by the state to offer a wider range of degrees in the arts and sciences. Today, Marist offers a comprehensive liberal arts education, offering 56 undergraduate and graduate degree programs and 21 certificate programs.
  Marist's 180-acre main campus overlooks the Hudson River and is situated along its east banks. Marist has a branch campus in Florence, Italy and offers 50 semester or academic year abroad options.
  A member of the NCAA's Division I, Marist sponsors 23 collegiate sports.
context_section_description: In 1979, Dennis J. Murray was selected to be Marist's president. Under his leadership, enrollment more than doubled and the Poughkeepsie campus expanded to its current size of 180 acres (0.73 km²). Every building on campus was renovated or newly constructed and numerous strategic partnerships were formed.
  One of the first strategic partnerships was formed with IBM a major employer in the Mid-Hudson Valley. 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.
  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. It incorporates the first building to be constructed through the manual labor of the Brothers (1947). Because it is located adjacent to the spot where the Marian building (the college's principal classroom building) once stood, it carries on the name of that building as well as the original of the four-year college.
  To expand student housing, Gartland Commons was built on the north end of the campus in 1985. It was an apartment community, housing approximately 300 students. It was torn down in 2015.
  In 1987, the Lowell Thomas Communications Center opened, providing space for communications, math, and computer science studies. The building was built over the site of an outdoor swimming pool from the early days of Marist that was fed by a natural spring.
  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.
  Construction continued in 1994 with a $27 million Student Center, bookstore, dining facilities, art gallery, and a new adjoining dormitory (Midrise Hall) In 1996, Talmadge Court was purchased by the college as an official student residence.
  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.  It is named after the original St. Ann's Hermitage which burned to the ground in 1958.
  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.  The Poughkeepsie Steel Plant is now the home of the fine arts program and includes a 3,200-square-foot (300 m²) art gallery.  The Art Gallery retains the industrial look of the former steel plant with concrete floors and exposed 15-foot ceilings.
  Completed in 1999 and built out of fieldstone with a concentrated focus on technology, the 83,000-square-foot (7,700 m²) James A. Cannavino Library is considered to be the jewel and the heart of the main campus.  Architecturally, the library unifies the College's historic district of Greystone, St. Peter's, and the Kieran Gatehouse, three 1860s-era buildings that are listed on the New York State and National Register of Historic Places, which are also made of fieldstone. The library is named for James A. Cannavino, a long-time member of the Marist Board of Trustees.
  A new Fontaine Hall was completed on the north end of campus in 2000 to replace the original building that was razed in 1998. The building holds four classrooms, a multimedia "black box" theatre and two conference rooms, including the striking Henry Hudson Room – a large conference space with skylights and a beautiful view of the Hudson.  It also holds The School of Liberal Arts offices and faculty, the Office of College Advancement, which includes the offices of Public Affairs and Alumni Affairs.
  With student enrollment increasing and a lack of housing for upperclassmen, the school purchased additional land across Route 9 for expansion. Upper West Cedar, built in 2000, was constructed in a similar style to the Lower West Cedar Townhouses. The Upper Fulton Townhouses followed in 2004 and then the Lower Ful
caption: Lowell Thomas Communications Center
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