Syracuse University
Hallmarks and Quirks
Things I'm Good At:
- Travel. Almost everyone spends at least one semester abroad. SU Abroad has eight center-based programs, a wide offering of summer programs, and if there's still not something you like, they'll help you build a relationship with a school in the country you're interested in going to. You've got to escape the snow somehow.
- Basketball and lacrosse. Having a round orange mascot must be lucky, because we've won NCAA championships in both.
- Community service. While it's possible to graduate in four years and never step foot off campus, service learning classes and the Center for Public and Community Service make it tough.
- A capella. Sure, we've got instruments, but we don't need 'em.
- Communications and business. I've got some of the best programs in the country, which are always looking at how markets and media change.
- Creative writing. Our graduate program is especially good with this—it's home to those lovable nuts, Mary Karr and George Saunders.
- Performing Arts. I mean, just ask my alumni. Roberta Spring, Emmy (for reporting on the Boston Marathon bombings); Vanessa Williams, Grammy (not for The Colors of the Wind, even though she sang it); Aaron Sorkin, Oscar (The Social Network); Jessie Mueller, Tony (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical). I think this qualifies me as an EGOT.
My Top 5 Must-Haves:
- An orange hoodie. Even if you don't like sports, there are times and places where it's best to be wearing orange.
- A warm coat. 80% of the time you're here, it will be winter. You'll really learn to appreciate all five days of Spring.
- Shoes with traction. I get it, you're eighteen and want to look hot. Boots aren't really hot, but no one looks hot after falling into a snow bank.
- A friend with a car to go to Wegmans for groceries. This is only necessary if you're not living in a dorm with a dining hall. Public transportation ain't really my thing.
- A joiner attitude. I've got a club for everything. You'll find someone with similar interests, I promise. You've just got to be willing to admit you like Frolf.
Why You Might Have Heard of Me:
- 2003 NCAA Basketball Champions. I like to pretend it's more than one win.
- Pan Am 103, a plane bombed by Lybian terrorists in 1988 had thirty-five Syracuse University students aboard. I honor these students with thirty-five scholarships given to seniors annually, two annual scholarships for students from Lockerbie, Scotland (where the plane crashed), a monument on campus, and a Week of Remembrance every fall.
- Schmidt from New Girl wears a Syracuse shirt in flashbacks of his fat college days.
On a regular Saturday night, you can find me...
I'm probably at a house party on Euclid Ave or South Campus. Let's be real, I had to earn that "party school" reputation somewhere, and it's cold outside, so crowd in. Parties and get-togethers may include simple and quiet board games or board games with altered rules…involving beer.
Upper classmen will often venture off campus to Armory Square or Marshall Street for some twenty-one and over socializing. Most of my students like to party on a Saturday night, but if you're an architecture major, you're in the studio working.
Favorite Hangouts:
- Chucks. Don't forget to carve your name into a table at this poorly lit, pseudo-subterranean bar.
- Destiny, USA. It's not just a mall, folks…it's your shopping destiny.
- The Varsity, one of many places near campus that will serve your fries with gravy.
- Westcott Street. Local hippies, live music, coffee shops, and the best burrito in town at Alto Cinco.
- Armory Square, which has restaurants and dancing and the like. Go for the Pastabilities hot tomato oil. You'll want to bathe in that tomato/garlic goodness.
Quirks:
- Our last chancellor commissioned this weird, crooked wall out of concrete blocks. It blocks the view of one of the most beautiful buildings on campus. It's called the Undulating Wall. Who knew walls could undulate?
- Carnegie Hall, home of the math department, has a façade with a grand staircase that leads to doors that don't open. Upperclassmen like to sit on the quad and watch freshmen jaunt up the stairs to fruitlessly pull on the handles.
- Everyone will tell you that the Hall of Languages, the founding building for the university, was the model for the Addams Family house. It's not.
- There's a "kissing bench" just off the quad. It's old made of stone and probably uncomfortable to make out on. Rumor has it that if you kiss someone on this bench, you'll end up married. So yeah, don't take those kissing bench make-out sessions lightly.
- Forty-four is an auspicious number for us. It's a sports thing.
Famous Alumni:
- Brad Anderson, creator of Marmaduke.
- Carmello Anthony, NBA player. He did a year here before being drafted.
- Vice President Joe Biden (Law School), politician. Good ol' Joe.
- Dick Clark, radio host.
- Col. Eileen Collins, astronaut.
- Bob Costas, NBC sportscaster.
- Ernie Davis, first African-American athlete to win the Heisman Trophy.
- Taye Diggs, actor.
- Ted Koppel, broadcast journalist.
- Marvin Lender, owner of Lender's Bagels.
- Donovan McNabb, NFL quarterback.
- Jessie Mueller, actress.
- Joyce Carol Oats, author.
- Aaron Sorkin, screenwriter.
- Jerry Stiller, actor.
- Vanessa Williams, singer/actress.