Siena College


Siena College is a private Franciscan liberal arts college in Loudonville, New York. Siena was founded by the Order of Friars Minor in 1937. The college was named after Bernardino of Siena, a 15th-century Italian Franciscan friar and preacher. St. Bernardine of Siena Friary is located on campus. It has 3,000 full-time students and offers undergraduate degrees in business, liberal arts, and sciences.

History

Beginnings of Siena College

In the late 1930s, Thomas Plassmann, President of St. Bonaventure University in Western New York, sent seven Franciscan friars to New York's Capital Region to found another college.

Development of campus

Like most colleges, Siena College has renovated some of its facilities recently. A new rugby pitch was opened in fall 2016 and a new bookstore opened in fall 2014. The Siena College Grotto opened in October 2014. The college was listed as a census-designated place in 2020.

Academics

Schools of College

Siena College students attend three schools within the college:
AACSB International Accredited
Departments

Departments

Departments

The college is a suburban campus taking up at the northern edge of Loudonville. The campus includes:
Classrooms and faculty offices. Notable for the solar panels on the roof


Student organizations

Students are involved in a number of wide, specific, academic related, recreational, leadership building, and diverse organizations and clubs or campus. There are currently 85 organizations on campus, each with their own campus, local, or national impact. Each organization has Executive Board positions which allows students to lead, develop, and set a plan of direction for their impact.

Leadership organizations

The Student Senate

The Siena College Student Senate serves as a liaison between student and both faculty and administration. It works to present and to interpret students’ attitudes, opinions, and rights to the teaching faculty and administration. The Senate is charged with the oversight of clubs and the distribution of the student activities fees. While Senate does not directly control college academic or social policies, it continues to work with a group of cooperative administrators to shape them in ways that will benefit the community.
Both the Senate and the administration keep what is best for the students as their top priority. The Student Senate has an Executive Board including President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer. The rest of the Senate is Representatives, Hall and Town House Representatives, and Commuter Representatives. Student Senate is the governing body for all clubs and organizations on campus.

Student Events Board

The Student Events Board sponsors traditional types of entertainment in the form of bands, comedians, and speakers, but also presents other non-traditional events designed for Siena such as coffeehouse acts, open mic nights, Winter Weekend, Siblings Weekend, Charity Week, big concerts, as well as SienaFest. SEB also oversees and regulates the sale and distribution of goods and services of campus clubs and organizations. The Board encourages the development of new areas of entertainment based upon student interest.

Residence Hall Association

The mission of the Residence Hall Association is to act as a governing student body; to serve as the official liaison between the residential students at Siena College with Siena College staff and administration; to strive to make Siena’s residence halls and townhouses a desirable community; to be the official voice of Siena's residential students; and to serve as a programming organization within residential communities.

Athletics

Siena offers 21 NCAA Division I sports, all of which participate in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
The college generally only competed against local schools in athletics until being elevated to the Division I level in 1976. At this time, Siena became a member of the ECAC, and later the North Atlantic Conference, a forerunner to the present day America East Conference. In 1990, the college moved to the MAAC where it has remained since. Siena has not always been known by its present moniker. Athletic teams were first known as the Golden Hurricanes and later as the Indians. In March 1989, the school adopted its current nickname, the Saints.
Many of Siena's athletic teams have experienced success at the Division I level. The college's most well known squad is the men's basketball team. The Saints have appeared in six NCAA Tournaments, advancing to the Round of 32 in 1989, 2008 and 2009. Siena has also played in the postseason NIT five times, capturing third place in 1994. In 2014, Siena competed in their first College Basketball Invitational tournament and won the championship defeating Stony Brook, Penn State, Illinois State and Fresno State two games to one in the best-of-three championship series. The women's basketball teams has also had a recent run of success, including a trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2001, and appearances in the 1999, 2002 and 2003 WNIT. They finished second in the 2015 WBI.
Another team with recent high achievement is men's baseball. The Saints advanced to the 1999 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament and in 2005 saw pitcher John Lannan drafted by the Washington Nationals. Lannan has since become a regular starter in Washington's rotation. They also participated in the 2014 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament.
Finally, the men's lacrosse team has also improved significantly in recent years. The Saints qualified for their first MAAC tournament in 2007 and their first NCAA tournament in 2009. That season, the Saints secured an automatic berth in the tournament after winning their first MAAC championship during a ten-game winning streak.

Siena College Research Institute

, an affiliate of Siena College, conducts expert and public opinion polls, focusing on New York State and the United States, on issues of public policy interest.

Notable alumni

Siena College has approximately 28,000 living alumni worldwide, including former college president Kevin J. Mullen.

Notable Faculty