Nazareth College ("Naz") is a private college in Pittsford, New York. It offers over 60 undergraduate majors and more than two dozen graduate programs. The college was previously the Nazareth College of Rochester. History Founding At the request of Thomas Francis Hickey, Bishop of Rochester, five Sisters of St. Joseph founded Nazareth College of Rochester in 1924. The first class was composed of 25 young women who began their studies in a large mansion on Lake Avenue in Rochester, New York. The original mansion that housed the college was known as "the Glass House." At that time, the college offered Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees, each with a liberal arts core. In response to increasing enrollment, the college moved to a larger facility in 1928 at 402 Augustine Street. Move to East Avenue In January 1942, the college moved to its present campus on East Avenue in Pittsford. In the 1950s, the college responded to the need for graduate study by adding majors and by the 1970s offered programs in teacher education and social work. Study abroad programs and intercollegiate sports were also added in the 1970s. During this time, the college became co-educational and independent of the Roman Catholic Church. Nazareth competed in men's intercollegiate athletics for the first time in 1977. The official nickname of the sports teams became the Golden Flyers — golden for the Nazareth color, and flyers for the bird-like symbol that is part of the old Nazareth logo. Today, Nazareth supports 25 varsity teams. The most recently introduced sport, which began competition in 2019, is men's rugby. Expansion In the early 2000s, the college purchased adjacent land from the Sisters of St. Joseph, including the former Motherhouse and Infirmary. This acquisition doubled the campus size to its current 150 acres. As a result of support from college benefactors (including Tom Golisano, the founder of Paychex), the Motherhouse became the Golisano Academic Center. The Infirmary became George Hall, a residence hall that also houses a coffeehouse and late night study area. The decade of the 2000s also saw the construction of additional student housing, including Portka Hall, Clock Tower Commons, and the Lyons and Breen apartment buildings. In 2003, 30 years after becoming religiously independent, Nazareth College was removed from The Official Catholic Directory, having been declared no longer a Catholic institution by Rochester Bishop Matthew H. Clark. It was the second