Nassau Community College

Nassau Community College (NCC) is a public community college in the East Garden City section of Uniondale, Nassau County, on Long Island, New York.^[3] It was founded in 1959 and is part of the State University of New York.

Nassau Community College

Motto	"Stay Close, Go Far"
Type	Public community college
Established	1959; 66 years ago (1959)
Parent institution	State University of New York
President	Vacant [1]
Undergraduates	10,488[2]
Location	Uniondale , New York , United States
Campus	225 acres (0.91 km2)
Colors	Navy blue and orange
Nickname	Lions
Mascot	Leo the Lion
Website	www.ncc.edu

History

20th century

Nassau Community College in 2021

Buildings T and P at Nassau Community College

Nassau Community College was created as part of the State University of New York (SUNY) in 1959. When the college opened on February 1, 1960, it had 632 students, and classes were held in an old courthouse. When Mitchel Air Force Base closed in 1961, the college obtained substantial property, including buildings to develop its new campus; the area is still referred to as Mitchel Field, and the government still retains some housing and other facilities in the vicinity of the school's campus.^[4]

21st century

On April 16, 2024, the school's food services vendor permanently closed its services, which included the cafeteria, snack bar, and on-campus Starbucks due to the school not entering a new contractual agreement.^[5]

Academics

NCC offers Associate of Arts degrees in liberal arts, focused on humanities and social sciences, specialized Associate of Arts and Associate of Science transfer degrees, and Associate of Arts and Science degrees and certificate programs designed to serve immediate employment goals of students.^[6]

The college operates an astronomy observatory for its students.^[7]

Notable alumni

• Bruce Arena, professional soccer manager
• Arjun Atwal, professional golfer and PGA Tour winner
• Brian Baldinger, sports broadcaster and professional football player
• Phil Baroni, professional mixed martial artist^[8]
• Rich Borresen, professional football player
• Steve Buscemi, actor
• Matt Cardona, professional wrestler
• Billy Crystal, comedian
• Luke Cummo, professional mixed martial artist
• Patrick Day, professional boxer
• Tim Dillon, comedian
• Chris Distefano, comedian
• Rasul Douglas, professional football player
• Jay Hieron, professional wrestler and mixed martial artist^[9]
• Al Iaquinta, professional wrestler and mixed martial artist^[10]
• Steve Israel, U.S. congressman
• Jesse Lacey, musician
• Josh Lafazan, Nassau County legislator
• Ryan LaFlare, mixed martial artist^[11]
• Shep Messing, Olympic soccer player and broadcaster
• Rod Morgenstein, drummer, Winger and Dixie Dregs
• John Moschitta Jr., speed talker
• Eddie Murphy, actor and comedian
• Elliott Murphy, singer, songwriter, and writer
• Bob Nelson, stand-up comedian
• Michael Anthony Pegues, visual artist
• Michael Robinson, professional football player
• Andrew P. Schafer Jr., US Army major general^[12]
• Chris Weidman, professional mixed martial artist
• Nouman Ali Khan, is an American Islamic speaker who founded the Bayyinah Institute for Arabic and Qur’anic Studies after serving as an instructor of Arabic at Nassau Community College. He has been named one of the 500 most influential Muslims in the world by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre of Jordan.