CHELSEA, Manhattan (PIX11) — There’s a new mission coming to a New York City landmark.
There is history on West 21st Street between Ninth and 10th Avenues in Chelsea. For 200 years, the General Theological Seminary has had a bell tower and trees add to its landscape.
In the near future, the space will be occupied by roughly 200 undergraduate students of Vanderbilt University, based in Nashville. The students will apply for a semester in New York, with the city itself and internships with alumni part of the curriculum.
“Vanderbilt made a gift to found the university in Nashville to help repair the break between North and South post-Civil War. Essentially, we’re coming home,” Assistant Vice Chancellor for New York at Vanderbilt Univ. James Kellerhouse said.
“It’s almost as if we’re not even in this city. Now you step off of this into [the grounds] and it’s a secret garden setting,” Kellerhouse said of the space.
Vanderbilt is preserving the historic complex, working with the Landmarks Commission and community members to upgrade accessibility, modernize buildings and restore the tower.
“We are coming into a campus that’s been here for 200 years. We feel strongly about our role as a steward, moving forward,” Kellerhouse said.
New York has also approved a master’s degree program in business technology.
Students will arrive in New York this coming fall.
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