Robert Bolton wrote in History of Westchester County that Thomas was "a warm Whig" who gave the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence in New York at the White Plains courthouse on July 11, 1776.

[8] State University of New York Board of Trustees has appointed Dennis Craig as interim president of Purchase College effective on August 1, 2019.

[13] According to U.S. News & World Report, the five most popular majors for 2016 graduates at Purchase College were Visual and Performing Arts (48%); General Studies and Humanities (16%); Social Sciences (8%); Psychology (6%); and Communication, Journalism and related programs (5%).

Past lecturers include Joseph Volpe, former general manager of the Metropolitan Opera, and Ben Cameron, program director at the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

[22] It also houses the Richard and Dolly Maas Gallery, which exhibits work from emerging artists, students, faculty, and alumni.

[24] Previous guest lecturers include Jules de Balincourt,[25] Justine Kurland,[26] Amanda Ross-Ho,[27] and Barnaby Furnas.

[36] The conservatory's Music Building has two recital halls, 75 practice rooms, 80 Steinway & Sons pianos, and professional recording studios.

Past lecturers include authors Tim O'Brien, Hettie Jones, Michael Chabon, Claudia Rankine and Manohla Dargis.

[52] Past lecturers include Rachel Kushner, Claudia Rankine, Michael Chabon, Kirstin Valdez Quade, and Alexander Chee.

[53] The school also presents an annual Natural and Social Sciences Symposium, which exhibits original research conducted by students; and a lecture series funded by Con Edison.

The School of Liberal Studies & Continuing Education also partners with specific online providers to increase the flexibility and breadth of certificate offerings.

Students can take online courses in nonprofit management, paralegal studies, and receive a CEU certificate upon completion of the health coach training program at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition (IIN).

Courses are offered in areas such as songwriting, acting, architecture, visual arts, creative writing, filmmaking, video game and app creation, voice, fashion, musical theatre, and more.

In addition to its clubs, Purchase College holds several events throughout the year, accommodating the diverse musical and artistic interests of its student body.

The Stood is a fully equipped music venue, hosting many of the college's larger events such as: Fall Fest, Zombie Prom, SK80s, Afrodisiac, Stood-o-ween, and sometimes Culture Shock.

Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis and volleyball.

Women's sports include basketball, cross country, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming & diving, tennis and volleyball.

Intramural teams include basketball, flag football, floor hockey, indoor soccer, racquet sports, co-ed softball, Water Polo, Quidditch and volleyball.

[67] In 2014, SUNY Purchase Men's Soccer Program won its first Skyline Conference Championship, defeating St. Joe's (LI) in overtime by the score of 2–1.

Purchase college consists of six dormitory halls, Crossroads, Central (formerly Big Haus), Farside, Outback, Fort Awesome, and Wayback; along with three apartment complexes, The Olde, The Commons (The Neu), and Alumni Village.

[70][71][72] The other parts of Central along with Outback, Fort Awesome, Wayback, and the apartment complexes are upperclassmen housing and the selection process of these buildings are determined by the amount of credits one has.

Staff and residents develop programs that focus specifically on areas of Wellness including Physical, Intellectual, Vocational/Occupational, Emotional, Social (Cultural, Societal, Family, Community), Environmental and Spiritual.

[68] It holds a permanent collection of more than 7,000 works of art[86] and features a full schedule of exhibitions, lectures, films, and multimedia events.

Other faculty members include Iris Cahn, a film editor; dancer and choreographer Bill Bales, the founding Dean of Dance; dance choreographers Rosalind Newman and Sarah Stackhouse; writer Melissa Febos; and artists Liz Phillips, Antonio Frasconi, Steve Lambert, Kate Gilmore, and Hakan Topal.

Actors who attended the college include Rochelle Aytes, Susie Essman, Edie Falco, Zoë Kravitz, Amanda Seales, Orlagh Cassidy, Melissa Leo, James McDaniel, Francie Swift, Janel Moloney, Chris Perfetti, Parker Posey, Ving Rhames, Jay O. Sanders, Wesley Snipes, Sherry Stringfield, Stanley Tucci, Shea Whigham, Katrina Cunningham and Constance Wu.

Other film professionals who attended Purchase College include directors Ilya Chaiken, Abel Ferrara, Hal Hartley, Bob Gosse, Jeffrey Schwarz, Michael Spiller, James Spione, A.

Other artists who attended Purchase include Katherine Bradford, Allen Cohen, Gregory Crewdson, Luis Croquer, Thomas E. Franklin, Jimmy Joe Roche, Jon Kessler, Ron Rocco, Chris Dorland, Fred Wilson, performers The Dragon Sisters and recording engineer Chris Conway.

Musicians who are alumni include Regina Spektor, Mitski, Gabriel Garzon-Montano, Moby, Edward W. Hardy, Photay, Quentin Angus, Chris Ballew, Imani Coppola, Dan Deacon, Jack Dishel, Dan Romer, Jeffrey Lewis, Mase, Spencer Murphy, Nate Jones, Bryndon Cook, Ben Chapoteau-Katz, Daryl Palumbo, Bess Rogers, Joel Rubin, Langhorne Slim, Katherine Teck, Ice Spice, Samara Joy, Cyrille Aimee, Mal Blum, Stephanie Winters, Jenny O. and Jenny Owen Youngs, as well as the founding members of Porches, Dufus, Sheer Mag, O'Death, and Kiss Kiss.

Alumni from the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences include New York Assemblywoman Latrice Walker; curator Luis Croquer; and authors Nora Raleigh Baskin, Garth Greenwell, David Graeber, and Jeanne Darst.

Also, scientists Jill Bargonetti and Carl Safina attended the college along with journalists Manohla Dargis and Adam Nagourney as well as film director Danny Leiner.