Athletics
NYU's sports teams are referred to as the NYU Violets, the colors being the trademarked hue "NYU Violet", and white. Since 1981, the school mascot has been a bobcat, whose origin can be traced back to the abbreviation then being used by the Bobst Library computerized catalog — short: Bobcat. NYU's sports teams include men's and women's varsity basketball, cross country, fencing, golf, soccer, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, volleyball, and wrestling. All of NYU's sports teams participate in the NCAA's Division III and the University Athletic Association, with the exceptions of Men's Volleyball, which competes in the Division I Eastern Collegiate Volleyball Association, and fencing, which also participates in Division I. The National Intercollegiate Women's Fencing Association (NIWFA) was founded by NYU freshmen Julia Jones and Dorothy Hafner.
While NYU has had All-American football players, the school has not had a varsity football team since 1952. Notable football players include Hall of Fame Ken Strong (1956) and Ed Smith (1934), the model for the Heisman Trophy. In the 1940 season, before a football game between NYU and Missouri, students protested against the "gentlemen's agreement" to exclude black athletes (at Missouri's request). The protest against this practice is the first time such protests were recorded to have occurred.
NYU, within its brief history in NCAA Division III, has won two national team championships and many league championships. In 1997, the Women's Basketball team, led by head coach Janice Quinn, won a national championship over the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire and in 2007 returned to the Final Four. NYU Men's Basketball and head coach Joe Nesci appeared in the Division III National Championship game in 1994. In 2006, the Men's Cross Country team finished 2nd at the NCAA Championship. The following year, behind the emotional support of Dan Schwartzman, the Men's Cross Country team won the 2007 NCAA National Cross Country Championship at St. Olaf College in Minnesota.
NYU Men's and Women's Swimming teams captured consecutive (2004–2005) Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Swimming and Diving Championships. Christian Majdick of the Men's Track and Field team captured the NCAA Division III championship for the triple jump in 2003. Lauren Henkel, a track and field athlete and the current assistant coach of the Women's Track and Field team, acquired All-American status three times for High Jump. The Men's Soccer team won its league ECAC championship in the 2005–2006 season.
The Men's Ice Hockey team participates in the ACHA (DII) and is in the SECHL. During the 2003–2004 season, the Ice Hockey team finished second (2nd) in the nation, losing to Oakland University of Michigan.
NYU students also compete in club and intramural sports, including badminton, baseball, basketball, crew, equestrianism, ice hockey, lacrosse, rugby football, softball, squash, martial arts, tennis, triathlon, and ultimate. The Coles Sports and Recreation Center serves as the home base of several of NYU's intercollegiate athletic teams. Many of NYU's varsity teams play their games at various facilities and fields throughout Manhattan because of the scarcity of space for playing fields near campus. In 2002, NYU opened the Palladium Athletic Facility as the second on-campus recreational facility. In the same year, NYU's intramural dance team won the National Championship title at the National Dance Alliance (NDA) Division III competition in Daytona, Florida.
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