The largest dining facility on campus offers two stories of dining options, as well as a full-service bakery and a shared study/computer space. The all-you-can-eat cafeteria on the upper level serves as the primary dining option for most first-year students at SUNY New Paltz.
Peregrine (PER-i-grin) Dining Hall is named for the peregrine falcons that soar above the “sky lakes” situated along the Shawangunk Ridge overlooking New Paltz.
The peregrine falcon faced extinction in the Eastern U.S. in the mid-20th century, but was brought back from the brink thanks in large part to the work of SUNY New Paltz Biology Professor Heinz Meng (1924 – 2016). Meng was the first to successfully breed the falcon in captivity, pioneering techniques of a bird-release program that has restored its population levels and led to its removal from the Endangered Species List in 1999.
Symbolically, the name “Peregrine” has local significance as a symbol of resiliency and hope and can also represent wanderers from foreign lands. It stands as a reminder of the College’s core value of welcoming all who wish to live, learn and work here, regardless of their origins.
From 1964-2019, the building was named Hasbrouck Dining Hall after Abraham Hasbrouck, an original patentee of New Paltz who settled in this region along with other original Huguenot patentees during the 17thcentury.
Early generations of the Hasbrouck family, including Jean and Abraham Hasbrouck, owned enslaved Africans prior to the 1828 emancipation in New York State. Subsequent generations of the Hasbrouck family were part of the movement to abolish slavery and free enslaved persons.
In 1827, when Sojourner Truth, the abolitionist, women’s rights activist and namesake of the SUNY New Paltz Library, sued to free her son following his illegal sale into Southern slavery, she was represented in court by Abraham Bruyn Hasbrouck, who took the case pro bono.
A freedman named John Hasbrouck was one of the first African-Americans in New Paltz to own property, keep written records of his accounts, and vote in elections. John was born in 1806 to an enslaved woman owned by Jacob Hasbrouck. The identity of his father is unknown. When John was manumitted years later, he assumed the Hasbrouck family name.
Members of the Hasbrouck family demonstrated strong commitment to education and contributed to founding, governing and supporting the schools that would eventually become SUNY New Paltz.
The SUNY New Paltz College Council and the SUNY Board of Trustees voted to change the name of this and five other buildings in the Peregrine Complex in 2019, following nearly two years of research and inclusive dialogue initiated by President Donald P. Christian led by the Diversity & Inclusion Council.
The process involved a broad constituency of students, faculty, staff, alumni, the College Council, campus leadership, and community stakeholders, including Huguenot descendants and Historic Huguenot Street leadership.
The Diversity & Inclusion Council ultimately recommended that changing the building names would position the College to better serve the needs of an increasingly diverse student population. President Christian supported this recommendation and advocated strongly for its approval by the College Council and Board of Trustees.
Consistent with our mission as an academic institution, a contemplative space will be created on campus (fall 2020) to present a more complete history of the College. That includes the history and lasting impacts of slavery, especially northern slavery, the contributions of enslaved Africans and their descendants, the history and legacy of indigenous people before and after European settlement, and the many positive contributions of Huguenot descendants to civic and educational life in New Paltz and beyond.