Records of Athletics Programs at New York University
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Abstract
This collection contains the records of the New York University Athletics Department dating from 1872-2016. These records include materials on intercollegiate and intramural sports which typically includes rosters, statistics, press releases, schedules, and team and game photographs. Digital and analog audio and video recordings of interviews, games, and season highlight reels are also in this collection. Also included are general departmental files and materials on Coles Sports and Recreation Center.
Historical Note
Athletic competition began at New York University in 1873, when the first intercollegiate games in baseball and football were played. Formal intercollegiate competition did not begin until 1894, when NYU's move to the University Heights campus in the Bronx provided space for the athletics program to grow. The University erected a new gymnasium as well as football and baseball fields. By 1907 the University sponsored varsity baseball, football, basketball, tennis, and track teams.
Women's sports such as swimming, tennis, and basketball began as informal coed activities in the 1920s and later became varsity programs. A number of the University's students, coaches, and alumni have participated in the Olympics including Sam Jones, Howard and Ted Cann, Jose and Miguel De Capriles, Byron Dyce, and Carol Heiss.
The University's financial struggles forced the Athletics department to shut down both football and basketball in the 1970s as NYU left its Bronx campus. Athletics at NYU experienced a resurgence in the 1980s with the construction of the Jerome S. Coles Sports Center and the move from Division I to Division III competition. The basketball team was reactivated in 1983 and continues to play. As of 2026, NYU has varsity teams in basketball, cross country, fencing, golf, soccer, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, volleyball, and wrestling. Baseball returned as a varsity sport in 2015 and softball was added as a result of NYU's completed merger with NYU-Poly (now New York University Tandon School of Engineering).
Arrangement
The collection is organized into series that are based on the New York University Archives' record group classification system. Titles for the series are specific sports (e.g., Basketball, Tennis, and Golf) or divisions related to sports (e.g., Athletics Department Administrative Records). When appropriate, the series are further divided into subseries for men's and women's teams, followed by a subseries for combined men's and women's team materials. Sport materials are arranged chronologically by season, thereunder alphabetically within these series and subseries unless specificed otherwise.
The collection has been arranged into 34 series, 12 of which have been further arranged into subseries. The series and subseries arrangement is as follows:
RG 41.0 General Athletics Records
RG 41.1 Basketball
Subseries 41.1.A. Men's
Subseries 41.1.B. Women's
Subseries 41.1.C. Combined
RG 41.2 Baseball
RG 41.3 Fencing
Subseries 41.3.A. Men's
Subseries 41.3.B. Women's
Subseries 41.3.C. Combined
RG 41.4 Football
RG 41.5 Gymnastics
RG 41.6 Track and Field
Subseries 41.6.A. Men's
Subseries 41.6.B. Women's
Subseries 41.6.C. Combined
RG 41.7 Athletic Department Administrative Files
RG 41.8 Jerome S. Coles Sports Center
RG 41.9 University Athletic Association
RG 41.10 NYU Olympic Athletes
RG 41.11 Tennis
Subseries 41.11.A. Men's
Subseries 41.11.B. Women's
Subseries 41.11.C. Combined
RG 41.12 Golf
Subseries 41.12.A. Men's
Subseries 41.12.B. Women's
RG 41.13 Soccer
Subseries 41.13.A. Men's
Subseries 41.13.B. Women's
Subseries 41.13.C. Combined
RG 41.14 Cross-Country
Subseries 41.14.A. Men's
Subseries 41.14.B. Women's
Subseries 41.14.C. Combined
RG 41.15 Diving
Subseries 41.15.A. Men's
Subseries 41.15.B. Women's
Subseries 41.15.C. Combined
RG 41.16 Swimming
Subseries 41.16.A. Men's
Subseries 41.16.B. Women's
Subseries 41.16.C. Combined
RG 41.17 Volleyball
Subseries 41.17.A. Men's
Subseries 41.17.B. Women's
Subseries 41.17.C. Combined
RG 41.18 Wrestling
RG 41.19 Softball
RG 41.20 Bowling
Subseries 41.20.A. Men's
Subseries 41.20.B. Women's
RG 41.21 Rifle
Subseries 41.20.A. Men's
Subseries 41.20.B. Women's
RG 41.22 Field Hockey
RG 41.23 Lacrosse
RG 41.24 Water Polo
RG 41.25 Tae Bo
RG 41.26 Crew
RG 41.27 Dance
RG 41.28 Cheerleading
RG 41.29 Ice Hockey
RG 41.30 Cricket
RG 41.31 Kendo
RG 41.32 Table Tennis
RG 41.33 Boxing
Scope and Contents
This collection contains records for various athletics programs and the Athletics Department at New York University. Team and individual sports material in this collection dates from 1872-2016 and typically includes born-digital and paper files of press clippings, press releases, statistics, rosters, schedules, and event programs. Photographs typically consist of digital and print images of teams and staff from each season, individual player headshots, game action shots, and awards ceremonies. Digital and analog audio and video recordings in this collection include interviews, games, and season highlight reels. This collection also contains season preview guides, also known as media guides, which include analysis and commentary from the previous season and highlight the upcoming season by providing team rosters, game schedules, and photographs of players and staff. Athletics Department and Jerome S. Coles Sports Center files include intramural sport schedules and brochures, press releases, correspondence, and files related to the Hall of Fame Ceremony.
Subjects
People
Conditions Governing Access
Administrative records and unpublished reports of New York University are closed for a period of 20 years from the date of their creation. Access to files spanning multiple years will be opened to researchers based on the date of the most recent materials. Board of Trustees records are closed for 35 years from the date of creation. Materials related to personnel, grievances, job and fellowship searches and applications, and all files that fall under the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) are permanently restricted. Additional restrictions may apply to other materials in this collection. For questions regarding specific restrictions, please contact the University Archives.
Conditions Governing Use
Any rights (including copyright and related rights to publicity and privacy) held by New York University are maintained by New York University. Permission to publish or reproduce materials in this collection must be secured from the University Archives. Please contact NYU Special Collections, special.collections@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596.
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date; Records of Athletics Programs at NYU; RG 41; box number; folder number or item identifier; New York University Archives, New York University.
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Transferred by the Athletics Department to the archives in numerous accessions between 1992-2023. The accession numbers associated with these records are 92.033, 06.029, 12.013, 13.039, 15.016, 15.043, 16.016, 2016.004, 2016.042, 2018.022, 2019.033, 2020.034, and 2023.048.
Audiovisual Access Policies and Procedures
Access to some audiovisual materials in this collection is available through digitized access copies. Researchers may view an item's original container, but the media themselves are not available for playback because of preservation concerns. Materials that have already been digitized are noted in the collection's finding aid and can be requested in our reading room.
Materials not yet digitized will need to have access copies made before they can be used. To request an access copy, or if you are unsure if an item has been digitized, please contact NYU Special Collections (special.collections@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596) with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. A staff member will respond to you with further information.
Born-Digital Access Policies and Procedures
An access terminal for born-digital materials in the collection is available by appointment for reading room viewing and listening only. Researchers may view an item's original container and/or carrier, but the physical carriers themselves are not available for use because of preservation concerns. Advance notice is required for the use of computer records. Original physical digital media is restricted.
Appraisal
Duplicate pieces of the Bobcat costume were deaccessioned in February 2019.
Sixteen cartons of paper were appraised out of the collection during processing, including duplicates and items considered out of scope of the collection (e.g., individual game scores, non-Athletics Department NYU publications, contracts, checkbooks, insurance and other vendor information, incident and injury reports, medical records, consent forms, and lawsuit materials). For both print and digital images, the following were removed: unlabeled (i.e., unnamed) headshots of individual athletes, staff, and coaches. Any NYU Photo Bureau images were also removed from the collection.
Approximately 16-20 cartons of audiovisual material and computer disks were also removed from the collection during the processing of new material into the collection in 2025-2026. Imaged born-digital carriers with a large number of similar photographs from athletic and other events were sampled, retaining a representative 10% of the images, and deaccessioning the remainder. Off-air recordings, in both analog and digital formats, have been appraised out of the collection due to copyright limitations. These recordings include commercial musical recordings and any recordings from a copyrighted broadcast or television transmission. Additionally, the following recordings were removed from the collection: scrimmages, practices, scouting videos, logos, videos with extremely poor image quality, and any NYU-TV recordings.
Separated Materials
Seven cartons of New York University yearbooks were separated from the collection and sent back to University Archives staff to be reviewed.
About this Guide
Processing Information
Decisions regarding arrangement, description, and physical interventions for this collection prior to 2019 are unknown. Duplicate pieces of the Bobcat Costume were deaccessioned in February 2019. In June 2019 memorabilia was rehoused by preservation and sent offsite. In September 2019 wrestling student-athlete registration cards (1985-1986) underwent basic mold cleaning.
In 2020, 3 boxes of unprocessed material were inspected by Preservation staff for mold; items showing no evidence of mold were removed from their original boxes and moved to another box in the collection. Materials with evidence of mold were sent to Polygon for cleaning in early 2020 and returned in September 2020.
In 2025-2026, all unprocessed accretions to this collection were processed. Materials were placed into acid-free legal boxes and folders, and oversized materials were rehoused in appropriately sized boxes. Materials in binders were removed from their enclosures, and some items were removed from non-archival sleeves. Duplicate publications, recordings, and documents, publications widely available online or in NYU's catalog holdings, and documents with sensitive personal information were removed. One box of film was transferred to Records of the Gallatin Division (RG 36). Two boxes from the Records of the Jerome S. Coles Sports and Recreation Center (RG 41.8) were transferred to this collection and intellectually incorporated into the arrangement. Seven cartons of NYU yearbooks were separated from the collection and transferred to the University Archives staff.
1174 CDs, DVDs, floppy disks, and zip disks were forensically imaged, analyzed, and arranged in Forensic Toolkit. Carriers with a large number of similar photographs from athletic and other events were digitally sampled, retaining 10%. New York University Libraries follow professional standards and best practices when imaging, ingesting, and processing born-digital material in order to maintain the integrity and authenticity of the content.