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Students looking for an out-of-this-world study abroad experience will soon get the chance - literally.
NYU in Space will "launch" beginning in fall 2009, President John Sexton announced with his hands raised to the heavens.
This will be the university's first satellite campus on a satellite. It will be completely funded by the Church of Scientology, NYU spokesman John Beckman said in a joint news conference with actor Tom Cruise.
The "NYU L. Ron Hubbard Center for the Study of the Universe" will be able to host nearly 200 former SPs each semester, with potential for expansion in the future.
Sexton said the satellite campus represents not only one large step forward for the university, but a gigantic leap in his plan to upstage Columbia University president Lee Bollinger.
"We've basically got Columbia in a Vulcan death grip," Sexton said. "Not even the Earth itself can contain NYU's growth. Being a 'global' university is soooooo 2005. We need to think bigger - we need to become a galactic university."
One incentive for the move to space was the increasingly difficult task of finding space in the city, Sexton said.
"I'm not going to be all John Beckman with you," he said. "Real estate in New York is a bitch."
Courses will be offered through the Steinhardt School of Intergalactic Communication, the Courant Institute of Astrophysics and, naturally, Gallatin.
In an interview with WSN, Cruise said he and his church were approached by Sexton almost two years ago.
"When you're a Scientologist and you're asked to sponsor a study abroad site, you know you have to do something about it, because you know you're the only one who can really help," Cruise said. "WE are the way to happiness. WE can bring peace and unite cultures ... Oops, I mean ... I'm happy to be a part of this."
Still, Tisch sophomore Anita Bohn said she was skeptical about spending a semester in space.
"I heard the American Apparel there is really small," Bohn said.
CAS junior Ben Dover, however, had more serious concerns.
"I can't believe NYU would open another campus in a location that doesn't protect gay rights," he said.
Gallatin freshman David Rubensteinowitz was worried about the accomodations made for his religious observances.
"What if the moon cheese isn't kosher?" Rubensteinowitz wondered. "What if the bobby pins on my yarmulke don't work in space?"
Zenon is girl of the 21st century. E-mail her at supernova@nyunews.com
