Saint Louis University

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This article is about a university in St. Louis, Missouri for university in the Philippines see: Saint Louis University, Baguio City
Saint Louis University
Image:Saintlouisuniversityseal.jpg

Motto:Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam "To The Greater Glory of God"
Established1818
Type:Private
Religious affiliation:Roman Catholic (Jesuit)
Endowment:$862.5 million (USD)
President:Fr. Lawrence Biondi, S.J.
Faculty:1,002
Undergraduates:7,421
Postgraduates:4,402
LocationSt. Louis, Missouri, USA
Campus:Urban, 244 acres [1]. Frost Campus. Medical Center Campus. Madrid Campus.
Colors:Blue and White
Mascot:Billikens
Website:http://www.slu.edu/

Saint Louis University is a private, co-educational Catholic Jesuit university in the United States of America located in St. Louis, Missouri. It is the oldest university west of the Mississippi River, founded by the Society of Jesus in 1818. It is one of 28 member institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities. The university is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. The athletic teams compete in the Atlantic 10 Conference.

It has a current enrollment of 11,823 students, making it the 4th-largest Jesuit University in the United States.[1] The university provides undergraduate, graduate and professional programs. its undergraduate program is currently ranked 82nd in the 2008 U.S. News and World Report rankings of "America's Best Colleges."

Contents

[edit] History

Saint Louis University is the oldest university west of the Mississippi River and the second-oldest Jesuit college in the nation. (Only Georgetown University has been in existence longer). It is one of 28 member institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities. The high school, which was founded along with it, was originally located in DuBourg Hall on the SLU campus but moved to its own campus in the 1920s. The first M.D. degree awarded west of the Mississippi was conferred by Saint Louis University in 1836.

Saint Louis University traces its origins to the Saint Louis Academy, founded on 16 November 1818 by the Most Reverend Louis Guillaume Valentin Du Bourg, Bishop of Louisiana and the Floridas, and placed under the charge of the Reverend François Niel and others of the secular clergy attached to the Saint Louis Cathedral. In 1820 the name of the college changed to Saint Louis College, while the high school remained St. Louis Academy, now known as St. Louis University High. In 1827 Bishop Du Bourg placed it in the care of the Society of Jesus, not long after which it received its charter as a university by act of the Missouri Legislature.[2]

During the early 1940s, many local priests, especially the Jesuits, began to challenge the segregationist policies at the city's Catholic colleges and parochial schools. Saint Louis University opened its doors to African Americans in 1943 after its president, Father Patrick Holloran, secured the approval of St. Louis Archbishop John J. Glennon.

For over thirty years the university has maintained a campus in Madrid, Spain with a student body of around 1000. The Madrid campus was the first freestanding campus operated by an American university in Europe and the first American institution to be recognized by Spain's higher education authority as an official foreign university. In the early 1970's, the campus was the site of an emerging new stream of Bible-based liturgical music that has enjoyed a worldwide impact. The composers were known as the St. Louis Jesuits. After a twenty-year hiatus, they released a new album in the fall of 2005.

Image:Slu dubourg 1888.jpg
DuBourg Hall serves as the administration building for Saint Louis University.

[edit] Academics

[edit] Colleges and Schools

  • Saint Louis University College of Arts and Sciences (1818)
  • Saint Louis University Graduate School (1832)
  • Saint Louis University College of Philosophy and Letters (1889)
  • Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology (1927)
  • Doisy College of Health Sciences (1928)
  • Saint Louis University School of Nursing (1928)
  • Saint Louis University School of Public Health (1991)
  • Saint Louis University College of Public Service (1998)

[edit] Additional programs

  • Saint Louis University School of Social Work

[edit] Campus

[edit] Libraries and Museums

Saint Louis University has four libraries. Pius XII Memorial Library is the general academic library. It holds over 1 million books, 6,000 journal subscriptions, and 140 electronic databases. The Knights of Columbus Vatican Film Library holds a unique collection of microfilm focusing on the manuscripts housed in the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana. The Omer Poos Law Library houses the law collection and is within the School of Law. The Medical Center Library serves the health and medical community at SLU.

The University also has several museums, including the Museum of Contemporary Religious Art.

[edit] Housing

Saint Louis has both dormitory and apartment space on-campus. As part of the Freshman Year Experience (FYE) program, resident freshman students live in one of four freshman-only buildings for their first year, after which point they are able to live anyplace else on campus.

[edit] FYE Options

The Griesedieck Complex (also known as "Gries", pronounced "greez") contains 16 stories of living space in its main building, with additional dorm space in its two wings, Walsh and Clemens. Gries is located in the heart of the campus, in front of the quad, and has an average freshman living space, 10' 7.5" by 18' 2", with community showers and bathrooms. Reinert Hall, named after Jesuit Father Paul C. Reinert, is located two blocks south of the main campus in a converted hotel; sometimes referred to as "the Island." Where the building lacks in location it makes up for in living space, containing some of the largest dormitories across the country, 12' 1" by 27', complete with private full baths in each room. Reinert also has access to a private pool and 24-hour in-building study/meeting rooms.

[edit] Upperclassman Options

Several housing choices exist for sophomores, juniors and seniors. SLU does not have Greek houses on campus; however, DeMattias Hall acts as a Greek dormitory and de facto community House. Next to DeMattias Hall is Marguerite Hall, which offers 8 floors of suite-style two-occupancy dorm rooms. Continuing up West Pine Mall, is Notre Dame Hall. While many honors students choose to live here, it is upperclassmen housing open to all students. Another dorm option is Fusz Hall, catercorner to the University's Clocktower. It contains a food court.

Grand Forest, the Village, and the Marchetti Towers are the apartment options available. Because of its proximity to the stadium, many student-athletes live in Grand Forest. Similarly, the Village, just across from DeMattias, houses many Greeks. The Village is also very close to the local SLU bars -- Humphrey's and Laclede's -- making it an especially popular location for juniors and seniors. The Marchetti Towers is just west of Grand Forest and consists of two, 12-story towers. It is very popular with sophomores coming out of FYE housing, though it also has a strong junior and senior population.

[edit] Major Building and Renovation Projects

[edit] Edward A. Doisy Research Center

SLU recently completed building a $67 million, 10-story tall research center connected to its Medical Campus Building. It is designed to be a green building and is named for Edward Adelbert Doisy, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine laureate of 1943 and a long-time faculty member at SLU's medical school.[3] With improvements to other research building facilities, the total cost of the project is forecasted to be around $80 million. The building had its official dedication ceremony on December 7, 2007, with faculty and staff having begun to move in during the previous weeks.

[edit] Chaifetz Arena

The planned multi-purpose arena, whose construction began on August 28, 2006,[4] and is expected to cost $80 million, will contain more than 10,000 seats, a training facility, state of the art locker rooms, and a practice facility that can house an additional 1,000 spectators. It will be located on the eastern-most end of campus, just north of Highway 40. The arena will replace the Scottrade Center as the University's primary location for large events, notably Commencement celebrations and varsity sports. On February 28 2007, the arena was named in honor of University alumnus (1975) Dr. Richard A. Chaifetz, who made a $12 million naming rights gift to the Arena[5]

[edit] Athletics

Main article: Saint Louis Billikens
Image:SaintLouisBillikens.png
Saint Louis Billikens logo

The Billikens moved from Conference USA (which was created by a merger between the Metro and Great Midwest Conferences) to the Atlantic 10 (where they are the westernmost member, and both the first member located west of the Mississippi and in the Central Time Zone) on July 1, 2005. This is the sixth conference affiliation for SLU since 1937. SLU has been affiliated with the Missouri Valley Conference (1937-1974); the defunct Metro Conference (1975-1982); the Midwestern Collegiate Conference, now known as the Horizon League (1982-1991); and the defunct Great Midwest Conference (1991-1995).

[edit] Soccer

The men's soccer team has won 10 national titles (1959-60, 1962-63, 1965, 1967, 1969-70, 1972-73), the most in NCAA Men's Soccer Championship history. SLU also holds the record for most NCAA Tournament appearances with 43. Several Billikens have gone on to play professionally, including Shane Battelle, Brad Davis, Vedad Ibisevic, Brian McBride, Matt McKeon, Dipsy Selolwane, Mike Sorber, Joe Clarke, Bob Madison, Martin Hutton, Jack Jewsbury, Tim Ward, and Will John. The soccer team plays at Hermann Stadium on campus. Legion 1818 is the official supporters group for the team.

[edit] Basketball

In the 1948-1949 season the Billikens were ranked first in the first AP basketball poll. Ed Macauley of the Basketball Hall of Fame and SLU won the NIT championship in 1948 and have played in the NIT 18 times, most recently in 2004. Larry Hughes of the Cleveland Cavaliers played one season at SLU in the 1997-1998 season, where he was selected as the consensus national Freshman of the Year. They have made the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament in 1952, 1957, 1994, 1995, 1998, and 2000. The Billikens are currently coached by Rick Majerus.

[edit] Ice Hockey

SLU had a hockey program for nearly the entire decade of the 1970s, until the program ended in 1980. The current team began play for the 1996-1997 season and is a member in the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) and fields a Men's Division 1 team in the Central States Collegiate Hockey League (CSCHL). When needed, SLU Hockey also has the option to field a D2 team to give a place to student-athletes to develop their skills and enjoy ice hockey as an NCAA-backed team sport. The team plays home games at the Afton Ice Rink in Afton, MO, but The University has plans to build the Saint Louis University Ice Pavilion to bring them closer to campus.

[edit] Other Sports

  • Football

SLU no longer has a football team. The university fielded an intercollegiate squad from 1899 to 1949, and then a club-level football squad during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Although the school no longer has a football team, the sport made a lasting mark as the team, coached by Eddie Cochems, threw the first legal forward pass in football history in 1906. Moreover, the "Billikens" nickname still used by the school derives from the physical appearance of former football coach John R. Bender.[6]

  • Baseball

In 2006, the Billiken baseball team earned the program's first NCAA Tournament berth since 1966 by winning the Atlantic 10 Tournament. SLU’s most successful baseball team of all time was the 1965 squad, which qualified for the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the College World Series.

  • Volleyball

The women's volleyball team qualified for the NCAA Tournament in 2006 by winning the Atlantic 10 Tournament, marking the program's first-ever NCAA appearance and its first post-season bid since earning a spot in the 1995 National Invitation Tournament.

  • Softball

The Saint Louis softball team enjoyed the best season in program history in 2007. The Billikens established a school record in wins with a 29-33 slate and established team records in hits, runs, doubles and home runs. As the Number 3 seed in the Atlantic 10 Championship, the Billikens advanced through the field to the title game before losing to host and top-seeded Massachusetts.

[edit] Student Life

[edit] Student Organizations

Saint Louis University has a large number of student organizations that cover a variety of interests: student government, club sports, organizations focused on media and publications, performing arts, religion and volunteerism and service. A current list can be found here on the university's website.

[edit] Non-Greek Student Groups

  • Service Leadership - certificate program through the Business School where participants are encouraged to become leaders through service
  • Bare Naked Statues - all-male a cappella group
  • Great Issues Committee - speaker's bureau; brings speakers to the University's campus
  • Parks Guard - Military drill team that competes in Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps drill competitions and conducts honor guard ceremonies for local events
  • Presidential Scholars Society - an undergraduate social organization and scholastic honor society whose members have received SLU's highest academic award, the Presidential Scholarship.
  • Student Activities Board
  • Campus Kitchen - Program where student volunteers cook safe, unused food from campus dining facilities and deliver meals to low-income individuals and local community organizations.

[edit] Greek Life

Saint Louis has 12 fraternities and seven sororities on-campus.[7]

[edit] Fraternities
[edit] Sororities

[edit] Notable moments

  • 1903 -- Theodore Roosevelt attends a Latin disputation at Saint Louis University. It is a "Grand Act" (a defense covering Philosophy and Theology) given by Spanish Jesuit Fr. Joachim Villalonga in celebration of the centennial of the Louisiana Purchase.
  • 1906 -- Bradbury Robinson throws the first legal forward pass in the history of American football to Jack Schneider, under the direction of SLU coach Eddie Cochems (September 5, 1906, against Carroll College of Waukesha).
  • 1943 -- Professor of Biochemistry Edward Adelbert Doisy shares (with Henrik Dam) the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on Vitamin K, which he had isolated in a pure form in 1939.
  • 1949 -- Jesuit Priests from SLU assist a teenage boy believed to suffer from demonic possession. The boy's experience serves as the basis of the documentary In The Grip Of Evil and is dramatized in the 1971 novel The Exorcist followed by the 1973 film The Exorcist.
  • 1967 -- First lay incorporation of a Jesuit university in the United States. The membership of the Board of Trustees went from 13 Jesuit priests to 18 lay members and 10 Jesuits. Fr. Paul Reinert, S.J., yielded the chairmanship to Daniel L. Schlafly. (Reported in Time magazine, February 3, 1967: "A Louder Voice for Laymen.")
  • 2006 -- Cardinal Sfeir, Patriarch of the 12-15 million-member Maronite Catholic Church and one of the most important figures in the Middle East, was bestowed with Saint Louis University's highest honor, the Sword of Ignatius Loyola, on June 30, 2006.[10]

[edit] Fight Song

Saint Louis University Fight Song

Root, Root, Root, for S-L-U

We are out to win the game

We always fight for the white and blue

Now let’s cheer ‘er valiant name

Saint Louis U! Saint Louis U! (chant)

Go Bills! Go Bills! Go Bills Go! (chant)

[edit] Notable graduates

[edit] Academia

  • Michael J. Garanzini, S.J. (B.A. 1971) -- President of Loyola University of Chicago (since 2001), former president of SLU student government association, 1969-1970.
  • Walter J. Ong, S.J. (M.A. 1941) -- World-renowned cultural and religious historian, philosopher, and lecturer.
  • John P. Schlegel, S.J. (B.A. 1969; M.A. 1970) -- Former president of the University of San Francisco and current president of Creighton University (since 2000).

[edit] The Arts

[edit] Business

  • Jack Boehm -- Former President and CEO of Valvoline Oil Company.
  • August Busch IV (B.S.; M.B.A.) -- Current President and CEO of the Anheuser-Busch Company.
  • Mark Lamping (M.B.A.) -- President of the St. Louis Cardinals.
  • Walden O'Dell (B.S.; M.S.) -- Former CEO and Chairman of Diebold, Inc.
  • Dave Senay (B.A.) -- President and CEO of Fleishman-Hillard International Communications.
  • Rex Sinquefield (B.A.) -- Co-founder and co-chairman of Dimensional Fund Advisors; president of the Show-Me Institute.
  • Richard T. Stith, Jr. (A.B. 1940) -- Insurance executive, former mayor of Clayton, MO (1983-1987), President, Mayors of Large Cities (1985-86).

[edit] Politics

[edit] Science

[edit] Sports

  • Anthony Bonner -- SLU's all-time leading scorer in men's basketball and played six seasons in the NBA for the Sacramento Kings, New York Knicks and the Orlando Magic.
  • Dick Boushka -- Basketball All-American in 1954-55, olympic gold medalist in 1956. Drafted by the Minneapolis Lakers.
  • Bob Ferry -- Basketball All-American in 1958-59, enjoyed a ten-year career in the NBA with the St. Louis Hawks, Detroit Pistons and Baltimore Bullets. Former assistant coach and general manager of the Baltimore Bullets; NBA Executive of the Year in 1979 and 1982.
  • Larry Hughes -- NBA Basketball player - attended but never graduated, was drafted after his freshman year into the NBA by the Philadelphia 76ers. Currently plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
  • Pat Leahy -- Placekicker for the New York Jets from 1974 to 1990, played soccer at SLU
  • Ed Macauley (1949) -- NBA Hall of Famer
  • Brian McBride -- Only American to score in more than one FIFA World Cup tournament, doing so once in 1998 (vs. Iran), and twice in 2002 (game-winners vs. Portugal and Mexico). He is also SLU's all-time leading goal-scorer and held the freshman scoring record until 2003, when he was surpassed by Vedad Ibisevic.
  • Hank Raymonds -- Former basketball coach and athletic director at Marquette University who made six post-season appearances and compiled a record of 126-50 as head coach from 1977-1983.
  • Jerry Trupiano -- Former Boston Red Sox Radio Broadcaster

[edit] Miscellaneous

  • Thomas Anthony Dooley -- (M.D. 1958) -- humanitarian who worked in Southeastern Asia; author of Deliver Us from Evil, The Edge of Tomorrow, and The Night They Burned the Mountain.
  • Thomas J. Farrell -- (B.A. 1966; M.A. 1968; Ph.D. 1974) -- "Man of the Year" according to the SLU student newspaper in May 1969 is the author of Walter Ong's Contributions to Cultural Studies (2000) and senior editor (with Paul A. Soukup, S.J.; SLU B.A. 1973) of An Ong Reader (2002).
  • John Kaiser -- M.H.M. (B.A. 1960) -- Mill Hill Missionary died under suspicious circumstances while serving in Kenya. Received an Award for Distinguished Service in the Promotion of Human Rights from the Law Society of Kenya prior to his death.
  • Trafford P. Maher -- S.J. (B.A. 1937; M.A. 1939) -- with a grant from the American Jewish Committee, researched material that was used by the Second Vatican Council in documents on ecumenism and relationships with non-Christians.
  • Mev Puleo (B.A. 1985) -- theological educator, photojournalist and social activist.
  • Sister Rose Thering, O.P. (Ph.D. 1961) -- Dominican nun whose campaign against anti-Semitism in Catholic textbooks is the subject of the Oscar-nominated 39-minute documentary film directed by Oren Jacoby, Sister Rose's Passion.

[edit] Notable Faculty

[edit] Past

  • Marshall McLuhan -- (1937-1944) well-known for coining the expressions "the medium is the message" and the "global village".
  • Kurt Schuschnigg -- (1948-1967) Chancellor of Austria from 1934 to 1938, when Austria was annexed by Germany and was controlled by Adolf Hitler until 1945.

[edit] Present

  • Dr. Belden C. Lane -- Author of Landscapes of the Sacred: Geography and Narrative in American Spirituality. His academic interests include American religion and spirituality, focusing particularly on the connection between religion and geography.
  • Dr. Clarence H. Miller -- Emeritus Professor of English known for his contributions to the study of Renaissance literature, including his translations of St. Thomas More's Utopia and Erasmus's Praise of Folly.
  • Dr. Thomas Alan Shippey -- Author and former faculty member of Oxford University, where he taught Old English. Widely considered one of the leading academic scholars of J.R.R. Tolkien.
  • Dr. Eleonore Stump -- Author of Aquinas (The Arguments of the Philosophers), as well as The Cambridge Companion to Augustine and The Cambridge Companion to Aquinas. She is the Robert J. Henle, S.J. Professor of Philosophy and is one of the foremost Analytical Thomists.
  • Dr. Thomas Madden -- Renowned historian of Venice and the crusades; author of The New Concise History of the Crusades

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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[edit] Citations

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