St. Gregory's University

St. Gregory's University
Benedictine Hall
Type Private
Active 1875–2017
Religious affiliation
 Roman Catholic
Benedictine
Chancellor Lawrence Stasyszen
President Michael A. Scaperlanda
Students 692 systemwide
Address 1900 W. MacArthur
Shawnee, Oklahoma 74804, Shawnee, Oklahoma, U.S.
Campus Rural, 75 acres (300,000 m2)
Colors Red and Blue         
Nickname Cavaliers
Sporting affiliations
 Sooner Athletic Conference
Website www.stgregorys.edu

St. Gregory's University was a private, co-educational Catholic liberal arts university. It was one of the oldest institutions of higher learning in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It had its main campus in Shawnee, and an additional campus in Tulsa.

The university suspended its operations at the end of the fall 2017 semester.[1][2]

History

St. Gregory's traces its roots to the Sacred Heart Mission,[3] founded in Atoka, Oklahoma on October 12, 1875 by the Benedictine monks Father Isidore Robot, O.S.B., and Brother Dominic Lambert, O.S.B. In 1876, the mission relocated near Konawa, Oklahoma and became an abbey. Sacred Heart College was founded with the permission of the Vatican in 1877 and later gained approval from the territorial government in 1883. After a disastrous fire in 1901 that destroyed the school and the monastery, the monks accepted an offer from the town of Shawnee and began construction of the Catholic University of Oklahoma and St. Gregory's Abbey in 1910. The school opened its doors in 1915, and in 1922 the name was changed to St. Gregory's College. The monks jointly operated a high school for boys at the location until 1965. In 1927, the abbey moved from Konawa to Shawnee. The school was known as St. Gregory's College until 1997, when it changed from a junior college to a baccalaureate-conferring university. In 2005 St. Gregory's was accredited to offer a graduate program in business and began offering classes in March 2006.[4]

2011 earthquake

On November 5, 2011, a 5.8 magnitude earthquake caused damage to Benedictine Hall, the campus's central feature. One turret collapsed immediately following the quake.[5] In the days that followed the earthquake, one of the turrets had to be pushed down, and the other two were removed brick by brick.

More than 3,400 donors from around the world contributed roughly $2.5 million to help the school reconstruct the turrets.

Timberlake Construction and Advanced Masonry, both of Oklahoma City, were charged with the task of rebuilding the turrets – this time with steel "bones" that could withstand an earthquake.

The decorative aspects of the towers were faithfully recreated. The brick was matched to the rest of the building, and the grotesques and shields that were part of the original gothic architecture, were molded in the exact image of their predecessors. The new turrets were officially blessed during Homecoming on November 9, 2013.[6]

Closure

The Board of Directors voted to close the university at the end of the 2017 fall semester following an unsuccessful loan application to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.[1][2][7]

Enrollment

St. Gregory's University served 692 students in two colleges – the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Continuing Studies (formerly the College for Working Adults). Students in the College of Arts and Sciences were provided with a solid foundation in the liberal arts through a common core curriculum, the heart of which was the four-semester "Tradition and Conversation" program, which offered students the opportunity to engage some of the greatest minds and discuss some of most influential texts of the Western and Catholic intellectual traditions in a seminar format. The College of Continuing Studies was located in two cities – Shawnee and Tulsa – and offered accelerated, evening degree programs at the associates, bachelors and masters levels. St. Gregory's had a student/faculty ratio of 12:1.

Campus

The Abbey Church

The 75-acre (300,000 m2) campus is surrounded by the 640 acres (2.6 km2) of St. Gregory's Abbey.

Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art

The Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art is an independent non-profit art museum. It is located on the campus of St. Greogry's University, but operated separately. Its collection includes ancient Egyptian, medieval, Renaissance, and Hudson River School art. The museum was founded in 1914 by Rev. Gregory Gerrer, OSB. In 1919 the museum was located in Benedictine Hall. The current museum building opened in 1979.[8]

Athletics

St. Gregory's (SGU) teams, nicknamed athletically as the Cavaliers, were part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), primarily competing in the Sooner Athletic Conference (SAC). Men's sports included baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, swimming & diving and track & field; while women's sports included basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, swimming & diving, track & field and volleyball. Co-ed competitive cheerleading was also offered. However, once the decision to suspend operation of the university was reached, all athletics programs were suspended immediately.[9][10]

Notable alumni

References

  1. 1 2 "St. Gregory's University suspending operations at end of semester". 8 November 2017. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  2. 1 2 "St. Gregory's University to suspend operations at end of semester". 9 November 2017. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  3. ↑ Sacred Heart Mission, Konawa Public Schools Archived 2006-11-07 at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ↑ A Short History of St. Gregory's Abbey
  5. ↑ Lacey, Marc (November 7, 2011). "A Seasoned Combatant of Tornadoes Now Finds the Earth Is Moving, Too". New York Times. Retrieved 8 November 2011.
  6. ↑ "A New Era Begins".
  7. ↑ "St. Gregory's University to close at end of fall 2017 - St. Gregory's University". www.stgregorys.edu. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  8. ↑ Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art
  9. ↑ Official athletics website
  10. ↑ NAIA website

Coordinates: 35°22′03″N 96°57′15″W / 35.36750°N 96.95417°W / 35.36750; -96.95417

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.