Saint Joseph's College, Indiana

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Saint Joseph's College


Motto	Religio Moralitas Scientia Religion, Morality, Knowledge
Established	1889
Type	private coeducational
President	Ernest R. Mills III
Faculty	140
Students	991
Undergraduates	991
Location	Rensselaer, IN, USA
Campus	large town: 180 acres (0.728 km²)
Athletics	18 Division II NCAA teams, called Pumas
Colors	Purple, Cardinal, and Black
Affiliations	Roman Catholic Church; Missionaries of the Precious Blood (C.PP.S.)
Website	www.saintjoe.edu

Saint Joseph's College (SJC; colloquially, St. Joe) is a coeducational, private, Roman Catholic liberal arts college located in Rensselaer, Indiana. It was founded in 1889 by the Missionaries of the Precious Blood (C.PP.S.). Over 1,000 students currently attend the college.

The school is known for its pathbreaking, and still unusual, core education program. Students learn the basics of history, political science, natural science, literature, and philosophy in integrated "core classes." This departs from the cafeteria-style approach to general education used by most colleges and universities in which students take discrete lower division classes in these subjects.

The campus has several distinctive features. The Romanesque-style chapel and the reflecting pond in front of the chapel are the most recognized features of campus. Drexel Hall was one of the first buildings on campus, and is distinctive for its unique atrium. Drexel was long vacant and condemned but could not be torn down because of its historic status. It has recently been renovated and restored to its historical appearance. The campus also includes a private recreational lake which is an old stone quarry (divers have reported that the lake still contains some of the heavy machinery submerged at that bottom.) The student center houses Core XI, a student-operated bar open to students of legal age to drink.

It has a NCAA Division II sports program and is a member of the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The school mascot is the puma. It is the only post-secondary institution in the United States with the puma as its mascot, although several have panthers and mountain lions - which are just different names for the same species.

The school is accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association, and the State of Indiana Professional Standards Board for the Training of Elementary Teachers.

[edit] History

Seal of Saint Joseph's College

The college was originally a secondary school established to educate Native Americans.

In 1956, the St. Joe football team played Montana State to a 0-0 tie in the Aluminum Bowl at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, Arkansas, winning a share of the NAIA national football championship.

During the 1960s and 1970s, the Chicago Bears held their training camp at Saint Joseph's College. The 1971 film Brian's Song—about Brian Piccolo, a Chicago Bear running back who died from carcinoma in the 1970s—was filmed on campus. During training camp one year, Hall of Fame linebacker Dick Butkus was reportedly seen out on a tractor in the cornfield adjacent to the campus. The college football all-star game was played at the college's football stadium, Alumni Field, for many years.

The main academic building burned to the ground in a disastrous fire in April, 1973. At the time, many thought the fire would close the school, but the school recovered. In the same decade, the school was listed as one of the "Top 10 Party Schools" by Playboy magazine. That tradition was ended when a drunken student fell through a glass window in the early 1980s, leading to the prohibition of alcoholic beverages on campus. While alcohol is still not permitted in student residence halls, students of legal age can now drink in on-campus apartments and in Core XI, the school-owned bar.

Like most other Indiana colleges, SJC holds an annual "Lil' 500" race. Unlike the bed or bicycle races held elsewhere, Saint Joseph's College holds a go-kart race. This longstanding tradition has nearly ended several times because the weekend largely centers on drinking. However, the event remains popular and brings alumni back to the school every year.

The school's baseball team was runner-up to the Division II National Championship in 1996. The same year, the women's soccer team was the runner-up the Division II National Championship.

[edit] Alumni

Major League Baseball player Gil Hodges played college ball at Saint Joseph's College, and later went on to play for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Mets.

[edit] External links

Great Lakes Valley Conference
Bellarmine • Drury • Indianapolis • Kentucky Wesleyan • Lewis • Missouri-Rolla • Missouri-St. Louis • Northern Kentucky • Quincy • Rockhurst • Saint Joseph's • Southern Illinois-Edwardsville • Southern Indiana • Wisconsin–Parkside