St. Ignatius College Preparatory School
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the high school in Chicago. For the similarly-named high school in San Francisco, see St. Ignatius College Preparatory.
| St. Ignatius College Prep |
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| Motto | Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam ("For the Greater Glory of God") |
| Established | 1870 |
| Type | Private coeducational secondary |
| President | Rev. Brian G. Paulson, S.J. |
| Faculty | 110 (90% with a Master's degree or Doctorate) |
| Students | 1,360 |
| Grades | 9–12 |
| Location | Chicago, Illinois USA |
| Campus | Urban, 19 acres |
| Colors | Maroon and gold |
| Mascot | Wolfpack |
| Yearbook | Prep |
| Newspaper | The Spirit |
| Website | www.ignatius.org |
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St. Ignatius College Prep, colloquially known as Ignatius, IGGY or SICP, is a coeducational Jesuit secondary school located in Chicago, Illinois and founded in 1870 by Fr. Arnold Damen, S.J. St. Ignatius is known for its high academic standard. The school is selective (~35% acceptance rate) and regarded as one of the premiere private preparatory schools in Illinois, with an average ACT composite of 27 and a large annual matriculation of students to Ivy League and "near-Ivy" schools (e.g. Northwestern University). Notably, St. Ignatius has one of the largest matriculations of any school in the country to Georgetown University, with fifteen members of the Class of 2006 doing so (greater than even Andover), giving rise to a recent nickname, Georgetown West. Beyond its academics, St. Ignatius is known for its diversity both racially (70% of the student body is Caucasian) and socioeconomically (the school annually awards over $2.2 mil. in need-based grants). St. Ignatius is accredited as a college preparatory institution by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, as well as the Jesuit Secondary Education Association, meaning it must annually meet stringent peer and external review requirements.
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[edit] Overview
The school's main building (the "1869" building), designed by the architect Toussaint Menard in the Second French Empire style, is one of the few buildings in Chicago that predates the Great Fire of 1871. The main edifice is on the National Register of Historic Places and was deemed a Chicago Landmark in 1987 after an extensive restoration. The 19 acre (77,000 m²) campus is located on Chicago's West Side, 14 blocks west of Lake Michigan, adjacent to the campus of the University of Illinois at Chicago.
 St. Ignatius College Prep |
Features of the campus besides the 1869 building, include the Richard H. Driehaus "1895" Building, the Chicago Center, the McLaughlin Center and its 370 seat McLaughlin Theatre (with an interior modeled after several European opera houses). The Grand Gallery and Brunswick Library on the fifth floor of the 1869 building feature a monument to alumni who fought in the Spanish-American War as well as a collection of notable letters and manuscripts ranging from American Civil War battle orders to a letter written by author Alexandre Dumas. The Brunswick Library originally housed the collection of Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History prior to the completion of its construction.
Admission for students is on a selective and competitive basis, including a review of academic record and performance on an entrance exam. Some preference in admission is granted to children and siblings of alumni. Some preference is also granted to Catholics, although Catholic faith is not a requirement. An effort is made to achieve a 50%/50% split of male and female students, and it is believed that admission is effectively more competitive for female applicants. It is also widely believed that admissions preference is granted to the children of wealthy and prominent families, particularly the children of prominent politicians.
St. Ignatius employs a liberal-arts curriculum. Besides preparing students for the nation's premiere universities, the school also seeks to educate the entire person, following the Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm. The teacher is merely a guide to knowledge, not the source of knowledge. St. Ignatius was one of the first and few secondary institutions in the United States to adopt an integrated science program, in which students accomplish the equivalent of two semesters each of biology, chemistry, and physics during the first and second or second and third years. Upon completion of the integrated science program students have the option to complete independent research for two semesters in a research laboratory or follow AP courses in biology, chemisty, and physics; they may also take elective courses such as astronomy, environmental science, or genetics. Courses such as British literature are incorporated into the core curriculum at St. Ignatius as well as courses covering university and graduate-level topics such as the historical influence of philosophy on theology and christology. The school is one of the few remaining secondary institutions to offer a complete complement of Latin and ancient Greek courses. Six semesters of Religious Studies are included in the required curriculum, one semester during each of the first two years and two semesters during each of the last two years. While the doctrine of the Catholic Church is the subject of much of these courses, the Freshman year semester is spent on an introduction to the major religions of the world and the Junior year coursework includes the critical study of several theories of human nature in the tradition of Western Philosophy. These theories have included the work of Plato, Freud, Sartre and B. F. Skinner.
Vocational education is not offered to students. Physical Education and Health courses are part of the core curriculum, consistent with the requirements of the State of Illinois.
[edit] Founding date questions
There is presently debate as to the actual founding date of St. Ignatius. For many years, in seals, logos and official documents the school has maintained that 1870 was the founding year of what was then St. Ignatius College. In January 2006, however, St. Ignatius changed its crest and website to indicate that the school had, in fact, been founded in 1869—the year the first building was constructed. The matter is confused even further by the fact that recently press releases from the school have maintained that the founding date was 1870.
[edit] Tuition
Tuition for the 2005-2006 school year is $9,800; however, there is a $1,500 gap between the cost of education and tuition. Interestingly, St. Ignatius' tuition is considered a bargain among its academic rivals in Chicago who may charge upwards of $20,000 per year. St. Ignatius awarded $2.2 million in need-based grants to 319 students for 2005-2006, as well as full-tuition grants to victims of Hurricane Katrina who have enrolled at St. Ignatius. Much of the actual cost to operate the school is funded from its relatively vast capital development iniatives and endowment, including donations and grants from alumni, wealthy individuals and philanthropists, as well as corporate foundations and Chicago business concerns. St. Ignatius also hosts a number of annual benefits including performances of Chicago plays, concerts by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and its annual auction, "Puttin' on the Ritz." Families of students find that annual participation in fundraising above and beyond their tuition obligation is effectively not optional.
[edit] Mission statement
- St. Ignatius College Prep, a Jesuit Catholic school in the heart of Chicago, is a diverse community dedicated to educating young men and women for lives of faith, love, service and leadership. Through outstanding teaching and personal formation, the school challenges its talented student body to intellectual excellence, integrity, and life-long learning and growth. Inspired by the gospel of Jesus, this community strives to use God's gifts to promote social justice for the greater glory of God.
[edit] History
In the 1850s, Fr. Arnold Damen, S.J., a Jesuit priest, set out to start a parish and college for the academically talented children of immigrants on Chicago's near-West Side, then an area of sprawling prairie. Construction of Damen's Holy Family Church was completed in 1857. With funds provided by Dutch financiers, construction of the main building of St. Ignatius College commenced in 1869 with designs by the French architect Toussaint Menard. On June 30, 1870, the Illinois General Assembly approved the Charter of St. Ignatius College, and in September, 1870 St. Ignatius opened its doors to thirty-seven young men who had completed the Eighth grade, the extent of formal education during the time period.
St. Ignatius was one of the first colleges in the Chicago area, predating the University of Chicago by 20 years and graduating its first class little more than a decade after Northwestern University did so. Students were instructed in Latin, Greek, the elementary sciences, writing, arithmetic and rhetoric — the components of a traditional "college" education of the era. In 1871, disaster struck Chicago in the form of the Great Chicago Fire, but Damen's church and college were one of only a few buildings to be spared from the inferno. Fr. Damen sent a telegraph to Pope Pius IX early in the day of the fire to ask his Holiness to pray to God to save Holy Family and St. Ignatius and promised to keep a candle lit as a memorial for as long as he lived--today the candle still burns in the school's Cuneo Chapel.
St. Ignatius continued to grow through the 1870s and 1880s, adding another wing to the 1869 building 1874, and becoming an early pioneer in the new field of x-ray radiography. In 1895, the college's enrollment had expanded substantially enough to warrant the construction of a second building, the 1895 building. Just two years after the debut of electric power on a grand scale at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, St. Ignatius demonstrated its commitment to new technology when the 1895 building was constructed with integrated electric wiring, and the 1869 building was retrofitted to accommodate electricity.
In the early 20th century, as Chicago's population boomed the enrollment of St. Ignatius increased commensurately. In 1922, St. Ignatius had become so large that the Jesuit order decided to separate the education of 14-18 year old boys into a "high school" and the education of adult males into a separate entity that became Loyola University Chicago. Thus, St. Ignatius Academy was born. The school continued its mission through the 1950s and 1960s to provide education to boys from all walks of life. However, by the 1970s St. Ignatius' buildings had fallen into disrepair, enrollment was declining, and the school appeared to be poised to become a victim of urban decay. Fundraising initiatives begun in the 1970s, such as the "Walk for Ignatius" and annual benefits (the first headlined by Bob Hope in 1976) helped revive the school's financial health.
In 1980, the school bowed to the pressure of alumni with daughters and began to admit girls. The infusion of females caused enrollment to climb. In 1981, Fr. Donald H. Rowe, S.J. was selected by the Board of Trustees as the school's new President. A charismatic, dynamic, and controversial figure, Rowe immediately stated his intention to begin a renaissance for St. Ignatius. Rowe began a campaign in 1986 to completely restore the 1869 and 1895 buildings, the latter of which was renamed the Richard H. Driehaus Building. Additionally, Rowe set his sights on making St. Ignatius a repository of antique art linked to Chicago's storied past. $60 million was spent restoring the two buildings to their original architectural designs, including renovations room by room to restore the building, its flooring, paneling, paint, fixtures, etc. to be consistent with those of the late 19th century. The renovation and restoration continues to this day. St. Ignatius is recognized on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2001-2002 the exterior of the 1869 building was renovated again and the slate roof and the decorative copper gutters replaced, with a stated effort to preserve the building for "centuries to come".
During the 1990s Rowe embarked upon a campaign to construct two entirely new buildings to specification design and furnishings to match that of the 19th century French architectural style of the 1869 and Driehaus Buildings. This round of construction commenced in 1994 and culminated with the Chicago and McLaughlin Centers' full completion in 2004. The school was also an early-adopter of high-speed Internet technology, and in 1999 became one of the first schools in the United States to become fully Wi-Fi enabled.
[edit] Controversy and recent history
In the late 1990s the school was embroiled in a controversy that was highly publicized by the Chicago press. President Rowe came under fire from the faculty for a number of actions believed to be contrary to the best interest of the school and its students. Rowe expressed in an internal memo in 1996 that he believed many of the school's 126-year old traditions and education requirements were outdated. "Business today and competitive programs in industry are presuming on a base of knowledge and skill that so leave our programs . . . in the dust that there is scarcely any preparation for the real world before our students," said Rowe in the internal memo.
The faculty and school's principal, Dr. James C. Lalley, were unbending in their insistence upon staying true to the school's traditions and storied history. After expressing strong opposition to Rowe's proposal to alter the school's graduation requirement of three years of study in the same foreign language, Dr. Lalley resigned in 1998. Furthermore, some faculty were in opposition to millions of dollars being spent on Rowe's renovation and construction projects, alleging that Rowe had created a "gilded menagerie" in an inner city neighborhood. In addition to the money being expended, the creation of a pastiche of disparate architectural elements was considered by some to be "appaling." There were also accusations reported that the school was denying admission to the sons and daughters of alumni who had not "given enough money" to the school.
In March 1998 the St. Ignatius faculty appeared to be moving toward an unprecedented in the school's 128-year history vote of no-confidence in the leadership of President Rowe. A flurry of apologies descended from the fifth floor President's Office that month. On March 12 the President's office announced that Rowe would be taking an extended leave of absence, and the no-confidence vote was cancelled. The no-confidence vote would not have been binding on Rowe, however, as the President can only be hired or fired by the Board of Trustees of St. Ignatius College, which is a separate entity from the school and faculty.
It should be noted that this issue was highly polarizing. The Trustees stood largely in support of President Rowe, as did many students, parents, alumni and prominent Chicago figures. Faculty insisted that with or without Rowe the school would continue to hold its place as one of the top-25 secondary schools, in terms of standardized test scores, in the nation, given its long history of excellence. On March 30, Fr. James Arimond, S.J., a Dean of Loyola University Chicago, was named Acting President of St. Ignatius College Prep by the Board of Trustees.
On December 22, 1998, the Trustees named Fr. Brian G. Paulson, S.J., a graduate of Georgetown and Harvard Universities, the 28th President of St. Ignatius, ending a tumultuous period in the school's history. He has continued much of the work Fr. Rowe began, and has proven to be one of the more memorable Presidents in the school's 135-year history. Paulson has also overseen an expansion of the school's financial aid grants by 50% and the school's highest number of applicants ever, in which nearly 1,000 students applied for 320 spots for the Class of 2006. President Paulson has remained largely free of criticism from all parties, although the principal for the first part of his tenure, Dr. William Watts, was ousted in 2003. He was replaced by an interim principal Mrs. Carole Manning (one of the former assistant principals) for the 2003-04 school year. Dr. Catherine Karl was then chosen as the new principal in 2004.
[edit] "The Greater Glory Campaign"
In 2004, President Brian G. Paulson, S.J. announced the school's latest capital initiative, "The Greater Glory Campaign". It aims to increase funding for the arts, provide for the increased adoption of high-technology, furnish increased faculty salaries, provide for the purchase of more land on Chicago's West side, and fund an expansion of the McLaughlin Theatre. The school is aiming to increase its endowment by about $23,000 per student. Corporations based in Chicago or with a large presence in Chicago, as well as wealthy Chicago families (like that of Mayor Richard M. Daley) have historically contributed substantially to the school, given its role in educating a substantial portion of leaders in the Chicago law, business, and politics community.
[edit] Hurricane Katrina relief effort
St. Ignatius Principal Dr. Catherine Karl announced on August 31, 2005 that the school would begin to accept displaced students from New Orleans' Jesuit High School as visiting students. St. Ignatius plans to waive tuition for any student from Jesuit High School. Dr. Karl also announced that the school was in need of host families to house the displaced students for the duration of the academic term. Priority was to be given to seniors at Jesuit High School, so that they would be able to complete their education on time and attend college next year. St. Ignatius was already two-weeks into its fall term at the time the announcement was made.
[edit] Comparative Government and Politics
The AP Comparative Government and Politics class taught at St. Ignatius was recently named the best in the world by the College Board for the second year in a row. Led by the energetic Ms. Diane Haleas-Hines, a favorite among students and staff, the class effectively uses tactics like role playing and simulation to teach material. The College Board ranks schools by the percentage of students that receive a score of 3 or higher (out of 5 possible points) on the AP exams in May. [1]
[edit] Athletics
St. Ignatius participates in athletics. They are a member of the Chicago Catholic League.
[edit] Trivia
- There are over seventy species of conifers throughout the school's campus.
- The Chicago Center Dining Hall features 26 sconces that were designed by St. Ignatius' former president, Donald H. Rowe, S.J., that were made from scrap parts from Chicago's Mercantile Exchange at a cost of $25,000.
- St. Ignatius was one of the institutions to pioneer research with x-ray radiography in the 19th century.
- The school's collection of antique artwork, both large and small, numbers over 400 pieces.
- The east facade of the Driehaus Building features a cast-iron porch on the first floor that was salvaged from the Illinois Northern Hospital for the Insane that dates to the 1860's.
- Among the school's collection of art are works by such great Chicago architects as Louis Sullivan, Dankmar Adler and Frank Lloyd Wright, none of whom were alumni.
- An entirely unfounded myth has circulated among students that in 1980, the then all-male student body was given a choice of either re-establishing a football team or admitting female students. After more than four decades without an American football team, a boys' team was re-established in 2004.
- The Chicago Center Dining Hall was modeled after the dining room of Chicago's old Palmer House Hotel, which was torn down in 1921.
- One of the gym spaces in the Chicago Center mimics Chicago Union Station's vaulted interior train concourse, which was torn down in the 1960s.
- St. Ignatius students have borrowing privileges at the University of Illinois at Chicago, located immediately North of the school. Combined with St. Ignatius' own libraries, St. Ignatius students have access to one of the largest library systems of any secondary school in the United States.
- Over the years some Ignatius students have left their initials in the school attic, holding over a century of alumni. This attic is rumored to be haunted, and is generally inaccessible during the school day.
- A student named Ian died of a heart attack in the 240s wing of the school one morning just before classes during the '01-02 school year. The wing is now named "Ian's Way."
- Many alumni, students and parents are annoyed by the fact that while St. Ignatius College Prep is renowned for its rigorous academic standards, the term "Prep" used in the official name is not commonly considered to be a proper word in the English language.
- The School's Gabriel and Rena Foglia Library and Brunswick Room were featured in a recent Comcast cable commercial that aired over the summer of 2006; and continues to run from time to time. The commercial picture a woman similar in appearance to Tina Fey, walking with "The Guru" around a high-ceilinged library with tall arched windows.
[edit] Notable alumni
- Bob Newhart (1947) - Comedian
- William Daley (1966) - Former U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Midwest Chairman J.P. Morgan Chase and Bank One
- Michael Wilbon (1976) - Sportswriter and columnist
- Andre Braugher (1980) - Actor
- Todd Stroger (1981) - Cook County Board President
- Dan Lipinski (1984) - U.S. Representative
- Dan Hynes (1986) - Illinois State Comptroller
Tom Mix - One of the first TV cowboys
- Nina Siemaszko - Actress. Did not graduate, but purchased seats in the newly constructed theater in 1998 in honor of the Siemaszko family
- Robin Tunney - Actress. Did not graduate, left after freshman year.
- Patrick 'Boomer' Twardak
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- Directory of Private Schools (2005). Directory of Private Schools: St. Ignatius College Prep
- "Ignatius President Under Fire, Some Faculty Seek No-Confidence Vote," Chicago Tribune, March 6, 1998.
- Newbart, Dave. "Embattled St. Ignatius Chief Takes Leave," Chicago Tribune, March 13, 1998.
- Newbart, Dave. "University Dean Will Lead St. Ignatius," Chicago Tribune, March 31, 1998.
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