Mount St. Mary's University

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For other uses: see Mount St. Mary's (disambiguation).
Mount St. Mary's University
Motto: Spes Nostra
(Latin: Our Hope)
Established: 1808
Type: Private
President: Dr. Thomas Powell
Faculty: 98 full-time, 58 part-time
Students: 2,100
Undergraduates: 1,600
Postgraduates: 500
Location: Emmitsburg, Maryland, United States
Affiliations: Roman Catholic
Website: http://www.msmary.edu/

Mount St. Mary's University is a private, liberal arts, Catholic university in the Catoctin Mountains near Emmitsburg, Maryland. It was founded by French émigré Father John Dubois in 1808 and is the oldest independent Catholic college in the United States. (It is the second oldest Catholic college in the United States, after Georgetown, which is run by the Jesuits.) It is considered to be one of the best private schools in the state of Maryland and one of the best Catholic universities in the United States according to Princeton Review.[1] The school became co-educational in 1972. In addition to its undergraduate school, the university includes five graduate programs, including a seminary. Dr. Thomas Powell is the University's current president; the seminary's rector and president is the former vicar general of the Catholic Diocese of Peoria, Illinois, Monsignor Stephen P. Rohlfs. The former rector and president, Kevin C. Rhoades, is now the Bishop of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The chancellor of the seminary is the former Archbishop of Baltimore, Maryland: His Eminence, William Henry Cardinal Keeler.

Previous to June 7, 2004, the university was known as Mount St. Mary's College and Seminary. The university is known as the "Cradle of Bishops" due to the high number of alumni who have become bishops; 32 dioceses have been headed by Mount alumni.

The campus includes the National Shrine Grotto of Lourdes.[2]

Basketball head coach Jim Phelan coached at the university until 2003. Phelan has over 800 wins and currently stands third in wins among NCAA Division I college men's basketball coaches, behind Bob Knight and Dean Smith.

Contents

[edit] University mission

Mount St. Mary's is a Catholic institution of higher education dedicated to liberal learning in the pursuit of truth. Mount St. Mary's, mindful of its role in the Church's mission to the world and respectrul of the religious liberty of all, affirms the values and beliefs central to the Catholic vision of the person and society, and seeks to deepen understanding of the Roman Catholic faith and its practice in just and compassionate engagement with the world.

In order to enable individuals to understand and to challenge or embrace the cultural forces operating on them, Mount St. Mary's in all its curricular and co-curricular programs, encourages each student to undertake free and rigorous inquiry leading to a reflective and creative undertaking of the traditions which shape the communities in which we live.

Mount St. Mary's strives to graduate men and women who cultivate a mature spiritual life, who live by high intellectual and moral standards, who respect the dignity of other persons, who see and seek to resolve the problems facing humanity, and who commit themselvesw to live as responsible citizens.[1]

[edit] History

In 1805, Rev. John Dubois laid the cornerstone for a church Saint-Mary's-on-the-Hill and bought land with the intention of constructing a school. In 1809, Pigeon Hall, a seminary of the Society of St. Sulpice was transferred to Emmitsburg and marked the beginning of higher education at Mount St. Mary. In the same year, Elizabeth Ann Seton, saint and founder of the Sisters of Charity, came to the Mount. She attended Mass there until her death in 1821.

The first charter for a university was obtained in 1830. However, until the early 1900s, Mount Saint Mary's University also acted as a boarding school. Some remnants of the boarding school, such as Bradley Hall (one of the oldest buildings on campus}, still exist. George E. Walker (1797 - 1864) an orphan who studied at the boarding school 1811 - 1812 was an ancestor of George H.W. Bush.

[edit] Campus

Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers logo
Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers logo

The university is located on a 1,400 acre (5.7 km²) campus, which includes the National Shrine Grotto of Lourdes, a popular pilgrimage site. The campus contains four dormitories and three apartment buildings. Academic classes are held in the Knott Academic Center, the COAD Science Building, and Borders Learning Center. Bradley Hall is the campus administration building. The fine arts department is located in Flynn Hall, which is the school's original gymnasium. The ARCC, the athletic facility, is located on the opposite side of the highway and is home to the Division 1 sports departments. The Knott Auditorium is used to hold special events on campus. The student center and cafeteria are located in the recently renovated McGowan center. The Memorial Gym is an older gymnasium located on campus and served as an air craft hangar during World War II.

[edit] National Shrine Grotto of Lourdes

The National Shrine Grotto of Lourdes draws hundreds of thousands of religious pilgrims and tourists to the campus of Mount Saint Mary's University annually. It is the oldest known replica of the revered French shrine, dating to about 1875, less than twenty years after the original Lourdes apparitions. The Grotto has been in use since 1805 when the university's founder Father John Dubois chose it as a place of prayer and devotion.

The Rev. Simon Bruté, who later became the first bishop of Vincennes, Indiana, was an important early steward of the Grotto, beginning to care for the site in 1812.

The Grotto was proclaimed a Public Oratory on December 8, 1965, by His Eminence Lawrence Cardinal Shehan, archbishop of Baltimore. Monsignor Hugh J. Phillips, who had formerly been a student and then president of the university, was appointed its chaplain. The library at Mount Saint Mary's is named in his honor. He is succeeded by the current chaplain, the Rev. John Lombardi.

[edit] Students and Faculty

The university enrolls 1,612 undergraduate students and 513 graduate students with a total of 2,125 students. The student population consists of about 55% females and 45% males. Of the 1,612 undergraduate students, 55% come from Maryland and 33% come from other Mid-Atlantic States, while 30 total states are represented, as well as 12 foreign countries. Of the freshmen who attend the Mount, 90% stated that Mount St. Mary's was either their first or second choice.

[edit] Student Publications

The first issues of the Mountain Echo appear to have been published in 1879 and 1880, from Inglewood, near Mt. St. Mary′s College, Emmitsburg, MD. According to a 1993 article in The Mountaineer Briefing by Dr. William Lawbaugh, these numbers were printed on a hand-operated press by Professor Ernest Lagarde from his home, which he named Inglewood. The Mountaineer, which functioned both as a college newspaper and alumni journal, was also published sporadically during the latter part of the 1800s, and began regular publication in 1893.

On October 28, 1923, the editors of the revived Mountain Echo published Volume I, Number 1, taking for themselves the responsibility to report on news and issues of concern to the College community, while The Mountaineer was to be devoted to alumni news and literary pursuits.

Noting that ″this is the age of speed when news are flashed across the continent with the speed of thought,″ the editors saw the need for a weekly paper to report on current events in a fast changing world. For the yearly subscription price of three dollars, alumni received both publications, and were thus kept informed of college activities and issues as well as those of other graduates.

Early issues of the newspaper were four pages each, and reported on significant campus events, sports, and education. The issues also contained death notices, news from classes and alumni, campus changes, personals, and advertisements. The 1878/1880 issues featured poetry, literary works, and articles on the history of the College.

During the academic year 1974/1975, the paper was restructured under the name of The Mountain Review, but resumed its long-standing name the following year. By the 1995/1996 academic year The Mountain Echo was printing a 24 page issue on a biweekly schedule. That year the Echo also had expanded into other formats with Echo Online, which was the first incarnation of The Mountain Echo website, as well as Echo Weekly News with Vince Chesney, which was a radio show hosted by the newspaper's editor-in-chief on the college radio station, WMTB.

Although the internet company that maintained Echo Online folded within a few years, The Mountain Echo would reemerge in cyberspace in 2002 with a new internet provider. Since that resurrection, The Mountain Echo has been both in print and online each week.

[edit] Connection to the University of Notre Dame and Saint Mary's College in South Bend, IN

Main article: Simon Bruté

In 1834 Simon Bruté was appointed the founding bishop of the Diocese of Vincennes, modern day Indiana and Eastern Illinois. His experience of developing Mount Saint Mary's would have been highly prized as Notre Dame was being formed. Like the Mount, in its early years Notre Dame was a university in name only. It encompassed religious novitiates, preparatory and grade schools and a manual labor school, but its classical collegiate curriculum never attracted more than a dozen students a year in the early decades. This is a model that Bruté could have impressed on the Holy Cross Brothers who founded the university. Again, there is a French connection in the Congregation of the Holy Cross and Bruté who both held deep devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. While Bruté was a modest man, leaving no published works behind, his influence can be seen in the University of Notre Dame and its sister school Saint Mary's College.

There is the obvious parallel between the three school's names (Notre Dame is 'Our Mother,' a term of endearment for Saint Mary). Second, and less obvious is a parallel between the three school's mottos. Mount Saint Mary's in Emmitsburg has the motto 'Spes Nostra' (Latin: Our Hope) which is incredibly similar to Saint Mary's College in Indiana's motto 'Spes Unica' (Latin: the Only/Unique Hope) and Notre Dame's motto 'Vita Dulcedo Spes' (Latin: Life, Sweetness, Hope). Most universities use the words 'Veritas' (Latin: Truth), 'Scientia' (Latin: Knowledge) or 'Lux' (Latin: Light) commonly in their mottos. Mount Saint Mary's in Emmitsburg, Notre Dame and Saint Mary's in Indiana are all unique in their use of focusing on their patron's attribute of a Catholic's hope.

[edit] Notable Alumni

[edit] Athletics

On March 12th, 2008 Mount Saint Mary's, playing the role of the underdog, secured it's third ever bid for the NCAA Tournament, with a victory at Sacred Heart in the NEC Championship. This will be Mount Saint Mary's first trip since 1999.

On March 18, 2008, The Mountaineers defeated Coppin State University in the play-in game of the NCAA Tournament. This win was Mount Saint Mary's first as a Division I School in the NCAA Tournament.

On March 21st, 2008 Mount Saint Mary's matched up against the Tournaments overall #1 Seed, the University of North Carolina. Mount Saint Mary's went on to lose the game 74-113.

[edit] Future of Mount St. Mary's

As the Mount grows, so does the need for more academic centers as well as residence halls and athletic facilities. The University has adopted the Master Plan[5] for the future, which is currently underway. The plan calls for;

  • The Creation of Founders Plaza to memoralize Fr. John DuBois in the front of Terrace - Completed
  • The construction of a Residence Hall for 180 students on North Campus - Completed
  • Addition of a Visitors Center to the Grotto - 2008
  • Renovations and additions to the Terrace - 2010
  • Construction of a Fine Arts Center/Theatre & Renovations to Flynn Hall
  • Better distinction between pedestrian walkways and drive-ways
  • Massive renovation of Memorial Gym - 2011
  • Construction of a Bridge over Rt. 15 to connect East and Main campuses removing the tunnel.
  • Additional Academic Centers
  • Additional Residence Halls
  • Creation of a Main University Entrance in addition to re-aligning the existing entrances/exits
  • Improved lighting and security features including Camera's, Additional Code Blue Assistance Boxes, and additional resources for the Department of Public Safety
  • Constant landscaping improvements

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Mount St. Mary's University Mission - Choices, Ed. R. McFadden, 2007
  2. ^ NBA/ABA Players who attended Mount St. Mary's University. databaseSports.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
  3. ^ NBA/ABA Players who attended Mount St. Mary's University. databaseSports.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
  4. ^ Nouwen, Henri "Love in a Fearful Land" Orbis Books: Maryknoll, NY; 1985
  5. ^ http://www.msmary.edu/presidents-office/docs/masterplan.pdf
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