St. George's University

St. Georges University
Motto Think Beyond
Established 1976
Type For-profit[1]
Chancellor Charles R. Modica
Academic staff
 2,300+
Students 6,300+
Postgraduates 14,000+
Location St. George's, St. George, Grenada
12°00′02″N 61°46′23″W / 12.000557°N 61.773065°W
Campus True Blue Bay
Mascot Knights
Website sgu.edu

St. George’s University is an independent, for-profit, international university in Grenada, West Indies, offering degrees in medicine, veterinary medicine, public health, the health sciences, nursing, arts and sciences, and business.

St. George's University was established by an act of Grenada's parliament on July 23, 1976. Classes in the School of Medicine began January 17, 1977. In 1993, the University added graduate and undergraduate programs. In 1996, it was granted a charter for the School of Arts and Sciences and a Graduate Studies Program. In 1997, undergraduate courses in international business, life sciences, medical sciences, pre-medical and pre-veterinary medicine were added. The School of Veterinary Medicine was established in 1999, as was the University's Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine.

History

St. George's University was founded on July 23, 1976, by an act of Grenada's Parliament. The name is taken from the capital city of Grenada. The original founders were Charles Modica, Louis Modica, Edward McGowan, and Patrick F. Adams. Classes at St. George’s School of Medicine began on January 17, 1977. Almost all of the founding faculty members had been educated either in the United States or Europe.

A Marxist coup forcibly overturned the Gairy government of Grenada in 1979, as the school was in its infancy with a student enrollment of 630. There were nearly 1,000 Americans on the island (including students, faculty, families, etc.). The U.S. government launched Operation Urgent Fury in 1983 as a result. Students were evacuated and classes were moved to Long Island, New York; New Jersey, and Barbados temporarily until 1984.[2]

The reason given by the U.S. Administration of Ronald Reagan to justify the October 1983 invasion of Grenada was to rescue American medical students at St. George’s University from the danger posed to them by the violent coup that had overthrown Grenada’s Prime Minister Maurice Bishop.[3][4] Bishop, a number of members of his government and several dozen civilians were killed in the coup and the island had been placed under a 24-hour curfew.[5] During the days immediately after the coup, the only independent information coming out of Grenada was from a ham radio operated by a St. George’s student.[6][7] In his memoir, President Reagan recounted the return to the U.S. of the St. George’s students as an event that affected him deeply. “I was among many in our country whose eyes got a little misty when I watched their arrival in the United States on television and saw some of them lean down and kiss American soil the moment that they stepped off the airplanes that brought them home."[8]

In March 2013, it was reported that SGU was seeking a partner, interested in helping the university expand.[9] It received a $750 Million investment in August 2014[10] from Atlas Partners, a Canadian private equity company whose other major investment is in a salt mining operation.[11]

See also

References and notes

  1. ↑ U.S. Department of Education Eligibility and Certification Approval Report, printed February 25, 2010, archived on International Association of Medical Colleges website.
  2. ↑ "St. George's University History". Retrieved 2009-11-29.
  3. ↑ Holmes, Steven A. (1994-05-02). "Less Strategic Now, Grenada Is to Lose American Embassy". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-11-07.
  4. ↑ "Jonetown". Retrieved 2007-11-07.
  5. ↑ "Remembering Reagan's Invasion of Grenada". Retrieved 2007-11-07.
  6. ↑ Magnuson, Ed; Redman, Christopher; McWhlrter, William (1983-11-21). "Getting Back to Normal". Time. Retrieved 2007-11-07.
  7. ↑ Magnuson, Ed (1983-11-07). "D-Day in Grenada". Time. Retrieved 2008-02-01.
  8. ↑ "Lebanon, Beirut and Grenada". Retrieved 2007-11-09.
  9. ↑ "Historic St. George's University explores sale: sources". Reuters. 2013-03-18.
  10. ↑ "St. Georges University Lands $750M Investment Deal". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  11. ↑ "Altas partners with St. George’s University". Atlas Partners. Retrieved 8 April 2015.

External links