University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy

University of Detroit Jesuit
High School and Academy

"For the Greater Glory of God"
Address
8400 South Cambridge Avenue
Detroit, Michigan, 48221
United States
Coordinates 42°25′58″N 83°9′18″W / 42.43278°N 83.15500°W / 42.43278; -83.15500Coordinates: 42°25′58″N 83°9′18″W / 42.43278°N 83.15500°W / 42.43278; -83.15500
Information
Type Private
Religious affiliation(s) Roman Catholic
Patron saint(s) St. Ignatius Loyola
North American Martyrs
Established 1877 (1877)
President Karl Kiser
Principal Anthony Trudel
Grades 7–12
Gender Boys
Enrollment 900 (2014)
Campus Urban
Color(s) Maroon and white         
Slogan Men for Others
Athletics conference Catholic High School League
Nickname Cubs
Rivals Brother Rice
Catholic Central
Orchard Lake St. Mary's
Accreditation North Central Association of Colleges and Schools[1]
Publication Inscape (literary magazine)
Newspaper Cub News
Yearbook Cub Annual
Tuition $11,660
Website uofdjesuit.org

The University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy (commonly referred to as U of D Jesuit, The High, Detroit Jesuit, or U of D) was founded in 1877, and is one of two Jesuit high schools in the city of Detroit, Michigan, (Loyola High School being the other). Located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit, the school is rooted in the Ignatian tradition. It is an all-boys school with an academy for grades seven and eight. The school's mascot is the Cub and its teams are dubbed the Cubs. Its colors are maroon and white, though black, grey, and gold appear on team uniforms.

Jesuit education

Approximately 500 Jesuits have taught at U of D Jesuit since its founding in 1877; in 2016 there were eight Jesuits assigned to the school. Lay faculty first joined the staff during World War I and by the school's 100th anniversary in 1977 the lay to Jesuit ratio stood at nearly 3 to 2.[2] In 2007 the school celebrated its 130-year anniversary, making it the oldest Catholic high school in the city of Detroit. The school was highlighted by Time in its November 9, 2009 issue, as one of the last Catholic high schools remaining in the city of Detroit.[3]

Academics

U of D Jesuit is a college preparatory school. Students may take advanced placement (AP) courses in American History (sophomore year), Government, Modern European History, or Chemistry (junior or senior years), and English, Calculus, Physics, or Biology (senior year). Chinese, Latin, and Spanish are offered as foreign languages.

History and Location

In the winter of 1876-1877, Fr. Thomas O'Neill, Jesuit provincial superior in St. Louis, sent retired Bishop John Baptiste Miege, S.J., to found the school and serve as its first president. Bishop Caspar Henry Borgess, who had come to Detroit from Cincinnati on May 8, 1870, was cofounder of the school.[2]

Originally located at the Trowbridge Mansion on Jefferson Avenue, in 1890 the school moved across the street to Dowling Hall to accommodate a growing student body. News that the school would move to what was then the city's edge began circulating in 1923. In the late 1930s construction of the new building began at 8400 S. Cambridge near Seven Mile Road, under Jesuit Fr. John P. McNichols, president of U of D. Classes at the new campus were supposed to begin on September 9, 1931, but a polio epidemic kept schools in the Detroit area closed for a few weeks, and the first classes at the Cambridge location were held on Wednesday, September 23, 1931.[2]

Additions to the campus include, in 1950, a new gymnasium, the largest in Detroit at the time.[2] In 1992 a science center was built along with labs and departmental office space through the efforts of the president Fr. Malcolm Carron, S.J.

In 2001 the school celebrated the completion of a $25 million fund-raising campaign, "Reclaiming the Future", under president Timothy Shannon, S.J.[4] Funds raised paid for renovations and expansion, including restoration of the original chapel (which had been converted to a library in 1968 in response to Vatican II), several classrooms and a spacious art room added to the building, and two new gymnasiums. The campaign also contributed to faculty endowment and student financial aid scholarships.

In 2005, after the closing of several Metro Detroit Catholic schools, University of Detroit Jesuit waived its transfer rules for juniors coming from the closed schools and accepted students with a 3.0 or higher grade point averages.[5]

On April 6, 2006, U of D Jesuit launched the public phase of a $22 million endowment campaign called "For the Greater Good", designed to support tuition assistance, faculty salaries, and other means of strengthening the school's core mission. The school's president, Fr. Karl Kiser, S.J., defined this mission as providing a quality education in a value-centered and Christ-centered environment. Fr. Kiser added that it involved recruiting and retaining the best teachers in Southeast Michigan. He explained that the "Reclaiming the Future" campaign had been about U of D Jesuit's body; "For the Greater Good" was about its heart and soul.[6] CBS Sports play-by-play announcer Gus Johnson, a 1985 graduate, served as emcee for the April 6 event, which also paid tribute to 20 former teachers.[7] Johnson told assembled students and alumni that having a chance to "come home and speak to my family" was the most special moment of his career, and defined his "family" in this context as the teachers that affected and changed his life. The $22 million endowment campaign sought to raise $10 million each to help maintain the school's faculty and to continue to provide tuition assistance. The remaining $2 million would go toward campus improvements. According to Fr. Kiser the public phase of the campaign was to run two years.[7]

In 2011, the planning of an addition to the Science Center began. The addition would consist of three additional floors, up-to-date science equipment, computer labs, and offices such as admissions and billing. Construction would begin in April 2015 and be completed by late 2016.

Although U of D Jesuit was originally called the Detroit College, the registry of birth dates and registration dates shows that students were of high school age and as young as nine years old. They were placed according to their ability and background as well as their age. College level classes were not added until 1879.[2] The first class of high school students were graduated into college courses, and in time into the University of Detroit, since 1990 the University of Detroit Mercy following its merger with Mercy College, when it broke off from the original school, both physically and legally.

Co-curricular activities

Athletics

The Cubs are a member of the Michigan High School Athletic Association and compete in the Detroit Catholic League with Brother Rice High School, Detroit Catholic Central High School, St. Mary's Preparatory, and De La Salle Collegiate High School as their primary rivals.

U of D Jesuit offers teams in 14 different sports - baseball, basketball, bowling, cross country, football, golf, hockey, lacrosse, skiing, soccer, swimming, tennis, track & field, wrestling.

The bowling team won the Michigan Division 1 State championship in 2014.[8] The soccer team won the Michigan state championship in 2001.[9] The track team won the Michigan state championship in 1993.[10] In 1927, the golf team won the state championship, the first state title for U of D.[11]

Other activities

U of D has more them 40 clubs available to its students. The Quiz Bowl team won the National Championship in 2012, as the first team from Michigan and first Catholic School to win the title. Starting in 2004, the FIRST Robotics team has competed in the state tournament. In 2015 the Arimethea Club was started, in which students serve as pallbearers for those in need.[12]

Notable alumni

References

  1. ↑ NCA-CASI. "NCA-Council on Accreditation and School Improvement". Archived from the original on 2009-04-29. Retrieved 2009-06-23.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Keller, S.J., P.Joseph, et al. The Second Hundred Years: The University of Detroit High School And a Chronicle of the First Hundred Years 1877 - 1977.
  3. ↑ Sullivan, Amy (November 9, 2009). "Jesuit Message Drives Detroit's Last Catholic School". content.time.com (Time, Inc.). Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  4. ↑ The Michigan Chronicle (Suburban Edition), December 5–11, 2001
  5. ↑ Pratt, Chastity, Patricia Montemurri, and Lori Higgins. "PARENTS, KIDS SCRAMBLE AS EDUCATION OPTIONS NARROW." Detroit Free Press. March 17, 2005. News A1. Retrieved on April 17, 2011. Transferring rules waived.
  6. ↑ The Michigan Chronicle, March 29-April 4, 2006.
  7. 1 2 The Michigan Chronicle, May 3–9, 2006.
  8. ↑ "Bpwling". mhsaa.com. MHSAA. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
  9. ↑ "Soccer". mhsaa.com. MHSAA. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  10. ↑ "Track". mhsaa.com. MHSAA. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  11. ↑ "Golf". mhsaa.com. MHSAA.
  12. ↑ "Pallbearers".

External links


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