Suffolk University

Suffolk University

Seal of Suffolk University
Motto	Honestas et Diligentia (Latin)
Type	Private
Established	1906
Endowment	US$ 208.4 million[1]
Budget	US$ 319.54 million (FY 2014)[2]
Chairman	Robert C. Lamb
President	Marisa Kelly
Academic staff	963
Administrative staff	505
Students	7,560[2]
Undergraduates	5,290
Location	Boston, Massachusetts, United States 42°21′28″N 71°03′40″W / 42.3579°N 71.0610°W / 42.3579; -71.0610Coordinates: 42°21′28″N 71°03′40″W / 42.3579°N 71.0610°W / 42.3579; -71.0610
Campus	Urban Boston - Main Campus, Madrid
Student newspaper	The Suffolk Journal
Colors
Athletics	NCAA Division III – GNAC, ECAC
Nickname	Rams[3]
Affiliations	AALS[4] NEASC[5] AICUM[6] NASPAA[7]
Mascot	Ram
Website	www.suffolk.edu

Suffolk University is a private, non-sectarian research university located in downtown Boston, Massachusetts, United States. With 7,560 students (includes all campuses, 7,379 at the Boston location alone), it is the eighth largest university in the City of Boston. It is categorized as a Doctoral Research University by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.^[8] It was founded as a law school in 1906 and named after its location in Suffolk County, Massachusetts.^[8][2] The university's notable alumni include mayors, dozens of U.S. federal and state judges and United States members of Congress.^[9]

The university, located at the downtown edge of the historic Beacon Hill neighborhood, is coeducational and comprises the Suffolk University Law School, the College of Arts & Sciences, and the Sawyer Business School.

The Princeton Review recently ranked the Sawyer Business School as "One of Top 15 in Global Management" and its entrepreneurship program is ranked among the top 25 in the U.S.^[10] The Princeton Review, also currently ranks some of its MBA programs among the top 50 business programs in the nation.^[11] The 2015 edition of U.S. News publication ranked Suffolk Law School 6th in the United States for its Legal Writing, 13th for its Alternative Dispute Resolution program, and 20th for legal clinics.^[12] It has an international campus in Madrid in addition to the main campus in downtown Boston. Due to its strategic location and well-known law school, many notable scholars, prominent speakers and politicians have visited and given speeches at the university such as John F. Kennedy,^[13] Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist,^[14] and former U.S. President George H.W. Bush,^[15]

The university's sports teams, the Suffolk Rams, compete in NCAA Division III as members of the GNAC and the ECAC in 19 varsity sports.^[16][17]

History

Suffolk University founder Gleason Archer, Sr., ca. 1915

Suffolk University was initially founded as a law school in 1906 by Boston lawyer Gleason Archer, Sr., who named it "Archer's Evening Law School," intending it for law students who worked during the day. The school was renamed Suffolk School of Law in 1907, after Archer moved it from his Roxbury, Massachusetts home into his law offices in downtown Boston.

A year later the first of Archer's students had passed the bar, leading to a boost in registration.^[18] The school's original goal was to "serve ambitious young men who are obliged to work for a living while studying law."^[18]

By 1930, Archer developed Suffolk into one of the largest law schools in the country, and decided to create "a great evening university" that working people could afford.^[18]

Calvin Coolidge, then Governor of Massachusetts and eventual 30th President of the United States, laying cornerstone for the law building, in 1920.

The school became a university in the 1930s when the Suffolk College of Arts and Sciences was founded in 1934 and the Sawyer Business School—then known as the College of Business Administration—in 1937. That same year, the three academic units were incorporated as Suffolk University.^[18]

During the 1990s Suffolk constructed its first residence halls, began satellite programs with other colleges in Massachusetts, and opened its international campuses.^[18] From 1990 to 2005, its endowment increased over 400%, to approximately $72 million, and enrollment climbed.^[19]

Presidents (1906–present)

On February 5, 2016, Suffolk University President Margaret McKenna and Board of Trustees Chairman Andrew Meyer, Jr., announced an agreement, formulated in the best interest of the University following a trustees quest to remove the president from her position after seven months in office. Meyer said he would not seek re-election after his term expires in May 2016. Following the election of a new board chair and the adoption of new bylaws, a search committee would be formed to initiate a search process for a new, permanent president, and McKenna would step down when a new president takes office in the beginning of the 2017-18 academic year. ^[21] McKenna was fired on July 28, 2016.

Campus

Sargent Hall

The main campus in downtown Boston is situated on well-known Beacon Hill, adjacent to the Massachusetts State House and the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. Up until 1995, Suffolk was a commuter-only school. Today, there are four coed residence halls, housing over 65% of freshman, and a total of 24% of the entire undergraduate population. The Residence Halls are:

• 150 Tremont
• Miller Hall
• 10 West
• Modern Theatre

The residence hall at 150 Tremont Street was the first built by the university and currently houses students in singles, doubles, quads, and suites, with communal bathrooms. Nathan R. Miller Residence Hall (located at 10 Somerset St.) was opened in 2005 and houses 15 floors of freshman, and 2 floors of sophomores in singles, doubles and quads, with bathrooms shared between every two rooms or one bathroom per quad.

A Suffolk University Law Library reading room

The 10 West Residence Hall, opened in 2008, has housing for freshman and sophomores in singles and doubles. Suites accommodate 3-5 students and a variety of apartment-style suites (that include full kitchens) house 2 to 8 students.

Both Miller Hall and 150 Tremont have cafeterias. Students living at 10 West/Modern Theater can eat at 150 Tremont. Suffolk University occasionally leases additional properties (such as the Hyatt & Holiday Inn Beacon Hill). If leased, those locations house freshman students. In 2015, due to a long housing waitlist, Suffolk housed additional freshman at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design and MCPHS University.^[22]

The Modern Theatre Residence Hall opened in the fall of 2010 and is considered an extension to the 10 West Resident Hall. The two residence halls share one entrance at 10 West Street. The Modern Theater Residence Hall is built over the restored Modern Theatre (Boston).

In addition to its main campus in Boston, there are satellite campuses in Madrid, Spain, and Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

Buildings

Suffolk University compresses of many different buildings that spread through downtown Boston and Beacon Hill.

• Nathan R. Miller Hall: Residence Building (10 Somerset Street)
• One Beacon Street: Few floors for academics (1 Beacon Street)
• Somerset: Academic Building (20 Somerset Street)
• Frank Sawyer Building: Academic Building (20 Ashburton Place)
• Rosalie K. Stahl Center: Academic, Administration, Library Building (73 Tremont Street)
• David J. Sargent Hall: Law, Graduate Building (120 Tremont Street)
• Modern Theatre: Theatre, Residence Hall (523-525 Washington Street)
• 10 West Residence Hall: (10 West Street)
• The New England School of Art & Design: (75 Arlington Street)*
• Ridgeway Building: Gym, Michael & Larry Smith Fitness Center (148 Cambridge Street)
• Athletic Felids & Complex: (150 Porter Street)

• * The New England School Art & Design will be moving to Frank Sawyer Building starting in the Fall Semester of the 2017-2018 Academic Year

Former Buildings

• C. Walsh Theatre (55 Temple Street) (Sold)
• Frank J. Donahue Building (41 Temple Street) (Sold)
• Gleason L. & Hiram J. Archer Building (20 Derne Street) (Sold)
• Fenton Building (32 Derne Street) (Sold)^[23]

Academics

Suffolk employs over 900 full-time and adjunct faculty members, who instruct approximately 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students on its Boston Campus.^[24]

The Sawyer Business School (previously the Sawyer School of Management) focuses on global business education.^[25] It offers undergraduate and graduate degrees. Joint degrees are also offered. About 3,000 students are currently enrolled in all programs. The Saturday-only Executive MBA Program incorporates four off-site one-week seminars and week-long global trips to London and China. The Global MBA is a specialized MBA in international business with an intensive concentration in either finance or marketing. The full-time program includes a 3-month internship outside the student's home country. Summer 2010 Global MBA internships are in 10 countries. Part-time Global MBAs complete either a global experiential research project at their place of business or a 3-month consulting project that includes an intensive 2 week residency outside the US.^[26]

The Suffolk College of Arts and Sciences has seventeen academic departments which offer more than seventy undergraduate and graduate programs. Among the departments is the New England School of Art and Design (NESAD)^[27][28]

Suffolk University Law School, founded in 1906, offers a standard Juris Doctor program and advanced L.L.M. program. 43% of applicants were admitted to the J.D. program in 2005.^[29]

The university is also home to various research centers and institutes, including the Centers for Crime & Justice Policy Research, Restorative Justice, and Women's Health and Human Right, the Moakley Archives, the Poetry Center, Political Research Centers, and the Sagan Energy Research Laboratory.^[30] The Suffolk University Political Research Center (SUPRC) conducts various scientific polls of national and regional political issues.^[31]

Rankings

In 2016 U.S. News ranked Suffolk #188(tie) in National Universities.^[32] In 2009 U.S. News ranked Suffolk in the "top tier of “Best Master’s Universities” in the North" and #7 in "Best College: Most International Students” attending master’s programs."^[33] The 2015 edition of U.S. News publication ranked Suffolk Law School 20th in the United States for its legal clinics, 13th for its Alternative Dispute Resolution program, and 6th for its Legal Writing. The ILRG also has numerous other categories and ranks Suffolk University Law School as the 68th most selective law school, 45th for job placement before graduation, 78th for job placement after 9 months, 23rd for best bar passer rates among first time takers, 14th when ranking the school versus the state average for bar passage rates, 92nd for student to faculty ratio and 87th overall for student median LSAT/GPAs.^{[34][35][36][37][38]} Law & Politics' 2010 ranking of law schools ranked Suffolk University Law School 33rd overall.^[39] In 2010, The Social Science Research Network ranked Suffolk 25th in the country.^[40] Leiter's ranking of most desirable law schools lists Suffolk as the 35th most desirable law school in the country.^[41][42] Law.com ranks Suffolk 54th overall for best job placement and employment trends into "BigLaw" with eleven percent of the class entering Big Law.^[43][44] In 2010, The Hylton Rankings placed Suffolk University Law School 94th overall among all law schools.^[45]

Student life

The student organizations on campus are:

Athletics

Suffolk University teams participate as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division III. The Rams are a member of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) and the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC). Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field, golf, ice hockey, soccer and tennis; while women's sports include basketball, cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field, ice hockey, soccer, softball, golf, tennis and volleyball. The Rams men's ice hockey team competes as an associate member of the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC).^[47][16]

Notable persons

Notable alumni

• John Hynes, class of 1924, 49th Mayor of Boston
• Thomas J. Lane, class of 1925, U.S. Representative from Massachusetts (1941–1963), veteran United States Army
• James A. Burke, U.S. Representative from Massachusetts (1959–1979), World War II special agent in Counter-intelligence, 77th Infantry Division

William L. Uanna, class of 1942, officer at the Central Intelligence Agency, Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC) as Director of Operations of the I Service Command, security expert on The Manhattan Project

• Gleason Archer Jr., class of 1939, theologian, author
• William L. Uanna, class of 1942, officer at the Central Intelligence Agency from 1949 to 1951, Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC) as Director of Operations of the I Service Command, security expert on The Manhattan Project
• Martin F. Loughlin, class of 1951, U.S. District Court of New Hampshire, judge (1979–1995), veteran 80th Division of the U.S. Army under General George Patton from 1943 to 1946
• David Sargent, class of 1954, President of Suffolk University (1989–2010)
• Joe Moakley, class of 1956, U.S. Representative from Massachusetts 1973–2001, chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Rules, United States Navy during World War II
• Judge Frank Caprio, class of 1965, television judge Caught in Providence on ABC; Chief Judge Providence, R.I. Municipal Court
• Gunnar S. Overstrom, Jr., class of 1968, vice-chair of Fleet Boston and president and chief operating officer of the Shawmut National Corporation.
• James Sokolove, class of 1969, television personal injury attorney
• Robert L. Caret, class of 1969, Chancellor of University System of Maryland
• Richard J. Leon, class of 1974, U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia, judge (2002–present)
• Paul Reiber, class of 1974, Chief Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court
• James Bamford, class of 1975, journalist, author, writes about United States intelligence agencies
• Francis Flaherty, class of 1975, Justice of Rhode Island Supreme Court
• William F. Galvin, class of 1975, Secretary of State of Massachusetts
• Dan Harrington, poker player, winner of 1995 World Series of Poker, member of Poker Hall of Fame
• Robert A. DeLeo, class of 1976, member of the Mass. House of Representatives (served 1991 – present) 85th Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
• Jerald G. Fishman, class of 1976, President & CEO, Analog Devices
• John F. Tierney, class of 1976, U.S. Representative from Massachusetts 1997–2015, former chairman of the Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs

Martin Meehan, class of 1981, U.S. Representative from Massachusetts 1993–2007, former chairman United States House Armed Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, current President of the University of Massachusetts

• Paul Suttell, class of 1976, Justice of Rhode Island Supreme Court
• John Loftus, class of 1977, author, television commentator
• Maureen Goldberg, class of 1978, Justice of Rhode Island Supreme Court
• Ronald Machtley, class of 1978, President of Bryant University, U.S. Representative from Rhode Island (1989–1995)
• Michael E. Festa, class of 1979, member of the Mass. House of Representatives (served 1998 – present)
• Nina Mitchell Wells, Secretary of State of New Jersey, 2006–present
• Martin Meehan, class of 1981, U.S. Representative from Massachusetts 1993–2007, former chairman United States House Armed Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, current President of the University of Massachusetts
• Beverly Flaxington, class of 1984, author and founder of The Collaborative
• Joan Vennochi, class of 1984, Pulitzer Prize winner, investigative journalist The Boston Globe
• Cheryl Jacques, class of 1987, Legislator, President of the Human Rights Campaign
• Patrick C. Lynch, class of 1992, Attorney General of Rhode Island
• Gary Christenson, class of 1990, 1992, and 2003 (triple alumnus), Mayor of Malden, Massachusetts
• Allan Fung, Class of 1995, Mayor of Cranston, Rhode Island
• George Sifakis, Class of 2000, Director of the White House Office of Public Liaison
• Jenna Mourey (Jenna Marbles), class of 2008, YouTube personality
• Michelle Leonardo, class of 2013, Miss New Jersey USA 2012, Miss New Jersey Teen USA 2008 and Top 10 at Miss USA 2012
• Cheryl Fiandaca, investigative reporter for WHDH-TV Boston

Notable faculty and trustees

• Patricia Brown, Emeritus Law Librarian and Professor
• Joseph Glannon, Professor, well-known writer of Torts and Civil Procedure texts
• Joseph P. Hoar, Trustee, Commander in Chief of U.S. Central Command
• Daniel Q. Miller, Professor of English, literary critic
• Gerald Peary, Professor of Communications, noted film critic, reviewer, and columnist
• Susan Starr Sered, Senior Research Associate at Suffolk University's Center for Women's Health and Human Rights, author of books on women's health

Notes and references

External links

• Official website
• Official athletics website
• Suffolk University History
• Suffolk University Archives