- This article is about a university in St. Louis, Missouri for university in the Philippines see: Saint Louis University, Baguio City
Saint Louis University is a private, co-educational Catholic Jesuit university in the United States of America located in St. Louis,
Missouri. It is the oldest university west of the Mississippi River, founded by the Society of Jesus in
1818. It is one of 28 member institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities. The university is
accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and
Secondary Schools. The athletic teams compete in the Atlantic 10
Conference.
It has a current enrollment of 11,823 students, making it the 4th-largest Jesuit University in the United States. [2]. The university provides undergraduate,
graduate and professional programs. its undergraduate program is currently ranked 82nd in the 2008
U.S. News and World Report rankings of "America's Best Colleges."
History
Saint Louis University traces its origins to the Saint Louis Academy which was founded on 16 November 1818 by the Most
Reverend Louis Guillaume Valentin Du Bourg, Bishop of Louisiana and the Floridas, and placed under the charge of the Reverend
François Niel and others of the secular clergy attached to the Saint Louis Cathedral. In 1820 the name of the college changed to
Saint Louis College, while the high school remained St. Louis Academy, now known as St. Louis University High. In 1827 Bishop Du Bourg placed it in the care of the
Society of Jesus, not long after which it received its charter as a university by act of the Missouri Legislature. [3]
Saint Louis University is the oldest university west of the Mississippi River and
the second-oldest Jesuit college in the nation. (Only Georgetown University has
been in existence longer). It is one of 28 member institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities. The high school, which
was founded along with it, was originally located in DuBourg Hall on the SLU campus but moved to its own campus in the 1920s.
The first M.D. degree awarded west of the Mississippi was conferred by Saint Louis University in 1836.
During the early 1940s, many local priests, especially the Jesuits, began to challenge the
segregationist policies at the city's Catholic colleges and parochial schools. Saint
Louis University opened its doors to African Americans in 1943 after its president, Father Patrick Holloran, secured the approval of St.
Louis Archbishop John J. Glennon.
For over thirty years the university has maintained a campus in Madrid, Spain with a student body of around 1000. The Madrid campus was the first freestanding campus operated by an American university in
Europe and the first American institution to be recognized by Spain's higher education authority
as an official foreign university.
DuBourg Hall serves as the administration building for Saint Louis University.
Since 1953, the university has had a distinctive research resource in the Vatican Film Library, created through initiatives taken by Fr. Lowrie Daly, S.J. and
generously supported by the Knights of Columbus. External scholars are able to apply
for NEH Research Fellowships
to gain access to the microfilmed manuscript collections. These fellowships are administered by Saint Louis University's Center for Medieval and Renaissance
Studies.
In the early 1970's, the campus was the site of an emerging new stream of Bible-based liturgical music that has enjoyed a
worldwide impact. The composers were known as the St. Louis Jesuits. After a
twenty-year hiatus, they released a new album in the fall of 2005.
The university was ranked 77th by U.S. News & World Report in their
list of the best U.S. colleges for 2007, placing it among the top five
Catholic institutions in the United States. [4]
More than 100 doctors from Saint Louis University's physician practice, SLUCare, were ranked among the best doctors in
St. Louis in 2006 by St. Louis Magazine. [5]
The University has long supported the arts, with several museums on campus including the Museum of Contemporary Religious Art, the Saint Louis University Museum of Art, and Cupples
House.
Academics
Colleges and Schools
- Saint Louis University College of Arts and Sciences (1818)
- Saint Louis University Graduate School (1832)
- Saint Louis University College of Philosophy and Letters (1889)
- Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology (1927)
- Doisy College of Health Sciences (1928)
- Saint Louis University School of Nursing (1928)
- Saint Louis University School of Public Health (1991)
- Saint Louis University College of Public Service (1998)
Additional programs
- Saint Louis University School of Social Work
Campus
Libraries and Museums
Saint Louis University has 4 libraries. Pius
XII Memorial Library is the general academic library. It holds over 1 million books, 6,000 journal subscriptions, and 140
electronic databases. The Knights of Columbus Vatican Film Library holds a unique collection of
microfilm focusing on the manuscripts housed in the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana. The
Omer Poos Law Library houses the law collection and is within the School of Law. The Medical Center Library serves the health and medical community
at SLU.
The University also has several museums, including the Museum of Contemporary Religious Art.
Housing
Saint Louis has both dormitory and apartment space on-campus. As part of the Freshman Year Experience (FYE) program, resident
freshman students live in one of four freshman-only buildings for their first year, after which point they are able to live
anyplace else on campus.
FYE Options
The Griesedieck Complex (also known as "Gries", pronounced "greez") contains 16 stories of living space in its main building,
with additional dorm space in its two wings, Walsh and Clemens. Gries is located in the heart of the campus, in front of the
quad, and has an average freshman living space, 10' 7.5" by 18' 2", with community showers and bathrooms. Reinert Hall, named
after Jesuit Father Paul C. Reinert, is located two blocks south of the main campus in a converted hotel; sometimes referred to
as "the Island." Where the building lacks in location it makes up for in living space, containing some of the largest dormitories
across the country, 12' 1" by 27', complete with private full baths in each room. Reinert also has access to a private pool and
24-hour in-building study/meeting rooms.
Upperclassman Options
Several housing choices exist for sophomores, juniors and seniors. SLU does not have Greek houses on campus; however,
DeMattias Hall acts as a Greek dormitory and de facto community House. Next to DeMattias Hall is Marguerite Hall, which offers 8
floors of suite-style two-occupancy dorm rooms. Continuing up West Pine Mall, is Notre Dame Hall. While many honors students
choose to live here, it is upperclassmen housing open to all students. Another dorm option is Fusz Hall, catercorner to the
University's Clocktower. It contains a food court.
Grand Forest, the Village, and the Marchetti Towers are the apartment options available. Because of its proximity to the
stadium, many student-athletes live in Grand Forest. Similarly, the Village, just across from DeMattias, houses many Greeks. The
Village is also very close to the local SLU bars -- Humphrey's and
Laclede's -- making it an especially popular location for juniors and seniors. The Marchetti Towers is just west of Grand Forest
and consists of two, 12-story towers. It is very popular with sophomores coming out of FYE housing, though it also has a strong
junior and senior population.
Major Building and Renovation Projects
Edward A. Doisy Research Center
SLU is currently building a $67 million, 10-story tall research building that will connect to its Medical Campus Building. It
is designed to be a green building and is named for Edward Adelbert Doisy, Nobel Prize in
Physiology or Medicine laureate of 1943 and a long-time faculty member at SLU's medical
school.[1] With improvements to other research building
facilities, the total cost of the project is forecasted to be around $80 million.
Chaifetz Arena
The planned multi-purpose arena, whose construction began on August 28,
2006, [2] and is expected to
cost $80 million, will contain more than 10,000 seats, a training facility, state of the art locker rooms, and a practice
facility that can house an additional 1,000 spectators. It will be located on the eastern-most end of campus, just north of
Highway 40. The arena will replace the Scottrade
Center as the University's primary location for large events, notably Commencement celebrations and varsity sports. On February 28 2007, the arena was named in honor of
University alumnus (1975) Dr. Richard A. Chaifetz, who made a $12 million naming rights gift to the Arena.[6]
Athletics
-
Saint Louis Billikens logo
Soccer
-
The men's soccer team has won 10 national titles (1959-60,
1962-63, 1965, 1967, 1969-70, 1972-73), the most in NCAA Men's Soccer
Championship history. SLU also holds the record for most NCAA Tournament appearances with 43. Several Billikens have gone
on to play professionally, including Shane Battelle, Brad
Davis, Vedad Ibisevic, Brian McBride,
Matt McKeon, Dipsy Selolwane, Mike Sorber, Joe Clarke, Bob Madison,
Martin Hutton, Jack Jewsbury, Tim Ward, and Will John. The soccer team plays at Hermann Stadium on campus. Legion 1818 is the official supporters group
for the team.
The women's soccer program has also made great strides since its founding in 1996. Under the tutelage of coach Tim Champion,
the Billiken women made their NCAA Tournament debut in 2005, knocking off Stanford before falling to perennial power Santa Clara
in the second round. The women's team made a return appearance to the NCAA Tournament in 2006, earning a first round bye.
Basketball
-
In the 1948-1949 the Billikens were ranked first in the first
AP basketball poll. Ed Macauley of the
Basketball Hall of Fame and SLU won the NIT championship in 1948 and have played in that 18 times
and the last time being 2004. Larry Hughes of the
Cleveland Cavaliers played one season at SLU in the 1997-1998 season, where he was
selected as the consensus national Freshman of the Year. They have made the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament in 1952, 1957, 1994, 1995, 1998, and 2000. The Billikens are currently coached by Rick Majerus. Here is the List of Head Men's
Basketball Coaches at Saint Louis University. Their previous other top players include Erwin
Claggett, Scott Highmark, H Waldman, and Donnie Dobbs, all of whom were on the 1993-4 team that made the NCAA Tournament that ended a 37-year drought,
and another top SLU player was ex-NBA journeyman Anthony Bonner.
The Blue Crew is the official cheering section of the SLU men's and women's basketball teams.
The Saint Louis University Pep Band, under the direction of Michael Beczkala, PhD., plays at all home men's and women's
basketball games. With over 100 members, this is one of the largest student organizations on campus; part of its unique nature is
the large number of alumni who are active members of the group. Made up of brass, woodwinds, and a rhythm section including
percussion and electric bass, the SLU Pep Band is arguably one of the best pep bands in the country. SLU currently plays their
basketball games at the Scottrade Center but is presently proceeding on development of
a new 10,000-seat arena on the Frost campus which will bring games a lot closer to the resident student body. Construction will
start by September 2006 and the arena should be ready for the 2008-2009 season.
The widespread NCAA conference realignment affected the Billikens, as they made the move from Conference USA (which was created by a merger between the Metro and Great Midwest Conferences) to the
Atlantic 10 on July 1, 2005. This became the sixth conference affiliation for SLU since 1937. Through the years, SLU has been affiliated
with the Missouri Valley Conference (1937-1974); the defunct Metro Conference
(1975-1982); the Midwestern Collegiate Conference, now known as the
Horizon League (1982-1991); and the defunct
Great Midwest Conference (1991-1995).
Ice Hockey
SLU had a hockey program for nearly the entire decade of the 1970s, until the program ended in 1980. The current team began play for the 1996-1997 season and is a member in the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) and fields a Men's Division 1 team
in the Central States Collegiate Hockey League (CSCHL). When
needed, SLU hockey also has the option to field a D2 team to give a place to student-athletes to develop their skills and enjoy
ice hockey as a team sport. The team plays home games at the Summit Center in Chesterfield, Missouri but The University is planning to build the Saint Louis University Ice Pavilion.
Other Sports
In 2006, the Billiken baseball team earned the program's first NCAA Tournament berth since 1966 by winning the Atlantic 10
Tournament. SLU’s most successful baseball team of all time was the 1965 squad, which qualified for the NCAA Tournament and
advanced to the College World Series. They also return a top senior pitching
prospect in starting ace Ryan Bird, who returns with a 8-6 record with a 2.75 ERA in 2006,
striking out an impressive 100 batters.
The Billiken tennis team has had many good seasons over the years, especially during their hey-day during 1981-1984. Mario
Barreta, Marco Molinari, Bill Hornbarger, Scott Howell, Lee Blount, and Marc Braekel were among the prominent Billiken players
during this era.
The women's volleyball team qualified for the NCAA Tournament in 2006 by winning the Atlantic 10 Tournament, marking the
program's first-ever NCAA appearance and its first post-season bid since earning a spot in the 1995 National Invitation
Tournament.
SLU no longer has a football team. The university fielded an intercollegiate squad from 1899 to 1949, and then a club-level
football squad during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Although the
school no longer has a football team, the sport established a lasting mark. The Billikens nickname still used by the school
derives from former football coach John R. Bender.[3] Also, Saint Louis University's football team, coached by Eddie Cochems, threw the first legal forward pass in football
history in 1906.
Student Life
Student Organizations
Saint Louis University has a large number of student organizations that cover a variety of interests: student government, club
sports, organizations focused on media and publications, performing arts, religion and volunteerism and service. A current list
can be found here on the
university's website.
Non-Greek Student Groups
- Service Leadership - certificate program through the Business School where participants are
encouraged to become leaders through service
- Bare Naked Statues[7] - all-male a capella group
- Great Issues Committee - speaker's bureau; brings speakers to the University's campus
- Parks Guard - Military drill team that competes in Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps drill competitions and conducts honor
guard ceremonies for local events
- Presidential Scholars Society - an undergraduate social organization and
scholastic honor society whose members have received SLU's highest academic award, the Presidential Scholarship.
- Student Activities Board
- Campus Kitchen - Program where student volunteers cook safe, unused food from campus
dining facilities and deliver meals to low-income individuals and local community organizations.
Greek Life
Saint Louis has 13 fraternities and five sororities on-campus whose members represent approximately 20% of the student
body.
Fraternities
Sororities
Notable moments
- 1903 -- Theodore Roosevelt attends a Latin
disputation at Saint Louis University. It is a "Grand Act" (a defense covering Philosophy and Theology) given by Spanish Jesuit
Fr. Joachim Villalonga in celebration of the centennial of the Louisiana
Purchase.
- 1906 -- Bradbury Robinson throws the first legal
forward pass in the history of American football to Jack Schneider, under the direction of SLU coach Eddie Cochems (September 5, 1906, against Carroll College of Waukesha).
- 1943 -- Professor of Biochemistry Edward Adelbert
Doisy shares (with Henrik Dam) the Nobel Prize in
Physiology or Medicine for his work on Vitamin K, which he had isolated in a pure form in
1939.
- 1949 -- Jesuit Priests from SLU assist a teenage boy believed to suffer from demonic
possession. The boy's experience serves as the basis of the documentary In The Grip Of
Evil and is dramatized in the 1971 novel The Exorcist followed by the
1973 film The Exorcist.
- 1967 -- First lay incorporation of a Jesuit university in the United States. The membership of
the Board of Trustees went from 13 Jesuit priests to 18 lay members and 10 Jesuits. Fr. Paul
Reinert, S.J., yielded the chairmanship to Daniel L. Schlafly. (Reported in Time magazine, February 3, 1967: "A Louder
Voice for Laymen.")
- 2006 -- Cardinal Sfeir, Patriarch of the 12-15
million-member Maronite Catholic Church and one of the most important figures in the
Middle East, was bestowed with Saint Louis University's highest honor, the Sword of Ignatius Loyola, on June 30, 2006. [4]
Fight Song
Saint Louis University Fight Song
Root, Root, Root, for S-L-U
We are out to win the game
We always fight for the white and blue
Now let’s cheer ‘er valiant name
Saint Louis U! Saint Louis U! (chant)
Go Bills! Go Bills! Go Bills Go! (chant)
Notable graduates
Academia
- Michael J. Garanzini, S.J. (B.A.
1971) -- President of Loyola University of Chicago (since 2001), former president of SLU student government association,
1969-1970.
- Walter J. Ong, S.J. (M.A. 1941) -- World-class thinker, lecturer, author, known today
as an honorary guru among technophiles.
- John P. Schlegel, S.J. (B.A. 1969; M.A. 1970) -- Former president of the University of San Francisco and current president of Creighton University (since 2000).
The Arts
Business
Politics
- Enrique Bolaños (B.A. 1962) -- President of Nicaragua.
- Gordon Lee Baum (J.D.) - CEO of the Council of Conservative Citizens.
- Freeman Bosley, Jr. (B.A. 1976; J.D. 1979) -- St. Louis, Missouri's first African-American
mayor.
- Jack W. Buechner (J.D. 1965) -- U.S. Congressman, Missouri (1987-1991).
- William Lacy Clay, Sr. (B.S. 1953) -- U.S. Congressman, Missouri (1969-2001).
- Robert Emmett Hannegan (1903-1949) (J.D. 1925) --
Commissioner of U.S. Internal Revenue (1943-1945); Chairman, Democratic National Committee (1944-1947); U.S. Postmaster General
(Truman administration, 1945-1947); President, St, Louis Cardinals (1947-1949).
- Lester C. Hunt -- Governor of Wyoming (1943-1949), U.S. Senator, Wyoming
(1949-1954).
- John M. Nations (J.D. 1988) -- Mayor, Chesterfield, Missouri 2001 - [8]
- William F. Quinn -- First Governor of Hawaii (1959-1963).
- Francis Slay (J.D. 1980) -- Forty-fifth mayor of the City of St. Louis.
- James F. Strother -- Virginia House of Delegate (1840-1851), Speaker of the
Virginia House (1851), U.S. Congressman, Virginia (1851-1853).
- Joseph P. Teasdale (J.D.) -- Governor of Missouri (1977-1981).
- Harold L. Volkmer -- U.S. Congressman, Missouri (1977-1997).
Science
Sports
- Anthony Bonner -- SLU's all-time leading scorer in men's basketball and played six
seasons in the NBA for the Sacramento Kings, New York Knicks and the Orlando Magic.
- Dick Boushka -- Basketball All-American in 1954-55, olympic gold medalist in 1956. Drafted by
the Minneapolis Lakers.
- Bob Ferry -- Basketball All-American in 1958-59, enjoyed a ten-year career in the NBA with
the St. Louis Hawks, Detroit Pistons and Baltimore Bullets. Former assistant coach and general manager of the Baltimore Bullets;
NBA Executive of the Year in 1979 and 1982.
- Larry Hughes -- NBA Basketball player - attended but never graduated, was drafted after
his freshman year into the NBA by the Philadelphia 76ers. Currently plays for the Cleveland
Cavaliers.
- Pat Leahy -- Placekicker for the
New York Jets from 1974 to 1990, played soccer at SLU
- Ed Macauley (1949) -- NBA Hall of Famer
- Brian McBride -- Only American to score in more than one FIFA World Cup tournament,
doing so once in 1998 (vs. Iran), and twice in 2002 (game-winners vs. Portugal and Mexico). He is also SLU's all-time leading
goal-scorer and held the freshman scoring record until 2003, when he was surpassed by Vedad
Ibisevic.
- Hank Raymonds -- Former basketball coach and athletic director at Marquette University who
made six post-season appearances and compiled a record of 126-50 as head coach from 1977-1983.
- Jerry Trupiano -- Former Boston Red Sox Radio
Broadcaster
Miscellaneous
- Thomas Anthony Dooley -- (M.D. 1958) -- humanitarian who worked in
Southeastern Asia; author of Deliver Us from Evil, The Edge of Tomorrow, and The Night They Burned the
Mountain.
- Thomas J. Farrell -- (B.A. 1966; M.A. 1968; Ph.D. 1974) -- "Man of the Year" according to the
SLU student newspaper in May 1969 is the author of Walter Ong's Contributions to Cultural Studies (2000) and senior editor
(with Paul A. Soukup, S.J.; SLU B.A. 1973) of An Ong Reader (2002).
- John Kaiser -- M.H.M. (B.A. 1960) -- Mill Hill Missionary died under suspicious
circumstances while serving in Kenya. Received an Award for Distinguished Service in the Promotion of Human Rights from the Law
Society of Kenya prior to his death.
- Trafford P. Maher -- S.J. (B.A. 1937; M.A. 1939) -- with a grant from the American Jewish
Committee, researched material that was used by the Second Vatican Council in
documents on ecumenism and relationships with non-Christians.
- Mev Puleo (B.A. 1985) -- theological educator, photojournalist and social activist.
- Sister Rose Thering, O.P. (Ph.D. 1961) -- Dominican nun whose campaign against
anti-Semitism in Catholic textbooks is the subject of the Oscar-nominated 39-minute documentary film directed by Oren Jacoby,
Sister Rose's Passion.
Notable Faculty
Past
- Marshall McLuhan -- (1937-1944) well-known for coining the expressions "the medium
is the message" and the "global village".
- Kurt Schuschnigg -- (1948-1967) Chancellor of Austria from 1934 to 1938, when
Austria was annexed by Germany and was controlled by Adolf Hitler until 1945.
Present
- Dr. Belden C. Lane -- Author of Landscapes of the Sacred: Geography and Narrative in
American Spirituality. His academic interests include American religion and spirituality, focusing particularly on the
connection between religion and geography.
- Dr. Clarence H. Miller -- Emeritus Professor of English known for his contributions to the
study of Renaissance literature, including his translations of St. Thomas More's Utopia and Erasmus's Praise of
Folly.[9]
- Dr. Thomas Alan Shippey -- Author and former faculty member of Oxford University, where he taught Old English.
Widely considered one of the leading academic scholars of J.R.R. Tolkien.
- Dr. Eleonore Stump -- Author of Aquinas (The Arguments of the Philosophers), as well
as The Cambridge Companion to Augustine and The Cambridge Companion to Aquinas. She is the Robert J. Henle, S.J.
Professor of Philosophy and is one of the foremost Analytical Thomists.
See Also
External links
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