University of St. Thomas (Minnesota)

This article is about institute of higher education in St. Paul, Minnesota. For other schools named University of St. Thomas, see University of St. Thomas.

University of St. Thomas

Motto	Challenge Yourself Change Our World
Type	Private, Roman Catholic,Female
Established	1885
Endowment	$252.1 million
President	Father Dennis Dease
Academic staff	776
Undergraduates	5,807
Postgraduates	4,905
Location	St. Paul / Minneapolis , Minnesota , USA
Campus	Metropolitan: 87 acres (350,000 m2)
Colors	Purple and Gray
Nickname	Tommies
Mascot	Tommie the Tomcat
Website	www.stthomas.edu

The University of St. Thomas (also known as UST or simply St. Thomas) is a coeducational archdiocesan Roman Catholic institution of higher learning based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Founded in 1885 as a Catholic seminary, it is named after St. Thomas Aquinas, a medieval Catholic theologian and philosopher who is the patron saint of learners in the Roman Catholic Church. Now a nationally recognized university, it currently enrolls more than 11,000 students, making it Minnesota's largest private college or university. St. Thomas' recently revised mission statement is as follows:

Inspired by Catholic intellectual tradition, the University of St. Thomas educates students to be morally responsible leaders who think critically, act wisely, and work skillfully to advance the common good.

Father Dennis Dease became the 14th president of the University of St. Thomas on July 1, 1991.

History

Founded in 1885, St. Thomas began as an all-male, Catholic seminary. John Ireland, archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, started the St. Thomas Aquinas seminary, which became a liberal arts college in 1894. A gift from local railroad tycoon James J. Hill provided funds to establish the St. Paul Seminary apart from the college. In 1896, college officials made an artificial lake on campus, Lake Mennith, using water from an underground stream. Located in the lower quadrant, the shallow lake dried up in 1922. The College of St. Thomas became a military-based school for undergraduates in 1906 and awarded its first academic degrees in 1910. Before that, the school gave out two-year diplomas in commercial and classical programs. In 1915, the college and St. Thomas Academy for high school students split into two institutions and in 1965 the academy moved to Mendota Heights, Minnesota. The college later dropped its military distinction in 1922.

From the late 1920s through the mid-1930s, the Holy Cross Fathers, who run the University of Notre Dame, controlled the college's administration. The diocese called those priests in to help with the school's financial problems; those priests were known as a crisis intervention team of sorts for parochial schools of that time. During World War II, St. Thomas served as a training base for naval officers, which kept the school open when men who would have attended college were fighting in the war. After the war, in 1948, the college established 'Tom Town' on the eastern end of the lower quadrant, which is currently home to the O'Shaughnessey-Frey Library. Tom Town consisted of white, barrack-like housing units for faculty, students and their families. The units helped to meet housing demand after WWII.

In the latter half of the 20th century, St. Thomas started two of its most notable graduate programs: education in 1950 and business administration in 1974. The school became co-educational in 1977 and now St. Thomas' undergraduate student body is 51 percent women and 49 percent men, according to Institutional Research. Although women were not allowed to enroll until 1977, female students from St. Catherine University often took classes at St. Thomas. Women were also present as instructors and administrators on campus but the staff, faculty, and administration has seen a vast increase in female employment since the move to co-education. In 1991 the College of St. Thomas became the University of St. Thomas. The following year, the university opened the Minneapolis campus. In 2001 St. Thomas reinstated its School of Law at its Minneapolis Campus. The Law School had been shut down during the Depression. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was the speaker at the Grand Opening.

Campuses

The University of St. Thomas has four campuses: St. Paul, Minneapolis, Owatonna in Minnesota, and Rome, Italy.

Saint Paul

Arched entryway to the St. Paul campus

The St. Paul campus is home to most undergraduate students. The main campus, built on a farm site once considered "far removed from town," is located where St. Paul's Summit Avenue meets the Mississippi River. The site was farmed by ex-Fort Snelling soldier William Finn, who received the property as a pension settlement after he accidentally shot himself in the hand while on guard duty.

The western edge of the campus borders the Mississippi Gorge Regional Park. Summit Avenue, which runs through the middle of the campus, is the country's longest span of Victorian homes. This tree-lined avenue includes the Governor's Mansion, F. Scott Fitzgerald's townhome, and James J. Hill's mansion.

Murray-Herrick Center

The 78 acre (316,000 m²) St. Paul campus consists of the original 45 acre (182,000 m²) campus, five acres (20,000 m²) of adjacent properties and 28 acres (113,000 m²) of the St. Paul Seminary campus (informally referred to as the "south" campus) that was transferred in a 1987 affiliation between St. Thomas and the seminary. The campus has been used as a setting for two motion pictures.

St. Thomas is currently in the middle of expanding the St. Paul campus. In 2005 a new apartment-style residence hall was built on an existing parking lot, and in 2006 McNeely Hall was built—a large classroom building for business that replaced the smaller building of the same name. A new residential village, more parking ramps, and general civil engineering all have been negotiated successfully with the surrounding neighborhood. These developments are expected to begin within the next five years.

In addition, the designing of a new student center is currently in the works. The new student center is slated to be placed on an existing parking lot, hold underground parking, and be large enough to contain a new cafeteria, a ballroom, offices, a gathering area, and other facilities that are currently unavailable or inefficient.

Minneapolis

Downtown Minneapolis Campus

In fall 1992, the university opened a permanent, 150,000 square foot (14,000 m²) campus at 1000 LaSalle Ave. in Minneapolis. The first building, named Terrence Murphy Hall in May 2000, is headquarters to the university's Opus College of Business. Artist Mark Balma created one of the largest frescoes in the United States on the arched ceiling of its atrium. The seven-panel, 1,904 square foot (177 m²) fresco was completed in the summer of 1994 and portrays the seven virtues discussed in the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas. The Minneapolis campus also holds St. Thomas' School of Education, the nationally recognized School of Law, and Schulze School of Entrepreneurship.

Gainey Conference Center (Owatonna)

The Gainey Center is located on 180 acres (728,000 m²) in Owatonna just one hour south of the Twin Cities. The conference center and satellite campus was built around the French Norman-style home of the late Daniel C. Gainey who bequeathed the property to the university upon his death in 1979.

Bernardi (Rome)

The University of St. Thomas Bernardi Campus is located on the west bank of the Tiber River on Lungotevere delle Armi in Rome, Italy. Purchased by St. Thomas in November 1999, the Bernardi Campus houses St. Thomas students participating in academic programs abroad, most notably the Catholic Studies Semester in Rome program for Catholic Studies majors, minors, and graduate students offered through the Catholic Studies Department. The University of St. Thomas is the only university in the United States to have a formal affiliation with the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, called the "Angelicum".

Organization

Presidents

1. Father Thomas O’Gorman (1885–1887)
2. Father Edward McSweeney (1887–1888)
3. Father James Keane (1888–1892)
4. Father James Byrne (1892–1899)
5. Father John Dolphin (1899–1903)
6. Father Humphrey Moynihan (1903–1921)
7. Father Thomas Cullen (1921–1927)
8. Father John P. Foley (1927–1928)
9. Father Matthew Schumacher (1928–1933)
10. Father James Moynihan (1933–1943)
11. Father Vincent Flynn (1944–1956)
12. Father James P. Shannon (1956–1966)
13. Monsignor Terrence Murphy (1966–1991)
14. Father Dennis Dease (1991–Present)

Academics

Frey Science and Engineering Center

Each year the university awards almost 2,500 degrees including five different bachelor’s degrees (B.A., B.M., B.S., B.S.M.E. and B.S.E.E.). There are 88 major fields at the undergraduate level, with 59 minor fields of study and seven pre-professional programs. At the graduate and professional level, the university offers 41 master’s degrees, two education specialist, one juris doctor and five doctorates.

Schools and colleges

The university offers its degree programs through nine divisions. The College of Arts and Sciences includes undergraduate departments in the arts, humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences, plus a number of interdisciplinary programs. The Opus College of Business has seven departments offering graduate and undergraduate curricula including Executive Education and Professional Development at University of St. Thomas. St. Thomas also houses the Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity, which offers master’s- and doctoral-level degrees oriented to theological study and the practice of ministry. Other schools include the School of Education, the School of Engineering, and the School of Social Work. The Master of Social Work is offered as a joint degree program with the College of St. Catherine.

School of Law

Schools housed on the Minneapolis campus include the Graduate School of Professional Psychology, Undergraduate and Graduate Schools of Education, Graduate Programs in Software Engineering, and the School of Law, which was re-opened in 1999 after a 66-year hiatus.

The University of St. Thomas is a member of the Associated Colleges of the Twin Cities (ACTC), a consortium of five private liberal arts colleges. This program allows students to take classes at one of the associated colleges for no additional cost. Other schools include Hamline University, College of St. Catherine, Macalester College, and Augsburg College.

Tommie/Johnnie Football in 2005

St. Thomas's school colors are purple and gray, and the athletic teams are called the Tommies. The mascot for these teams is "Tommie" the tomcat. The name Tommy was changed to Tommie with an 'ie' when girls were accepted as full time students to be more inclusive of the women. UST is a member of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC), which performs at the NCAA Division III level. Since 1885 athletics have been present on St. Thomas' campus. The first sports teams that became popular were intramural. The top intramural baseball teams in the 1890s were the "Blues" and "Grays", which is where the Tommies' school colors come from. Varsity sports did not begin until 1904. UST celebrated its 100th year of varsity athletics in 2003-2004.

UST's longtime archrival is Saint John's University from Collegeville, Minnesota. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported in a mid-1990s article that St. Thomas University was considering making a jump to Division I in athletics. Those rumors diminished soon after. St. Thomas leads the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in NCAA Division III Team Championships won with 10. Recent national wins include men's baseball in 2009 and 2001, women's softball in 2004 and 2005, and men's lacrosse in 2009. St. Thomas also won national championships with women's basketball in 1991, men's cross country in 1984 and 1986, men's indoor track in 1985, and women's cross country in 1982, 1984, 1986, and 1987.

Men's Lacrosse

The University of St. Thomas lacrosse program (founded 1985), is consistently ranked in the top 5 in the nation, having won the MCLA DII National Championship in 2009 in Denver, Colorado. They have additionally been making an appearance to the National Tournament during 2008, 2007, 2006, and 2005 seasons. The team is a member of the UMLL (Upper Midwest Lacrosse League) and plays a national schedule. Many students from the University enjoy watching high competitive lacrosse games during the spring semester in traditional O'Shaughnessy Stadium located on campus.

Head Coach: Pete Moosebrugger

Team colors: Purple and Platinum

Alumni Club: "Purple and Grey Club"

Student life

Student housing

Cretin Hall, built in 1894

Undergraduate housing is found on the St. Paul Campus. Approximately 2,400 residents live in 10 traditional halls and apartments. Additionally there is an undergraduate residence for St. John Vianney Seminary students. All traditional halls are single-sex, while apartment residences are co-ed by floor. Residence halls on campus are named after Archbishops of Minneapolis-St. Paul, such as William O. Brady, Austin Dowling, and John Ireland. The all-female traditional hall of John Paul II is named after the former Pope. Built in 1894, Cretin Hall is the oldest hall on campus and was designed (along with Loras and Grace halls) by Cass Gilbert.

Recently the department of residence life has purchased additional buildings on what they are calling 'mid-campus' in the area of land between Grand and Summit Avenues. They are housing men and women transfer students in one of two buildings, separated by gender. There is an apartment complex that is specifically designed for sophomores. Also, they house students in the Child Development Center which is a day-care facility on campus.

Morrison Hall is connected to Koch Commons with a skyway

The University of St. Thomas offers special interest floors, or floors that are intended to house specific residents with similar interests or class standing. Almost one-third of all floors are First Year Experience floors, which consist of only freshmen. This practice attempts to create a cohesive community by placing students together that will have a similar experience. UST has also had a Catholic Women's floor, Catholic Men's floor, the Changing Faces of Minnesota floors, the Women in Math & Science floor, Substance Free floors, and will open their first Sophomore Experience floors in the fall of 2008.

Housing Policies
Most of the dorms have strict policies regarding guests within the residence hall. After 8 PM any guests (including students of other dorms) must be checked in by a member of that residence. Guests must leave the dorm by midnight on weekdays and 2 am on Friday and Saturday nights. As of the 2008/2009 school year, St. Thomas has initiated a check-out rule where guests must check out, otherwise the resident may face penalties or fines. The policies are largely in effect to instill Catholic values and keep members of the opposite gender from staying overnight in the same room, but the guest visitation policy also serves to help ensure campus safety. The campus is not dry: students over 21 years of age are allowed alcohol in the upper-class apartments.

Film and movies

• In 1992 Crossing the Bridge starring Stephen Baldwin used St. Thomas as part of its set.
• A made-for-TV film entitled She Led Two Lives was filmed on campus in 1994.
• Direct to video film Overnight Delivery starring Reese Witherspoon was shot on the St. Thomas campus in 1998.
• St. Thomas alumnus Casey Garven was cast as Larson, a snobby "cake-eating" hockey player from Edina in the movies The Mighty Ducks and D2: The Mighty Ducks.[1]

Notable faculty

• Eoin McKiernan, early scholar in Irish Studies

Notable alumni

• Larry Bond - Game designer and author
• Dan Buettner - Explorer, educator, author
• Dottie Cannon - Miss Minnesota USA 2006
• Michael Ciresi - Internationally prominent attorney
• Tom Dooher - President, Education Minnesota
• Vince Flynn - Author
• Timothy Flynn - Chairman, KPMG International
• Michael J. Hoffman - CEO, The Toro Company
• Jon A. Mikolyzk - PGA Professional
• T.D. Mischke - Radio talk show host
• Jim Oberstar - U.S. Congressman
• Gerald Rauenhorst - Founding chairman, Opus Corp.
• Joe Soucheray- Radio Talk Show Host
• Will Steger - Polar explorer
• John Vachon - Photographer
• Ann Winblad - Venture Capitalist, chocolate chips
• Evan Schwartz - A huge loser

External links

• Official website